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CHAPTER 2 - Winners Need Discipline!

That afternoon Ben Ross bought some books about the Nazis.

They were for his history class. He wanted his students to under stand about life in Germany at the time of the Nazis.

When Christy Ross came home she found her husband at the kitchen table.

‘Why are you reading all these books about the Nazis?’ Christy asked.

‘One of my students asked me a question about them.’ said Ben. ‘And I don’t think they can learn the answer from a book.

But I have a plan.’

The next morning Ben went to class early. When the students arrived they saw some words at the front of the room.

‘WINNERS NEED DISCIPLINE,’ somebody read. ‘What does that mean?’

Ben walked over and stood next to David and Brian. ‘You two both play football. You know you need discipline to win.’ ‘We never win,’ Eric said, and the class laughed.

‘Perhaps that’s because you don’t have any discipline,’ Ben said.

The students were all quiet now. Ben was surprised to see that they were interested. He took his chair and put it at the front of the room.

‘Discipline starts with how you sit. I don’t want you to sit back in your chairs. You must sit up. Amy, come up here.’ Mr Ross showed Amy how to sit up. Other students began to do the same. Ben walked round the room.

‘Look at Robert, everybody,’ said Ben. ‘He’s sitting up. That’s very good, Robert.’

Robert looked up at his teacher and smiled.

Ben returned to the front of the room. ‘Now I want you all to get up and walk round the room. When I tell you, you must go back to your desks.’

The students stood up and began walking round the room. Ben watched them. Then he said, ‘Go back to your places!’ Everybody ran back to their places. ‘That wasn’t very good!’ said Ben. ‘Next time 1 want much more discipline.’ The class got up and went back to their places many times.

Each time they did it faster.

‘Now there are two more rules,’ Ben told the students. ‘They’re for when you ask or answer a question. The first rule is that you must stand up next to your chairs when you ask or answer a question. The second rule is that you must say ‘Mr Ross’ before you give your answer.’

Mr Ross walked round the room. He stopped at Brad’s desk.

‘Brad, who was the leader of the Nazis?’

Brad did not stand up. ‘I think it was . . .’ ‘Wrong, Brad!’ said Mr Ross. ‘You’re forgetting the rules.’ Ben looked across the room at Robert. ‘Robert, what do we do when we answer a question?’

Robert stood up next to his desk. ‘Mr Ross.’ ‘That’s right,’ Mr Ross said. ‘Thank you, Robert.’ ‘I don’t like this,’ said Brad.

‘That’s because you can’t do it,’ somebody said. The others laughed.

‘Brad,’ Mr Ross said, ‘who was the leader of the Nazis?’ Brad stood up slowly and stood next to his desk. ‘Mr Ross, I think it was Adolf Hitler.’

‘You’re too slow, Brad,’ Mr Ross said. ‘I want everybody to give me their answers quickly. Now, Brad, try again.’ Brad jumped up next to his place. ‘Mr Ross, it was Hitler.’ Mr Ross smiled. ‘That’s better,’ he said.

After the lesson the students talked together about it.

‘That was strange!’ said Brian. ‘But 1 thought it was great!’ ‘I did too,’ said Eric.

Amy laughed. ‘Anything is better than history,’ she said.

‘No, don’t laugh,’ said David. ‘This is important. It felt different when we did those things together.’ ‘Why was it important?’ said Brad. ‘Ross asked us questions and we answered them.’

‘But we were a team!’ said David. ‘Do you remember what Mr Ross said about discipline? I think he was right. We need that discipline for our football team.’

♦

Late that night Ben talked to his wife about his students.

‘Usually they don’t do anything I tell them,’ he said. ‘But they loved the new discipline. I was very surprised.’ ‘Perhaps they thought it was a game,’ said Christy. ‘And they all wanted to be the best in the class.’

‘I think that’s true,’ Ben told his wife. ‘But the strangest thing was that they wanted me to discipline them. At the end of the lesson they stayed in their places. It was more than a game to them.’

Christy laughed. ‘They stayed at the end of the lesson! That’s new! Are you going to do the same thing tomorrow?’ ‘I don’t think I will,’ said Ben.