Teenagers Are Like Soap

When I was just beginning teaching at a high school and seeking advice, I was once told, “Think of a teenager as a wet bar of soap. If your contact is too light, it will slip out. If you apply too much pressure, it will do the same.”

I have taught both university and high school and while university often gets the bad reputation, managing high school classes seems to be an especially tricky business. It seems often that teachers struggling with classroom management fall under one of two camps.

Camp one: The boss. Trying to come in too authoritarian. It does not go over well. Coming in with a long list of rules and making it clear that they are not going to get away with anything does not go over well. I have discovered that students often start to enjoy breaking those rules and making the teacher angry or frustrated.

Camp two: The other side is the teacher that expends too much effort on trying to have a good relationship with the kids. This may sometimes come from an attempt to show the students they care, but more often than not, the students will take too much advantage and will not respect them at all. These teachers try to address all issues too casually and the students know there will never be real consequences.

The task is to find a very careful balance between the two. For me, I find issues that are important to me and create clear policies that include consequences with them. These are enforced every time, for every student. Attendance is one of my issues. I take attendance every day and as long as you are in the classroom when I call your name, you are marked present and on time. So that no one develops bad habits, the order that I call the roll varies from day to day, so it is not always the A’s called first.

Don't make a huge deal out of everything. Yes, some things deserve an energetic response but the more often that a tactic (the talk in the hallway, the whole class guilt lecture, etc.) is used, the less effective it becomes. I suppose this is the “choose your battles” moment. Not every battle must be fought by the teacher. Sometimes, it is more effective when the battle is left to an administrator or parent.

I have found that students like and respect a teacher that seems approachable and expresses their personality while also holding them to high standards. Not too light, and not too strong of a hold.

Now I only hope to not forget what I have learned. No teaching positions are likely at Rota but neither are they impossible. If nothing else, there is a good possibility of substitute teaching.

Speaking of our next assignment, our appointment with DPS is next week. We just need to decide when we want our HHG to arrive. The question is, where do I wish to be the longest without my things, Japan or Spain? I have told Jared it might be dangerous to allow me too much time in Spain since I COULD buy new furniture on our arrival. For some strange reason, Jared has submitted an application through HEAT for on base housing. Ugh.

As Jared says, we are off to the races! June will arrive sooner than anticipated.