Making a new me

Recently an amazing thing happened in my classroom.

Up until last Thursday my third period was a constant source of stress. I have this one girl who we will call Tawanda who has tested me from the moment she arrived. She text messages and talks while I'm talking and complains and makes a big deal about how HARD it is to do an assignment. Wah. And the rest of the class is just lazy. Last semester about 70% of them failed.

So Wednesday I went on this long rant about how they need to care and their future depends on it and blah blah blah. And they were all like "Waaaaaaah but you don't do this and you don't do that and school is just so haaaaaaaaaard!" And Tawanda gave me a dirty look because she is the ringleader of the whiny club.

My shoulders are up around my forehead by now and I'm exhausted every afternoon. Something has got to give.

So I went home and I thought. And I thought. And I thought.

And the next morning I came back with a new seating chart and a new attitude.

After all the initial waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah I hate my new seat! bullcrap, I gave the following speech:

"The new seats are not a punishment. I spent about an hour this morning arranging and rearranging and putting you where I thought you'd have the best chance of improving your grade. Because that's what this is about, your academic achievement. I was about to start calling parents when I realized maybe there was more that I could do to change the attitude in this room before we get the outsiders involved. You guys are always telling me you want me to change things, so today I'm changing things. It starts with new seats. The person you usually sit next to may be a great person and they may be your best friend, but that doesn't mean they're good for your education. So I put each of you next to someone who will be a good influence on your grades.

"But I'm not just asking you to change. I'm changing too. I will grade your papers and get them back to you sooner. I will come in here and listen to you instead of talking at you. I will not roll my eyes, I will be a more positive teacher. And in return, you will all work harder on your own education because I know you want to graduate and leave me and go out and make some money, and it all starts here in this room with a new attitude."

Then I gave them the day's lesson. And they listened and took notes and paid attention. And even Tawanda nodded in agreement with my speech and asked some good questions. And Friday when they didn't do the homework I didn't get mad. They asked if I could read the assignment out loud, so I did. And even this one kid who has never turned in anything all semester - even he did Friday's assignment. And this other kid who's super smart but never does his assignment because he's trying to get revenge on his hyper-critical parents? Not only did he do the assignment, but he walked around and helped other kids do the assignment. I lavished him with praise. I lavished them all with praise.

I graded papers in a timely fashion instead of waiting until the last minute. I made neat, orderly lessons with clear instructions. I stopped grumbling when they don't listen and learned to explain the material again for the 37th time. My new motto in that room is to be quiet and calm and just accept that these will never be the kind of students I want them to be. So I have to learn to adapt to their ways instead.

My shoulders aren't exactly a wave of serenity, but they aren't up around my forehead anymore. I haven't gone home exhausted in three school days. And today when I had the class read Tawanda dove into the book she's been avoiding for weeks. She admitted it turns out to be an easy book and maybe not such a bad one.

Sometimes if things don't work like you want them to, the best thing to change is you.