on survival mode.

Riot fights, food fights, schools with no books, the revolving door of teacher hires, fires and walkouts...I’ve seen the worst of it in turnaround schools.  Despite the chaos, given the opportunity, I would do it again.  Then of course, not now.

Turnaround charter school models are designed to persevere through the growing pains, with the greater good in mind, using dramatic approaches to “fix things”, striving for better schools of choice for the surrounding communities.  It’s usually first time teachers, first time principals and local families in search of the best school option for their children.   

Spending exactly 71.4% of my teaching or leading experiences in turnaround charters, you would think that I’d have more answers when it comes to student behavior, and a bunch of tried and tested tricks up my sleeve to showcase at all-day PD’s, but no. It’s was all kind of a blur.

I chalk it up to survival mode.  Those years were spent in full out survival mode, where the good days were monumental and the bad ones I prefer to forget.   Test scores reigned, and the happy hours were fruitful.

Teacher friends were my brothers and sisters and my students were my own children.

Unless you’re one of the few natural born teacher geniuses out there, being a new teacher in a tough school can drown you.  Not just drain you, but drown you.  The last thing I needed as a new teacher was to be left in the middle of the ocean with my self-made life preserver and a three lifeboats of third graders with no supplies.  

God knows the school leaders were just trying to stay alive, too.  But it happened.  We were “empowered” to keep anything short of a fist fight within our four solid walls.  Repetitive disruptions, profanity, blatant disrespect...it was on us.  

Turnaround school or not, though, teachers still seem to be buying the narrative that if we don’t take on classroom management alone, we are weak. But why?  

Okay, so no one is going to call us weak to our faces, but the messages of “If you send kids out of class, then you let them take away your power,” and “Ask yourself if you’ve really tried everything, before having a student removed,” are quite obvious and sometimes received as condescending to teachers.  

Again, I’ve been on both sides of this.  Leadership is hard.  Teachers do have to take ownership of their classrooms.  Together, we do have to do whatever we can to make it work and help students succeed.  

Sometimes though, after the same student calls out twelve times and works your classroom like a funnel cloud of distraction, you’ve decided enough is enough.  

You’re not going to sacrifice twenty-eight other student educations for your pride.  You swallow the interrogation of “well, what did they actually do?” or “This isn’t something to send a kid out for..is it?”  Or my comrade’s favorite, “have you tried those cushy stress balls for him?” And you smile and nod and go back to teaching the hell out of that lesson.  

I mean, do you really think we haven’t tried everything before we called for help? The parent’s number is on speed dial for heaven’s sake.     

Thankfully, I’ve encountered plenty of school climates that differentiate teacher support with student behavior as much as we differentiate learning for our students.  It’s a must.  

New teachers or vets, we all need support from time to time.  I’m hoping that we all can recognize that when teachers ask for help, they probably need it.  

Approach is everything.

I would much rather have someone support me in the moment,  and reflect with me later.  If this isn’t the case for you, teachers, then find the people that will give you that support.  Reflect, learn from your mistakes, and move forward.  

To all of the teachers that are in survival mode, I commend your perseverance.  If you find yourself in the ocean with a self-made life preserver and a life boat of bright-eyed students, make sure to call an SOS.   

Let’s be real, survival mode can only last so long before it goes one way or the other.  

Sending positive vibes from New Orleans...Power to the Teacher!