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Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?
Posted by to all who responded...thanks...and one more thing about her on 10/09/08

I had this student last yr--in grade 7. (I now teach grade 8).
I, and other teachers, had similiar problems with her. Last
yr, I finally got here to where she'd come into class, sit, do
her work, raise her hand, and etc. She's regressed. It is
frustrating. As is the all-call announcement. To the poster
who said 'coaches come in etc etc'...no, the cheerleader coach
is the guidance counselor--who is here all the time--and
another teacher--who is here all the time. I don't know why
they can't call these kids for a few minutes after--or before
school--or during homeroom. The disruptions, to me, interrupt
with the teaching environment that we are supposed to be
focused on--aka state testing etc. (as an aside...i don't
think the guidance counselor ever sat one day in a teaching
classroom--she went straight through to counseling, got her
degree, and here she is, with absolutely no sensitivity as to
classroom mechanics and goings-on.

On 10/09/08, vet English teacher wrote:
> I'm assuming you want what you do to make a positive
> difference with her. Is that what you want or at this point
> are you so frustrated you simply want her punished?
> People shouldn't give advice without knowing your goal - what
> do you want to achieve? What you do depends on what you want
> to achieve.
>
> In my experience, kids such as this one get worse - not better
> - after they're written up. They get more difficult to manage
> not easier to manage. It's human nature and like the
> certainty we have about the sun rising tomorrow morning, I'm
> that certain this kid will get worse if written up. Unless of
> course you have a wizard with kids Principal but I've found
> most Principals not to be all that good with kids.
>
> If her writing is always tiny, that's a red flag about her
> underlying skills and a sure sign of a learning difference. It
> it's not, she still sounds like she's got issues to me -
> processing issues, call them whatever we will - not every kid
> has a personality or a profile that's well suited to school
> and in the better world, we'd have a different kind of school
> for such kids. Schools with more activity and less sitting,
> schools with smaller class sizes etc. etc.
>
> But we don't and what do we do until then? Well, you told
> when she couldn't go to cheerleading trials - did you tell her
> when she could go? Don't assume she can figure that on her
> own - she doesn't sound like a strong thinker. "Kelly, of
> course you can't go now - we're taking a test but you can go
> after class or during lunch or after school. This isn't your
> last chance by any means. I hope you make the team."
>
> Modern people including modern kids argue - it's a societal
> trait, it's now endemic in our culture. If you're asking how
> to get people to stop arguing, turn back the clock of time is
> my only suggestion. They didn't the 50s 'the Silent Society'
> for nothing.
>
> In these situations- use your wits - not your seeming
> authority because we have no real power over other peoples'
> emotions. We cannot command people to feel differently than
> they do and it's their emotions that fuse the situation.Kids
> have emotional reactions - be savvy when they do and defuse
> the situation. It's also endemic in our culture now to 'be
> cool'. So coolly ask "what's up with this? What are you all
> riled up about? Everything's under control. There's nothing
> to get jumpy about." Middle school kids hear that and
> especially her peers who will then turn to her with looks on
> their faces like "Teacher's right. You're not carryin'
> yourself cool."
>
> Find out if other teachers in the building - even one- has a
> working relationship with this student. Then find out how they
> ever accomplished it.... build bridges, not walls.
>
> My humble opinion - good luck with her.
>
>
>
>
>>


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Posts on this thread, including this one


• should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/08/08, by Aggravated.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/08/08, by jh.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/08/08, by sb.
• Re: Hmm..., 10/08/08, by Mshope.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/08/08, by Rebecca.
• Re: Your school should be written up, 10/08/08, by i think.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/09/08, by vet English teacher.
• Re: should I write a discipline...? Agree with Rebecca, 10/09/08, by ~connie (who loves Love and Logic).
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/09/08, by Ima Teacher.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/09/08, by to all who responded...thanks...and one more thing about her.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/09/08, by 11 years as teacher.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/09/08, by 11 years as a teacher.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/09/08, by vet teacher.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/09/08, by OP with a few more (longish)responses...to vet teacher et al.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/09/08, by vet teacher.
• Re: What love and logic book?, 10/09/08, by bsk.
• Re: What love and logic book?, 10/09/08, by Rebecca.
• Re: Your school should be written up- Thank You!, 10/10/08, by Terri.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/10/08, by Terri.
• Re: Your school should be written up- Thank You!, 10/10/08, by Carolyn.
• Re: What love and logic book? Great book, 10/12/08, by Mshope.
• Re: should I write a discipline on this student? would you?, 10/13/08, by Jawnte Everette.