Comments on: Do They Care?

By: NYC Educator

NYC Educator — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 00:14:16 +0000

You may want to reconsider your impulese toward anger. Raising your voice in anger signals the teacher’s defeat. Perhaps years of teaching have rendered me a heartless bastard, but when kids give me a hard time, I very quietly suggest they may not wish to do whatever it is they’re doing, all the while calculating the best way to show them their behavior will cause mazimum inconvenince not to me, but to them.

In any case, you’re green and the kids are testing you. That’s kind of their job. With experience, you’ll be able to shrug off most, if not all of these situations.

I think it’s good that you’re calling homes. It’s important to know what to say when you do that, and I’d like to refer you to something I wrote specifically to help folks like you accomplish that task:

http://nyceducator.blogspot.com/2005/06/i-wish-someone-had-told-me.html

I hope this helps you.

By: overview

overview — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 17:08:13 +0000

It is true that our behavior effects the behavior of our students; although we do not cause their problems, how we respond to them does effect them. Thus, breaking up the class into smalller groups, and isolating the troublemakers into a group by themselves, will enable you to show the rest of the class that it is really just a small group that is disturbing the whole. If the troublemakers are isolated, they will lose their status, especially if one or more of them is able to be asked to leave the classroom and dealt with by the administration.

By: The Education Wonks

The Education Wonks — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:26:36 +0000

Teaching In Inner-City Schools: What’s To Be Done?

My attitude toward disruptive students tends to be rather straight-forward: Edwize has more to read in the whole post, which does a fine job of showing us some of the reasons why so many young teachers leave the teaching craft during the first five y…

By: a-realist

a-realist — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 09:49:10 +0000

Bimsmile,
I am sorry to hear that you must go through such torture.
First, although it may not seem this way, in all likelyhood your main distractions may involve only a few of the 25 students. The rest get roudy due the the few. So, try and narrow down the few who are the worse and concentrate your efforts on those students and their parents.
Second, try rewards for those students who behave, stay on task, and complete assignments. Shower those students with both rewards and praise.
Third, if it is your full day classroom, change the seating arrangement. Place your teacher’s desk so that it is behind the class. When you are at your desk you want to see the backs of their heads.
Fourth, remove or try to cover or block anything in the classroom that causes a student to become distracted. If students go to the window then block the window.
Fifth, try to see some humor in the whole thing, if you can.

By: Persam1197

Persam1197 — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 08:40:59 +0000

I feel your pain, however, you may want to reassess what takes places in your classroom. Don’t give up! If it is at all possible, develop individual relationships with your students and earn their trust. No doubt that they have not been nurtured at home nor at school. They need to see you in a different light. Also, consider different strategies such as Socratic Seminars (really!) that makes them share the classroom as co-educators. When kids see what it’s like up there, it puts a whole different light on respecting you as a teacher.

It sounds like these kids are as burnt out as you are. Consider using educational and social games in class to develop a new group dynamic. You can find some within the UFT curriculum guide that’s available through the Teacher Center and on-line.

I’ve been there, and even though it looks hopeless, there is still hope. Keep a mask on that shows energy, caring, optimism, and respect. Eventually they’ll turn around if for no other reason than they won’t want to disappoint you and your faith in them.

By: EdWonk

EdWonk — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 06:06:49 +0000

Until pupils (especially this age or older) and parents are also held accountable for their behavior and academic effort, (or lack thereof) the type of negative student behaviors described by this teacher will continue to be a serious problem throughout our country’s public education system.

One of my many concerns with NCLB is that it puts the responsibility for students’ academic progress completely on the school, while mentioning nothing about the need for both parents and students to do their part to ensure academic success.

By: thedude

thedude — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 04:06:19 +0000

There are some wonderful ETP courses offered by the union, such as TEACH for the Exceptional Student, that can teach you how YOUR behavior has to change for theirs to change.

By: institutional memory

institutional memory — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 01:01:32 +0000

When I was a new teacher (many moons ago), a colleague told me, “You teach 90 per cent of your kids for free. They pay you your entire salary to teach the other ten per cent, and it’s still not enough.”

Nothing’s changed. It’s the other ten per cent that present the real challenge.

By: mvplab

mvplab — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 23:19:09 +0000

Remember your students are not your enemy! But also, they are not your friends. You have a job to do! They are the job you have to do.

By: media-teach

media-teach — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:09:58 +0000

Hmmm, sounds like my day, and I would have to search pretty hard to find much that was wonderful or inspiring today. The students don’t care because most of the adults don’t care enough to do anything but scream and yell at the students all day long for doing everything wrong. To say I am discouraged would be an understatement.