On the first day of teaching, I made the mistake of coming to class over ten minutes early. Waiting outside of room 104, I stared blankly ahead while my students stared and whispered, apparently in disbelief that I could be their teacher. Perhaps the only distinctions were my formal attire and the satchel I carried with my binder.
I had expected the reaction and did all I could to prepare for it. One of my former professors approached me right before I headed down to teach on my first day and said, “be very, very strict with them on the first day. You look young and chances are they won’t take you seriously at first. Hold your ground and make sure they recognize you as an authority figure.”
I didn’t expect her advice to work. I was shaking when I first stepped into the room and didn’t speak to anyone while I got the computer set up. For the next 10 minutes before class started, I endured numerous questions of, “how old are you?” and, “are you seriously the teacher for this class?”
Yes, you little asshole, yes I am.
The next few classes, I amped up my tone of voice, made crazy hard quizzes for them to take on information they hadn’t yet learned, and called on people when they hadn’t raised their hand. The methods worked, but for many students, the new, “authoritative” Allison scared them. Some students couldn’t look me in the eyes as they were afraid of being called on, and the silence during lectures (and even group work in some cases) was deafening.
From then on, I relaxed my image a bit and got them out of their shells with food and my dog, Sadie. Funny enough, placing food on the table in front of the class encouraged them to get up out of their “locked-in” seats and maneuver around the classroom for a change. Bringing in Sadie encouraged them to get on the floor to say hi to her, and approach new areas of the classroom. Suddenly I had students working in groups on the floor, collaborating with each other and joking around while eating donuts. Was it bribery on my part? Sure, but those small little aspects shook up the entire class dynamic. I’m in room 107, and the class is spread out to where nearly half of the space in the front is “mine,” almost like a bubble that students are afraid to enter. The back half of the classroom is a block of students, all crammed in together without any space to move around.
In some cases, I’m not much different than my students. I’m only a few years older, and they clearly recognize that. My age and physical size is not something I can control or change, but I can adjust the way I present myself in front of the classroom. Obviously, that’s both a plus and a negative. I’m still trying to find that balance of authority figure, and an approachable teacher that students are comfortable with and not afraid of. But by adjusting aspects, whether that’s wearing jeans and a flannel on Fridays, or waltzing in one minute before with food and a dog, I can get a better understanding of the ways I can control the classroom atmosphere. I hope to have it mastered by next quarter…