Sometimes the way that Hollywood portrays teachers and classrooms is unfair.
I'm not necessarily talking about "Freedom Writers" or "Dangerous Minds" because these are real scenarios that happened to real teachers. Also, one of those real teachers was stabbed. One of the screen writers must have left that part out.
I'm more talking about movies like "Dead Poets Society." I watched movies like that in my undergraduate career and thought teaching would be all cheers and giggles and frolicking around in the courtyard while reciting poetry.
Before I dig myself into a hole, I need to make it clear that I'm not saying my current classes have let me down by not living up to those compliant, do-good high school students being played by twenty-something actors. I love my students. A solid 95% percent of them are extremely well behaved and I love having them in class. What I'm saying is that in order for classes to be successful in terms of learning, every class needs classroom management. Even with the best behaved classes. That's another thing the screenwriters left out.
Classroom management is first. Then learning can happen. I knew this before I started teaching but I didn't really know it. I didn't experience it first hand. And boy is it real.
Now, I've dealt with individual students who either get bored or are having a bad day and need to act out during class. There's usually a good reason why students act out, too, that has less to do with that student and more to do with a situation at home or in the social context at school. The best way I know how to treat those certain kids is by giving them positive attention before they get a chance to demand that attention on their own, through disruptions and acting out in class. It is also good, I've realized, to respond with compassion and fairness. Getting angry and accusing only makes things worse.
My biggest struggle with classroom management, however, comes not when one or two students misbehave, but when approximately nine of them do all at the same time.
This is happening in one of my classes. There are a few things that makes this class somewhat rowdy. It's the last hour of the day. We were given the class approximately three weeks into the semester, so the students missed the initial explanation of classroom expectations and procedures. I'm a student teacher and the kids don't yet view me as possessing the authority of a "real" teacher. These things are all working against me, and the students generally operate under the assumption that they don't have to follow the same set of guidelines as when my host teacher is teaching.
This is problematic.
I need tools. Teaching tools. Management tools. Behavioral tools.
I'm talking contingency plans here.
I've developed more confidence and I'm in the process of establishing my presence in front of the class. Check and check. I can adequately manage the class when one or two students misbehave. Check. I even possess a wide knowledge base in my content areas, which allows me to focus more on the students and less on actual instruction. Check.
But there is still that one class. I'm losing sleep on these guys. The lessons are good and include plenty of hands-on activities to keep them engaged, but some days I don't even get the chance to present the material. The kids don't seem to like me because I'm strict but I don't seem to have any other option but to be strict. This is a difficult thing for me to swallow. I want the kids to like me.
So tomorrow, I'll introduce a behavioral management plan. This means the first thing I need to get in my head tonight is that I am not teaching so students can like me. They don't need to like me. They need to learn science and take away organizational and life skills that will help them become better people. That's why I want to teach.
I will introduce three rules and consequences for breaking those rules. If they get out of their seat without permission, speak without being called on, or interrupt me during instruction (my three biggest problem areas), the students will get their name written on the board. I've been warned that many students will have their name on the board those first couple days. If a student breaks a rule a second time, they get a check next to their name and a behavioral slip sent to the assistant principle. If a third time, they get to call home. If the interruptions become consistent from day to day, the student will be removed from the class.
This is what I will try tomorrow. And every day the slate is wiped clean. No one starts a day with their name already on the board. My goal is for students to realize that their own actions have consequences every time. Their choice is whether the consequences will be bad or good. I want my students to be responsible for themselves. Hopefully, by laying out the management plan, they will be able to see this.
I will have to be very strict tomorrow and the next few days. This is necessary so that I can once again regain control of the classroom as the teacher. That is my job. By following through with consequences, the students will begin to recognize my authority. I will be fair. I will be polite. I will be consistent.
And if that doesn't work? (Even though I think it will.) We'll come up with something that will.
NO NEED TO PANIC.
