March blog: What do I wish I did differently at the beginning of the year?

1. Ms. Harry's class is a no bathroom zone unless you have a documented medical excuse.

Why? It's extremely irritating to have 7 students begging to go to the bathroom every 5 seconds. Its even more irritating to hear students complain that I already let 2 people go to the bathroom even though my policy is that the first 2 people who ask get to go to the bathroom.

Maybe next year I'll add no whining to the classroom rules.

2. Send 4th period students to the office for flagrant disrespect and deliberate, repeated disobedience instead of working through the consequence ladder with the same people each day.

Why? It would alleviate the continuous struggle of getting 4th period on task everyday due to the same young scholars acting like donkeys because their behavior is not "write-up worthy".

Maybe next year I'll try, "your consequences carry over to the next day. Each week you get a fresh start. "

3. Conduct parent conferences through a reliable third party instead of requesting parent conferences through the parent coordinator.

Why? To date I have requested something like 30 parent conferences for various different reasons. How many parent conferences have I actually received? Zero.

My best results came from chatting with the guardian of my two worst students over dinner with a well respected member of the community.

Maybe next year I'll try more parent dinners hosted by our mennonite community members to act as intermediaries.