Reluctant Disciplinarian

In reading the Reluctant Disciplinarian, I realized that I've gotten myself in a whole heap of trouble. I'm taken back to my work as a Big Brother as part of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. Initially it was total and utter chaos, and throughout the entire year that I visited my "little's" school, those kids were off the wall, just the kind of behavioral issues that are detailed in the Reluctant Disciplinarian. Great.

I wouldn't say that reading the book wasn't beneficial. It gave me a good laugh every now and then, but I don't really see the point. Please call me on this if I'm wrong, but I don't think we can really learn that much from reading a book about what to do and what not to do. In my opinion (which, may I remind you, comes from a teacher who's really never seriously taught anything before) we won't be able to learn much from a book. Honestly, who is going to stop and think, "What would Rubenstein do in this situation?" as a stapler is flying through the air toward your head? Yes, you may be thinking that I'm exaggerating but I recently spoke with a 2nd year teacher who had this very experience. Believe it or not, this stuff happens, albeit rarely, but I can tell you for certain that Mr. Gary Rubenstein is going to be the last thing on my mind as I'm dodging that stapler.

Instead, I think the best tool for me personally will be good ol` fashioned experience. I am willing to bet that I will have to learn from my own mistakes before I begin to feel comfortable with my classroom management plan. And what’s this garbage about not smiling? Is he serious? I mean when did teaching mean giving up all humanity? People smile; it’s natural. Students are going to begin to question my sanity if I never smile. I could never uphold that form of classroom management. I crack up during student teaching all the time! For example, today, one of my students whipped out a full size bottle of Fabreze in the middle of a discussion on longitudinal waves and started spraying it all around his desk. When I approached him and asked him what in the world he was doing, he said, “Man it stank like a mother up in her (yes, that is her, not here.) and I got’s to have it smelling like flowers so that I can learn appropriately.” If that isn’t funny, I don’t know what is. The characters I have in my classroom are hilarious. Does that mean that I haven’t grown passed the maturity of an eighth grader? I mean, who carries a full size bottle of Fabreze to class with them every day? CrAzY!

I did like Rubenstein’s 5 rules though. You all know what they are and because it’s so late, I’ll save you, and myself, the agony of going over them for the umpteenth millionth time. Well, that’s all for now.

Peace out and happy teaching!
God Bless!