Do I stay or do I go now?

If I go there will be trouble.

I was thinking of this particular Clash song this morning as these questions starting floating through my head.
I kept thinking- do I stay or do I change now?
Will what I am doing eventually catch on, or do I switch to a totally different classroom philosophy?

When will we be a functioning unit?

Is this normal?

What am I doing wrong?

I spent a lot of time this morning just sitting at my desk praying for a peaceful day and pondering how to make that happen.

We are in week 3 and I am waiting for my class to kind of get into the groove of how we do things. I am now thinking Thanksgiving.

I still have the occasional outburst and every once in awhile a runner, but today things calmed down quite a bit- even with my challenging students present.

I am learning to accept, but push them further, encourage but not overwhelm, be patient and sometimes relentless....

They respond even to my version of the evil eye. The more strict I am, the more they sit up and listen.

It's hard for me to constantly read my students and not crack a smile, sometimes downright exhausting! But it works- they need those permanent boundaries and constant reminders.

And chocolate cupcakes. Definitely chocolate cupcakes!