Stirking a balance

Hello everyone,

I know I have contributed to the idea that "managing a classroom" is "having total control over the classroom." It's time for me to set the record straight.

Teachers must be able to command unwavering attention periodically; they must have students be respectful to them and others; they must make absolutely certain that the classroom is a safe place to be.

However, teachers who focus inordinate attention on control become tyrants, and tyrants don't make good teachers.

As you plan for the new year, remember the story of a new tree being planted. The growth of a new tree may be easily directed by tying a string around the trunk. If you let the tree grow of its own accord with little early direction, though, you won't be able to redirect its growth without damaging the tree.

Establish the standards of behavior for your class at the beginning of the year, and your students will rarely deviate later.

Once you have established standards of behavior, you shouldn't have to spend a lot of time riding the students. Sometimes you will want the class to be loud; sometimes it needs to govern itself; sometimes a dose of humor will go a long way.

That last notion--the notion of humor--is a powerful one.

I think a sense of humor is the most powerful of all teaching tools. Cultivate your sense of humor, your sense of fun, of joy, of finding happiness in youth. Learn to laugh without cruelty at both yourself and your students.

I confess, it is sometimes difficult to keep from hurting their feelings if they have a sense that you are laughing at them or making them feel ridiculous. (Sometimes they ARE ridiculous. If you point that out to them, you might need to be gentle.) It is also difficult to avoid the temptation to get into a battle of wits with them. Don't do that unless you're certain that you'll win, and you'll win at no cost to them.

If they are honestly funny, honestly laugh.

Additionally, learn that sometimes you need to act on things, and sometimes you need to ignore things. I cannot give a detailed legal discourse on when "acting on" is more appropriate than "ignoring.". I just know that, when I started teaching, I felt that I couldn't ignore anything. I have since learned that, in a normal classroom, a certain amount of innocent shenanigans is best ignored.

I'm trying to get at a fine balance here.

I think that, if your students learn early in the year that you mean business, you won't lose complete control when, later in the year, they learn that you also mean fun. If you respect them as individuals, and discipline their actions not their souls, then you will create a classroom environment where trust, learning, and innocent laughter reign, and tyranny is forever banned.

Jeff Combe