Lesson #001 I've Learned as a Teacher

Okay, so this is both extremely common sense, but also really important to remember because it's EASY to forget. Don't ever, ever, get into a battle of wills with a student. Your job is to be the adult in any situation. This means no matter how stubborn the student, no matter how frustrating, getting into a fight — it can be physical (as I did accidentally, when trying to take away a toy a student was playing with) or verbal, as I thankfully have never done but I've heard other teachers do - is a surefire way to lose control of the classroom.

When teachers are in a classroom and a student decides to defy your authority, don't get into a 'I'm the teacher, you have to do it.' For me (with private school kids, who are waaaay more concerned about their grades than normal kids, or so I've heard, but I have no real experience with), I make it very clear that they are responsible for their own learning. If I have a student who's refusing to write, I simply say, "Don't be surprised if your grade suffers; this is what I'm grading today. You must get it done before class is over. You may not take it home as homework."

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