Whooo hoooo!!!  TGIF!!!!!  I love my job, truly I do....but it takes a certain energy level to get through the day and still have something left for all of the things that need to be done at home.  The first week of classes is like running a marathon that I haven't yet trained for!!!

By today I was dragging more than I wanted my students to know.  Being tired is awful.  It makes me slow and cranky.  It makes it hard to honor anyone or anything that doesn't let me close my eyes for a few minutes!!!!  Fridays are hard for me and the fact that students often act as if the weekend has already started doesn't make it any easier. 

I've decided to try a new approach on Fridays.  I am asking students to make Fridays funny.   It fit in so well today because today was the day that I had planned to talk about how we treat others in my room. (This is a VERY important issue for me).   I was able to challenge them to make me laugh ABOUT something, not at something (or someone!!)  This is a new concept for a lot of students and sometimes it takes them quite a while to figure out that what they think is funny is not humorous to me (or a lot of other people).  The only humor that many teenagers are familiar with is mocking, embarassing and bordering on abusive.    In order to be funny in my class they sometimes have to develop a new sense of humor!!    It was a good day to address the issue in a positive way.

Today, however, one of my classes pulled off something classic.  It is a large group and the room is full.  They are a social group and there are many different social groups within the class.  We were getting ready for a game and I used our new signal.  I called out WE WILL and most of the class responded with NEVER FORGET, got quiet and looked at me for instructions.  Except for one student, who kept chatting away to a friend.  I waited, in silence, with the class, but this student just didn't get it.   He just kept jabbering away while we waited and waited.   His friend started to whistle a tune to get his attention....but he just kept talking.  One by one the other students started whistling too!!!!  Finally the whole class was whistling and he FINALLY realized that no one was listening to him, in fact everyone was whistling!!!   So he looked around, a bit startled, and then started conducting the whistling class.  It was sooooo funny!  We all had a good laugh and then went on with the game.

So much better than me losing my temper, reprimanding the student...thus embarassing him...thus losing him and throwing off the whole tenor of the classroom just as we were starting to play a game.    Several years ago I never would have allowed it to happen.  I would have jumped on the chattering student immediately as insubordinate.  I would have punished the student who first started the whistling.  I would have lost my mind when the entire class joined in.  Luckily, God gave me two sons.  Very funny sons.  So I've learned to look for the humor in the moment...to appreciate it...to even encourage it.    In doing so I not only kept control of my temper, I also kept control of the group.     What a gift!!

I owe an enormous thanks to my very funny teenage sons and their very funny teenage friends for humoring me as I learned to appreciate teenagers and all of their incredible idiosyncrasies.

with love,
Laurie