Excerpt from 6th Period

Yesterday in 6th period, the class was seriously talkative and unfocused.  It didn't matter what I did, five minutes after I had achieved some semblance of order we were back to talking and moving quickly off-task.  This conversation took place as I was reaching a point of major frustration....

Me: Ok, guys, PLEASE stop talking.  It just breaks my heart when you talk!  You know what?  I'm going to make a big heart with lots of pieces and hang it on the wall.  When you talk, I'm going to go take a piece off and hand it to you so you have to think about how sad it makes me when you don't focus!

It goes quiet for a second, and then....

8th grade boy: So if I talk, you'll give me a piece of your heart?!  I'm never gonna shutup!

Needless to say, my discipline technique was an epic fail.  I think the lesson here is pretty obvious: ALWAYS think before you speak.

More to come tomorrow......