So, Murphy's Law states that everything that can go wrong will. The educational equivalent of this seems to be that everything students can do to test the validity of a lesson plan or educational philosophy, they will. Some teachers might write it off as just a bad crop of students; however, the empathetic teachers use this opportunity to discover more about themselves and their students. Truth of the matter is that depending on the circumstances, we can find both teachers within the same person. Perhaps it just takes a minute for one to lament the number of "challenging students" the counselors placed in one classroom before he or she can move into remembering that all students are entitled to a teacher who advocates for them.
Want an example? In my last post, I shared a lesson plan with you that guided you through how to establish norms in your classrooms that allow students to have a sense of ownership in the climate of the classroom environment. I, myself, completed this lesson with all of my classes at the beginning of the new semester. However, the hopes I stated for the lesson were quickly tested as I was forced to take a personal day the very next week. My son left for the US Navy's basic training, and I took the day off to spend with him. Upon my return, I received a substitute report that made me question whether my freshmen had perhaps gone feral in my absence. Needless to say, all of those lovely norms that we worked to create together were broken in a single block.
Traditionally, I would have thought about handling this situation from a punitive standpoint. What can I do to scare them so badly that they would never DARE to act out like this again? However, whenever I've dealt with a situation using this guiding question, I've found that it negatively impacted the safe environment I hoped to establish in my classroom. It eroded the students' ability to see me as someone who has their best interests at heart because the punishment came from a place of anger instead of love and support.
So I knew that I did not want to address their behavior from that perspective, but instead from a disciplinary one. To me, the essential difference between the two is the idea of training. Punishment is simply retribution for an offense; discipline provides training for what to do instead. This is the whole principle behind restorative discipline.
I decided to change my guiding questions for this situation. Instead of thinking what I could do to scare them, I tried to answer this question: what can I do to train students in a way that enhances, not harms, the relationship I am striving to build with and among them? Thinking from this perspective, I created a lesson plan which allowed for students to reflect on their behavior, and discuss what should be done instead.
Here's what I did the very next class period.
1. I let the students know that the feedback from the substitute had not been very positive, and that I was disappointed that they had not followed the norms that they set for themselves.
2. I passed out the students' signed norms and reviewed the expectations with them again.
3. I gave them the following writing prompt: What did I do last class to positively contribute to the safe environment we are trying to build in this class? What actions negatively impacted this safe environment? They were given 5 minutes to reflect and write.
4. Afterward, we discussed their responses, but kept it in terms of "we." First I asked students what we did well last class. After processing and reinforcing the positive behaviors, I asked students what we could have done better. This discussion lasted for some time as students made their observations.
5. I ended the discussion by reinforcing my expectation that each student brings his or her best self to our classroom and helps to create a safe environment for all, including substitutes. I also added a small punitive aspect by removing the privilege of sitting in the seat of their choice and instead in a permanent seating chart (not the temporary one we might use for cooperative learning activities).
The outcome of this approach has been the continued building of relationship with my students and among my students, as well as a more positive classroom climate. As we now enter week five of this semester, I am beginning to enjoy the classes that I previously struggled with from a management perspective. Students are feeling safe enough to reveal aspects of their personal and educational identities that they might not have previously. Such a great outcome, a much better one than I've had in previous years.
So, here's my take-away: when I encounter challenges in the classroom, I can't always go with my knee-jerk reaction. Sometimes, that leads to my beginning with the wrong guiding question which produces an unintended and uninspired outcome. Also, as a reflective educator, I must continually question whether my practice is matching up with my principles. When it doesn't, I must have the courage to admit this, and humbleness to search for solutions that do.
My Diverse Lights deserve no less than that.
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