Read, smile and realize “I know that.” That should be the response a teacher has to reading Sarah McKibben’s “Stay Calm and Teach On” article in ASCD’s Education Update. McKibben succinctly describes the practices of several veteran teachers who work diligently to be the teacher in the classroom and not the biggest kid in class.
And, that is my take on the dilemma that many teachers face when confronted with disruptive and non-responsive children under their supervision. It is clear in her reporting that veteran teachers who practice staying calm work hard to create the emotive state of calmness. It is so very easy to let a belligerent child, one who throws a fit of defiance or purposefully and loudly ridicules other children, or looks the teacher in the eye and refuses to take direction, get under your skin and cause you to erupt. That is when a teacher becomes the biggest kid in class.
Staying calm is hard work. It means having a game plan for staying calm that encompasses what you say, the face you make, your body posture, your walk, and the timing of what you eventually do as a teacher in response to a child. As Michael Linsin contributed, he resets his game plan each day. He calms himself and reaffirms his role as the teacher who knows how to remain calm and teach on.
As I talk with young teachers, we acknowledge the wrongness of how the so-called “old guard legends” in our schools responded to children with bad behavior decades ago. Calling out of children using profanity, belittling children, laying hands on, and paddling were trademarks of the biggest and worst kids in class – abusive teachers. Today’s young teachers face the same challenges as the old guard, but staying calm and teaching on while using planned and appropriate disciplinary responses has become their best practice.
I encourage readers to check out McKibben’s article. If you don’t say “I know that”, you will find a description of best practices that will cause you say “I will try that.”