I went to war with my freshmen today. I had a new seating chart arranged. They were copying down rules for the first 10 minutes and things were okay. I gave out warnings right away. Next, I had "Shawna" speak to them about behavior and what's expected in high school. "Shawna" is one of my awesome seniors who has turned herself around and is going to be very successful. They listened pretty well, but I still gave out more warnings. Some of them got write-ups, the second stage of my consequence ladder.

Then, things quickly fell apart as we went over the rules as a class. They do not know how to behave, and they hate being reminded of what the rules are. "Teisha" was so good at the beginning of the period, but she started to get very angry towards the end. She talked back to me twice, and moved her self up to the third stage of the consequence ladder: A Call Home. "Why don't you give me your number, so I can call you!" she said. "Excuse me?" I responded. "You heard me." Teisha walked over to the door and yelled out down the hall "Security!" I looked at her dumbfounded. "I'm calling security on you," she said.

"Teisha, step outside with me right now." My plan was to send her to my department chair's room. He had volunteered to take students who needed to calm down. Here comes the funny/not funny part. Teisha ran down the hall yelling "Security! Security!" I suppose I was shocked, but I had a class to teach. I shut the door and continued. "Teisha made a decision. She will have to deal with the consequences. Okay, let's look at rule number 4..."

So, what are the consequences for Teisha. She gets a referral, which is a huge deal. I am legally responsible for Teisha even if she is out of my class. My department chair didn't blink when he heard what happened. He immediately insisted that I do a referral. That is the only sure way for me to cover my ass. I didn't want to ever resort to referrals, but I think it was the right decision. I have talked with Teisha's mom twice tonight (I also called half of the freshmen class with positive comments for their parents) and she seems to be on my side.

Tomorrow, I am teaching them content, and the rules will be enforced instead of explicitly taught. Sorry this entry is messy. It's late, and I am very tired.

Mr. Moore