George, first allow me to say thanks for your service to our country and for the freedoms we enjoy each and every day. Your experience in the military has prepared you well to be an educator. The challenge at times is not having a chain of command within which to manage results and the lack of consistent rules such as the UCMJ to ensure a unified method of treating everyone equally. Students come to us with different strengths and areas of weakness and we must build upon our knowledge of our students to know how best to meet their needs and achieve the desired learning outcomes. Redirecting students back to the primary subject while allowing them some flexibility within which to relate to the topic is an outstanding technique and thanks for sharing with the group. James Jackson