We’ve all been there. It’s the last few days before school is back in. You are running around like crazy putting the finishing touches on your classroom and curriculum. Rushing in and out of meetings and just wanting “more time in your room” to finish getting organized. The energy and excitement for a new school year are palpable. New books and supplies are piled up high, and you are anxious to get your class list so that you can get items labeled. And then you finally get the list, only to have it knock the wind out of your sails. Maybe there are more students on there than you expected. Maybe, when compared with your grade level colleagues lists, you feel you have a disproportionate amount of “problem” students. Or maybe it’s your turn to have a whole grade of students that previous teachers have been referring to as “difficult.” You know, THAT group. Suddenly you are feeling deflated and defeated with negative expectations before the students even make it through the door.
Please, don’t do this to yourself or your students! Our perception and expectations form our reality. If we start the year with the idea that this is going to be “the Worst Class Ever” then that is going to be our experience. That’s not me sticking a “positivity band-aid” on the situation, that’s basic confirmation bias at play.
But how do we reconcile the desire to stay positive with the reality that there are many students out there who are challenging, and likely a bunch of them are on your list?
Remembering these 5 tips can help.
Don’t Believe the Bad Press
First, the issue of “class cards.” Many schools have teachers fill out class cards at the end of the year. They include basic information on academic skills, services students receive and, in many cases, behavior issues. Sure, call them “study habits” or “success indicators” if you wish, we all know the type of information it’s looking for. I’ve seen comments can range from diplomatic -“Johnny focuses best when sitting alone”, “inconsistent handing in homework” to less than diplomatic “disrespectful”, “thinks he knows everything”, “lies and steals.” To be honest I try not to even read them. I make sure I know if students have any special needs, medical conditions, services or custody situations I need to be aware of. I get a feel for their academics. But behavior? I prefer to form my own opinion based on MY experiences. Just because a student may (or actually may not) have acted a certain way for another teacher, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will act that way for you. Students respond differently to different adults and teaching styles. Anyone who ever came back from a sick day or a conference to find a sad note from a substitute knows that.
When it comes to hearing negative things about students, I also find it helps to consider the source. Is the person complaining about them generally easily overwhelmed by student behavior? Do they have poor classroom management skills? Do they tend to be negative in general? Again, perception and expectation create your reality. I had a colleague who complained every year for a decade that her current students were “the worst class I’ve ever had.” I had that same group of students after her every year. Sure there were some challenging ones. There is no “perfect class” where every student is 100% compliant and academically proficient (how boring would that be?) But my experience with those students seemed to be dramatically different from hers.
Everyone Deserves a Fresh Start
Let’s say you have a student on your roster whom you know from personal experience can be challenging. Then what? Leave room for the fact that students change and mature. Everyone deserves a fresh start. Just because they behaved a certain way in the past, doesn’t mean they will necessarily behave that way in the future. Perhaps their situation has changed. Perhaps being with a different group of classmates will be a positive thing. Maybe they just needed a fresh start with a new teacher. Be the teacher who expects and inspires the best from them. If a student has been on a behavior contract in the past, don’t immediately assume they will need one this year. Let their behavior this year speak for itself.
Recognize the Potential for Professional Growth
Over the years one thing I have come to recognize and appreciate is that much of my growth has come from learning to help challenging students feel successful. Often it was the student who I didn’t know what to do with who led me to seek out and try new strategies and hone my teaching practice. It was the student who was acting out in the most unproductive ways that I needed to make the biggest effort to connect with and who, at the end of an exhausting year, I realized I would miss the most. Life’s gifts often come in strange packages. You will not experience much professional growth if you have an “easy year” with an “easy class.”
Get a Little Zen
I’m not an “Everything happens for a reason” person. However, I trust that, with the right attitude, we can make things generally work out for the best. I have confidence in my classroom management skills and my ability to connect with even the most troubled students. So I adopt the mindset “The more issues a student has, the more they need a competent teacher.” I trust that administrators put this child in my room for a reason, and the reason isn’t that they want to drive me away from teaching or that they are playing out some vendetta. When teachers are doing a post mortem of their class list and bemoaning their fate, try not to join the pity party. When they ask about your list maybe just say something like “I trust I got the students who can learn from me.” And then pretend not to notice when they roll their eyes.
Be Mindful of the Story You Tell
This is an extension of my last comment. The stories we tell ourselves matter. Where we focus our attention impacts our perception, our attitude, and our results. Make sure that when you are casually interacting with other teachers you the stories you tell are of things that are going right in your room. Do your conversations revolve around the 20 students in your class who are giving their best effort and being compliant, or the 3 or 4 whose behavior is bothering you? If a student has been challenging you all morning and you could do with a break from them, why would you spend your lunch break complaining about them to your co-workers? That’s not taking a break from them, that’s inviting them to lunch.
Please keep these tips in mind, and don’t panic when you see your roster. I hope you start your year with energy, enthusiasm, and optimism! Now, I have to run. I’m off to get my class list 🙂
