TRANSCRIPT: 3 Tips for Managing Behaviors in the Classroom (feat. Cheldora Haynes from Martin G. Atkins Elementary School)
9:20PM Feb 15, +0000
Speakers:
Nikki
Cheldora
Keywords:
scholars
classroom
students
expectations
teacher
people
pencils
teaching
learning
third grade
parent
school
behavior
building
walkout
build
agency
kids
call
middle school
have to have a positive contact. That was one of the other things that I've learned in my quest for better classroom management, five positive for every one negative five positive comments if is Hey, glad to see you today. Hey, you look smart today. You know you look ready today. Thanks for coming to school today because I don't know what they got before they got to me if when they got woke up that morning is Get up you know you're gonna be late for school. I don't know what they got. So I gotta give it to one times tn in order to make this learning and listening situation is growth possible.
I'm Nikki Herta and this is bright stories of hope and innovation in Michigan classrooms. A podcast where we celebrate our state's educators and explore the future of learning. Bright is brought to you in part by Meemic insurance company, insuring the educational community for more than 70 years. teachers and school employees visit meemic.com/quote to see how much you can save. In today's episode of bright a chat with shall Dora Haines, a third grade teacher at Martin G. Atkins Elementary School in Bridgeport, Michigan, was honored as a 2021 to 22 regional Teacher of the Year. She'll Dora shares her own quest towards classroom management, articulates her philosophy on student agency and accountability. In our first three tips for managing behaviors in the classroom, sell Dora it's a pleasure to have you on the bright podcast today. I'm so honored to have you on our show.
Thank you glad to be here, Nikki.
We're starting out this season by asking everybody the same question. And it is, what is the most interesting thing that you're doing in your classroom right now?
I'm teaching in my classroom right now. And it is it is and I'm super excited about it. And I think the kids are excited about it to the students, the scholars are excited about it to teaching is the most interesting thing.
I love that. Thank you. And I noticed the intentionality with the word scholars. Is that a school wide thing at your school? Is that a personal choice?
That's a personal choice for me. My cousin teaches at the collegiate level in Indianapolis. And some years ago, she started talking about the group of kids, the group of students that she works with. And they were always the mack scholars. And so anytime she referred to the group of and I guess young people, adults that she was teaching, she always said, Well, yeah, my scholars were and I was like, huh, people act like what they're called. So why don't I call my kids, my kids, my students scholars too. So even when I post on Class Dojo, or I think a quick reminder, or I'm texting a parent, it's always your scholar.
I like that a lot. And I suspected when you said it, I was like, I bet you that's a very intentional thing. And I really liked what you said that it's Pete, what? I'm not gonna say it as eloquently as you just did, but people, you know, respond to what you call them, or they want to live up to what you call them. So do you notice a change in the student's behavior when you interact with them in this way?
So I do, and I even have, I do Girls on the Run too. And we want to get starts to get colder in the building. I mean, outside, we come and bring our practices inside, and we have a huge building. So there's this square in the middle, and we run around that and some of my Middle School scholars who I've had previously, they stopped me and they were like, Why do you call them scholars? I'm like, well think about what a scholar is and what a scholar does. And if I want you to do those things and behave like a scholar would, why would I call you anything else?
Yeah, sure, you know, and especially as it just sinks in and becomes normal for them to be referred to in that way. There has to be, you know, subtle but powerful,
or not the normalcy we want for you to know that smart is something you can get.
Would you be able to tell me about a time that you vividly remember falling in love with teaching
people keep telling me When you were this regional Teacher of the Year, you got to have this fantastic story. I don't have a fantastic story. Honestly, it was my the only job in 2000 that I could actually see myself doing for 30 years, and being happy when I retired. I mean, I had a lot of good examples of teachers and instructors throughout, you know, my personal school history, whatever, but never, I guess I don't ever remember falling in love. I remember when teaching clicked for me.
Yeah, that's, I mean, that's a good story, too. I was gonna preface that with, you know, well, first of all, it doesn't have to be fantastic. It just has fantastical, it just has to be yours. You know, driven by your why whatever that is.
