I occasionally think about how managing a classroom is similar to running sled dogs. When the dogs see the harnesses and the sled come out, the howling, the jumping, and mayhem sets in. It’s amazing how many tangles, chewed lines, and dog fights you can end up with while you’re hooking up 8 or 9 excited dogs - trying not to let the whole gang run off before you have a chance to grab the sled. On a good day, when things go smoothly you have a clean run with no tangles.

Lining the team out was intimidating in the beginning. But you learn to work with this chaos, anticipating the difficult individuals, knowing who to place next to who, and which order to line them out in. It really helps to have a good leader who will stand out in front and not run back to ball up the whole string. You most especially want to secure the sled to something that doesn’t move. With a strong rope. They only have to run off without you once to demonstrate for you that, as the “driver,” your place in the outfit is entirely optional for all they care.

Some days my crew in the classroom resembles a string of sled dogs, where avoiding snarls requires a delicate balance of bully and buddy from the teacher. I don’t want to come on too strong and bum them out, but I have to keep their enthusiasm focused on the project at hand if I expect to get anything done. Day to day, my role as teacher is as much about suppression and showmanship as it’s about guidance and instruction. On a good day, things go relatively smoothly…

I mention this with regards to my classroom after having a sub last Thursday, which meant that Friday I expected to hear about a day with a few rough spots. I don’t blame the substitute for the trouble she had. My class this year is a spirited group, and they require a special kind of control that I constantly talk about. With them. Sometimes emphatically. I get sick of hearing myself and I know they do, too. We’re working this karma out with each other. I can’t quite figure out what the lesson is for me, though. More tolerance, or more authority? Maybe neither, and that’s an interesting possibility.

I like how the first sentence of the note I got from the sub is contradicted by everything that comes after.

Well the day went okay. After their snack break the class began to bicker with each other. The arguing started when the students began telling me how the day was supposed to go. It escalated to: “we hate him/her; she/he is a liar; this is so stupid. At that point I took recess away from the class & told them they could earn it back by working quietly. Then recess became an argument with the class - the students who were acting up said it was not fair to the good students to keep them in. I told them they were a class and needed to work together. [anonymous] blurted out “If you hate kids so much, why are you a teacher?” I got stern with her and told her to sit at the back table. The class got quiet after that…

Their rest of the day was little different, but I don’t need to go there. I’ll need a special list of threats for the next time I have to be out.

Students all came in Friday and went quietly to work. Their heads were down. There was none of the usual chatter. They knew I knew. I let them stew while I enjoyed the peace. I didn’t yell. I wasn’t mad, and they were surprised. Most of them lost recess, and some won’t see daylight for a few days yet.

Someone said, My mom just smacks me in the mouth when I talk to her like that. Hmm…I’ve often wondered how that would work. Probably doesn’t.

I have to dominate them all the time - Sit up straight….feet on the floor….petty little things. I hate myself for doing it. Wish I could just let them be. But if I leave them alone, they horse around and make trouble, and then I have to problem-solve. I hate that, too. How do I teach them to make good decisions when I have to sit on them all day?

When I mentioned this to one of my go-to colleagues, she said, You have to take them from where they are.

Yeah, I think, or “the howling and jumping, and general chaos starts, and it’s amazing how many tangles, chewed lines, and dog fights you can end up with…”

With sled dogs, when you have individuals who won’t run with the team, you leave them home. That clearly won’t work in public school. The only other thing I can think of now won’t work, either. And that’s to have a class about half the size of the one that I’m working with.