Chapter 3: My Unexpected Happiness

The period is about to start, and I greet each of my students as they come in. “Jessica how are you today!? Wow, Myrone, did you get new sneakers? I love them! Ladies and gents, as you come in, please pick up your graphic organizer for the day. Thank you!” You would think that setting this pleasant classroom environment would ensure proper student behavior. Not true! No matter how nice or cool I was to my students, they would enter the room and have off-task conversations with each other. My plan backfired. I gave them too much freedom. Fewer than half of my students actively participated in any of my lessons. What should I do?