And it took me some years of reflection to figure out that that's what it was just a rough year, one year i i been laid off and callback and laid off callback laid off and callback moving stuffing and moving stuff out moving stuff in and moving stuff out. And my superintendent said, Well, you have an element, I mean, a middle school certification. Why don't you go take the middle school certification test, and come back and teach middle school. And as soon as I went in, took the test. She said, there's a middle school math position open for you. And I cried the first month and a half, that I was there. Like, nobody ever saw me cry. But I my car in the 20 minute drive to the school, just tears just face just what and put put your big girl pants on and get jerked behind in that building. And eventually, I saw. And this was much, much later, I saw that there was this group of kids that needed a push. Not to push over. They needed a push. And when those scholars when I came into what those scholars were actually there for and what I was there for. We ended up starting a student council. We, the student council had meetings and we fundraise by having concessions at the middle school basketball games. We attended leadership functions, sponsored by our local ISD. We went on college tours, which they had never, ever been on before. They were exposed to admissions counselor or admissions representatives. They walked into classrooms, college classrooms, and they were like, hey, that's what we're doing right now. And it's like, I've told you that it was gonna pay off. And so it was affirmation for me that I was doing the right thing. I stopped crying. And I'm settled into what my purpose was in is now
so it's safe to say you changed your perspective on middle school teaching, or they change your perspective, maybe,
um, middle school, to me is just like third grade, just bigger. And
I love the way you describe that moment where you realize like, Oh, these, these are just kids who need a push.
Right, right. And not a pushover. I don't Yeah, you don't, you don't need anybody else to just say, you're not going to bully me into giving you a because I don't give anything. This is what you earn. And we had conversations in kids in the students, the scholars started to be accountable. And I'm not saying that that accountability wasn't there before I got there. But it was more evident. And so they were keeping track of their own progress. And it wasn't just the progress report, every three weeks. It was we're gonna take this pretest we're going to graph it. We're gonna do this learning. Then we're gonna take the we're gonna have progress monitoring as we go. So you can check for yourself if you're learning because it doesn't matter if I know You have the you have the data, you have the progress, you can change your trajectory. You're the only one I can want it for you. But I can't want it for you more than you want it for yourself.
I hear like a few common themes coming out and I want to float them by you and see if you know, they they are if they're accurate, I guess you know, so I'm seeing in the way that you talk about like the scholars, right, you intentionally call them scholars. And the way it it sounds like you know, you really do a lot to build their agency and say like, here's what's possible for you, here's what you can do. It's really on you, you know, you it has to be you that takes that rises to this. And I wonder is that like one of your favorite parts of teaching is watching them, you know, pushing them and seeing them rise to that and fulfill their potential
at 80 years? Because some people are like, Wait, third grade, they're looking at their own deck. Yeah, they are. When do they start? If we don't teach them agency at kindergarten, first and second and third grade, when else when whose hands is it going to be in to give it to you're the captain of your ship. I'm giving you or creating with you or providing you with the strategies, the wherewithal to be the captain of your own, you're the you need to leave here. Now me I'm gonna be teaching third grade until Kingdom calm. But this is what you need to do to get where you need to go.
Okay, I do want to spin us to towards just for the sake of time are three tips for managing behaviors in the classroom. So I do want to pull us into a little bit of the why first, before we dive into our three tips for managing behavior in the classroom. So this is one that, you know, you came to me with this theme like this is one that you decided, like this is something I want to talk about. So I first just kind of want to ask you why why is this the theme? Why is this important to you?
So that was my my biggest concern when I was graduating from college, like, Okay, I'm going to be a teacher, I got all of this meat, the meat of the program under my belt. So what happens when there are kids sitting in front of me and they don't want to take the meat or what I got. And I brought that to one of my professors and he said to me that because that because you think that that's gonna be your biggest issue, it's not going to be an issue for you because you're going to work hard to figure out how to get kids scholars where you need them to be in order to get the meat. And I've made that my personal mission every single year. The goal at the top of my list is parent communication. Relationship building, and classroom expectations building classroom excellent just expectations, period, because if I have those high end tight everything else is gonna fall into position. My transition times between activities between lessons is going to be where everybody else is taken to in three minutes. mine mine are 30 seconds. My or 30 seconds when expectation expectations are in place. Students know how to sharpen a pencil. They know how to get a tissue, they know how to signal for the restroom, they know how to line up, they know where to line up. They know how noisy they can be they know how to get help. They know when they can move. They know where they can move they know where they can move to all of those things in place, including building relationships, and parent communicate communicating with parents. My school year is not on fire in March. Because we have those pieces in place.
