The Power of Pancakes

If being a teacher would actually consist of just teaching classes than teachers would pretty much have the best job in the world. Unfortunately, as I have mentioned many times before, it is not. One of the most time consuming parts of being a teacher is in fact resolving teenage drama. This is not a job for the faint hearted among us. You migh have forgotten your own teenage drama since it's been awhile, but let me tell you most teens carry so much drama we should nickname them Atlas (greek mythology reference people.. look it up :P) 

As far as I am concerned the facts are these: people love to gossip and, since teenagers are just like people, they gossip as well. However, they have a less developed understanding of the consequences of running your mouth like a speed train, which means they talk a lot of shit about each other and then always end up in tears when it blows up in their faces. This year my very own mentor class could probably compete for the 'not being able to mind your own business for even a second' award and take it home at the end of the night. A situation that does not delight me, but one that I have been dealing with all year. Now, I don't have to tell you that gossiping does not lead to a very safe social environment and when social media gets involved, well there is no toilet strong enough to withstand that shitshow. And that is exactly what my class is sometimes: a shitshow. Even with me pulling out all of the stops. I have had interventions, I have lectured, I have done intense reflective exercises, I have made sociograms, I have cried, I have begged, I have yelled, I have put them into a desolate building and forced them to do trust exercises. But, none of it has helped for longer than 2 weeks at most. Therefore, last week, when one of my kids yelled and screamed at one of their classmates in the middle of the PE field and then threatened violence, I was officially at a loss... so I made them pancakes. 

Did I make them pancakes because I believe they have magical powers? 

No. 

I made them pancakes because at a certain point, what else is there to do but try and eat your frustration away. Also... the look on their faces when they entered my classroom expecting a lecture but were instead welcomed by the smell of pancakes and pastries? Pretty priceless. Their immediate suspicion was amazing. I have never been so aware of the fact that students are highly paranoid about teachers being nice to them. 

Did we only eat pancakes that day? 

No.

I put the chairs in a circle, distracted them with food first. And then we talked. About how bad gossiping is and how damaging it can be. About how, if you feel the need to gossip (as is pretty human) you should at least be willing to face the consequences afterwards (which may include, yelling, crying or counter gossiping). Was it the best conversation I ever had with my class? Nope. Did I end up resolving any of the issues? Doubtful. Did my kids feel better afterwards? Hard to say. But, they were willing to talk, and they shared a little, they were able to reminisce about some good memories from the previous two years and they got to do all of that while eating pancakes. More importantly, I got to do all of that while eating pancakes. It may not have been a magical solution, but by approaching the issue from another angle I was at least able to have a pleasant non argumentative conversation with them and that is worth its weight in gold... or pancakes.