Don't be a Control Freak....

Being in a classroom with high school students all day... you learn very quickly that you cannot control everything!! These are almost 18 year old students that are just dying to be "free" and make their own decisions, and many days, they do...in the classroom! But, as a teacher, we cannot get stuck in that mind set that we are suppose to and have to control their every thought, response, and motivation to do good in our class! The authors of Asking Better Questions remind us that "you can't control thinking, your job is to generate thinking." We can't control the seniors who are bursting at the seams to get out of school, we can't control the juniors who are so anxious to be in the seniors shoes, and we can't control the sophomores who are just trying to figure everything out and fit in! But...we can control our ability to teach to the best of our ability every day. We can strive to motivate and spark interest and thought in the classroom, rather we have a room full of seniors, juniors, or sophomores!