It is the beginning of the school year. You have a fresh batch of students eager to begin an exciting project that you plan will take several days of class to complete. Over the next few days, your students will apply their new learning and creative energy to produce an intellectual masterpiece of elementary school proportions. As the teacher, you also feel a sense of anticipation of the moments to come: students poring over nonfiction books from the library to identify relevant facts, art supplies littering the counter, and all the sounds of children joyfully engaged in learning.

The second day of class arrives, and the students are once again absorbed in their studies - except one. We’ll call him Sam. Rising out of the quiet din of the classroom comes Sam’s voice at full volume chatting about a topic you know is clearly unrelated to this project on ecosystems. In some ways, you expected things to go this way after being thoroughly warned by your students’ teacher from last year: “...and you’ll have to keep an eye on Sam. He’s a big distraction to himself and anyone near him…”

From across the room, you call out Sam’s name to redirect him back to his project. As you continue moving about the classroom, you once again hear him conversing with his neighbors, but his volume is now significantly lower than before. You give Sam a firm look that goes unnoticed by him until you once again say his name in a quiet, stern tone. It is then that you notice that Sam’s desk does not have any materials on it associated with the ecosystem project. “Sam, please begin working on your project. You’re wasting a lot of time this morning!”

A few minutes later, Sam’s voice is once again sounding above the classroom hum, and you feel that you are quickly approaching the end of your patience. You quickly breeze over to Sam’s desk to demand an explanation. After your last warning, Sam is not only chatting away with his neighbors, but he still has not begun his work! In fact, the only thing on his desk is a large book he brought from home and some other odds and ends. “Sam, it seems like you are running into some problems getting started with your project today. What’s going on?”

Sam looks at you with a confused expression and appears to have nothing to add. In those few brief moments, you realize this may be your chance to prevent having a year with Sam like his previous teacher. You realize that now is your chance to really make your message to him clear about being responsible in getting one’s work done, not chatting with and distracting neighbors, only reading books once all other work is finished, etc. Throughout the ensuing monologue, Sam looks at you as one defeated, yet you have been teaching long enough to realize that you will probably be back at his desk addressing a similar infraction in just a few minutes. Before you turn and leave, you ask him about the location of his project materials, assuming that a student like Sam probably forgot everything at home. However, Sam replies, “It’s all in my backpack.”

You immediately send Sam to his backpack to grab his things while you wonder what the rest of the week is going to look like for him and the students around him. Perhaps a project like this was not a good choice for this class? Maybe something less adventurous like sticking to the workbook pages would have been a better plan, at least for a student like Sam. Your thoughts are interrupted by Sam’s immediate return to the classroom, toting not the raw materials for his assignment but a finished product that surpasses the standards you held for the group. Expecting to further reprimand Sam for who-knows-what-else, you now find yourself speechless.

After some further inquiry later on, you discover several important things about Sam as a learner. He loves using his hands to create things and often has several projects going at home. Presently, he is wildly enthusiastic about anything related to wildlife and nature. At home, he devours nonfiction books, absorbs information from wildlife documentaries, and decorates his bedroom with snake skins, feathers, and unique rock samples found in the woods behind his grandparents’ house.

You also learn that it is not uncommon for Sam to become heavily invested in a topic, learning as much as he can in any way available to him. Nature is just his latest fascination. In the past few months, he has become immersed in topics like weather, the Roman Empire, and the periodic table of elements. When something sparks his interest, he learns quickly, talks about it constantly, and begins planning careers where he can continue exploring his ideas for years to come.

Sam represents a kind of student that we as educators are often quick to label as disruptive or disengaged. However, could it be that the classroom structures we idealize may actually be the primary problem? What if Sam’s teachers had been able to recognize the information described above rather than narrowing in on his disruptive classroom behavior? Throughout his years of school, Sam has likely come to believe the narrative of himself that defines him as a ‘difficult student’ rather than the intellectually engaged student he actually is (Piirto, 2007). In fact, it is likely that Sam’s aptitude to learn is years beyond that of his classmates, yet he continues to plod along with the group without ever experiencing a challenge at school. Beyond being aware that students like Sam are likely to be found in our classrooms, what can we do to ensure they are appropriately challenged? Investing in this work will not only benefit the Sams in your room but all of the others as well.

