Here and there

I spend hour upon hour planning a lesson--making sure everything’s clear, flows well, will fit within a 50 minute period, and is relevant to my students’ lives. I walk into the room, and the moment the bell ringer begins, the material we’re learning that day is no longer my focus. It’s like I have a script for how we’ll go through the material, and my energy then shifts to making sure the room doesn’t devolve into chaos. This leaves very little room for the “teachable moment” because I’m plowing through my plan and afraid to deviate for fear of my lesson crumbling. 

There are the same students who act up day after day, and I feel torn at the start of every class. On the one hand, I don’t want to give them an inch to test me again. I want them to know I’m serious. On the other hand, I want them to start over new every day. I don’t want them to think I’ve pigeon-holed them. 

Small victories so far:

-I called a mom last Friday to introduce myself and to her update her on her child’s progress in the class. I told her that her daughter was doing really well in class, completing her work, and being respectful. The mom said, “Thank you so much for calling me. You don’t know it, but you just made my weekend. You really did. No one ever calls me to tell me that she’s doing well. I always expect bad things from her cause I don’t want to be proven wrong, but you just made me so happy.”

-There was a boy in Photo Club who never wanted to take any photos. Finally I pulled him aside and just put a camera in his hand. I asked him if he had used a camera before, and he said, “No.” He was a shy boy, younger than the other students in our group, and didn’t have much confidence, so I didn’t want it to be obvious to the other students in our group that he did not know how to use a camera. I just guided him in setting up a shot, demonstrated where the button was to take the photo, and modeled how to zoom in and out. The next few days he was more open to using the camera. The next week he was passing me on the way out of breakfast and fist bumped me as he said, “Yeah! Photo club!”

-One of the boys in my class has opened the door for me a few times and greets me with, “Good morning, Ms. Schmidt” or “Have a good afternoon, Ms. Schmidt.” I have an official greeting duty at the door to the cafeteria during breakfast, and more and more students are starting to look me in the eye at 7:30 in the morning and say, “Good morning” back rather than walking by with a blank stare. 

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