So Many Thoughts...

Over two years ago, I began writing this blog under the title Thoughts and Adventures, hoping to include many stories and accounts of both. This fall has seen me undertake very few adventures in the outdoor/exploration sense. I've left the Cities only a handful of times in the past few months, and the most adventurous of those occasions was perhaps a beautiful afternoon hike at a nearby state park. Hardly bushwhacking in Colorado. This isn't the end of my world explorations, however; in fact, even as Brooke and I write the final draft of our vows (now to be spoken in a mere five days) we very intentionally included a promise to be each others' partners in adventure. But for now, the call of work and school has kept us both on a short tether.

This is not to say that my present life is devoid of adventure! As it turns out, thanks to both my fall class at Hamline and my job, my very thoughts are a constant adventure! The class in which I am currently enrolled is called Theory to Practice, which essentially means that we read and explore the thoughts of many different theorists and then come to class and have fascinating discussions about what we actually do in class: How do we set expectations? How do we create assignments? How to we assess student learning? How do we manage a classroom???

This last question is of special interest to me because of part of my current job experience. Aside from my rather mundane chore of delivering mail and teacher copy requests, I spend half of my day supervising students in a study hall/independent learning center. And for an extra-special three hours after school on Wednesday, I have the opportunity to supervise Wednesday School - a three-hour detention for naughty students. The "Learning Lab" (as it is known) is a wonderful exercise in setting expectations, building positive rapport, and motivating students. Wednesday School on the other hand...

Let's just say that Wednesday School is kind of like my own personal 3 credit-hour laboratory for Classroom Management Skills. There I am given a list of strict rules, handed down by the administration, and a room full of rowdy kids who would rather not be in said room (also handed down by the administration). As I reflect on the many ideas we discuss in class (and write papers about them) I get the opportunity to try these very skills out! On real-life rowdy students!

Alas, though I think and think about all the factors of student motivation and behavior, day in and day out, it's all I can do to plan for a wedding and keep up with my school work. My journal has fallen into disuse, and this blog suffers a similar fate. But not for lack of thoughts or adventures! My current adventure begins like this:

One classroom management author we're reading (Harry K. Wong, if you're familiar with him) is a HUGE proponent of being up front with students regarding expectations, rules and procedures. Tell them exactly how things will go, and watch things go that way. After my first week of anarchy in Wednesday School, I decided to begin the next session by distributing a list of rules, then going over them, and then nonchalantly but strictly following my own rules. And we had silence for two hours, with only a bit of growing rowdiness by the end. 

But NOW... my classmates and I have all chosen different books to read on classroom management, and I have begun reading Beyond Discipline by Alfie Kohn, a somewhat controversial person in the field of education. Now I am reading very compelling arguments that call me to question my very rules! AND the methods of coercion by which I enforce them!

When I demand silence, is it reasonable? Is it harmful to enforce my rules through threats of office referrals? Is the very existence of detention by nature coercive and harmful??? At this point I don't know. I'm only three chapters into the book, and I'm not sure I agree with all that Kohn is saying. But the adventure surely continues to play out in my mind. And however I am thinking tomorrow afternoon, I will still have a room full of talkative kiddos who don't believe they deserve Wednesday School. (Maybe they don't...)

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One other thought to add, before I sign off for the night: While I was initially excited about biking to my new job, the time saved (over an hour each day) by not biking has led me to faithfully join the masses of the so-called "commuters." I now proudly fire up the NPR in little Moses every morning at 7:20, and drive my 15-20 minutes to work.

One thing that struck me as I drove home today: I now think of my 15-minute commute as "a short drive." Have I really become that desensitized already? When I used to live in the small town of Bellefontaine, Ohio fifteen minutes would get me to my friend's house in the next city. If I heard of someone driving fifteen minutes to work I would think, "why doesn't he just move to the other city?"

It's not bad. It's just different. I used to live in a small town (for the last 24 years) and wonder if I could ever stand to live in a big city. I guess I can, but it's taking some getting used to.