I know it may sound weird to refer to teaching as a "battle" yet, in a certain sense, this is an accurate comparison . This is especially true for those of you who are confronted with blatant disrespect from students. The hardest thing for many teachers in this situation to deal with is that, in most cases, this disrespect is unwarranted and unjustly aimed at them solely because you occupy the position of the teacher. Bright, energetic new teachers encounter disrespect and may suddenly feel their enthusiasm and hopeful attitudes slipping away. It's hard not to take classroom disrespect personally.
Your ability to "depersonalize" the situation may be the first step towards eradicating this disrespectful behavior. If you are currently in this type of situation, try beginning each day by reminding yourself that, even if you have made mistakes in the way that you have interacted with students (perhaps by returning students' disrespect, perhaps by not being strict enough in the hopes of gaining student approval), it is ultimately not your fault that certain students lack basic human decency and compassion. Let's take a step back and think about this. You may or may not be new to your school. Regardless, you probably did not know these students until they walked through your classroom door at the beginning of the year. How can you reasonably be held responsible for the years of formation (or lack thereof) that your students have received since their birth. A student who lashes out with profanity at you or vehemently resists your attempts to provide education and guidance is obviously lacking some core aspect of human development. This is not, cannot be your fault!!! By no means am I suggesting that you absolve yourself of the responsibility to make a lasting, positive impact on your students. On the contrary, you should accept responsibility for doing everything in your power to teach, guide, and inspire your students every minute that they are in your room with you this year. But again, do not beat yourself up about things that you had no control over.
Not blaming yourself is one part of depersonalizing the situation. You must also wear thick emotional armor. Confront student misbehavior directly, but do your very best not to make conflicts into personal vendettas, from your perspective or from that of the students. You can certainly display disapproval or even anger and frustration at times. Just don't let the reason for this disapproval be that the students personally offended you. Try to always keep the focus on the fact that misbehavior prevents meaningful learning from taking place and prevents individual students, or the class as a whole, from receiving the education they deserve. I know that I haven't gotten into the "nitty gritty" of classroom confrontations in "Round 1". I'll address more specific situations in my next post, "The Battle-Round 2". The reason for this is that I really believe strongly that your ability to depersonalize disciplinary situations is just as important as how you react verbally. The bell just rang for the end of Round 1. Return to your corner, have a short rest (and reflection), and prepare for another go at it!
