Chapter #9 When Things Go Wrong

Chapter nine of Fires in the Bathroom discusses difficulties in the classroom like grades and students skipping class. These things can discourage both student and teacher but if the teacher stays positive and supportive the student is less likely to be discouraged. This chapter also talks about teachers confidence and not showing that they are scared in the classroom.

I think my favorite part of this chapter was "we're like dogs, we can sense fear and sniff it out" (p168). I think that this is so true and I had first hand experience with it when I was substitute teaching (9/15/08). I was really nervous at first and I started to notice that the students were taking advantage of that and not doing what they were suppose to be doing. I then realized that I have nothing to be scared of and I put a foot down and had to separate students so that they would do their work. Once I did that the students actually listened to me the rest of the class and did their work. After my first day substitute teaching I was actually proud of myself and how I handled them.