The Reluctant Disciplinarian

            The first day of training we were handed a slew of books – one of them was Gary Rubinstein’s The Reluctant Disciplinarian.  Like I mentioned in a previous blog post I actually read this book once I found out this past march that I was accepted to the program.  While reading it I made sure to take copious notes of the book which ended up being Gary’s blueprint for a successful first year teacher.  Reading over my notes after teaching for three weeks and somewhat seeing ‘what works’ allowed me to see how I stack up against Gary’s blueprint. 

            There were three key points that were takeaways when I read the book in March and are still weaknesses of mine three weeks into my teaching career.  The first big point is to not consider yourself a ‘martyr’.  On page 115, the martyr is described as someone who believes they can save the children.  Now I do believe that pouring into kids inside and outside the classroom is crucial but I have also learned that my number one priority is to teach them. 

            Another key point that Gary emphasizes and I still struggle with how many words I should use.  Gary mentions on page 73 that teachers have only a certain number of words they can say in the year before their classes tune out.  After teaching math for three weeks I’ve realized I’m definitely not one who frequently lectures but my team teacher consistently works with me to use less words.  The point being is that the less words you use the more powerful the words you use are.  This will certainly be a struggle of mine for the remaining weeks of summer training. 

            The third important takeaway from The Reluctant Disciplinian is the importance of CONFIDENCE!  When I first arrived in Mississippi I was fairly certain that I should ask an indefinite amount of questions to see what second years’ and team teachers should do in certain situations.  Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly prescribed procedures for in some situations.  A few examples of this are when a kid throws up, when there’s a fire or even if there is a fight.  The reality is that so much of teaching consists of these small decisions.  It would be impossible to write procedures for every small instance.  What teachers must do though is be confident with their decisions.  Even if you feel if the answer to the issue could be best solved by flipping a quarter or picking a name out of a hat the students must be under the veil that the students are constantly in control. 

            Overall I really enjoyed reading The Reluctant Disciplinarian and although it was a light read…that’s completely fine with me.

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