Spring Break can’t get here soon enough.

The children are maddening.  I've seen a lot of disrespect this week, and I'm sick of it.  I could go on and on with a veritable cornucopia of foul anecdotes, but I'd rather not dwell on the negativity of young people.  Though I search for the X marking the spot, positive attitudes are a treasure buried somewhere well outside the walls of my school building.  Not many kids are having fun in school, and the fun they do have comes at the expense of others.  I hardly feel a sense of wonder within any of them.  Few thirst for knowledge while the majority thrives on the pleasure principle.  They do what makes them feel good, which generally involves breaking most of the common sense rules in the student handbook.  I've written up a lot of kids this week.

I'm not a stickler for the rules.  I encourage conscientious objection.  I do not want a room full of conformists following every rule as it is written.  As long as humans write the laws, they will be open to interpretation.  However, I cannot tolerate disrespect.  I have a rule for myself about classroom management.  When someone breaks a rule and needs correction:

1. I ask politely the first time.  I want to correct the behavior in a positive way, dropping a friendly reminder.  Soft voice, eye contact, polite words.
2. I issue a command the second time.  I make it imperative, dressing down my original statement, removing the polite words, speaking sternly, and intensifying my facial expressions to match the urgency of my request.
3. If I have to ask a third time, it will not end well for you.  Write ups, phone calls, parent teacher conferences...

I've had some success with this method.  I started thinking about the steps I take when a kid acts up, and realized that I was doing this process without outlining it for myself.  When I forgot my routine in the heat of the moment, I used to skip straight to step three.  Now, I calmly take a moment, remind myself of my procedure, and I get a good result on the first try.  Not everyone complies, but that's my cue to bring forth the consequences.

I remember being in high school.  I'm not going to sit here and say that it was the greatest time of my life, but I looked forward to going to school and learning about something new each day.  I looked forward to socializing during lunch, not during class.  I realized that I was working toward the goal of higher education, working for an unwritten future outlined by the choices I made each and every day of my life.  Not too many of the kids in my school can say the same thing.  The students who echo my sentiments are losing out on enrichment by the derailing forces surrounding their desks in every classroom.  When I think of the instructional time I lose each day to behavioral corrections, I feel ill.  I do a pretty good job of managing my classroom, but if I'm losing 10% of my instructional time each and every period (about 4.5 minutes on a 45 minute class) each day, by year end I will have lost 10% of the school year, roughly ONE MONTH of instructional time.  

Those few minutes spent enforcing common sense rules can add up if you don't nip them in the bud.  To avoid time loss, I keep the kids working.  I try not to give them any time in which to idle their minds.  My scenario above is a scary estimate.  Most days, I might lose a minute or two to management issues, and I cannot expect perfection from the kids I'm teaching.  Few have anything resembling a work ethic, but I push them to get their work done, and most days, we accomplish something worthwhile.

Spring Break can't get here soon enough.