Are we getting a sneak preview here of the three things? Yeah, excellent. I look forward to it. And we can keep unpacking each of those in a little bit. I've got a couple other questions for you. You kind of hinted at this in our conversation before we started working According one question I had written down is just one thing I keep hearing, you know is that behavior management has been trickier in the classroom due to pandemic stress and disruption in the classroom. So that's something I keep hearing, and you had an interesting perspective on it. So I just want to ask your thoughts on that if you're seeing that, what your perspective is what your experience has been.
And so my experience, like I said, is different from anybody else's there. Because this is the the population that we work with the scholars that we work with, already have PTSD. I mean, this is just something else they have to do. I mean, I have home, I still have homeless students in my classroom, I still have students who are hungry, when they come when they leave. Well, during the middle of the day, I still have students who are chronically absent chronically tardy students who don't have coach students who need extra help students or students who don't know letters and sounds in third grade. That's not new for for me. And I don't think I've I think that is fair to say, that is not new. To the people who the my colleagues either. Now if you go to a more influence School District, they legit concern that their students who are having trouble adjusting to the scheduled student, because they were at home, for most of the year, students who are adjusting to social issues, because they know they didn't deal socially with other students and teachers and staff. So I mean, students who are struggling with high school students, especially struggling with getting back into the sports, into the sport season, and middle school, too. But that's what we normally deal with thought was not anything new for me. And we still do what we do.
Just how your perspective on behavior management maybe has evolved, we got hints of that, in your previous answer, talking about what you thought and you know, going, being in college for education versus being actually in the classroom. But do you have anything else to add to that?
I do. When I when I came, when I graduated, there was a job waiting for me. Kindergarten, and I found myself I mean it when I look back, I don't think I would ever want anybody to have me as a first year teacher again. I remember sitting in my chair, was not a comfortable chair. And I'm looking at my classroom. And there's paper everywhere. And there are kids everywhere. And I had, like slob going down the side of my shirt because of there's a kid who went to sleep in my lap, and was laying there and he'd slumped all over my shirt. I had very vivid, and I remember sitting there thinking like no, there has to be there has to be better there. People's classrooms can't look like this all the time. And so that's when I started on my quest to be a better while I guess. Like I said, classroom management started in college, but I after my first year, and I got laid off after that year. It I went on a quest to search for how do I fix this? And the first thing I did was work on parent communication, my communication with the parents, even the parent who looks like sounds like seems like they don't care. They don't want to send their student to a complete stranger. So I need to do more to reach out to be a part to let them know that your your student is my student Your son is my son. Your daughter is my daughter because what I want from My daughter is the best. And I know that that's what you want for your son or daughter to, so we can be on the same thing.
I'm Nikki Herta and you're listening to bright stories of hope and innovation in Michigan classrooms. Bright is brought to you in part by Meemic insurance company, insuring the educational community for more than 70 years. teachers and school employees visit meemic.com/quote to see how much you can save. today I'm chatting with Shell Dora Haines, a third grade teacher at Martin G. Atkins Elementary School in Bridgeport, Michigan, was honored as a 2021 to 22 regional Teacher of the Year. Up next, we dive into shoulders top three tips for managing behavior in the classroom. So this is three strategies, managing behaviors in the classroom. All right, I'm gonna let you go with number one.
