Am I The Problem in My Classroom?
My students walked into my classroom to four big empty walls. The startling amount of white in the room caused the students to wince and many of them squinted as they found their chair. Shock and awe were only part of this day’s exciting events…
One of my favorite times of year is in April when I do a final project with my classes. I am a speech teacher to over four hundred elementary students and at the end of the year we do a big capstone project where they bring every element that I taught throughout the year into one group-based finale. This is an opportunity for me to work on some of the learning gaps that students have gained during the year and an excellent means for observing student growth from one year to the next.
Now, despite common opinion, I don’t just take everything off of the walls for shock factor alone (although I’ll admit that is one of my favorite parts). Sometimes I just feel a desperate need to shift my environment. I love to shake things up and keep things refreshing for the students.
On this particular day, I thought I was in a good mood, however I quickly found out otherwise. Nothing particularly surprising had happened. Some students were talking, some students shouted out at inappropriate times, and other students crowded around me to share a wealth of information (stories from the weekend, what they ate for dinner four days ago, or any number of random experiences that interested them in that moment). By lunch time it was clear to me that I was absolutely exhausted and if I’m honest, a little tired of dealing with the students. The good news is: it was only half-way through MONDAY!
On this lunch break I was lead to ask myself a question that I ask myself far too regularly:
Am I the problem in my classroom?
I’m certainly no genius but I know as well as any other teacher that there are a lot of factors at play in any given negative moment in the classroom. I know that I can often be just as guilty as the students for a given situation. “Have I been clear about the expectations? Have I been clear about the procedures, rules and consequences? Have I done what I can to communicate during the moments leading up to this issue?” I could do this all day.
And the truth is, we all could. As teachers, we understand that there’s a perspective in every situation where we could blame ourselves, but I’m not sure that’s helpful either. In trying to be a reflective and teachable educator I have observed a few characteristics in superstar teachers that I try to remind myself.
“They’re Just Kids”
I’m very familiar with this one. In the right capacity, this one is necessary. The “they’re just kids” mentality can be very helpful, too. This speaks truth that is often forgotten in education. They are just kids and they do often do things that kids typically do. We shouldn’t be surprised by many of these actions. I try to remember this with the younger students especially. Some students are particularly less mature than others and thus this behavior should be expected. I notice that the better I expect certain behaviors the better prepared I am for them.
“But That’s No Excuse”
At some point, the “they’re just kids” mentality does break down. Just because any given behavior can be expected, there’s no insurance that being ready for them means that they are okay. This is a balance that I will admit I struggle with during the school year. I want to be a gracious and merciful teacher. I also want to be firm and consistent. The balance between gracious and firm can give me some challenges on a week-to-week basis.
The answer, for me, is simply to be firm and consistent in any procedure or guideline that I have in my classroom, and gracious in how I communicate it to my students. In example, sometimes when a student shouts out I can be too gracious by not even giving the verbal warning that was promised to them at the beginning of the school year. In this same situation I can sometimes be too firm in giving a sassy verbal warning or skipping it all together. I feel best when I’m consistent with my rule in giving a firm verbal warning, but gracious in reminding the student the expectation in my classroom. While we understand their struggle in the classroom we can’t excuse their behavior.
“The Greatest Influence in My Classroom is Me”
At least it should be, right? This is a statement I like to remind myself. Directly after a class leaves I often chuckle to myself about this one. I’m supposed to be the most influential person in the room!
When I don’t get the gracious but firm balance correct, I often feel as though I either gave this influence up to a student’s desire to have life his/her own way, or I feel like the bully influencing the class negatively. Goodness. None of us want either of those things! I need to be the greatest influence in my classroom. When I get that right, I then want to use this influence to better the world through our amazing students.
…So my four blank, boring, white walls shocked my students. It did lead to a really fun conversation that fit the lesson, and it did hype up the students for our subject. It’s my favorite time of year, and my favorite unit that I teach during the school year. All roads were pointing toward what was supposed to be a fantastic Monday, but alas, things don’t always go as planned!
My lunch break couldn’t have been at a better time. After some self-reflection, a little self-talk and some realizations about education I was ready for the afternoon! I’d like to say the afternoon was perfect, but we all know those instances are few and far between. The afternoon had it’s fair shake of challenges and I definitely wasn’t perfect. I was, however, more gracious, firm, and encouraged as the day went on. That’s plenty of motivation to get up when my early alarm rings the next day and teach my heart out.
