Oh how I wish that this was not reality. There are days when someone calls your classroom telling you to send a form to the office immediately. There are days when someone comes by to collect the Emergency Procedure cards and you can’t find them. There are days when you need just five minutes to prepare the supplies for your next activity. Wouldn’t it be great if the children would sit quietly while you set up a cool science experiment they are going to love? Well they won’t. Expecting them to do so will only disappoint you. It is in these exact moments that children get into mischief that requires you to stop what you are doing and deal with it. It is in these moments when you are not fully engaged with them that they turn their attention to someone or something else. The havoc that can be created in the five minutes you need to set up the experiment can cause you to think that the experiment was a failure. Learn to recognize the times when students begin to misbehave. Ninety percent of the time, it is when your attention is on something other than them. If you are unable to set it up during your planning time, talk to them about what you are going to do while you are setting up. If necessary, play a School House Rock jingle while you fill out the form. Ask everyone to get out a piece of paper and write three words that define them and why.  Assemble a list of time fillers for the two minutes before you line up for specials or the five minutes until your lunchtime. Those are the times when things start spinning out of control. 

Be very intentional about your planning time. Don’t use that time to visit with Mrs. Jones to talk about her trip to Las Vegas. Go ahead and set up that experiment. File your papers. Answer emails. Assemble your folders. Grade the spelling tests. Enter grades into the computer. Call a parent. Plan your lessons. Go to the restroom! That time is sacred. It can easily get sucked away by other people and other interests and then you end up taking home all of the work you didn’t get done during the day. And the things you try to take care of while the children are present will end up with mischief, followed by discipline. If you want the children to read silently, you need to read silently. If you want the children to be engaged in a math activity, you need to be engaged. Every minute of every day you are modeling what you want the students to do and how you want them to behave. Don’t let your guard down. 

Children, ALL children, learn more from what we do than what we say.

 Be intentional. Be prepared. Be fully present…… and, practice Radical Self Care💓

Pamela Webster, M.Ed., SPED