13 September 2006

Just Keep On Keep On-ing

13 September 2006

So I started this week in doubt. Last week was a little rougher than I would've liked and was preceded by a week that was not just a little rougher than I would've liked. 6th and 7th period with the ninth graders is interesting to say the least. In this din of pubescent drama, disrespect and just straight-up noise, as you may or may not imagine, I was less than thrilled to learn on Saturday we had to read a book whose "graphics," "charts" and "scenarios" had me less than thrilled when I flippantly tossed the book aside. To my surprise, the book repeated information that I imagine I've been getting all along in a way that made sense to me.

For instance, for much of the summer I was told something along these lines: "Your students WANT a structured, disciplined environment although they will rebel and act out against it to no end." To my ears, this justification for a borderline (or not so borderline) authoritarian classroom was thinly guised paternalism. I needed a better reason than someone telling me that deep-down, in their heart-of-hearts, my students craved what they said they hated.

In contrast, Payne's discussion of the three voices with which we can communicate with our students makes sense to me. In fact, her whole framing of discipline as instruction on the "hidden rules" of middle-class America makes sense to me. That is the sort of vocabulary I've been struggling to find as I've wanted to say that discipline and classroom management are forms of instruction as much as the content in the classroom. I immediately started using more "I" statements and personal justifications with my students in order to elaborate on my decisions. I'm not sure this has had any effect on the students yet, but I felt much more comfortable almost immediately. I could feel how it opens up a space for student input in management other than the obligatory "I wasn't talking" or "I'm not doing those copy lines" or "Get out of my face".

Payne's argument only got better as she links many of these discipline issues to the poverty our students live with. While I found a lot of the psycho-babble reductionist and sometimes ridiculous (the stages of development, etc), as a general pattern (which is all she purports to present) I appreciated her argument. In particular, I get a lot of hope from the chapter on relationships. She splits up our actions as teachers into two categories: deposits and withdrawals. Laughing at students' jokes, kindnesses and being open to feedback all win points here. Whether or not my actions actually effect my students in that sort of cumulative fashion, I can get a lot of hope from the thought.

Having just completed my fourth or fifth (who counts anymore anyway) reading of Gatsby, I'm reminded of my good friend (we're good friends by now, right?) Nick's admission: Everyone suspects himself (his word, not mine) of at least one cardinal virtue. I'm far from honest, but I like to think I'm patient.

I'll keep depositing in these other accounts until the bank finally foreclosed on my mortgage and just keep waiting. At the same time, I'll keep writing those checks (different kind) on the board and keep having 12-20 assigned to detention, but I'll also feel good about laughing at their jokes (even about me, if they're funny).