nitemares

[entropic_ankh]

every now and then i have a bad dream where my class is out of control, and im saying all the wrong things to get them back on track. things like losing my temper, blaming students, accusing students, and things like that. then there are the more innocuous and common phrases that i hear teachers use all the time and i hate it every time i hear it. one of these phrases is "you need to stop that" or "you need to ...". yeah, you know that tone authority figures get when they say that. kids hate it, its like a signal to keep doing it, or only stop resentfully and snap back at whichever authority figure is speaking. i know that for me, if someone says that, it sounds like my decision to do whatever action was just criticized is completely wrong and i am wrong for doing it. i prefer to say things like "nows not the time for that" or "save it for later" when i want a student to stop an inappropriate activity. that gives the student a cue about what they should or shouldnt be doing, and an opportunity to think about when would be a better time to play basketball or whatever else.

these are some of the things that pop up in my nightmares.