Day 362: Why?

Daily Blog Challenge Day 362/365

Why are you upset?

Seems like a simple question, but often times it is more complicated than a simple explanation. 

I am in the midst of my first full with of maternity leave. I love the extra time with my daughter, but this whole stay at home mom thing is an adjustment. I have found myself more irritated with my husband and jealous of him (he gets to go to bed when he wants, gets to sleep thru the night and does not have to worry about our daughter). Now I am not saying this to complain about my husband or to say he is a bad father. I use this story to illustrate my point.

I have found myself irritated with my husband and feeling like I have to take care of everything. On the surface it seems that I am upset because he didn't put his clothes away or do the dishes, but after spending time thinking about the situation I realized the main problem is that I feel unappreciated. I hope this does not make me sound like a little kid, but I am being honest.

This situation reminded me that our behavior and feelings do not always clearly identify what is truly wrong. A student may act out in class because of many reasons that have little to do with their actual behavior. It may seem like one things, but it could be for another reason all together.

The only way we can truly understand why a student (or person) acted the way they did is to talk to them. I am trying to use the Love and Logic philosophy in my classroom and the main thing I like about it is that it allows students to create their own solutions. Students need to realize their are many options but that each has its own consequence.

We need to help students realize there are many ways to deal with a situation.  Childhood is a perfect time to practice different solutions and to learn how they react to different situations.  Childhood enables children to practice making choices while the overall consequences are fairly cheap.

It is not always what it seems.

Thank you for reading.