Emoting

Classrooms are cauldrons of emotion. The emotional content and context of every student every day is different and redefined. And, of course, with teenagers can change almost instantaneously. That's the environment we teach in every day.

Not to mention the emotions of adults and colleagues surrounding us, or the stress of being "on stage" 24/7, or the emoting parent on the other end of the phone. Keeping emotions in check is often the only way to survive a day without complete mental exhaustion.

It is always a shock to start a class and suddenly realize that a student is sobbing. It could be as simple as hormones, or as devestating as the loss of a parent or best friend in a car accident. You have to be prepared for anything.

Most days I'm immune from emotional assaults, but often a bad emotional state will click with the whole class and it begins waking like one enormous emotional monster. A class like that can drive me to despair. But there are days, tired and unmotivated that a class' mood coalesces around positive energy, and what an uplift that can be.

The tragedies and comedies of life are played out daily on the classroom stage. It is dirty, messy, unplannable, a very specialized micro-society. Embrace the uncertainty, you are on a rollercoaster. Might as well enjoy the ride.

To add your stories and insights to the blog, please submit your posts and stories about the daily goings on and battles that we face daily in the classroom. The goal is to help us, and the public at large, understand the reality of the classroom and move beyond the simplistic view of public education as a "broken" problem. The reality most often counters well the inaccurate and error-ridden public media reports about education and education policy.

Please send your ideas, or a fully written post, focusing on events, personalities, issues, etc., that you deal with in the classroom. I will moderate the forum, and post whatever I can.

Thank you in advance for participating. Send to ceablogger@inbox.com