Hello there. As most of you know, this year in Ukraine has held a lot of 'firsts' for me: first time living in a Russian-speaking context, first time living overseas for a significant amount of time, first year as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher, first 'real job', etc. There's a lot of things I am just learning how to do.
One such thing is teaching. They say that the first year of teaching is the hardest, as you're getting used to getting up in front of impressionable members of the next generation, our hope and shining future, and imparting knowledge to them. Also, you're lesson planning, managing your class/classroom, and teaching to (or in my case, completely making up) your curriculum. The first year of teaching takes a lot out of you. One of the things that has made my first year of teaching difficult is dealing with difficult students. The temptation is to let them have it, punishing at will to keep the room under your control. But even greater is the idea that you can show the Gospel in how you discipline.
1. Stick to your guns
No, not literally, you Amurican NRA member. No. Put that away. You'll shoot your eye out.
Stick to what you say. If you say 2 more minutes to complete a task, make sure it's 2 minutes. If you say 1 sticker per person, make sure the shady kid in the back corner doesn't take another one. If you say you'll be checking homework next week and you'll give zeros if they don't do it, then do what you say.
Ukrainian teachers do not stick to their guns. They yell and threaten, and threaten while yelling, and sometimes even yell with intermittent threats. I don't. I made a decision on Day 1 that I would not yell to discipline. Ever. Instead, we do the 3 strikes and you're out rule- literally, you have the wait out the rest of the lesson in the hallway. And sticking to my guns has made a real impact. Students respect me rather than fear me or laugh at my supposed 'authority'. They know that what I say is what I mean, so when I say they did well on something, they know that I'm telling the truth. Sticking to your guns instead of giving in to your emotions in moments of behavior problems is vital.
God forgave us; but he never said that sin was ok. He disciplines us, like a father disciplines his sons (somewhere in Hebrews... look it up.) Sin is still wrong. Always. And it deserves punishment. Always. God doesn't give in and say 'Ok, but just this one time. Do it again, and I'll give you what you really deserve.' No- if you sin, you get punished. That's what the law was designed to show us, that we're all screwed-up sinners. But the Good News is that that's not the end of the story.
Without law, there would be no need for grace. Without transgression, there would be no need for propitiation (bible word alert- look it up.) If you take away the power of the law, you take away the power of grace. So stick to your guns- if it's wrong, it's wrong. Breaking rules has consequences. See #2 for the good news.
2. Kick them out. Do it. Even if they cry about it. Then invite them back in.
In my class, as stated above, we do the 3 strikes and you're out rule. And again, instead of just threatening to do it, I actually kick them out. And it shocked them at first. It feels bad knowing that you have to deliver a consequence for stupid/disrespectful/reckless behavior. But do it anyway- they need to learn. The most important part is what you do afterwards. Whether it's later in the lesson or the next day in class, invite them back in. Show them the grace Jesus showed you and give them a new, fresh start every day. Don't get caught in the whole "Johnny's just a bad kid" thing. He's not a bad kid. He does bad things. But even Johnny needs to be shown grace, an echo of the grace that Christ showed him on the cross, that you as a believer need to be showing to people around you in everyday life to point them to Him. So yeah, kick them out. But always make sure to invite them back in.
3. Love them. If for no other reason, look for the image of God in them.
One of the hardest parts of teaching for me is seeing a kid who doesn't want to learn, who doesn't try to understand, and who spits in the face of every second chance you give him/her. It's disheartening, and if you don't adjust your attitude, it might even cause you to hate 'that kid'. There's a 'that kid' or potential 'that kid' in every class, I'm sure of it. The temptation is to let your emotions rule how you treat him/her, i.e. give 'that kid' a taste of his/her own medicine.
But that's not showing the Gospel. The Gospel is the truth that while we were still enemies of God, Christ died for us. He didn't die for us when we were being cool and cooperating. He died for us when we were still uncool, when we were still 'that kid'. He didn't wait for us to get it or learn our lesson before taking action to rescue us from ourselves- He just loved us.
And some days, 'that kid' gets on your last nerve. In fact, 'that kid' in 4th grade got on mine today. I had to keep reminding myself to look for the image of God in 'that kid'. Not like physical traits, or even behavioral traits (oh gosh I hope God isn't like this kid...)- the image of God is the fact that 'that kid' (even the one in 4th grade at my school) was formed by the hands of the Living Creator of the universe and was given life from the breath of God. It's the idea that God made 'that kid' for a reason, declared 'that kid' good, and sent His one and only son to die for 'that kid'. Because of this truth, I am moved to love 'that kid', smirks, attitude problems and all. If you really can't love 'that kid', look really really really really really hard for the image of God in him/her and pray for the will to love him/her. 'That kid' deserves to be loved with the love of God. 'That kid' deserves to see the Gospel lived out in front of him/her as a smaller representation of the larger picture of grace: Christ's sacrifice, where He freely gave His life so 'that kid' might live eternally with the Father. That's some Good News right there.
