My antics on Thursday seemed to grab some student’s attention.  The next day, I had a student who had been particularly mouthy apologize that she didn’t finish the letter of apology she had begun to write in addition to her paper answering the question “why are you here?”  Four out of thirty-two students didn’t have their homework.  Some of what was turned in was pretty weak at first sight and from some of the students I accepted that.

From a couple, I did not. 

One kid asked me to just take a detention for not doing his homework and I said that was fine, but I still was expecting the paper on Monday.  If not, then it would be detention again.  I told those students that I have a phone with a repeat function and if they don’t turn in this paper it will recur on my phone everyday until December 23^rd.  Everyday I will ask them when my reminder pops up.

Do you have my paper explaining why you are here?

I kind of like the look I get from a defiant kid when they know I’m serious.  Maybe it doesn’t happen the first day after the paper is late and they get detention a second time.  After enough detentions for one homework assignment, they start to learn I’m serious.  That’s the look I like to receive from a defiant child. 

Their look suggests that they understand I care enough about this issue to talk to them every single day about it and assign a consequence for not completing it.

My challenging class on Friday was sedate enough to begin isolating the troublemakers.  I’m going to do my best on Monday to come in positive and remark on the good things happening in the classroom.  I can’t keep beating all the kids down without eventually souring the good students.  I’ll do my best to reflect on the positive things I see happening in my classroom in an effort to give my negative students models for positive behavior.

My antics on Thursday also seemed to have a positive effect on some teacher’s perceptions about me.  Especially, it seems, the teachers who had these students last year.  One teacher, who got to observe me marching the kids around the basketball court in the hot sun, smiled while he recounted the details to another teacher in front of me.  One teacher initiated a good morning to me from down the hall, on Friday, when he hadn’t given me the time of day to say good morning to me when passing in the hallways earlier in the year.

The beauty of teaching is that I’m not finished with anything.  Now I have relationships I must manage in order to remain positive myself and allow my students the dignity of a positive classroom experience.  In some regard, my intention in educating is to create a place students like to enter.  I figure that if they like coming to class, they’re more likely to learn something in my classroom.