Number one, I already talked about the parent communication. And it's funny today, it was one of the the students scholars are in class. And he was just having a rough day. It wasn't that it was its theme, like every turn that he made. He was hitting a brick wall. He was hitting a brick wall, and not because of anything that he was doing wrong. He was just having a rough day. And I saw it start to wear on him at about one o'clock. And so I texted his mother. And I said, Hey, can he call you? And she said, Sure, have my baby call me. I gave him my phone. He called her. He, he came back in. He said, Thanks, man. Thanks, I appreciate it. And he went on his merry way. Did partner talk with science and fossils that we the video that we had watched yesterday, he did a turn and talk with his math partner on I mean, it was just just that little. And if I didn't build that relationship with his mom, before that happened, I would have just been lost. he'd end up doing something crazy. And it would have been a suspendable offense. And it I mean, it just took a different turn, I think because of the relationship that I built with his mom, and not just his
Do you have any advice that you'd give? So say a teacher, you know, was maybe his parents, parent communication is something they're not fully confident or comfortable with? You know, and they're, they're looking for advice on like, like, what are your top pieces of advice you might give a fellow teacher on? Like, what do you do right at the beginning, you emphasize the beginning a lot, to build that relationship, make the
calls, I make those calls. I make those calls. Very, at the very, very beginning, at the very, very beginning. This, I make it a point to make I make it a point to call every parent on my list at least once every two weeks. So yeah, I mean, it's a little it's a bit advantageous, but I'm sitting in the parking lot, waiting for my daughter to come out and dance. And I'm just dialing numbers. And, and I will say that it is more strategic than saying okay, I'm gonna call them all this week, that's too much. But if I assign almost Okay, I'm gonna call these three today. I'm gonna call those for tomorrow, I'm gonna call Oh, so and so's IEP is coming up. So I'll talk to them. I know that I'm going to talk to so and so's mom, because she calls me every week anyway. That kind of thing. And so, I'm saying that you're going to call at least five parents a week, because I know I'm a little bit over the top. But establishing who you're going to call in what you're going to say. In addition to the good news, no tone in addition to the posting on Class Dojo in addition to the school newsletter that may go home. Parents appreciate the call. I missed someone so they've been I I was really looking forward to seeing what they were doing. Want to test today? And I didn't see them? Are they okay? Do you need anything especially, there was a student who lost her brother to gun violence. And so because I have been in contact, she was she's one of my transitional students. So her dad has had my number since last school year. And so he texted me and told me, and I told him, I'm dropping something off. Just be at the door to receive it. And when I call him about her person on the playground, he's ready to receive what I'm saying. Because he knows that I'm there for her six.
Yeah, you anticipated my next question, which is this going to be what kind of impact do you see this having on classroom management and behavior? But is it just like kind of like you're a unified with the parents and so they're getting the same messages reinforced at home, they're there to support you when there is an issue. And they take it seriously?
Yeah, yeah. Even if they don't, and I'm, but I'm also another piece of advice that I would give to up and coming teachers is that when you call in it sounds so cliche, but don't make that first call. The this is what he did call. Yeah, he's gonna be suspended. He's gonna be in detention. He's gonna be in. Yeah, no, that should not be the first call. It can be the second or the third one. bunch of other things that I've learned in my quest for better classroom management, and I don't know if you've ever heard it, but five positive for every one negative. So five positive comments if is Hey, glad to see you today. Hey. Nice shirt. I see your crispy line. You went to the barber shop yesterday that you know that kind of thing. Oh, nice. Cold. I love your shoes. Um, you look smart today. You know you look ready today. Um, thanks for coming. Thanks for coming to school today. Because I don't know what they got before they got to me if kids were throwing paper on the on the bus and the driver didn't see if I'm when they got woke up that morning is Get up you know, you're gonna be late for school. I I don't know what they got. So I gotta give it to one times tn in order to make this learning and listening situation this growth possible. So yeah, communication has got to be number one.
I like that. That ratio. I hadn't heard that before. But it's intuitive to me. Five PS, five positive comments for everyone negative. I've actually that applies to adults too. Pretty. Because it makes you receptive to somebody who's critical feedback. If they've you feel supported by them and you feel like they're noticing the good things if you don't feel like they're noticing knows. You might just get defensive. So
yeah, it's like dang, every time I see her yeah, she has something negative to say about me.
Right? And you start even if you get if you see the call, right? Or if it's somebody you know, that tends to deliver bad news. You see the call and you go yeah, what are they gonna say they're gonna ask you to do
that. Gally calls are bringing my classroom close the door.
