RACLE

I respect each and every one of my students from the highest acheivers to the least cooperative ones, at least that's according to me, some of my students may not agree with that. Okay sure I can be hard on them when they disappoint me, but if anything I'm too soft. Just because I have a relaxed style does not mean I do not have high expectations. At Herron, at least thus far, I have not had trouble motivating the students. A large number of them are driven to succeed, some put forth just enough effort to get by and a very small percentage underperform, I had one of these in my crosshairs the other day.

There was a student who was doing more talking than he was working so I sternly redirected him to get back on task. I had a toothache that day so I probably came off as mean. He did not like my tone and muttered something as I turned to walk away. I pretended not to hear what he said. Teenagers are angsty by nature, and usually when something like that happens it won't go any further unless the student is provoked. I turned the other cheek, no further disruption, no big deal. However he did something the following class period that undermined my authority, which did trigger a response from me.

It was toward the end of the last class period for the day. There was an announcement made to hold all students at the bell, but I did not catch the whole message because I was in the midst of teaching. Apparently there was some kind of emergency and the fire department had to be called out. The administration made the decision to keep the students in their classrooms, because they did not want people flooding the scene, but no reason was given at the time of the announcement. The students did not appreciate being inconvenienced as indicated by their numerous exasperations. No one knew how long it would be. It only ended up being about three minutes.

The young man I spoke of earlier was the most upset about having to remain after the bell. He got up to leave of his own accord and I stopped him. He pointed at the window of the door and practically shouted, "Look! There's other people out in the hall! This was true, and I had no interest in arguing with him about it. I figured I probably got the message wrong and released the students. A few seconds later they were being herded back into the room, but he managed to be the only one to slip through the cracks and he never returned. I looked really bad for sending the students out.

That's what I get for giving him the benefit of doubt. I was pretty upset about this, but I know I have myself to blame mostly for allowing it to happen. After thinking it over, I decided I had to RACLE him. That stands for Recognize the mistake, Address it with the student, Correct the behavior, Log it in the system and Email the parents, but I did not assign a detention. It was my first RACLE and I didn't like having to do it, but I would do it ten times out of ten.

Update: The young man that I RACLE'd also happens to be a baseball player who at that point had missed the handful of practices which I attended as a volunteer coach. I realized this while on the phone with his mother. Rather than inform his coach right away I decided to have a little fun with him . . .

The next game was part of a double header against Howe High School less than a mile from where I live. It happened on a beautiful sunny Saturday and I had that morning off, well at least the first part of it. I walked on down with a couple of bags full of free pastries I got from my side job at Starbucks. I had croissants, coffee cakes, bagels and lemon pound cakes. My plan was to disperse these to the players in between games, which I did. I think he was quite surprised to see the teacher he disrespected by saying, "I don't care!" suddenly coaching first base.

They won the first game of the doubleheader and afterward coach Hughes had a few things to say to them about the win. He had them all gathered around on one knee. After he finished talking to them he let me distribute the treats. I began with the young man who received the RACLE and asked him, "Would you care for one?" He took one, and they won the second game and we haven't had a problem since.