The Clarity & Chaos of 2nd Grade
I've been thinking...
The pendulum swings somewhere between chaos and clarity in most of our lives, nearly everyday. A 2nd grader’s pendulum may have their own types of chaos and clarity, but it swings nonetheless. You may have guessed, the last couple of weeks I’ve been standing in for a 2nd grade teacher at a public school here in WA. My appreciation and respect for early primary teachers took another leap forward. Let’s just say, my two weeks has been humbling, challenging, and rewarding. And I saw clearly how mindfulness was crucial to creating stability and simply making things work both for my students and myself.
In the first day or two of teaching my new (temporary) 2nd grade class, I had some interesting chats with various teachers who knew my students well. They used language like, “oh yeah, you’ve got some real ‘stinkers’ in there”; and some sympathetic looks with expressions of, “aww, poor guy, that’s a tough class”; and some straight up heart-to-hearts, “yeah, I know a few of those kids, just remember, it’s not only you who struggles with them.”
Even the students seemed to know they were difficult. On my first day, I was greeted by a 2nd grader in the class who kindly let me in on a secret, whispering in my ear, “I just want you to know ahead of time that we’re a very noisy class, sorry.”
So, with all that information, I was kind of on edge about how to work with this group of students. Yet, I had to see for myself and so I began to navigate the classroom based on the present situation. I went ahead with setting up my expectations and consequences, as I do with all classes that I work with. Basic things like being on-task; raising your hand to share or ask questions; a couple of quiet signals; and the expectation that we all show each other kindness and respect, which includes me.
The morning started off pretty well. We began with reading groups, iReady reading, and writing prompt rotations. They started off kind of "on-task". There were some odd noises coming from certain students, but nothing to get stressed out about and I thought, “they aren’t so bad... I’ve got this."
As the morning went on, some odd idiosyncrasies began to filter through certain students. For example, one student’s natural voice was extremely loud, it felt like a bull horn just to ask a simple question, like “CAN I SHARPEN MY PENCIL?”. When asked to lower his voice, students around him quickly came to his defense, “oh, that’s just his natural voice, we’re all used to it..”
Other students had constant random noises like hums, chirps, squeaks, screeches, etc... and then again other students were completely incapable of staying in their seats or staying even remotely still. Some students were grabbing and taking things from each other, and many seemed incapable of keeping their hands, feet, bodies, etc.. to themselves. You've got it, this was "chaos" beginning to shine through.
Before I go on, I just want to say, even with all the chaos listed above, and all that I've seen over my career, I love my job for how often it reminds me that we're all actually students, and we all started and continue to this day with our own idiosyncrasies that we're working with.
Okay, onward. So, thankfully, on the flip side there were a few students in the class (angels maybe...) who really understood that learning requires some periods of silence, and focus. I soon began to see that these students genuinely wanted to protect their learning environment and create a safe community where everyone was listened to and respected. Amazing the maturity level that some of the 2nd graders were able to maintain in the midst of chaos.
I was far from perfect, and my voice raised and lowered, requested and demanded, questioned and reprimanded. And after a rough day with the students, I went home, uncertain about how to make this work. I reflected on the individuals in the class, tried to see what their needs were and why they were behaving the way they did. I learned that this class, due to their teacher having been away from them several times, had multiple substitute teachers over the course of the school year. They experienced different expectations, different routines, different ways of teaching concepts, etc. I began to have compassion for these students who were needing stability and consistency. I gathered some ideas, read my favorite classroom management blog, brought in my trusted bell bowl (see below), and returned determined to create a stable learning environment built on respect, balance, and ready to work with these students in their current situation.
I began by having a class meeting and acknowledging that they were in a tough spot having so many different teachers this year, and letting them know that I would try my best to continue the routines of their original teacher, yet, I also acknowledged that I would not be perfect with that. I also told them that I would simply and gently call out inappropriate behaviors, in a caring yet firm voice, almost like a referee in a basketball game. I also made it clear that I was in charge, and my plan is to create a healthy learning environment. I think they needed to hear that and know it. I did it with a compassionate voice, and not with aversion.
I also shared with them my favorite bell bowl. When you fill it part way with water, it actually makes water "dance" when rung in a certain way. They loved that and all wanted to try it. This became a central object that brought us together. We sat together, listened to the sound, we played with sitting still and what that feels like. We closed our eyes and followed our breath for 30 seconds at a time. This mindfulness practice was grounding and they began to settle (a bit...) :)
The pendulum began to swing to clarity (for a while).
It was quite a two weeks of the pendulum swinging back and forth. By the end, we had gotten somewhere, and I believe some of that stability that these students were needing was restored. I learned that I can connect with even the most difficult of students. Being consistent, listening to the students, giving them choice, gently calling out misbehavior and giving time outs which I call "observation time" to students when needed, and using objects of common interest, like the bell bowl can have a powerful effect.
I began thinking that there's something to this pendulum swinging... If we can see it happening in our own lives, in the people around us, in our global conflicts, we may be more open to listening and learning what it is that is really creating the chaos. We can learn to address the causes more directly. I noticed that this had a powerful effect on these 2nd graders.
I'm sure there's more to come around this topic...
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