Class Climate: "You're like our second mom!"

It was the last day of the school week, the period before lunch. We had just completed a role play activity in Social Studies where delegates from the Constitutional Convention "signed" the Constitution (or not), and the students were getting started on their Ratify the Constitution advertisement poster. The natives were restless: lots of talking, laughing, poking with rulers, jumping up for markers or tissues or just because they couldn't sit for another minute. One eighth grade girl got a little hysterical about a mistake she had made on her poster. Her laughter cracked up everyone else around her. Ten minutes to go before the end of the lesson, and I'd hoped for a little more productivity. When I voiced this thought to the class, the ensuing conversation went something like this:

Boy: "Do you see how comfortable we are in your classroom, Mrs. Pohl? We are letting you see our true selves. We are acting way different than we did at the beginning of the year!"

Hysterical Girl: "Yeah, you're like our second mom!"

Me with a teasing tone: "Great! Does that mean I can ground you?"

Hysterical Girl: "NO!"

Another Boy: "But you could give us pocket money!"

Me: Smile and chuckle and wrap up the lesson

Here's what this conversation said to me: My students feel safe. My students feel loved. My students respect my authority over them. My students know I have a sense of humor.  My students like me as a person. This really is the classroom climate I've been working for all year.

But has it gone a little too far? Are students TOO comfortable in my class? All teachers struggle with classroom management at the end of the school year. Students are getting into "summer mode" and have trouble focusing. They are restless and tired of working.

I know this and fight against it nonetheless. I want students to feel comfortable and safe in my class, but I also want them to take the work seriously and get things done. We still have six weeks of school left! Whole units are just starting! Sometimes lessons feel just a little out of control and then I get cranky and yell a little bit. Other days, they are completely smooth sailing and I marvel that everything went so well. At this time of year, it's a little unpredictable which way the wind will blow.

So I do my "tough love" thing: Keep my expectations high. Hold students accountable for the work they are supposed to be doing. Pull all my management tricks out of my hat (last week I resorted to "One two three, eyes on me!"- a mantra I learned from my first grade teacher friend). Have quiet discreet conversations with those who need individual invitations to focus and work. Rearrange the desks.

And I tell the students I love them and they know what to do.