On Classroom Management#2 – It Will Happen Eventually

Classroom Management#2 – It will happen eventually, or how not to let it happen to you.
But first, a short clip to warn you of why you must keep control.

I suppose it was a late warm September morning not even quite 9:05 am, a Friday , apparently all of my students had eaten crack for breakfast. Something bad was going to happen. Let me set the scene…when entering the building the morning , a slight chill crawled half way up my back. Something was going to happen today. Homeroom was a a bit lively, if not annoying. I had to patrol the aisles to make sure everyone was at least somewhat solemn during the pledge. Announcements were intercepted by an administrator catching a kid with his head down on his desk (a big no-no here).

Period 1 – English 9 – was a little disappointing. Actually, a lot disappointing. The kids weren’t really “here.” I mean, they were giving off the wall answers to things that I knew they knew. They weren’t trying to be fuckwads, yet clearly, they were. I brushed off my shoulder…told myself that it wasn’t me. The weekend would refresh my hellions back into their normal selves.

Then Period 2 – Composition 9 entered. At 9:17, 4 minutes after their entry…I snapped. I couldn’t handle the sound of their voices. Not a one, including those that raised their hands and waited patiently. I told one kid, JP, just put your hand down right now. I think I growled it, too. Their normal pre-writing/journal entry quickly changed from my planned topic to “Why I must enter Mr. Kent’s classroom silently.” I dealt detention slips as if I were a master cardsmith. My patience in hoping that my well thought out rules and policies would prop me up failed. I slumped into my desk, and prayed for just an ounce of strength to make it to my Prep (Period 4), which unfortunately was stilled blocked by period 3. If I could make it to my Prep, then I could breathe and re-adjust myself for the oncoming battle that would be the after lunch periods. Would I be able to not destroy the self esteem of some fledging adolescent in Period 3?

I digress, I don’t think I did too much damage. One kid, MT, Dominican, 14, somewhat “geeky” but much more self-aware than I was at that age, well he attempted to push the envelope with smart assed answers as he had earlier in Period 1. And out of that envelope fell detention after detention after detention, and even after the example had been made the chattering continued. The straw was dancing in the air towards the camel’s back, but they were saved by the bell. I ushered them out the door with a grimace that half-heartedly said “Have a good weekend” but really wanted to warn “I’m going to get you back, ‘lil fuckers.”

During my Prep, I frantically googled “Classroom Management.” I was determined to use the next 37 minutes of my life forging an armor that would allow me to remain in control of not just the students, but myself. Most human beings hate when they are speaking but the person who they are talking too doesn’t hear them. So factor in actually having to compete with someone who thinks they are being sly enough not to be heard, but clearly is creating a distraction. One of my favorite teachers’ lines comes from. The second I felt whispering was occurring, I would look indirectly towards the back of the room, just glazing over their heads and say “I’m not going to compete with you.” It diffuses the problem without being demeaning or overly defensive.

Here’s a few links to some sights that I thought had some decent info.

A basic definition of Classroom Management
This page details different policies for College but some can certainly apply to HS

This breaks down for new teachers without classroom experience. Be wary, it is a Geocities homepage.

One from the New Teachers Network of NYC

Many more sites exist out there. However, in the next part, I will detail to you exactly what I did to make it through the impending 5 Periods of Friday Doom.

[Chester Kent]

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