Management Part II: Sticking to it

I seem to begin all of my assigned posts by describing how, well actually, I didn't really do the assignment exactly as it was intended, really. This one's no different. The assignment: enforce every rule and consequence all the time, every time, for two weeks. A tough one, to be sure, which is why Ben said we only had to do it with one class. If the assignment has taught me anything, it's that I'm truly horrible at consistent enforcement. What I ended up doing was more like consistently enforcing rules and consequences for one class for a couple days, then switching to a different class for another two days, then having a bad day and falling apart for every period, then coming back strong at the beginning of every single period but easing up midway through.

That's not to say I didn't try. I started every day of the past two weeks (and most periods, even) mentally resolving to be the drill sergeant I need to be. But the flesh is weak. Often, I'd start the period draconian and consistent about students talking, not getting to work on time, etc. but find myself needing to send a student to the office. Dealing with that, I'd either miss a few infractions or just be so relieved to get the problem student out that I'd ease up on everyone else for a while. From there it was a slippery slope toward chaos.

Not that I'm completely inept or a total pushover, though (despite what my students may say/think about me). I did find that the weeks of being more hardcore, if not completely so, have helped diminish the constant talking and especially the verbal disrespect. Whether through example or some change in my tone/posture/whatever, my warnings and directions seem to carry a little more weight than they did previously. And on my better days (or rather, better periods, of which I've had maybe 3), when I'm catching every infraction and still moving the class forward at a good clip, things just seem to get better and better, with negative consequences becoming more effective and the class points and verbal praise piling up (at least until a kid swipes another kid's pencil and I'm suddenly trying to prevent World War III).

So, to sum up: I'm still no paragon of consistency, but I know that I can be better about enforcement and I've seen enough to know how much easier my life could be if I was. As I said in my last management post, I don't think my rules need to be changed. My negative consequences haven't changed officially, except that I now move from one writing assignment to detention and that I've gone back to holding my own d-hall after sending weeks' worth of lists to the office and never seeing my students in the school-wide one. My positive consequences do seem a little sparse, Student of the Week having fallen by the wayside temporarily, but I'm confident they could work if I stick to SoW and the weekly class rewards.