Restoring harmony to an unruly classroom

As a teacher, I always feel excitement and anticipation as the first day of the school year approaches. This year, it started out well, but everything changed during one of my classes. The kids were unruly, loud, and disrespectful to me and to each other. If one student inappropriately yelled something out, others would laugh, and they would feed off each other’s attention.

I didn’t want to yell, single anyone out, or send anyone to the principal’s office on the first day. So, I did my best to keep moving forward, hoping for the hour to pass quickly. But it appeared I had no authority and the students were out of control. I barely made it through the hour-long class, and afterward I questioned, “How can I come back to school tomorrow? Have I lost my knack? Should I be doing something different?”

That night, I woke up and the idea came to me to pray. Two thoughts came to mind from the Bible: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). And: “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). I knew that I could draw nigh to Love, God, by seeing that divine Love was the “one mind,” and that this Mind was at work in my classroom. I also saw that as God’s children, the students could be receptive to this Love.

I also thought about a recent Christian Science podcast in which the speaker mentioned that in prayer we can begin by rejecting what we see materially, which isn’t of God, and replacing that with what is spiritually true. In my case, that meant seeing that I am fully capable and effective at my job because I reflect and express qualities of God; that as children of God, my students are good and kind; and that God is governing and guiding, so nothing is out of control.

On that basis, I could reject the belief that I was an inadequate teacher and that my students were unruly. I felt settled and was able to continue my night’s rest.

When I had to teach the same students the next day, I was at peace. My prayer led me to take some practical measures: a new seating configuration; greeting each student and showing genuine interest in them; commenting to a select few that things were going to be different from the previous day, and that I expected them to listen. I also invited one of our school behavior specialists to attend part of my class to observe and provide feedback.

My prayer also inspired me to share what had happened overnight, in a way that was suitable for this classroom setting. I told the students that I hadn’t been feeling good about the previous day, and that in the middle of the night, the answer that came to me was love – one word that is so very powerful. I teach because I love. I love the subject that I teach. I love the students, the school, and the community. Teaching is how I express my love.

I proceeded to write “Love” on the whiteboard, then from there I wrote different ways love is expressed in the classroom in qualities that I understand as being sourced in God, such as care, kindness, patience, humility, respect, safety, and forgiveness. The class was focused and quiet during this time. I knew their receptive hearts were taking it all in. I felt the one Mind, the only Mind, was at work. God was in charge.

Next, I had the students engage in a team building activity, and at the end, I turned their attention back to the list of qualities written on the whiteboard. I asked them to identify ways they expressed these in the activity. Some of the responses were these: “We worked together as a team”; “We communicated with each other”; “We were respectful of each other’s ideas”; “We forgave each other if we messed up.”

My reply was, “See how much love we have in our classroom! Pretty amazing, right? This is how our class will be this year.” And that’s how it has been.

We’d witnessed God’s influence at work, evidencing what Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, writes in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”: “Mind is Life, Truth, and Love which governs all” (p. 508). As we become conscious of the presence of this perfect Mind, harmony reigns.