As you consider the learning that takes place in your classroom, consider how you might restructure activities in a way that removes the learning ceiling preventing your students from going as far as they can. Unfortunately, the activities we give students too often place a limit on what can be learned (Karnes & Bean, 2015). For example, a math worksheet with ten problems will cap a student’s practice to ten questions. Once they are done, that’s it! A student like Sam will be finished in a mere matter of moments - and then be ready to engage in the various disruptive behaviors described above.

Furthermore, Sam would be missing out on valuable practice because there is nothing left to do. In the example of Sam’s ecosystem project, he finished all the requirements of his work at home the night before and now had a significant chunk of class time left with no teacher-sanctioned opportunities to continue learning. Again, solving this problem requires a teacher to ask, “How can I restructure this assignment in a way that will not limit student learning?” Thinking through an answer could keep Sam dutifully learning for the rest of the week rather than causing disruptions in the back corner.

There are many variations of this practice for a teacher to consider in their planning. Some additional options to consider include:

• Build extension opportunities directly into assignments rather than leaving them as an afterthought to consider ‘on the spot’. For example, include instructions at the bottom of an assignment describing the various activities students could do when finished with the main task. Ideally, these are meaningful supplements to the final product rather than just busy work.
• Incorporate ‘passion projects’ into your classroom. These are long-term projects that encourage students to explore areas of interest within the classroom setting after they have completed their other work. These provide an excellent opportunity to channel otherwise disruptive behavior into a productive time of highly-engaged learning. This also allows the teacher to build a better understanding of their students’ interests and academic capabilities.
• Rather than expecting all students to complete the same task in the same way, offer some options up front that will allow them to choose between different levels of complexity. The teacher, of course, maintains the final authority in leading students towards options that will best meet the educational need. Ultimately, students who are prepared to engage in higher-order thinking will be able to go more deeply while still ensuring that everyone can ultimately achieve the same learning objectives.

All of these options do require some additional time in planning, yet, when viewed in light of the time otherwise lost redirecting off-task, disengaged students, the academic and behavioral benefits become clear. As teachers, it may be in everyone’s best interest for us to consider how our classrooms may become more responsive to students because Sam is not an exception. We are likely to encounter many students like him in our careers. Maintaining a goal of merely keeping students busy will not only limit what our students have opportunity to learn, but it can also position students like Sam to become the classroom troublemakers (Karnes & Bean, 2015). By choosing to instead remove the learning ceiling, we can both change that narrative and create classrooms where all students (and teachers) can thrive.

References

Karnes, F. A., & Bean, S. M. (Eds.). (2015). Methods and materials for teaching the gifted. (Fourth ed.). Prufrock Press, Inc.

Piirto, J. (2007). Talented children and adults: Their development and education (3rd ed.). Prufrock Press.

Photo by Mahdiye JV on Unsplash

It’s been several years since I’ve been in the classroom on a daily basis, but I can still remember the special kind of exhaustion that resulted from particularly disrespectful students. Sometimes, I felt that I was throwing so much energy into classroom management that I couldn’t even teach well anymore. That was a frustrating, disheartening place to be.

Recently, in a spurt of decluttering, I came across old notebooks of class notes from my years at Faith Builders and session notes from various teacher’s conferences I attended throughout my teaching career. In those notebooks, I found many wise words of advice when it comes to classroom management. Often, the words were scrawled along the side of a page containing something else (probably written down during or after a conversation), or simply recorded on a page where I wrote down things that especially stuck out to me. This is good stuff, I kept thinking as I paged through the notebooks. Every teacher should hear this.

And so, throughout this article, you’ll see some of these gems of wisdom in quotation marks. I wish that I could give credit to those who originally shared these statements, but unfortunately, I didn’t record the name of the original speaker along with the tidbit of wisdom. However, I’m going to assume that people like Gerald Miller, Sharon Yoder, Patrick Heatwole, Jonas Sauder, Piper Burdge, Anna Zehr, Steven Brubaker, Melvin Lehman, and others were contributors to this plethora of insight.

