About a week ago, I had my first real disciplinary run-in with a student. He was the "ring-leader" in disrupting two other students while they were assigned to a group discussion. Instead of staying on task, he chose to make a point of doing anything but that, often leading to talking about very inappropriate things. When I confronted him, he made a show to the students around him, and tried to pick apart everything I said to twist my words and make other students laugh. Eventually, he crossed the line--my host teacher threatened to kick him out of the class. He turned to me, and said, "She won't kick me out--she doesn't have the balls to kick me out of class." I later relayed that message to my host teacher, who ultimately brought the issue to the principal and handled the situation by removing him from the class for good. Part of me wishes I could have somehow handled that student in a better way; though, I'm not sure what (if anything) would have made him stop acting the way he did. I hope I did the right thing in that situation.
So, as you can see, I've definitely had some experiences. I think the situation mentioned above could have perhaps been handled even better had I had a better relationship with the student or the other students who were just as disruptive. Perhaps they show me little respect because they feel I know nothing about them. I do try to get to know them with the opportunities I am given, but they almost seem to be more curious about me (a new face "teaching" them) and less concerned with letting me get to know them. I hope that makes sense.
My question is: Have you experienced any behavior issues with your students? If so, what would you suggest from your experience that may have been better than how I handled my situation?
Hannah, I understand your passion of wanting to know and connect with your students even better. Yes your encounter with them was short, but like you said invaluable. It takes more than "merely teaching" (to use your quote)when you want to connect with your students. We all feel some compassion when a student is removed from class for an infraction that given another chance would have been avoided. But you did a good thing, and the mentor teacher had to demonstrate authority, lest the class disintegrates.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that our experiences were so different. I did have a few behavior problems with the students, but for the most part the students had good behaviors. My host teacher is quite laid back with her teaching so the students were free to do what they wanted for the most part. They talked when they wanted after she taught and when they got done with an assignment they were allowed to listen to music or play on the computer. I think that I would have had problems dealing with misbehavior because like I said, I did not have much authority in the classroom.
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