Some days I feel like I’m spinning my wheels.
Nothing seems to go as planned.
My students are out of control.
I’m out of control.
And I’m bewildered.
Maybe they are, too.
But recently something happened that made me realize I haven’t been handling disruptions well. One of my students came up to me and asked: “What is wrong with our class?”
My heart stopped beating for a minute. I looked at her and mumbled something and then moved on to the next student issue.
But her question has been on my mind since then.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in all of the things that are going wrong that we don’t stop to come up with solutions. We just stay in a reactive mode.
Sometimes it’s hard to see what the smaller problems are that are causing the bigger problems.
Sometimes we need to break things up for our students, and ourselves, so that a solution can be found and we can move on to the next bit.
Here’s one bit of a larger problem that I’ve been addressing this week: following directions the first time they are given.
I have assumed my students would listen to instructions and then do what was being asked of them. Some can and do, but too many don’t. They need to be taught what that means and that the consequence for not following instructions, barring not understanding or needing clarification, is that they need to do the activity or the assignment again.
Harsh? Maybe, but if I’ve learned anything in all my years of teaching is that every group of students is different and requires different approaches in order for learning to occur. Maybe other groups of students wouldn’t have this problem and wouldn’t need a particular response from me; this year’s group does.
There are some non-negotiables, however.
No carrots or sticks.
No threats.
No punishments.
No coddling.
No excuses.
Just clear expectations and results.