Sermon over- hope you actually read it, and hope it made you think.
One such thing is teaching. They say that the first year of teaching is the hardest, as you're getting used to getting up in front of impressionable members of the next generation, our hope and shining future, and imparting knowledge to them. Also, you're lesson planning, managing your class/classroom, and teaching to (or in my case, completely making up) your curriculum. The first year of teaching takes a lot out of you. One of the things that has made my first year of teaching difficult is dealing with difficult students. The temptation is to let them have it, punishing at will to keep the room under your control. But even greater is the idea that you can show the Gospel in how you discipline.
1. Stick to your guns
No, not literally, you Amurican NRA member. No. Put that away. You'll shoot your eye out.
Stick to what you say. If you say 2 more minutes to complete a task, make sure it's 2 minutes. If you say 1 sticker per person, make sure the shady kid in the back corner doesn't take another one. If you say you'll be checking homework next week and you'll give zeros if they don't do it, then do what you say.
Ukrainian teachers do not stick to their guns. They yell and threaten, and threaten while yelling, and sometimes even yell with intermittent threats. I don't. I made a decision on Day 1 that I would not yell to discipline. Ever. Instead, we do the 3 strikes and you're out rule- literally, you have the wait out the rest of the lesson in the hallway. And sticking to my guns has made a real impact. Students respect me rather than fear me or laugh at my supposed 'authority'. They know that what I say is what I mean, so when I say they did well on something, they know that I'm telling the truth. Sticking to your guns instead of giving in to your emotions in moments of behavior problems is vital.
God forgave us; but he never said that sin was ok. He disciplines us, like a father disciplines his sons (somewhere in Hebrews... look it up.) Sin is still wrong. Always. And it deserves punishment. Always. God doesn't give in and say 'Ok, but just this one time. Do it again, and I'll give you what you really deserve.' No- if you sin, you get punished. That's what the law was designed to show us, that we're all screwed-up sinners. But the Good News is that that's not the end of the story.
Without law, there would be no need for grace. Without transgression, there would be no need for propitiation (bible word alert- look it up.) If you take away the power of the law, you take away the power of grace. So stick to your guns- if it's wrong, it's wrong. Breaking rules has consequences. See #2 for the good news.
2. Kick them out. Do it. Even if they cry about it. Then invite them back in.
In my class, as stated above, we do the 3 strikes and you're out rule. And again, instead of just threatening to do it, I actually kick them out. And it shocked them at first. It feels bad knowing that you have to deliver a consequence for stupid/disrespectful/reckless behavior. But do it anyway- they need to learn. The most important part is what you do afterwards. Whether it's later in the lesson or the next day in class, invite them back in. Show them the grace Jesus showed you and give them a new, fresh start every day. Don't get caught in the whole "Johnny's just a bad kid" thing. He's not a bad kid. He does bad things. But even Johnny needs to be shown grace, an echo of the grace that Christ showed him on the cross, that you as a believer need to be showing to people around you in everyday life to point them to Him. So yeah, kick them out. But always make sure to invite them back in.
3. Love them. If for no other reason, look for the image of God in them.
One of the hardest parts of teaching for me is seeing a kid who doesn't want to learn, who doesn't try to understand, and who spits in the face of every second chance you give him/her. It's disheartening, and if you don't adjust your attitude, it might even cause you to hate 'that kid'. There's a 'that kid' or potential 'that kid' in every class, I'm sure of it. The temptation is to let your emotions rule how you treat him/her, i.e. give 'that kid' a taste of his/her own medicine.
But that's not showing the Gospel. The Gospel is the truth that while we were still enemies of God, Christ died for us. He didn't die for us when we were being cool and cooperating. He died for us when we were still uncool, when we were still 'that kid'. He didn't wait for us to get it or learn our lesson before taking action to rescue us from ourselves- He just loved us.
And some days, 'that kid' gets on your last nerve. In fact, 'that kid' in 4th grade got on mine today. I had to keep reminding myself to look for the image of God in 'that kid'. Not like physical traits, or even behavioral traits (oh gosh I hope God isn't like this kid...)- the image of God is the fact that 'that kid' (even the one in 4th grade at my school) was formed by the hands of the Living Creator of the universe and was given life from the breath of God. It's the idea that God made 'that kid' for a reason, declared 'that kid' good, and sent His one and only son to die for 'that kid'. Because of this truth, I am moved to love 'that kid', smirks, attitude problems and all. If you really can't love 'that kid', look really really really really really hard for the image of God in him/her and pray for the will to love him/her. 'That kid' deserves to be loved with the love of God. 'That kid' deserves to see the Gospel lived out in front of him/her as a smaller representation of the larger picture of grace: Christ's sacrifice, where He freely gave His life so 'that kid' might live eternally with the Father. That's some Good News right there.
Sermon over- hope you actually read it, and hope it made you think.