Re: Kids won't listen......
Posted by Kioni Carter on 7/14/08
First,
Thank you for being so candid and sharing with us what you
truly feel regarding your classroom and what you might have
to look forward to next year. There are many teachers in
your situation, and I have heard similar responses and fears
from them as well. Needless to say, you are not alone in
what you are feeling.
Second,
There are a lot of people who can give you advice and
techniques to use in this situation, but I am not going to
do that so much.
I think the main challenge here is understanding and
examining your own beliefs about your students and your
relationship to them. From what you wrote, it sounds like
you have convinced yourself that no matter what you do, your
students won't respect you, more so because you are white.
I want to challenge you and ask you to ask yourself, what
could be different in your classroom if you didn't feel this
way? And by the way, what is the ideal classroom you want
to have in September? These questions help you put what you
really want into perspective because sometimes we allow our
own limiting beliefs to get in the way of something that can
easily be fixed once we allow the blocks to be torn down.
And, sometimes we focus our attention so much on what is
already happening that we don't like, that we can't see a
real way out of it. Examining the possibilities opens us up
to solutions that were always there and puts us in a mind
frame to accept and implement them.
Next,
You mentioned that other teachers command respect,
authority,and fear. (Fear is a scary thing for students to
feel in the classroom and I wonder if that is such a great
thing to aspire to instill in your kids). However, picture
yourself back in your classroom. What might you have been
doing (or not doing) that could have played a part in your
not getting the respect and authority that you wanted from
your students? What did you notice about what the other
teachers DID or DID NOT DO (regardless of their color) that
you could adopt to help you next year? Thinking about this
will help you turn it around and find techniques that will
work directly for you.
Finally,
I don't want you to think any of what has occured in your
classroom is because you don't yell. Let me share this with
you. I was never a yeller in my classroom. In ten years, I
can still count on two hands how many times I yelled at any
of my students (and most of the times were when I was
pregnant...lol..sorry it was) The difference may have been
that I pointed this out to my students when we discussed our
expectations of each other. I let them know that I was not
going to yell at them because I knew that they were capable
of doing what was right and were old enough (mostly fifth
graders but many younger and older grades) to do it because
they knew it was right and not because someone yelled at
them like they were an animal and couldn't comprehend what
was right. This put a seed in their head that I totally
believed in their ability to use sound judgment and that
they were expected to act like they had home training (even
if they didn't...God knows that was the case sometimes
too!) At the end of the day, it is all about what you
expect from your students, but most of all what you expect
from yourself.
Have a great year!
Check out My Classroom RULES!
Posts on this thread, including this one
- Kids won't listen......, 6/23/08, by not trying to cause controversy..
- Re: Kids won't listen......, 6/23/08, by fair question.
- Re: Kids won't listen......, 6/23/08, by Tom.
- Re: Kids won't listen......, 6/23/08, by Kel/IL/2nd.
- Re: Kids won't listen......, 6/23/08, by quick question.
- Re: Kids won't listen [Ideas = TOME], 6/23/08, by Tom.
- Re: Kids won't listen......, 6/25/08, by Old Fashioned Discipline.
- Re: Kids won't listen......, 6/26/08, by Viola Swamp.
- Re: Kids won't listen......, 7/14/08, by Kioni Carter.
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