Pedagogy vs. Pack Leading

Cosmo & Elmer watching me...always watching.

It should not take me by surprise by now but it does, how the new students enter the classroom on Day 1 -- tentative, their eyes on me, watching. Ears listening. Every movement, every cue. People who study such things say that middle schoolers have three basic questions on that first day: 1. Are my teachers nice?; 2. Where is my locker?; and 3. When is lunch? These are all important, and very much on middle schoolers' minds, but I think we need to look at question number one a little more thoroughly. There's a lot more going on there.  Here's what I pick up on when students first lock eyes with me:

1a.  Is this teacher nice?

1b.  Does she know what she's doing?

1c.  Is she going to understand me?

1d.  Am I going to understand her?

1e.  Is she going to keep the classroom running well?

1f.  Is she going to take charge of the situation if something is not going well?

1g.  Is she she going to create interesting lessons?

Over the years I have read some great books and articles on classroom management, observed master teachers, and taken workshops and classes that have all taught me some effective skills. Yet last night, when my brain was frazzled with planning and over planning, I reached not for pedagogy but the soothing and simplistic words of the master dog trainer, Cesar Milan in his 

article Essential Qualities of a Pack Leader

1. Be calm

2. Be consistent

3. Be instinctual

4. Be respectful

5. Be confident