What triggers you in a classroom?

It’s the sound of nightmares.

You wake up hearing that stupid metal clang on the tile and immediately you want to scream. Metal water bottles are the bane of my existence. I can deal with many things, but those bottles are not something I am willing to let go. This school year I am making a stand. Who’s with me!?

Ok.. maybe it’s not your thing. If not water bottles, then what? Broken pencils? Missing pencils? Supplies left in lockers? Phones?

What triggers you during the school year?

Before COVID, we never had water bottles in my classroom. Once the water fountains were shut down, water bottles were suddenly everywhere. This was totally fine! I understand the need for hydration, but that was years ago. Now, these icons represent students doing what they can to disrupt class. Hydro Flask....Stanley...Gatorade... You can all hear the clank, sip, or sucking sound these make without me even having to explain.

They get dropped because it’s funny to their classmates. They get spilled because, why not!? It's just some form of sticky liquid that is most definitely not water. My favorite result of this trend (sense the sarcasm), they constantly need to be refilled during class and then suddenly I have 15 students that have to go pee as well. It’s a never ending cycle and it stops now!

Ok… maybe I am a little neurotic over this, but it IS my trigger. This is the hill I will die on and I’m going to save my sanity by having a system to prevent this stress. Since the beginning of the year, students are required to leave the water bottles by the door. There was grumbling at first, along with trips across the classroom during a lesson because, obviously, students will die of thirst if they can't drink their water right at that moment when we're learning something new. But once expectations were set, including appropriate drinking times, it's been smooth sailing. I've even had other classes follow my lead!

You may not care two figs about water bottles, but there is something that would make your life easier. Starting off with one less trigger could make the difference in your school year! Use this spring break to research, reflect, and come up with a plan to relieve the stress of whatever trigger you have in your classroom.