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Classroom Discipline Chatboard

What should I do? Need opinions!,

by Holly

Jan 28, 2012

I have a situation with a student, and I'm not sure what is the best way to react...

FYI-this is a high school level class

Yesterday, in one of my classes, I corrected a boy and girl who had switched seats. I politely asked them to return to their assigned seats. The boy did so without argument, but the girl talked back and rudely snapped "I'm not the problem". I responded " you are not the problem, the fact that you are not in your assigned seat is", and I repeated my request. She begrudgingly complied.

As we continued in class, the students were involved in an activity that was meant to be very fun and engaging. This girl just sat back with her arms folded and a nasty look on her face. As the others were involved in their work, I went up to her and cheerfully said "Relax and try to have some fun" and I tapped her on th head with a small paper I was carrying kind of jokingly.

She snapped back " please do not touch me". Despite the rude way in wh...See More

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Sara On 1/28/12, Holly wrote: > I have a situation with a student, and I'm not sure what is > the best way to react...

what do you want to accomplish? That should direct what you do. It's often not possible with adolescents to do any one thing that 'cures them' of being an adolescent. So when you say "show her who's in charge" I'd say - ...See More

Feb 6, 2012

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Melisssa I have to agree with Sara on this, it's probably best to let it go.

I don't know if I would look at it as flat out "disrespect." You didn't go into too much detail about the past relationship you have with the student. Without knowing the prior history, it's hard to establish whether or not the issue really is discipline related or someth...See More

Feb 6, 2012

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teach On 2/06/12, Sara wrote

> On 1/28/12, Holly wrote: >> I have a situation with a student, and I'm not sure what is >> the best way to react... > > what do you want to accomplish? That should direct what you do. > It's often not possible with adolescents to do any one thing > that 'cures them' of being an adolescen...See MoreOn 2/06/12, Sara wrote

> On 1/28/12, Holly wrote: >> I have a situation with a student, and I'm not sure what is >> the best way to react... > > what do you want to accomplish? That should direct what you do. > It's often not possible with adolescents to do any one thing > that 'cures them' of being an adolescent. So when you say "show > her who's in charge" I'd say - particularly after you did in > fact invade her space - let it alone at least for now. This kid > seems on the edge - who needs a blow up on their hands? If you > try now to 'show her who's in charge' you might risk making her > madder. > > Maybe by "I'm not the problem" she meants "he sat in my seat, > this is his doing" but she didn't say that and you didn't > explore with her what she meant. It's hard to know what > preceded them being in each other's seats. > > There's no way to tap a teenager on the head 'kind of > jokingly'. They will most often overreact to such a gesture - > would you tap a colleague on the head? While you didn't mean it > to be disrespectful, it rather is. > > I'd say your intention was to rather wake her up and get her > back on track. That's a fine intention but tapping her on the > head wasn't the right gesture. And teenagers focus in on the > negative, not the positive. > > let it go particularly as I wouldn't want to have to explain to > her parents or an administrator why i tapped her on the head > with a rolled-up piece of paper. > >> > > >> >> She put her hand in my face, turned her back to me, >> grumbled and walked out... >> >> I thought I tried to do everything to be nice and welcoming >> and all I got was disrespect. Do I let the disrespect go or >> do I need to show this girl who is in charge?

I had a paper I rolled up and tapped a girl on the head. She was kept from computers as she missed a lot of work due to sickness. My Dad would always do a "love tap" with the newspaper. I thought that was what I was doing. She said nothing and then it turns out she refused to return to school because I hit her. The principal asked a co-worker if he thought I could hit someone...geeeeeezzzzzzz. You cannot touch kids nowadays at all. Sorry for you and your situation!

Feb 7, 2012

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