At the beginning of this school year, I made myself a promise: I was going to do my damnedest to keep from yelling at kids this year. I knew from the beginning that this was not going to be a resolution that I was going to be able to keep for the entire school year; the relevant question was how long I’d go before I failed. I am, as you may have guessed, somewhat of a volatile personality. I’ve done better almost every year at keeping my cool in the face of nonsense. Some years (last year) I’ve backslid; I guarantee I’ve raised my voice to kids less frequently this year than I did last year. So, in that, I suppose it’s been a success. That said, I’ve had a few embarrassing displays even just in the past few weeks, so I’m not there just yet. Also, I keep losing sight of the fact that there’s still a full quarter of school left. Positive Man recognizes that there is still time for things to go wrong. 🙂
Here’s where I’ve failed so far this year, and where I’m going to do my best to improve substantially in what’s left of the school year: I have not been good enough in 1) emphasizing positivity in my classroom; 2) rewarding the kids who are not behavior issues; and 3) rewarding and/or simply acknowledging good choices in general. It’s very easy as an educator to get too tied up in managing pathology in the various forms that it might show up in your classroom; there have been times in this year where I’ve simply felt buried in it. Things have been getting better lately in my first/second hour block, which have been my problem children all year long– unfortunately, they’ve been slipping in my third and fourth hour block. My honors kids continue to be the living personification of why I’m a teacher.
For the rest of the school year I need to work harder at being positive, both to set an example and to give some recognition to the kids who sorely deserve it. Even when I’ve recognized positive behavior this year it’s generally been for kids where that positive behavior has been rare. That’s a good thing, mind you, but it leaves out the kids who do what they’re supposed to do every day, or even do what they’re supposed to do four days out of every five or nine days out of every ten.
I gotta do better. Time to start.
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It’s cool to see a teacher who cares enough about her students to try to change her attitude for them. I know too many teachers who only ever focus on fixing the bad apples in their class and never even think that the well-behaved students might need some support, too.
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I am happy to change my attitude, but you leave my genitals alone, dammit. 🙂
–Mr. Siler
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Oh, sorry…I’ll know for next time, sir!
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check Luther’s FB 😉 Best solution I could find for child management. It would have worked on me and I would threaten lives over it. Thankfully, I too have read all the books.
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I’m retired now, but personally, I usually only lasted until October before the voice raising started (one year it was December). As I got older, and possibly mellower, I was down to one, maybe two actual distemper fits each year, when buttons REALLY got pushed. Actually, I suppose I did get mellower, because a couple of years back, an older child (who had moved on several levels) was helping me out in the classroom and said, “Ms. Duke, you would NEVER have let us do that.”
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Good luck to you. Sounds like a worthy goal. Not feeling the positive sunshiney-ness today myself. Maybe tomorrow. My twins are like a class full of kids. At least it’s Friday.
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I really like what you said here. Positivity is absolutely key, and it is infectious. If you are positive, others who are around you will be too.
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“It’s very easy as an educator to get too tied up in managing pathology in the various forms that it might show up in your classroom”. That statement also applies to raising a toddler (as you know!). I’m pretty sure every human starts off as a psychopath and it’s only positivity that gradually turns them from feral to socialized. So your goal is admirable. Think of it this way: your positivity may be the only exposure to it that some of those kids get… so you’re doing your part to reduce the number of psychopaths in the world. Thanks! 🙂
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Adore your title! What age are the children and how many in a class?
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Best teacher I ever had was Mr. Curran in 8th grade science. He was volatile and very cleverly vocal. In today’s world, he’d probably be labeled “abusive.” but I learned so much from him…about science, yeah, but about myself, too, and about how to learn and get along in the world. I’m well into my sixties now, but I still remember Mr. Curran with great respect and fondness. He cared enough to get my attention and hold it. Some of the stuff he did still makes me laugh and shake my head in wonder.
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You can do it ! 🙂
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Great that you’ve noticed the also-rans who give no trouble, but probably need approval and praise just as much.
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