Without further ado, here is a smattering of thoughts pertaining to classroom management. If you’re in the trenches of a difficult discipline battle right now, I hope this can be helpful and encouraging to you.

Keep the “Why” of Discipline in Front of You

When you’re needing to give a reminder for what feels like the thousandth time, or separate the same two students again, or put on your teacher stare so often you fear that it’s just the way your face looks now, disciplining students can feel pervasive and all-consuming. Those are the times when a little bit of perspective is often the most needed.

Requiring a standard of behavior from your students is not something that you do just to make your life easier or just because school has rules. It’s because being under authority and needing to follow rules is a part of life. It’s because “there are consequences for doing wrong and rewards for doing good. This is a Biblical concept.” It’s because learning to control one’s impulses is a life skill.

In the book Gilead, Marilynne Robinson writes an interesting insight about the fifth commandment, (honor your father and mother). She says she thinks it’s significant that it falls between the first four, which have to do with proper worship of God, and the last five, which have to do with right conduct towards other people. She points out that it may seem like the command to honor parents belongs on the second tablet, with those regarding how to treat people. But she makes the case that it actually belongs with those that describe right worship. She says right worship is right perception—the forming in our minds of a right picture of God. And if we do not honor the humans in authority over us, then we don’t understand how to honor God who is in authority over us. The same could be said about children learning to respect authority at school.

The goal of classroom management is not to create a herd of robots who perfectly do what they’re told without a moment’s hesitation. The goal is to be a part of forming people with soft hearts that are turned towards the Father.

Set Reasonable Expectations

This is another thing it’s easy to lose sight of in the daily grind of classroom management. You can become so aware of every action of the troublemakers in your class that you start expecting more of them than is even fair or realistic.

Remember, “children are children, not miniature adults.” Call them to a high standard of behavior, but also allow them to have moments of immaturity—because they are children. Require respect, but don’t demand perfection. “We aren’t looking for perfect kids, but kids who are flourishing and growing.”

Also be aware of how your own mood at any given time can impact your response. As much as you can, strive to be consistent, kind, and loving. “Don’t send a child to prison for stealing a loaf of bread.”

Invite Students into the Solution

Involving students in their own process of growth will look different depending on what age of students you are teaching, but in general, it’s a good goal to keep in front of you when punishment or behavior modification is necessary.

Discipline should happen within a conversation, within relationship. You could try saying, “Tell me why that was not respectful.” Imagine how requiring a student to think about the impact of their own words and actions could be a powerful teaching moment.

It’s also important to make sure that you are not personally carrying the weight of a child’s change in behavior. “We need to get this changed, and you have the power to do that” is a wonderful phrase to encourage students to take ownership for their own actions.

Remember Your Own Limitations

Disrespect and disobedience has a way of making you question not only your effectiveness as a teacher, but also your worth as a person. But remember, you are not your students’ moral compass, and you are definitely not their savior.

Regardless of how much you wish you could, you cannot choose for your students. At the end of the day, they are autonomous human beings with free will. “You can’t change their hearts, but you can call them to thinking about changing their hearts.” And ultimately, the Spirit of God is the only one who can compel them to change. Be faithful to do your part in calling your students to Him, but don’t let yourself believe that you need to do His work for Him.

Stay Hopeful

Always choose to believe that the story isn’t finished being written yet. Depending on the year or the day or the moment, this can feel impossible. But because you are not the only voice speaking into this child’s life and because you serve a God who loves your students passionately and unrelentingly, you can live in a place of hope. “Remember that today is not all there is.”

The Greatest of These

“Always love. Love never fails.” You might question your effectiveness. You’ll probably have days when you feel like you’re not making progress. You will make mistakes. But if you love, your efforts are never wasted.

Quite frequently over the years, I have experienced what I call the “Teacher Nightmare.” It began in the weeks before I first started teaching school, and it tends to return a week or two before school starts each year. In my dreams at night, variations of the following scenario take place: It is the first day of school, and I am completely unprepared. I have made no lesson plans, the walls are still bare, and I have no idea what I am doing. The students arrive, and they refuse to do anything I tell them to do. The room is utter chaos. I am always so relieved to wake up and find this only a dream.

