You know what's really weird to me? The idea of making and enforcing a set of rules. That's really strange. Even after working with kids, the responsibility or power of telling people how I want them to behave is foreign. I can't say I know what's best for everyone. And it just feels like a strange, unnatural thing to do. Who decided I get to make the rules?
Well, I guess the school did. And I did. And students more or less give me their implicit consent to be governed in the name of teaching them about English. Or because I'm older than them and frequently wear ties and slacks.
Well, I guess the school did. And I did. And students more or less give me their implicit consent to be governed in the name of teaching them about English. Or because I'm older than them and frequently wear ties and slacks.
I'm writing this because I'm still uncomfortable with it. Will people listen to this? Will they laugh at me? Will they ignore it? Will they be mad?
Maybe some will. But I think most students trust me as a figure of authority. And most (if not all) students don't enjoy a class that is chaotic with a frustrated teacher. And the purpose of these rules is to establish a culture that is conducive to doing cool English stuff. Because English stuff is cool. I think. That's my part of it. Along with following the rules I set for myself, I have to first make students willing participants before I manage their participation.
But I think the biggest reason to have this, and print it out, and give it to each student, and go over it with them, and remind them of it all the time, and try to ingrain it into their minds to the point that they accept it as the reality of the classroom and not a construction of my own devising (slightly nefarious): is that the alternative really really stinks.
Maybe some will. But I think most students trust me as a figure of authority. And most (if not all) students don't enjoy a class that is chaotic with a frustrated teacher. And the purpose of these rules is to establish a culture that is conducive to doing cool English stuff. Because English stuff is cool. I think. That's my part of it. Along with following the rules I set for myself, I have to first make students willing participants before I manage their participation.
But I think the biggest reason to have this, and print it out, and give it to each student, and go over it with them, and remind them of it all the time, and try to ingrain it into their minds to the point that they accept it as the reality of the classroom and not a construction of my own devising (slightly nefarious): is that the alternative really really stinks.
The alternative is that I have to assert, by my own force of will and presence, that I am the alpha. And that justice and fairness begins and ends with my ability to intimidate and hold power over my subjects.
So what does that mean? That means that my reaction to student behavior is more or less dependent on my mood in that moment. It means that my means of enforcing the rules is intimidation and coercion. I have to yell, I have to show I'm bigger, and mean and scary and powerful. And it sets an example that that is the method of holding power in the class. So what will a defiant student do? Lash out, be bigger, be louder, be more obnoxious. I can't and won't do that.
What it really comes down to is being like my supervisor, Richard. He never yelled. He never intimidated. He stuck to the rules. He discussed the rules. He framed discipline in the context of the rules. Which benefit everyone. Not just him. He was just being fair.
And so I guess the trick is two-fold:
What it really comes down to is being like my supervisor, Richard. He never yelled. He never intimidated. He stuck to the rules. He discussed the rules. He framed discipline in the context of the rules. Which benefit everyone. Not just him. He was just being fair.
And so I guess the trick is two-fold:
1) Internalize these rules for myself so that I see actions (my own and my students') in these terms.
2) Make students believe that these aren't just things I came up with for an assignment and typed into a document this morning.
Culture. Making culture. Being authority. Really weird. It's the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
Culture. Making culture. Being authority. Really weird. It's the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
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