Follow the Leader

Megan and I had some good debrief time for a few minutes at the end of the day today. We were commenting on the observation that each class seems to have a natural leader, regardless of whether or not that leader is a positive influence. Each class has one student that is willing to speak up and share his opinion (and it is a guy in every case). In the Honors class, the leader starts off discussions, asks questions no one else is willing to ask, or helps to keep his group on task. In one of the general Chem classes, the leader cracks jokes, ridicules other peoples answers, or contributes to distractions. However, we started off by calling him out at the beginning of the year for not contributing to a positive environment. He's repeated the phrase now himself several times, calling other people out for negative comments. To him, it's a joke and a way to gain attention or respect in the classroom, but he is helping us keep that consistent theme going in the classroom, which will also serve a dual purpose of placing more weight on times when we remind him to be positive, since he's the one reminding everyone else.

Each class has its own dynamic - this is just one example. Megan and I talked briefly about how we can let these leaders lead the class, as long as we are leading them. We can use their leadership to our advantage. As long as I'm always handling the classroom with confidence, I can work to manage the classroom culture through identifying and guiding the natural leader among the students. Each class will have its own culture. I've seen that already. Third and 4th periods are calm and subdued in comparison to 5th and 7th, which are far more eager to talk and joke with me and each other. I have to find the balance of letting the kids form their natural culture and me creating a culture that is positive and conducive to learning.