The "Coach Talk"
Trust is a big issue. It takes time for me to earn it, and it never happens automatically. They see me as the “police”. They don’t trust anyone, including themselves, and they will tell me that.
Sometimes I acknowledge this to them, because they think I don’t understand them. I’ll say, “I know you probably see me as an old lady who doesn’t know anything, who’s just going to give you trouble. And given a little time, you’ll find out that’s not true.”
I try to encourage them to stick with it for at least one month. “Let’s go a month at a time.” Ninety percent of the time, if they stick with it, they calm down and life in the classroom is fine.