Ok, fellow secondary art teacher friends...let's talk classroom management. How do we even begin to make our art classroom studios the productive, engaging, happy place that we desire while maintaining some semblance of order with today's teens?? It's probably the question I find myself pondering most over the summers when I reflect on what worked and what TANKED the previous year. After over 29 years in the profession, you would think I'd have that settled, BUTTTTTT...enter cell phones and the everchanging fashion trends, new slang, and cultural shifts, and my goose is cooked up fresh every year! So, since by no means do I consider myself an expert, and I fully acknowledge that by the time you read this post, things could change again. However, these are 5 things that have helped me to manage my classroom over the years.
Keep up the enthusiasm! If we struggle to muster up, through facial expression, body language, tone, and energy, the passion for our subject, then how on earth can we expect our students to? Trust me, I know what it is like to have to "fake it, till I make it" when difficult things in our personal lives like illness or death of a close loved one occur. Sometimes during my mom's two-year battle with cancer and passing, I felt like it would crush me. Somehow, I managed to still give my students a good experience because they deserved it. I also found that once they were feeling happy, safe, and creative, I too felt that way! So, win-win. On the other hand, on days I let my negative emotions spill over into the classroom (which is human btw!), I noticed discipline issues were quicker to arise and I was not in the head space to deal with them as rationally. Lose-lose.
Consistency is key. If we want our students to follow our classroom management plan, we have to be consistent in it's delivery. As tough as it is to stop when you are multasking a hundred things, and issue that consequence when you see that cellphone out under the table or you see that eraser go sailing past another student's head; we have to address it consistently. One of my favorite movies can be used as the perfect analogy. There's a scene in the first Jurassic Park movie when the head games keeper introduces the visiting scientists to the raptor fence/wall and explains that the alpha raptor, a female, has the other raptors testing the electric fences for weaknesses. If they in turn test a spot and get a shock, then the raptors are smart enough not to test the fence in that area again. Follow me here. But if they tested and got no shock, people would have died much sooner in that movie!! Make no mistake. They are testing our fences! If they do something that you have expressly told them there is a specific consequence for and get away with it, then they WILL DO IT AGAIN. You can count on it. What's worse, is when we decide that this time we will enforce our consequence, but then we receive the unwelcome response "You didn't say anything when Johnny did it yesterday?!" We won't have a leg to stand on! So, breathe, stop, no matter what you are doing, and issue the consequence.
Try not to take it personally. When a student does break with the plan, keep calm and issue the consequence without taking their offense as somehow a lack of respect for you. In addition, if they push back when you issue the consequence, explain calmly, ONCE, that this is the established, posted, consequence for this action. It is as simple as a + b = c. You did this thing, I witnessed this thing, and that results in this consequence. Maintain a firm but neutral tone, body language, and facial expression during this exchange even if the student deflects, denies, or becomes combative. Also, remain at a comfortable distance instead of lording over or leaning into them. This tends to make them feel threatened and can result in escalating the situation so that in their mind they feel they have to be abusive to you to save face in front of their peers. It is also okay if all this to this point happens in front of other students so that they can see this as an example of the way the discipline plan works. However, if the student does not comply at this point, either take them into the hallway, OR, if at all possible, explain to the student that you are going to walk away now, but would like to see them after class for a few minutes. This will give them time to cool down and you also. Afterall, we have feelings too and our buttons can also be pushed!
Pause and think before you react. If a student's behavior needs to be addressed but strays outside of the edges of what normally happens so that you aren't immediately sure how to handle it, it's okay to take a moment to figure out how you want to address it. You could say something like, "Johnny, this behavior (fill in the blank) is not acceptable. I need you to stop immediately. I will be back in a moment to talk to you about this." Then think it through. What part of what they did broke with classroom rules or protocol? What is a logical consequence for that action? For example, several years ago I noticed a student facetiming someone on her phone during class. I said something to the effect of, "Suzie, you are not allowed to have out your device, please go put it in the box" (I have a cellphone jail if they are caught with their phone in my classroom it goes in the box on my desk with a lid until class is over.) She replied, with dismissive expression and posture, "But I'm on the phone with my mom" and went back to her conversation. I saw red. What I wish I had done is state, "That is not acceptable behavior. Please put your phone in the box now and I will talk to you later in class." Then, as hard as it would have been, I should have then WALKED AWAY and gave her a minute to reflect and hopefully make the decision to comply. Instead, I raised my eyebrows and said something to the effect of "I don't care if you are on the phone with the President of the United States. I asked you to get off your phone." I'm sure my face was all kinds of twisted up too. Yep...not my finest moment. And, as you may have guessed, it ended badly. She blew up, mom started screaming at me from the phone, the class was on the edge of their seat wondering what was about to happen, and it ended with me also yelling in, well, let's just say not a nice way, as well as a referral for gross disrespect that caused two days of suspension for the student causing her to miss my class and not only ruined my relationship with her, but also with others in the classroom who felt I dealt with her unfairly. Now, if that didn't cause you to run screaming from this blog post, then I want you to know that I share this with all transparency and humility, so that you will know that although I have been around the block, I still make mistakes-BIG ONES!! Which leads me to my last and best point...
Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself and apologize when called for. First of all, teens are very smart and can smell a phony a mile away, and one of the biggest mistakes that you can make is to think that because you are the authority that this somehow means that you never have to say that you are sorry or that you are automatically gifted their respect. Those good old days are long gone! In today's classroom, if you mess up, it is best to own up to it. They will respect you more for it. If you don't, you could lose their respect. Second, laughter is the best medicine. I'll never forget, I had this student that was a real class clown, and I was dealing with a sick mom at home. I was worn, slap out, and struggling not to be aggravated by even little things. One day, he walked into my classroom and called out loudly, "Mrs. Queen!" I steeled myself what was coming next, sure that it would either a) irk me, or b) break with classroom potocol and have to be addressed. He then said, as he handed me a full sized Snickers bar, "Here, because you're not you when you're hungry." I was totally flabbergasted and touched, (and no, not just because I love chocolate!), because it was an olive branch and we both knew it. I laughed, he laughed, and things were different between us after that. I learned to appreciate his humor and he learned with coaching, not to take it too far! This list could go on and on of successes and failures in managing my classroom over the years. Most of the time, I learned, as we all do by trial and error, thankful to the good Lord above, that every semester, I got to start over with a fresh batch and hopefully do better. A quote that always stuck with me from my early teacher training days was this... "I've come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.” Haim Ginott
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