Yeah. All right. Well, let's, let's dig into number two. What's your second tip on managing classroom behavior?
Number two is building relationships. Which goes hand in hand with communication. Um, the birthday pencil and sticker for their birthday, or like I said before, with the one student that I had, whose brother she lost her brother to gun violence. The dad can key. He called me she was able to tell me when she finally came back after a week and a half, why she was gone. I already knew. But she was able to tell me what had happened. She saw me at her house. So she was able to do that when I say you probably need to call your mom Oh, no, no, no, no, because they already know that moms are on my team, we're on the same team now Mighty, the same team. When when we have those relationships built, and it takes time, and it takes, I'm not gonna even say that is easy, or that is quick, or whatever it is that it takes time. You know, who can sit next to who, you know, who can't sit next to who you know, who needs to stand in line with who you know, who I have kid, scholars who come in the classroom, who been in for detention, they just come back during lunch to eat. They sit in he then we watch movies, we have conversations, we talk about this, we talk about that. And I don't think that I would be able to do that. Or that they would do that. If they did not have a relationship that they were comfortable with with me.
Yeah, those are great examples. And I can see the emphasis. And many of the examples you've given our net is not on. It's not a school at all, you know, I mean, it benefits school. And it benefits their learning. But it's not about school, it's about them and who they are and the things that they like. And you know, the examples you're giving with, like just complimenting their shoes that their hair cut, or, you know, being there for their family, knowing what's going on in their lives.
And knowing in and having that relationship to Nikki is knowing when they need something without even ask you. And so I'll go to my church group and say, Hey, I need $30 Run to shoe department, grab a size eight, and it's in the locker the next day. And there was no protocol that I had to go through. There was nobody else that I had to tell there's nobody else that I had to ask. And I know that because of the relationship that I built, that nobody's gonna be offended at her house. Because this is what happened. I don't even care. She knows that I put them in there. But she told me she's like, thanks me saying I appreciate it. I was like, I didn't think you were gonna like them. But she's like, I'm the hot.
Oh,
no, I'm not Oh,
style you got she knows you. You're saying it. Those are all very telling little facts. There
is nothing for the mission group to say, Sister Haynes, you I know you have 31 kids in your class. We just knitted hats and gloves for everything I want to know we didn't go to the store and buying them here. And what they say is I would just keep them at school so they can use them at recess. And then take them back and wash them at the end of the week and bring them back and just reuse them that way. And that's what they taught and I I have them and so when we go out to recess and scholars don't have hats, gloves, or scarves, I have them for them to use. And so how are you I just when people other people outside of me see that. I'm purposeful in what I do. If they want to help is one lady, she she said she works in another school. She's an aid in another school. And she said I'm picking up these pencils for you. And she's like I sanitize them all. And she had him in a in a bag wrapped with a rubber band rubberband, and she brung me about 440 pencils. She was like all you have to do a sharpener, but here you go. And, and so when that relationship building is just not me with students is what other people see happening is well and they want to be a part of it too glad to be a part of something like that.
It's very organic and magical sounding. You know, it's like, somebody sees that and it's just kind of an aura to it, you know, and they just, yeah, want to contribute. That's powerful
last year, last year to men's group at our, at my church because we were in a We were the pandemic was just starting the leaders that, hey, we got the money. Hey, how would you use this? And they were and he had a question. Yes. Yeah, yeah. And I mean, it wasn't a whole lot of money. Well, any money? I guess it's a whole lot of money. But he said, How would you use it? He's like, we were thinking that we will buy masks. For all the kids. I'm like, we got a million masks, who need masks, we got them. For adults, we got them. For littles we have a medium sized people will need mass. But what we do need is water bottles. And he bought water bottles. They said, Here, we're just gonna get you the car you pay for, make sure they send us the invoice and be on your merry way. Thank you. And so with all of the extra funds that we that all of the schools in the country received, our school district was able to put in those refillable water stations. And so yeah, but we don't have any bottles to refill. So how about that? Thank you.
