Optimism, patience and determination are three qualities that I’ve found extremely necessary as a teacher and in the short time I’ve been teaching I’ve fought to remain high in all three. It’s so hard to stay positive when my students have such negative attitudes towards school and sometimes, life. It’s frustrating to watch my students fail only because they can’t bring themselves to complete any work. And it is exhausting to try over and over again, day after day to teach my students when so often it seems they have no desire to learn anything at all.
Like a car desperately trying to run on an empty tank of gas I sputtered through the day; I was low on patience and discouraged by my students. *Paul argued with me over switching seats, Gina bitterly complained about writing four to five paragraphs, Oliver once again took the bathroom pass and was gone for half the period and Miriam refused to write about one special person in her life. Maybe giving students a week off isn’t such a good idea. As a teacher having a week off enabled me to return rested and excited to get back in the classroom. It seems though, this is not the case for students. I think my students stepped out of school on December 23, turned off their brains, and have now forgotten how to turn them back on. They won’t complete work, they won’t think and they are having a great deal of difficulty paying attention. Is it the time of year?
Prior to Christmas break, I recall a colleague of mine advising me that the holidays was a difficult time of year for many of our students. We discussed how emotions ran high around this time of year and that we wouldn’t be surprised if our students were more agitated than normal and if there more confrontations than we were used to. Although I only witnessed this slightly before the holidays, I feel I am now seeing it more.
Never have I seen my students roll their eyes at my lessons so often, look so bored or complain so much. It’s very disappointing and disheartening. I stand in the front of the room, the middle of the room or the back of the room and it doesn’t matter, if they’re involved in anything else, then I don’t exist. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to raise my voice in the classroom less, but how do I do that? How do I get my students attention when it’s so loud in the classroom? Please tell me that some of this has something to do with the time of year and that it’s not just me!
* Names were changed
4 Comments:
1 frogmugsy
· Jan 5, 2006 at 5:46 pm
It’s obvious you are a “bad” teacher. The students aren’t learning and you’re not motivating them.
On a serious note, welcome to the real world. Bloomberg, administrators and our contract do (did) nothing to empathize our plight in the classroom. Whereas a great lesson work wonders in the morning, it falls flat in the afternoon. And it’s not even a behavioral problem!
Think outside the box. Sometimes a goofy “thing” can bring them back to Earth.
“Maybe giving students a week off isn’t such a good idea.”
2 NaniRolls
· Jan 5, 2006 at 8:06 pm
It’s not just you. I promise. I have these exact same issues…it’s like you’re a fly on my classroom wall! They’ll settle in soon enough…my tactic has been to focus on the kids who give a damn and let the rest of them flounder. At this late hour, if they haven’t figured out how to play the school game yet, there’s only so much you can do. I only apply this during the third marking period. Once the new term rolls around, I treat it like a new school year, a fresh start. Hang in there!
3 Chaz
· Jan 5, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Interesting; I asked my students what were their New Year’s resolutions. Believe it or not, it was not to lie as much to their parents and keep their rooms neat.
I think DOE should pay more attention to the truefulness of student accusations rather than automatically believe them.
4 cornell
· Jan 6, 2006 at 10:51 am
Agree with all the commenters. As you get experience you will develop a toolbox of strategies. One that I use effectively is to re-establish routines quickly and focus on a project that gets everyone back into “school mode.” Something quick and simple!