Sorry for being so erratic in my "journaling" (sp?). This past week has been exhausting for me, and the next few don't look any better. :(

Anyhoooo. What to do about those kids that just won't do their work, or take any interest in their education? I mean L&L has some interesting alternatives, not all will work for me. Even this last week's reading still comes down to the initial chapter: choice. I have incorporated choice into my classroom management more lately. Seems to work well. I had a couple of boys who insisted on talking while I was teaching them. I told them that being in my class was a choice, no big deal. They insisted on continuing with their behavior, so I put them out, and told them I was sorry that they didn't want to be in there. The asst. principal came by and "harvested" them. He asked if he needed to do anything with them. I told him no, they just decided that they didn't want to be in my class. He took them away, I've got no idea what he said to them, but he made them apologize to the class. No more problem.

My temper when dealing with certain problem students this year is better than last year. Guess I'm growing. It has been a conscious choice on my part. I am much calmer when dealing with some problem students, but not all. Never came close to hitting anyone though, thank goodness. However, no matter how many books you read, or how much advice you get, some kids will catch you off-guard and send you over the edge. I am reminded of a signature line used by noted aviation author Barrett Tillman on a history forum I frequent:

"You will never rise to the occasion, but you will default to your level of training."

I don't knwo where Barrett got this, or if it is his, but I do think that it rings true. Teaching, despite what the naysayers posit, is a stressful situation. We are on stage, and that gets tiresome. Add to that some classroom wag who blind-sides you with some kind of crack, or says something to another student that is way out of line, and your unconscious reactions can kick in. That, in my humble opinion at least, is when you have to have trained yourself how to react. I'm not saying I am any kind of guru at this, I'm not and it is still a constant struggle, but I do try to train myself not to over react to situations.