Fires in the Bathroom: Middle School

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/9772974/Daredevil-Gorilla-walks-across-tightrope.html)

"'Act firm' yet 'be flexible,' 'set high standards' yet 'remember their fragile egos'... In the middle grades, everything is always 'this' and 'not this' at the same time"(Cushman & Rogers, 2008, p. 5).  Navigating middle school is like walking a tightrope, for teachers as well as for students; it makes sense, then, that we can learn and grow together, working cooperatively to make our time in middle school productive and positive.

Conflict resolution is an ever-present element of middle school culture, and educators and schools have utilized several systems over the years in tackling this element.  Corporal punishment may be one of the oldest forms of conflict resolution, meant to punish a wrong-doer for his or her actions.  There are newer forms of conflict resolution making their debut in society, especially in schools, such as restorative circles.  More and more schools are finding that problems can be resolved without physical punishment. 

According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, corporal punishment is "a discipline method in which a supervising adult deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a child's unacceptable behavior and/or inappropriate language" (AACAP, 1988).  The same article states, "The immediate aims of such punishment are usually to halt the offense, prevent its recurrence and set an example for others. The purported long-term goal is to change the child's behavior and to make it more consistent with the adult's expectations" (AACAP, 1988).  According to Cushman and Rogers (2008) and the children they interviewed, this sort of discipline only makes students want to act out more: "My science/math teacher always embarrasses kids.  If you forgot your math book, or if your homework is overdue for this amount of time, she'll announce it to the whole class, instead of just telling you privately.  I don't think they should do that.  It makes me feel embarrassed.  I just want to go away and crawl into a hole or something" (Gabe, p. 93).  Cushman and Rogers (2008) add that "if [your students] feel your disappointment too keenly, they are likely to withdraw or retaliate" (p. 93).

Restorative circles, on the other hand, are a relatively new idea to help facilitate a healthier conflict resolution practice, and it's found some success in schools and juvenile facilities around the world (Garmon, 2013, Making Healing Part of Justice).  Restorative circles are situations "in which authors, receivers, and community are brought together" (Garmon, 2013).  A restorative circle involves "authors" and "receivers" to come together and discuss what happened, why it happened, and the reactions and/or intentions of all involved parties.  There is a TED Talks video that better explains restorative circles (see below), featuring Ann KcKnight, who talks about an example where she has personally used restorative circles in an educational setting.

 Some of the students who talked with Cushman and Rogers (2008) also talked about systems they've used in their classrooms that sound very familiar to the idea of restorative circles.  Thea, for example, said, "We have a town meeting and the seventh graders come with the eighth graders.  Or we get a partner with the seventh graders, and then we talk about our thing and tell them how we feel and stuff like that" (p. 45).  This approach to conflict resolution allows students to explore what emotions they are putting out into their community and how those emotions are being received, especially at a time when, developmentally, middle school students are just figuring out who they are, what they believe, how they plan to act, and they're trying on different personalities and personae to see which one fits best.

As an intentional teacher, I plan to introduce my students to the use of restorative circles in one form or another as a method of conflict resolution.  I also plan to involve my students in creating their own classroom norms, and parts of their curriculum to help show them that they do have the power to affect change in a positive way.  I wish to empower my students, above all, with confidence that they can learn, they can succeed, and it's up to them to have a positive outlook.

Another Blogger's Psycho-Babble

It's time for me to go back to school.  I took a break to give my husband a chance to get his degree and he has.  Now he has an entry-level job.  He's given me 2 1/2 years to think about what I want to go back to school for, and how have I used that time?  Well, I can't say I've used it wisely, but I can call it a character flaw.

You see, I've narrowed down my choices, but I keep jumping between the choices I'm looking at.  I don't have the confidence in my decision-making skills to stick to one choice and go with it.  ...And this is exactly what I kept doing before I took a break from school!

There's teaching, counseling, massage therapy, and then randomly business/advertising.  I love to write, and my mom suggested journalism when I first began college, but I don't want to report all the crappy stuff that's going on out in the world.  If I can't do anything about it then I'll just feel helpless.  I'd love to be a professional blogger, but who really reads my blog?  And who's going to come to me to do a review on their product or however you get paid to be a professional blogger?  So I need a back-up plan.  Or just a plan in general.

Teaching, counseling, and massage therapy all have a common theme as far as I'm concerned, and I think it's a good one:  each job empowers people to better their lives in some way.  Teaching empowers kids to learn and gives them the tools to succeed later in life.  Counselors empower their clients to better their lives with mental tools to battle their stress, fears, worries, etc. in every day life.  And massage therapists empower their clients to keep moving, to relax, to take care of their bodies while keeping up with the demands of our time.

Business and advertising are kind of generic degrees that would provide me with broader options, but what options are those?  Sales, advertising, marketing...  all of that equates to one thing (in my opinion): boring.  The only reason I was looking into business in the first place is in case I open my own business; it would be good for me to have the skills to run a successful and financially sound business.  Although I've learned I can take a few classes in the areas I'm interested in and I don't have to get a whole degree.  After all, you don't need a degree to run your own business if you're your own boss.


My current plan, and plans can and do change all the time, is to get an education bachelors degree and look for a teaching job in an elementary school, or possibly a middle school.  While I'm working as a teacher, I'll work on a masters degree in some sort of counseling, maybe mental health counseling with a concentration on art therapy.  That way, I'll have options if I get bored.  While I'm teaching I'll also have weekends, holidays, and summers off to devote to both the master's degree and my hobbies like jewelry making and photography.  Plus, teaching is a family-friendly career and I want to have a family... when my husband and I are ready for that step.



Yay for ranting and raving and having to write things out to really think through them!  This is why blogging is important to me, it's my own type of therapy... possibly another post later? :)