The bottom line is that when students test us, they want us to pass the test. They are on our side rooting for us to come through with safety and structure. When students act out, they are really saying, “We don’t have the impulse control that you have. We are acting out so that you will provide us with safety and structure – be soft yet firm – so that we can learn the behaviour we need to learn to be happy and successful.” (Smith & Lambert, 2008, 2).

This article dealing with classroom management and creating a safe classroom could not have come at a better time for me. As the halfway point of the school year approaches, I find my students acting out a little more than usual. Since this is my first year teaching, I’ve tried many different strategies to see what works best for my classroom as far as management. I often find I am too lenient in an attempt not to be too harsh, which is only now becoming a problem. At the beginning of the year, being lenient was sort of my way of saying, “I know you miss your old teacher and even though I’m new here, let’s be pals.” BIG MISTAKE. I let my students get away with too much and now I sometimes have a classroom that takes over a minute to calm down. Recently, I had a student approach me saying she overheard someone in class saying something racially insensitive. That is where I draw the line. I’ve communicated to the students that that kind of behaviour is unacceptable. To let something like that slide would not be running a classroom safe for all students. Now at this point, I am almost waiting for someone to test me on this, as mentioned in the quote, and I am trying to think of ways to get across the point of “soft yet firm” as mentioned in the article. The next week will prove very interesting in my classroom and I hope I can start to make a big change.