I’ve been rehabbing the house I live in for some time now. No, it isn’t that big. I’m just that lazy. I’m nearly done, but the outside of the house still needs quite a bit of care.
About three months ago I tilled up the flower beds around the house and began planting crepe myrtles, azalias, and hawthornes. I got about half of it done when the monsoons hit. I don’t remember seeing it rain that much in Cleveland in a loooong time. As a result, unplanted sections of the beds have grown back over. Weeds are popping up everywhere. Some of them are quite tall.
So now, when you drive by my house, pretty much the only thing to catch my eye are the weeds. I don’t notice how well the shrubs are doing, or how the crepe myrtles need to be trimmed back. I just see the 3 or 4 weeds that stand about 3 feet tall. There are a few in the front and a few in the back. I can’t get past them.
School started for us a little over a week ago. On day four, I had a 7th grader come into my classroom completely out of dress code. His shirt was untucked and he was wearing pants with some of the biggest cargo pockets I’ve ever seen. Granted, his homeroom teacher should have caught the violation and fixed it early in the day. But I had already had a problem with this kid and dress code once before. He likes to wear his pants down below his butt (another violation of dress code, not to mention common decency).
He is my weed.
I found myself thinking about him the next day. I was looking only for him that period. The rest of the class came in unnoticed. If any of them were out of dress code I’m not sure I would have seen it. More importantly, if any of them had questions about the lesson I’m not sure I would have listened. My concentration was totally focused on the weed in my flower bed.
Then it hit me.
I’ve been looking at the weeds in my flower bed (no, the real ones at my house silly….try to keep up) for weeks. Have I done anything with them? Nope. Have I retilled the beds? I’ve talked about it, but haven’t done it. The simple truth is that even though they are unsightly and not at all what I want in my flower beds, they just aren’t bothering me enough to go out and pluck them up.
I complain, yet I do nothing.
In the real world of gardening, i cant change a weed into a flower or a shrub. They’re weeds. But I can choose to let my attention go elsewhere and see the rest of the shrubs and the beauty I am creating where none existed before.
In the world of classroom gardening, I can change that weed into a flower. How do we do that as teachers? By doing exactly the opposite of what I did for the first few days. Concentrate on the good behavior. Look at the flowers. Don’t ignore the weed, but don’t make him or her the focal point of your room either.
Here is a maxim I believe, but find it hard to practice: You get more of whatever you concentrate on. What will happen if I focus my attention on one bad student? I’ll get a room full of them. But if I focus my attention on the good behaviors I will get a room full of them instead.
After all, weeds are people too.