It’s September and now you’ve got your class.
We’ve been in for several weeks. I think it was four, but I’ve kind of lost count in the very dramatic reality of getting to know my second graders.
The first week of school, every class is a “good” class! The second week, you begin to see some ripples under the surface, and by the third week, you’re getting an idea of which kids are well put together, which are going to be discipline problems, and which need extra academic help.
I was undergoing this process, and then I got a new student in the third week, and the student is pretty needy.
I got home on Friday afternoon and just sat down and went to sleep.
But by going to bed early, I wake up stronger than ever and come back with enthusiasm and another, better lesson plan. If I anticipate a bad day, I write down the steps I will take on a sheet of paper in increments of 5 to 15 minutes. I stack all the materials in the corner of my materials chest.
It’s not uncommon at the beginning of the school year for a teacher to come home and be in bed at 7:00 p.m. It’s not uncommon to feel a certain doubt about whether you can finish the year. At least it’s not for me.
It is at this time of the year that you truly realize you are in charge of your classroom. It’s just you and those kids in there, and it’s time to make sure that you get their buy-in; you’ve got to make them believers.
And how do you do that?
These are my steps.
First, your first line of defense is your instructional design. You need to make sure that whatever you ask them to do, you can manage. You need to make sure that they are willing to do it and able to do it. And you need to make sure that about one hour out of three is spent doing things they think are fun. I know that sounds like a lot, and it’s not true that they can’t do any work during those third hours, but they cannot put their noses to the grindstone all day.
You’ve got to look at what you’re asking them to do. At this time of the year, I have a habit of making a T-chart with the headings “What’s working” and “What needs work.” I put the routines that are working on the left side of the chart, and the stuff that blew up? I put it on the right side.
I try to do more of the stuff on the left and less of the stuff on the right. If I can, I might skip the stuff on the right or try to do it a different way.
Second order of business: you’re going to have to get to know these kids and, if possible, their families. In this modern day, it is not possible to turn your discipline problems over to administration, even your severe ones. As much as possible, you’ve got to handle this in class.
But your biggest game for the prevention of discipline problems is understanding the students and their emotional needs. If you can make sure that they are okay, they will still be difficult, but it will be less. Perhaps even a quarter as much.
How do you do that? First of all, you need to observe them. And not just when they’re having a crisis. Observe them when they’re acting normally and figure out what they like. Observe their clothing, talk to them, and ask them questions. The more you understand, the better you can respond to the behavior. You can create custom consequences or privileges when you know who the kids are.
If possible, you’ve got to call or talk to the parents after school. It’s just not going to be helpful to be sending kids out of class without calling home.
Third, you’ve got to look at your data. This is the time of year when data is being collected and you see what you’re up against. It’s not uncommon to feel a sense of, “What has been going on for these kids? How is it they didn’t learn this last year?” For a month in my class, we have waded through the shallow, muddy water of first-grade review material. It’s time for them to start moving faster. It’s time for me to start moving faster.
Perhaps my year depends more on these weeks than on any other time. Do I address the most important things, try to put out the fires, try to custom-plan exercises that will engage and teach my students? Try to really understand the challenging students? Or just assume everything will be okay? I know what the answer is if I want to have a good year.
And for you, fourth, take care of yourself. How do I keep it together? I personally have to stay on top of my self-care routines. Yoga, prayer, meditation, even giving myself time to cook my food and write in my journal are critical to my ability to respond to the needs of a classroom.
At this time of year, I get up in the morning raring to go and come back to the house wiped out. But one thing stays the same: the work is meaningful. And, as Parton (of happy memory, as she passed away last week) put it in the 1980 movie 9 to 5:
“You’re in the same boat with a lot of your friends,
Dolly Parton, 9 to 5
Waiting for the day your ship will come in,
And the tide’s gonna turn and it’s all going to roll your way!”
After Christmas, it’s always easier. My mother told me that. She was a teacher. And now, at age 87, Mom says she’s so glad she did this work. We are teachers, and we know. It just takes a moment to remember some days.
Happy September, teachers!
(If you watch the video, check out all those fab shoes!)