Was it that bad?

My mentor stopped in my classroom today . . . she does that periodically but hasn't been in a while. For some reason, my kids were extremely chatty today. I had to stop several times to get their attention & refocus, but we still covered all the material & had excellent discussions. In fact, much of their talking was centered around their work (they were analyzing a lab safety picture & I could hear them discussing it). So, the class wasn't perfect, but I definitely wouldn't call it unproductive or out of hand. It's almost refreshing to have them so interested in the topic that they want to talk about it.

Later, my mentor stopped by to placate the bureacracy (i.e., fill out meaningless paperwork that sits in a file somewhere in the elusive "downtown" area). She handed me a huge book on positive behavior management and suggested that I review it over the next week. I asked her, "Oh, is this an area where you feel I need improvement?" And she basically evaded the question by saying we all need reminders in this area, and that if kids know the procedures, they are more likely to follow directions. So, in a roundabout way, she was implying that my kids need more structure & should have the expectations stated more clearly (at least that's how I took it).

Of course, that's true. I can probably benefit by reviewing this book, but it just seemed a little pointed & blatant after she spent a mere 10 minutes observing an unusually talkative class. I don't remember yelling at them or singling out students (although I certainly could have) - things I'm definitely guilty of on weaker days. I'm very open to constructive criticism, but I felt belittled & criticized, and not helped at all.

All of the core teachers on team today said the kids were particularly talkative ~ apparently we all had difficulty today keeping them on track. So while I probably can benefit from this book and definitely do need reminders in this area, I don't think it's valid to judge my classroom management skills on this one day alone.

Grrrrrrr. I feel like I just unknowingly took a benchmark test, and my scores are being unfairly evaluated by that one little snapshot of my performance. Honestly, I don't really care if she thinks I'm an effective classroom manager (because I know I'm at least halfway decent, and my kids do learn). I just felt it was an unfair assessment. Maybe if she spent a little more time in that class she would realize that it was an abnormal day, and that kids are kids for crying out loud. They can't always be "managed," nor do they necessarily always need to be. I distinctly remember a great quote from one of my grad school texts (and I wish I could remember the source, but I'm too tired): "We should not think of kids as problems to be managed, but rather as resources to be developed."

Ha! Maybe I should dig up that source and suggest to my mentor that she do a little reading of her own this week. (Is that mean? Forgive me! I think I just need sleep!)

I think I'm also feeling very forgiving & defensive of my darling little talkative angels today. They were so sweet to me - my birthday was over the weekend, and two different students brought in cakes! (Granted, they knew I would share it with them, and kill 10 minutes or so of class, but hey - I was impressed.) One proudly boasted, "I baked it for you from scratch - all by myself!" and the other one special-ordered a bakery cake decorated in Hello Kitty (they know me so well). It was adorable. They may be monsters sometimes, but I do love those kids! They made getting older (almost) fun.