Young Men's Club - 5/8/08

Today, I was somewhat of a rough day. It turns out that I will be leaving the school earlier than my commitment. So as a result, I've got a lot of loose ends to tie up. One of which is teaching the boys their lines for the Spring Show. Now here's the thing, as a professional actor, I understand that sitting down and learning lines is not fun. So you can imagine how it may feel for a group of 9 year-olds. But I just had to press on. I also went with a new tactic for trying to control their behavior. Rather than threaten them with what I would do specifically (whether it was a time out, a written notice, or telling their parent), I would instead give them a rather general threat. So if one kid would misbehave, I would smile and say, "Good. Keep doing that. Because it will help me remember how you've behaved today. And I've got something special planned for you." It was a pretty much a bluff. It's not like I'm going to do anything different than what I've already done. But the vagueness seems to work better. It allows their imaginations to kick in. Psychological warfare is the best. Also, I gave many many speeches about how actions speak louder than words. If they learn nothing else from me, it will be that.