Bad Day Syndrome

We’ve all had a student enter our classroom, take their seat, and immediately put their head down. You can see it in their face — today is NOT the day. Our empathy kicks into high gear, we ask how we can help, and ultimately allow them to do less during class than we’d normally expect.

This feels right for the student. But does it feel right for the CULTURE of our classroom?

If we look closer at the CULTURE element, we might begin to wonder if our empathy is working against us. Uphold a Positive and Productive CULTURE: Clearly set expectations for positive and productive behavior; address all non-positive and non-productive behaviors.

By allowing our “bad day” student to have a different set of expectations for what productive looks like for him or her, we have chiseled away at those expectations for everyone. Tomorrow, Susie, who is actually feeling just fine, just wants a day off from your class. She knows that you let Jimmy sit in the back and keep his head down yesterday. She plays the game. You cave and give her a different set of expectations from the rest of the class.

It’s a slippery slope from there. What’s to stop Timmy, and Tommy, and Ariel, and Sandra from doing the same thing the day after Susie does it? Maybe all of them at the same time?

This is challenging because in a situation where a student really is not in the right physical or mental space to dedicate their full brain space to learning, we want to be empathetic and help them, but we also cannot undercut the larger culture of productivity we’re working to build.

Have some go to responses in these situations. “Do you need me to call the counselor so you can talk?” “Would you like an escort to the main office so you can call home?” “I want you to feel better, but when you’re in here, you’re working with full effort just like everyone else. Are you well enough to stay? I’d like you to try and we can check in again in 10 minutes to see how you’re feeling, but I need you fully engaged just like everyone else.”

Don’t let one student’s bad day turn into a series of bad days cause by an eroded CULTURE that you unintentionally caused.