Yes, this is completely normal. Middle school students are
famous for their attitudes. Remember that they are going
through a lot right now in terms of personal changes. Their
hormones are raging, their bodies are awkward, their
relationships with their friends are changing, and they are
beginning to think about the world more rationally but still
don't understand that it doesn't revolve around them. They are
feeling older and more mature but are often still treated like
kids, so they test their boundaries and their relationships
with the adults in their lives. Their daily lives are filled
with enough drama to last them a lifetime. Do you remember
your own middle school days? Crazy!
As the other posters mentioned, be clear with your
expectations and don't show them how much the eye-rolling and
sarcasm gets to you. You can't take these behaviors personally
or they'll just eat you up. Definitely pull the student
aside, explain why her behavior was wrong, lay out the
consequences for a repeat offense, and leave it at that.
Good luck!
On 5/08/08, Shila wrote:
> I am a second year teacher teaching second language and
> math. I felt this resentment from few good students that
> really confused me. For example, today when I asked a
> student if she took her book back from my room without
> telling me (I confiscated it from her yesterday) she
> applied: “yes, I need to give it back to my friend”. I
> pointed out that she was reading while the class was
> watching a video and it wasn’t appropriate, and if I took
> away the book she needed to talk to me to get it back. Her
> response was: “I already know the staff, why should I
> watch it”. She rolled her eyes and talked in a
> disrespectful way.
>
> What bothers me is that this is a normally well-behaved
> girl and one of the best students (academically) in the
> class. I have never had any issues with her before. I
> don’t understand why she showed such a negative attitude
> towards me. I know that we shouldn’t take it personally
> but I can’t stop wondering what I did wrong to make her
> talk to me this way.
>
> I would like to hear your opinion on what makes good
> students to be disrespectful (I think I have better
> relationship with average students).
>
> Thanks.
>
> Shila