A Better Way

 

We have five children. We have nine grandchildren. Although I teach high school, I’m still fascinated with toddlers and lower elementary. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not want to teach at that level. I don’t think I have the energy to keep that up continually. I just like observing.

My wife has a gift of helping and ministering to younger mothers. She has many friends at church with children in the elementary ages. There are many mothers of my junior high students or my fellow teachers that also have younger elementary children. I have been watching. There is one young mother of three that has intrigued me. She has quite a mix of intelligence, energy and cuteness on her hands. But it is the way that she corrects and redirects them that fascinates me. Well, fascinates me and causes me to reflect inwardly.

I like to think I keep an organized & orderly classroom. But sometimes you have admit that even though things seem to be going well, there may be a better way. It’s one of the curses on teachers; you really are never good enough. There is always room for improvement.

In classroom discipline, I tend to get right to it. You might hear, “Please stop.” or, "Are you finished so we can go on?”.  It works, but it sometime lacks that outward compassion element. It’s something I’ve been working on. I’m sure we’ve all seen lists and memes that help to give better responses. A teacher named Mr. Mizrahi has a list. Here are just a few:

·         Let’s remember gentle hands     (“No Hitting” “Stop Fighting”)  

·         Outside is a good place for being loud     (No Shouting Inside the House!)  

·         Let’s try to breathe through these yucky feelings    (Calm Down, Stop Crying, No Whining)  

·         Let’s use kind words, please     (Don’t say that, don’t talk like that)  

·         Shoes are for your feet, remember?   (Stop throwing your shoes around the house)  

https://mrmizrahi.blog/2021/01/21/positive-phrases-to-use-instead-of-stop-no-dont/

These are all great, but sometimes they are hard to remember in the moment. It takes a lot of practice to break bad habits. That’s why my observations with this mother were so amazing. It caught my attention so captivatingly that I keep coming back to them.

I remember the first time I saw her struggling to get her child, the one with unlimited energy, to stand still so she could get done whatever she was doing. (I believe she was putting a jacket on. No one would have faulted this mother for saying, “Hold still!”. Instead I heard, I really appreciate your energy, but now it’s time to help mom do what she needs to do.” The child stopped and held still so mom could adjust their jacket. What a kind way to correct & redirect! I saw many more examples like this. It challenged me to look for better ways to kindly redirect in my classroom, especially with the 7^th graders. Now, don’t be deceived; I am still a work in progress. But I do hear myself giving more compliments while I’m correcting. Who’d a thought you could teach an old dog new tricks? Never keep looking for a better way. They are out there!