And so I just want one clarifying question there. So it may seem obvious, but just to make the explicit connection there. When it comes to, you know, managing behavior in the classroom, I think what I'm hearing you say, right, is that once you build that foundation, it's kind of like the five positive things to everyone. When that it does arise, that there is a behavior issue, you're saying, once you have that built both the parents and the students, then it just makes everything else much more easy to manage?
Does it really does seem number
three, number three, number three,
number three, expectation. Expectations. And I think that that's like the Trinity. That completes the Trinity is expectations. And so, in, in mind you I've not always had those. I mean, I've always had expectations. But my expectations. Like you the word you use just a minute ago were imply. I just assume that scholars know how to do this. And when they didn't, everything hit the fan constantly. And so why not? Post your expectation. And then for everything. And so it's like, seriously, if you have expectations posted by your pencils, Robert? Yeah. They need to know that they can sharpen two pencils. Daily. You can only do pencil sharpening during the breakfast and morning routine. And no fancy pencils. Because you're gonna break my pencil sharpener.
The ones that like the plastic the shiny the Yeah, I remember those that brought back a very vivid memory for me.
Yes, yes. So yes, so there is a expectations for the pencil sharpener expectations for being seated at your table expectations for being seated at the meeting area expectations for lining up. Expectations are lining up for lunch. Expectations for restroom break expectations for hallway behavior expectations for behavior with a guest teacher expectations for us assemblies, expectations for the lunch room expectations for playing out on the playground, expectations for everything waterbottle expectations. Basket x because we have tables. So we use baskets, expectations for the basket, expectations for the Chromebook cart expectations for a very thing. Expectations for fun Friday. Everything Yeah, briefing.
I see it I see it. So how do you set these expectations in order? Do you do you put like, is it on signs? You know, do you verbally go over them with the students
everywhere all over the place? And so there is no when a new student comes in, they see the expectations because the culture of our classroom because I don't know what your intentions are when you come in. Because I haven't built a relationship with you yet. I need for the culture of this Classroom to overpower whatever you thought you were going to come in here and do the scholars in our classroom No. But even the scholars that come from other classrooms know what to do. If they're coming in for a break, they grab the timer, the same timer, they go sit in the great chair, or the black chair. When the timer goes, when all the fan goes out, they put the timer back where it belongs. And they leave. Wow. That's no noise, no noise, no quiet, no nothing. And the scholars that are a part a permanent part of our classroom, no, not to engage. That's amazing. Actually, I'm a firm believer in learning is hard, and it can be done. Or it can happen, but it's hard to make it happen in chaos. I'm one of those people that if there's a hum, going on somewhere, I'm rereading the same line six times. And I told the scholars here that if I if I'm like that, I know some of y'all have to be like that dude. Yeah, absolutely. And so and so in order to make sure that everybody has a equal chance of fair chance to learn. Be respectful of your name.
Can I ask you? What is it that you see in following I'm starting to see, especially with that last one, how all three of these tips really mesh together really nicely. So when you have all these things in place, that Trifecta or Trinity as you described it, what does it what does it unlock? What does it make possible for student learning, like what's possible with that as a foundation?
So I have scholars who are vested in their own success. They don't need for me to send a progress report home, because they know how to get to Skyward themselves, and fix whatever is missing. They understand what letter grades are, and how letter grades, not necessarily the letter, but what's attached to the letter M. What that says about them? And they know that they don't want bad press negative breast. Hmm. And they scholars know that they have to be responsible. And so it creates that. And we said it before at the beginning of the interview agency, how many students how many adults that don't have agency, and I'm saying there are people even in my building I say, I think you're going a little too hard Hanes but if I don't who will? Who will? I can't leave that to somebody else. I can't leave it to somebody else. I tell parents all the time. That yeah, they don't get to fail on my watch. They don't get to be their worst. After nine months on my watch. You you you have to come. And I mean, and we'll even do we have walkout song day walk out Wednesday, and we'll pull a name and that student gets to pick their walkout song to be played during morning work. And so they know that walkout songs are what gets them height. What gets them going for it sets them up for the rest of the day. So if I have that scholar who has had a terrible morning, before they even got to me and their name gets pulled for the walkout song, oh methane, and it turned them and they get to pick. I mean of course it has to be clean. We've done instrumental versions of songs. But yeah, so one, one walkout song is the one with DJ callate from A Wrinkle in Time, Camilla No, no Demi Lovato? I believe I believe I believe I believe, I believe. Yeah, yeah. Is that one, one scholar last year, he picked Michael Jackson's bad. I was like, I don't even know you even knew what that was. You know, I'm one student pick, I believe I can fly by art Kelly. I do. So yeah, they. So building, I think that that's the greatest possibility that I may never even see coming to fruition that they build and use their agency.
