The morning meeting was about to start, and everyone was involved in some kind of small talk. The administrator walked to the front of the room to get the group’s attention. As he called for everyone’s attention, some people kept on talking. As the noise started to subside, you could still hear side conversations happening as the administrator started the meeting. Throughout the rest of the time, individuals within the audience kept having conversations during the meeting. At the end of the meeting, the administrator dismissed everyone. Later that day, as I walked by a classroom, I could hear the teacher telling the students to listen and pay attention during the lesson. What was interesting was that this teacher was one of the people in the audience that wouldn’t stop talking during the morning meeting.
As educators, we have expectations we want our students to follow. We want them to sit up and listen during instruction time. We want them to focus on their work and get it done. We want them to treat others with kindness and respect. We want them to do the right thing no matter what. We want them to have a growth mindset and learn from failure. We want them to ask questions and be willing to take safe, learning risks in the classroom. We want them to be disciplined, engaged, hard working, and to take responsibility for their actions and choices. The list could go on, but this list means nothing if we do not hold ourselves to the same expectations.
In my classroom, I teach the importance and value of discipline – doing what needs to be done in spite of how you feel about it. I will never hold my students to an expectation that I myself will not follow. If I teach discipline in my class, then I will live a disciplined life. The same goes with respecting others. I expect my students to treat others with kindness and respect, to take ownership of their actions and choices, and to humble themselves and apologize when needed. Again, if I expect this from my students, then I better be living by the same principles. The classroom should not be a “Do as I say, not as I do” environment. The teacher MUST be the example and live by the same principles they expect their students to follow.
Students are smart, and they can see through a teacher’s BS. A student will respect a teacher who lives by the same expectations they expect their students to follow. If a teacher wants students to stay focused and pay attention, then the teacher must do the same. If the teacher wants students to treat others with respect and kindness, then they must treat their colleagues and students with respect and kindness. Hypocritical teachers struggle with classroom management and student respect. If there are expectations that you want students to follow in the classroom, then you must first live the same expectations yourself.
Most teachers want to be respected and taken seriously in class. However, respect goes out the window when we place expectations on students that we ourselves don’t even live by. Here is a simple and basic example. If we tell our students not to vape or smoke, and then get in our car and light one up, our credibility just went out the window. If we fall back on “Do as I say, not as I do,” then WE are the problem. It is our job as educators to live the example we want to see from our students. If we fail to follow the same expectations that we set for our students, then we have no right to get upset and frustrated when students choose not to follow the expectations either.
Here’s the bottom line. We, teachers and administrators, need to be setting an example for our students. That starts with being aware of our actions and choices. If you get mad at your students for how they act or for the choices they make, then consider your own actions and choices first. Students will follow and respect someone who lives the example they are expected to follow. Of course, you will have your outlier students who struggle with behaviors and such, but the majority of students will do what is asked of them if they see that their teacher follows the same rules and expectations that they set for the class.
Welcome To The Classroom 