I Don't Come To Work For Kids To Like Me...

So now educators you have been back at work for a few weeks now and hopefully you have gotten back into your routine of things and your students have also come back to reality that they are in school. Take a look at the title of this post and think about how many times you have said this or you have heard seasoned professionals say this. I know for myself, I have said this statement many times, partly because I had heard others say it, but internally that is how I felt; I really wasn't going to work for students to like me, but I was just going to teach and not really worry about my relationships with my students. Boy...was I wrong and hurting and impacting the learning of my students.

 

Managing the Madness (Berckmeyer, 2018) is a book that the middle school that I work at is reading and if you are an educator, I truly recommend this book. This book has reaffirmed my beliefs in what I have been learning in the last few years about not only middle school students but about relationships with students in general. While this blog is about my own personal experiences in education, I will back my statements with data, that is the nerd in me. Robert Marzano, Jana S. Marzano, and Debra J. Pickering (2003) stated that teachers who develop meaningful relationships with students have fewer behavior problems and better academic performance in their classrooms than teachers who do not. If you have not gotten the picture, RELATIONSHIPS MATTER!!! Yes you do come to school for students to like you. Now, there may be skeptics that say, "Well, I do not want to be their friend, I want to be their teacher." While this is very true, there must be boundaries; schools must get back to being safe and loving environments that are welcoming for students to come. What are at loving and safe environments? RELATIONSHIPS!!!! They matter, and as an educator you should make it your mission to build positive relationships with your students. Life is about RELATIONSHIPS, how you build them, how you maintain and keep them, and how you repair them. Below are my suggestions on how to begin building relationships with students no matter what time of the year it is: 

1. Greet students as they enter the classroom. 
2. Learn the name and at least one or two significant pieces of information about everyone of your students that you teach. 
3. Say hi, good morning, how are you doing,... to at least 10 different students a week.  
4. Call home and give a student's parent a good report at least once a week. 
5. Attend extra curricular activity events and cheer for the students.  
6. Tell your classes at least three things about you that are not school or work related.  
7. Have genuine and honest conversations with your students on a weekly basis.  

As always leave a comment and let me know what you think about this addition of EduSense.  

Berckemeyer, J. C. (2018). Managing the madness: a practical guide to understanding young adolescents & classroom management. Westerville: Association for Middle Level Education.

Marzano, R. J., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. J. (2003) Classroom Management that works. 
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 

The Return

This post comes at the hinges of many educators getting ready to return to work after the Christmas holidays. If you are like me, you so much needed the Christmas break. It should have been a time for you to re-energize, binge eat, binge watch a Netflix or Hulu series, sleep in, play unlimited hours of video games, and spend time with family. All of the things that I just mentioned are stress relievers (a topic that I will deal with at length during a later post) and something that we as educators need to cultivate and learn to do more of on a regular basis and not just during breaks.

However, I want you as the educator, parent, blog reader, etc to think about our students that are preparing to return back to school. This can be a joy for many students because the environment that they live in is not the most stable or safe environment. School has become a safe haven for them. Then there are others that do not like school at all and are just coming to keep their parents out of jail or because their parents are forcing them to come. At any rate you, the teacher, will be getting both of those students back in the classroom. What will make the difference in each of these student's return to school? YOU will! You, the teacher, will be the change agent, be it positive or negative, in that student's return to school. As educators we must realize that we possess the power to literally change a student's life from simply the way in which we view them and treat them. Even though you may not want to be back at work because your break was too short, never let the students know that. You must enter your classroom knowing that you are getting ready to impact a child's life for eternity. Like the rock thrown in a ocean, you initially do not see the impact, but the waves carry on for miles. Just like that, what you will do upon your return into the classroom from the break will set the atmosphere and send waves for the rest of the semester. Below are some tips to keep in mind as you begin a new semester:

1. Reestablish the rules and procedures for the classroom-Even though you may think they should remember the rules, never assume this. 
2. Be organized- No child wants to come into an environment, especially from a break, where the teacher is not organized and does not know what he/she is going to do next. 
3.  Rebuild relationships that were rocky or had been damaged during the 1st semester- No matter what happened you will have to look at and interact with that student for the next 90 or so school days. 
4. Say hi, hello, what's up, how is your day going, to at least 10 students a day- You never know how much just these few words will change a student's day.  
5. Greet the students as they enter your classroom- This sets the atmosphere and boost morale in your classroom.  

These are just a few ideas to assist you in creating a welcoming atmosphere as your students return from the break. Feel free to leave a comment or follow me on Twitter @dbchandler28 . 

Keeping Calm: You Still Have the Power

This post is an unusually one because it is in response to the OKCPS Blogging Challenge. I think I might be the only administrator that is participating in the Blogging Challenge. Our assignment is to blog about any topic concerning education that we  aids us in our everyday work in education. As an administrator, I get to see a totally different side of education. I mostly deal with the political side of the profession, parent concerns, improving instruction within the school, and I deal with student discipline. During this blog I want to deal with student discipline and some techniques that I have learned over the years that aid me in dealing with student discipline.

Now, I have been in education for a 11 years now, and one of the first things that I ever learned was that in order to survive in education you must form good relationships. Not only with your fellow teachers, administration, parents, but mostly with students. Students are your customers and ultimately they are the ones that will matter the most. So, before I even administer discipline or try to discipline a student I must first get to know the students and build a rapport with the students. Students need to know that they can trust you and they need to know that even when you administer discipline that it is not from a place of hate or malice but from a place of love. Believe it or not students want boundaries and do not mind discipline, because most of the time they know that they have done wrong, they just want to know how far they are able to push the boundaries.

Secondly, when dealing with student discipline always do some investigating and find out what the root cause of the issue or behavior. Many times a student will act out because, a) they are having a bad day b) issues at home c) bad relationship with you as the teacher d) all of the above. As an educator we must take these factors into account, not saying that you won't still administer discipline, but it will help you understand and empathize with the student. Among the many things that I have learned in my years in education is that today's students deal with way more issues, be it adult issues, than I ever did while I was in school. As educators I believe that it is our duty to not only educate but to also guide our students through difficult times in their lives.

When you do have to administer discipline here are some tips that will surely aid you and not cause a major blow up:

1. Never embarrass a student or belittle a student in front of the rest of the class. This is the easiest way to damage a teacher/student relationship in a way that probably will not be able to be repaired. 
2. Many times pulling a student away from the rest of the class and speaking with that student will alleviate the problem that is going on. This is good because many times because the student will share things with you that he/she would not normally share with you in front of the class.  
3. Don't hold grudges. Now, I know as teachers we are human and many times a student will do things that get under our skin and get on our last nerve. As educated educators we must use every fiber within us to not hold grudges against the students and give them a clean slate every time that you deal with them. Remember "Foolish is found in the heart of a child." Our students are still growing and have not figured it out yet. 
4. Choose your battles wisely. Many times students will do things just to see if they can get a rise out of you, and they want your attention. So, choose your battles wisely and do let the students see you rattled. 
5. Lastly, KEEP YOUR COOL and do not yell or raise your voice. You might be reading this and think to yourself, yeah right. Believe me, it can be done. I rarely raise my voice because I realize that as the adult and the educator I still have all of the power and authority. The minute that I begin to raise my voice and yell, I have just given up that power and I let the student know what actions they can do to get me out of my element. When situations like this come and you feel yourself loosing control, breath, step away from the situation and regain composure.  

I hope this helps you in area of student discipline and classroom management.