I have been surprised and somewhat amused by how many teacher friends have experienced the same thing. Perhaps this has happened to you too. While I am not here to unravel all the psychology behind this phenomenon, nor to offer you ways to avoid the Teacher Nightmare, I can tell you about some ways to keep the nightmare from coming true.

Preparing for a new school year can feel like an astronomical task, especially if you are a new teacher. Let me tell you up front: You will never be perfectly prepared. I am going into my twentieth year as a teacher, and it seems to me that by now I ought to have a foolproof system that lets me launch a new school year with minimal mental exertion. Certainly, there are some things that I have learned to streamline over the years, but every school year has its own set of challenges and new things to work through, and it is impossible to be prepared for everything.

That said, I have found that thorough preparation before school begins can make my job easier throughout the school year. One thing that has helped me is to keep a master copy of my yearly to-do list as a document on my computer. Each year when I begin school preparation, I copy and paste this list into a new document and add things as needed. Then I can check things off the list as I work. This list includes basic tasks like the following:

• Sort and organize curriculum
• Plan activities for the first day
• Arrange desks
• Put nametags on desks
• Do bulletin boards
• Organize bookshelf and repair books
• Prepare history folders
• Organize flashcards

I realize that not everyone has the luxury of extra time when preparing for the school year, but I like to do as many extras as possible to save myself time later. This is why I have also learned to keep a running list throughout the school year. On this list, I add ideas of things that could possibly be done the next summer. A fun art project I like to do with my students involves cutting many paper squares ahead of time. Cutting these squares has been added to my yearly to-do list for the beginning of the year, because it is so nice to be able to pull those squares out of the file for an easy art project during a busy school week. I staple papers together to make booklets for a project we do in history class. I prepare materials we will use for science projects. As much as possible, I stock things that I will need in order to save myself shopping trips during the school year.

I find that when necessary physical tasks have been completed, my brain is better able to focus on mental preparation that is needed. This is when I think through these sorts of things: Do I want to change any of the procedures I had last year? Did the schedule serve us well, or should something be changed? What are some new things I would like to try in my classroom this year? I think about special needs I know are present in my incoming class, and I think of ways I will deal with those needs.

Perhaps it is the mental gymnastics that bring on the Teacher Nightmare. While being thoroughly prepared is a good thing, being realistic about your limitations and letting go of the drive for perfection can help to produce peace of mind. As you prepare for the school year, may you be blessed with clear thinking, much grace, and sweet dreams!

Photo by Declan Sun on Unsplash

In these last fleeting weeks of summer before school starts, besides moving to a new building (wonderful, but lots of work), I am doing everything I possibly can to make my school year more efficient and orderly. Getting a few items in order for the entire year before school starts will save us teachers lots of time and trouble. There are so many tedious tasks, like tearing the tests out of the booklets. If we can get this done ahead of time, it streamlines our teaching time, much to our advantage.

 Here is my personal August to-do list:

• Make copies of the Bible memory program for each student for the whole year.
• Double check all textbooks and tests; make sure there are enough for each student.
• Collate all worksheets and tests; crisscross and paper clip them for easy retrieval.
• Speed drills, ditto.
• Choose program songs for the Christmas program. Order the music, hole punch it, assemble choir folders. (Keep a running list of songs that you might consider for a program all year long. Then you’ll have several ideas when it is time to choose songs in the summer.)
• Have an easily accessible list of art projects and any needed supplies. Choose the ones you want to do for the first few weeks, at least.
• Make a schedule for P.E. and have it on a clipboard. Will you do something different every day and have variety? Will you play basketball or tennis for two weeks at a time?

Besides being more time efficient and organized, deciding all of these things ahead of time prevents the student suggestion/pleading/begging nightmare. If you have already planned and made your decisions, and if you stand your ground, there will be much less (or none, ideally) discussion or cajoling from the students. And you shouldn’t allow it if there is, unless it is presented very respectfully by the students.

Photo by Michaela St on Unsplash

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