I used the authority vested in me to take affirmative action today. I have had some behaviour problems with Class 2 (actually, with the 6 year-olds, Class 1 and Class 3 as well, but this was the first call to action), and little I do seems to help. As a last resort I can shout at them, and it helps for a while, though I need an approach that does not lead me to anger/sadness/despair. So, for the first time in my 5 years as a teacher, I rang a few parents after the lesson concerned, with the individual children present to explain to their parents how they had behaved.

I have avoided this course of action for so long, mostly because I really don’t like to speak in Swedish on the phone (although 99% of the recipients don’t have Swedish as a first language), or maybe it’s the potential of a confrontation I’ve been trying to shirk.

Anyway, today I spoke to three people, explaining the situation, and I seem to have got a good response from them. I sincerely hope this will resolve the situation, or at least be the beginning of it, because I do not intend to take too much more of the disrespect I experience on a daily basis.

This morning I was sitting waiting for my train to come when I experienced the “stone in the stomach” feeling I often have at this particular time. I cannot ever recall any job I’ve had where I have felt so worried about the day to come, and, whilst I have felt it many times this past half a decade, today was the day where I finally said stop. From now on there is to be a new “Jon the Teacher” that simply does not accept the shit I have had to endure. I do not desire to become a martinet, just someone who deserves the respect that is due for such a position, and a human-being.