The Bandwagon

Sometimes it takes me so long to jump on the bandwagon. Sometimes it’s because I just can’t find where it is, but there are other times when I know exactly what I should be doing, but yet I wait. I don’t know why I wait so long; with friends, my classes, my spiritual life. It’s February, and today was the first day where I gave the freshmen homework to work on in class and I still felt like a competent, in control teacher by the end of the class period. It was incredible feeling knowing that they were learning, and that I was still in control of my classroom. I’m pretty sure I know what made the difference too. Right before class, Jacqui told me that the freshmen girls had asked her to do things the way I do them. I was stunned. Since when was I any sort of example for classroom management? (Remember?)

Things definitely have been changing. Just last week I gave the freshmen a seating chart, and you would have thought I was passing out death sentences instead of seat assignments. Immediately the asking to switch started. For the first time, I didn’t cave in and I made them sit in their assigned seats and told them that I would be out on supervision in the afternoon, and if they had a major problem with their seat, we could address it together then. No one came and talked to me. I knew I had given those with legitimate concerns the opportunity they needed to talk to me, and I had stayed firm at the same time. After the first few days of pulling teeth to get students to sit in assigned seats, I really haven’t had as many problems, and definitely fewer than I’ve had in the beginning of the year.

I've finally come to the point where I don't even think twice about copying someone else's discipline techniques, and I've heard myself, on more than one occasion, repeating another teacher's sentence verbatim. I've had these teachers around me for six months now, so why has it taken me this long to even start getting my act together?

So back to that bandwagon. What took me so long to climb on board? Was there any hope of me figuring all this out earlier? Do people really have being an SM down to a science? Are there really phases that you go through, and I'm just finally at the listening phase? I really don't know, but regardless of what is making the difference, I'm glad that change is coming.

I'm so incredibly grateful I serve a patient God.