Lesson Learned

I think I learned my first valuable lesson today. Pick your battles. Some teachers try to fight every battle, and it drives them nuts. They want everything their way or the want every student to follow every rule exactly as they see it. These teachers are the most miserable people in the building. The never smile, never say anything positive, and seem to be the least attractive(in my opinion because of their attitude, not physical appearance).
On the other hand, there are those teachers who let everything slide. they let students get away with everything for the sake of being the "cool" teacher or to avoid having to deal with misbehaving students or enforcing school policy. These teachers cause the most headaches for teachers like me. Every time I ask a student to do, or not do something I get the comment, "that's not what the other teachers make us do". So, I have to decide to argue with them or just let it go. It's a major pain in the backside.
What I have learned is that for the sake of keeping my classes focused on a task and for the sake of preserving my sanity I must pick my battles.
What does that mean? It means that I am not going to stress about the little things. For example, I don't look for kids who are chewing gum or eating candy, but if I see it they have to throw it away. At our school the students wear uniforms. I don't inspect each student but if I happen to notice it I make them fix it. If the problem persists and I happen to catch it several times then the proper referral is written.
What is disturbing is what I have heard from several other teachers in relation to picking their battles. Several teachers have mentioned that if certain students, who are normally disruptive in class, fall asleep then they let them sleep. I see the point that it's nice to not be disrupted, but How can a teacher, in good conscience, allow a student to sleep in class. It's a dis-service to that student. Students can not sleep in class. If they do, then as a teacher you are saying that it is OK to fail. If that's the case then maybe you don't need to pick a battle, you need to pick a new career.