Finding your Inner Ninja

I am very protective of my stuff.
When you work with middle schoolers, for the most part, they may not always think through a lot of the things that they do. And this may make them a little careless sometimes, especially with "things."
My way of helping the kids understand how I want them to treat my things might be slightly unconventional.
Here's an example:

I teach French. We use small, personal size whiteboards with dry-erasers to practice the concepts that we are learning. I like to keep them clean-not just because I'm anal (which I am, undeniably) but because if they get really dirty, the kids using them get really dirty, and then we have complaining and whining and, well, dirty kids. Plus they're annoying to make and I want to keep them!

To the naked eye, it would appear easy. Um, just tell the kids what you want them to do. They'll do it if they know it is a rule.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. Not so fast. Don't forget that as a rule I pretty much only speak French in my classroom. So I have to come up with not only words, but more so act out whatever I want them to do. AND middle school kids hear about 56 rules a day, and they decide which ones are worth following.

I, however, need them to know just how serious I am about this...so I use humor.

I call this "Finding your Inner Ninja."

Acting out using numchucks on somebody who decides to use the opposite side of the whiteboard to write in probably sounds pretty extreme. Especially when you're me and you don't actually have any numchucks.

But the deal is-you get through to these kids by coming down to their level-in every way, especially humore. You have to figure out what they think is funny.
Fortunately (and I'm not quite sure what this says about me) I'm pretty good at this. And so instead of making a rules poster, (1. Do not write on backside of Whiteboard. Punishment if you do: Detention and washing of all whiteboards)

I tell them I will use numchucks and my secret ninja moves on them if I catch them doing it.

They laugh a lot, then get to work and it takes a pretty "careless" kid to risk being secret ninja moved by their teacher to write where I don't want them to write.

Most people have some sort of classroom discipline "regime" they follow. Love and Logic, for example, or Responsive Classroom. Mine? My inner ninja. :)