Mic drop. So we got there. Can I ask you about a teacher who touched your heart and change the way that you teach?
And I saw that question. And there are a there are quite a few. And so I'll just lump them all together. I've had a many principals, administrators, superintendents, directors of curriculum and instruction that have shaped my entire mantra. At the time, I didn't think so. But I look back, and I'll see these people in the grocery store. And I, every time I see him, I'll say thank you, for how you shake me. When I was going through the fire of whatever you were telling me I couldn't do or telling me I was doing wrong or telling me I needed to change. I changed it not overnight. But I changed it. And I think that I'm a better instructor a better person, even for it. Can I give you a quick example? Yes, please. Just a quick one. So I was teaching middle school. And the administrator that I had, she said she it was her rule or expectation that boys had to have their shirts tucked, and pants pulled up. And okay, I can I can rock with that you this is your so I'm understanding that they can't come into class. Unless they have their pants pulled up and shirts tucked in. She told me Okay, I'll take your problems. But the minute you send them to me, I get to do what I want to do. And they come back, if they come back in two minutes, you got to take them, because you're giving me your power. That's exactly what she said. Were a woman and grown woman. I was out done. Like, oh, no, she did. And, and, and I thought about it. And I was like, Huh. She's absolutely right. If I'm giving her my power, she can do whatever she wants to do, and send them and I don't I can't say a word. She took them. But eventually, if I keep sending her the same kids, that's gonna reflect negatively on me. Oh, you really can't do this. Oh, you really don't have a bag of strategies. Oh, you really? aren't engaging them? Oh, you really aren't? Oh, I'm gonna change that real quick. So I did. I have more. So I stood at the door, tuck your shirt in. And he's like, No, I'm not talking about sharpening. Call you mama. Caller Oh, dang. He talked to shirt. He was sending him back to the class. And so that was that was one of the most, I guess sobering might be never be additive, most sobering. instances that I've had, and very reflective for me, because I'm like, and I tell every teacher that I come in contact with as having a behavior issue. And they believe it seems like the principal is not doing anything. Well. What did you do? What did you do? Do you have your expectations posted? Are you following them consistently? Are you following your consequences consistently? Are you just going from zero to 10? Or zero to 100? Because now they're taking you off? What are you doing. So remember when they when you decide that you can't handle it anymore, and you send them out to whoever your administrator is, they can do whatever they want to, and then they come back and then what are you going to do? Because that's where your room is where the learning happens, they can't get from third grade to fourth grade without being in front of you. Because this is where the learning is happening. And if you're not in here, you're not getting it. Create them creating agency within them to be responsible for themselves.
Without a doubt, it's challenging work. To build agency set high expectations, maintain accountability for a classroom of young students, but with leaders like Shell Dora forging our path forward. If there's one thing we're certain that the future is bright. You know, someone has an inspiring Michigan educator, you should be featured on our show. Send us an email at Bright at Michigan virtual.org to let us know who they are, and why we should interview. Thank you for joining us for this episode of bright stories of hope and innovation in Michigan classrooms. This podcast is produced by Furby Gaylord. It's hosted by me, Nikki Herta and is shaped by many of our passionate and talented colleagues. Big thanks to Ann Perez, Krista green, and Brandon Battista for their contributions to this episode. Bright is brought to you in part by Meemic insurance company, insuring the educational community for more than 70 years. teachers and school employees visit meemic.com/quote to see how much you can save. The bright podcast is made possible by Michigan Virtual, a nonprofit organization that's leading and collaborating to build learning environments for tomorrow. Education is changing faster than ever. Discover new models and resources to move learning forward at your school at Michigan virtual.org