Oh Sweet Victory...

Maybe it's just one day. Or one lesson. Or one individual student who asks the question, "Mrs. Brown, I understand that story tellers use a 'tone' when they read a story, but how can I use 'tone' in my writing?"

It could just be one thing - but for that moment, I am the victor. I am the victor of student learning and I have conquered my disengaged, apathetic enemy.

All you need is one.

Today, it was 4th period, which is a HUGE deal.

I spoke with some other teachers during lunch and decided to forsake all fears of parent retribution or student disrespect. I was going to make an impression in an unemotional, distanced kind of way.

I have a policy that I've let slide (because of some disgruntled parent comments I received at parent teacher conference): students are to be in their seat with their materials ready to go by the time the bell rings. I haven't really stuck to that policy since the 4th or 5th week of school because of the aforementioned comments. But today, I drove it home.

I warned the students who came early that I was marking anyone who didn't have their journal, pencil, and planner out with their seat in their seat by the time the bell rang. Those students began to panic and spread the word down the hall (funniest thing to watch). Students began to run into my classroom, sitting in trepidation for what was going to happen next.

The bell rang. One student (one of my lovely little sassy-pants) stood up and walked to the pencil sharpener.

"(Student), you're tardy."

The response was instantaneous: "Say what? Seriously? I'm just sharpening my pencil."

And (NOW) I know better than to get in a power struggle. So, I turned to the class and simply asked: "Raise your hand: what are my expectations for you at the moment the bell rings?"

And I had several students respond appropriately and that ended it. Right then and there.

And they knew I meant business.

Every question out of my mouth for the rest of the period was proceded by a statement like, "Raise your hand:...." or "By show of hands..." and that worked well too.

And then, they had a worksheet. I established the expectation that they would not talk, and if they finished early, they would take out their books to read.

And it worked. It worked! It worked! It worked!

Was it miserable for me because I knew we could be having a lot more fun with this reflection assignment? YES! But, for today, it worked.

Because we were talking about strategies and looking at how we used strategies with our reflection writing, I ended the class with a small and very controlled discussion about the strategies I was using with them.

And, for the first time in about 3 weeks, that class was let out at the bell.

Today was a small victory for me. I will ride my victorious float all the way into my weekend (upon which float you will find me grading the 170+ narratives that my students just turned in. Yay for end of term!)

I love teaching. And at the end of the day, that feels like the biggest victory of all.