Tighten Down

The principal told me to have a stronger hand on the reigns, so I read the teacher and student handbook to get a grasp of the rules.  I sent a letter home (only about half left the classroom) explaining who I was, and the three main rules I would be enforcing, since they are already on the books.  The first, no food or drinks in the class, second was the tardy rule, and the third was that cell phones would be taken up.  The students freaked out that I was taking away snack and play time. 
These are seniors, some its thier second shot.  As a young teacher I know I need to put my foot down, but as a former high school student (class of '01) I know that sometimes you need to unwind, but not every day, and only when the teacher says so.  The teacher is the athority in the classroom, not the student. 
I went and got a stack of minor diciplin tickets and pre filled out some with different infractions, everything but the name and date.  There are still some problems, but it has been cut down drastically.  Wait till after thanksgiving break, then they will see an even more demanding teacher.

Why I started.

My wife has a blog, my sisters, and even my mother.  I hear about all that they say and the world they live in.  It is something akin to keeping a journal but with feed back.  I am a first year teacher, just graduated.  My expectations are high, for myself and my students.  It took me a while to land my job.  I moved with my wife (just married in July) to a area, and found out that they had laid off almost 200 teachers.  I applied to every school, even if they did not have my area open.  I teach Social Studies. I was able to get 4 intervies in the area, but no luck.
 I managed to land a job as a shift manager at a local buisness and then miracles of miracles, I got a call back.  I was number two in the list, so when a position opened up, I was the only one called and asked if I was stilll interested.  I was called on a tuesday, the next Monday filled out my paperwork, and was in the class observing on Wednesday.  I was riding high. 
What I found at the school made me excited, but disapointed as well.  I am not going to name any names, student or facility, but as a decendent of teachers, (from both sides of my family) I have very high standards.  What I saw was students that as seniors, could not comprehend writing a five paragraph essay, much less a one paragrpah essay (in under 45 min.) or create a power point more than 8 slides long.  The students ate, drank soda, and listened to music and constantly had their cell phones out.  I have tightened down the rules, and will continue to hold the students up to a higher level.  They are seniors.  I have been teaching for two weeks, and will fill in some stories and truth as it occurs.