Another Manic Monday, and Hug Boy

Today was definitely a Monday. The kids were dragging, the teachers were dragging, and you knew everyone was already psyched for Friday to be here. For some reason, this Monday seemed especially draining. Maybe it was the fact that I had an extra 10 kids in almost every class because the Spanish teacher has yet to show her face. Or perhaps it was the fact that I was running errands all during my break. Or maybe I was too worn out from my fretful weekend that I couldn’t process any more classroom woes. I think it was a combination of all three.

It’s really frustrating to feel like I’ve already run out of effective classroom management techniques and it’s only the third week of school. I’m learning a few new ones each day, but they don’t work much longer than about five minutes. I made up my own writing assignments for my kids over the weekend, and I was able to give one out already today, so we’ll see how it works. It’s difficult for me to determine what kind of punishment is a fair punishment. The main culprit in my room is that people are constantly talking over me. It’s rude, it’s disrespectful, and they know it’s not how to treat any teacher – or, from a parent’s perspective, it could be a new teacher’s sheer inability to control her classroom. I actually had a parent stop by today to pick up her child early from school. She peered in to my room of chaos and disorder (of course she had to come into the class where I had boys doing back flips in the middle of the room), and she asked me how long I had been teaching at the school. When I said it was my first year, she practically had a “well NOW it all makes sense” look on her face. I know that a very young and new teacher equates to “fresh meat” for students, but does that really have to mean that my teaching will not be taken seriously at all? I’m afraid that when I make my next phone call home, the parent will just pass it off as my inability to control my classroom and teach well. I fear that it may be why the parent I called last week never returned my voicemail.

On the lighter side, there were some kids that I was very excited to see today. Like all of the students to whom I gave “ROCKSTAR” awards – it was awesome to see their faces light up when they saw the “treasure chest” I made up with all the random trinkets I had collected over the years. Or the little four-year-old with adorable, slightly pudgy cheeks that smiles and waves to me whenever she walks by me. And I will always love seeing the kid I have affectionately named “Hug Boy” come down the hall every morning. He gives the best hugs I have ever gotten from a kid, bearing his toothy grin and his arms open wide as he careens into my leg. What’s even better is that I don’t even think I have him in my class yet.

Oh Hug Boy – it’s you who gets me through days like today.

P.S. - For any of you teachers out there that may be reading my blog, please feel free to offer any suggestions for effective classroom management.