I think I gained a new
super power through my experience student teaching. That super power isn't the
ability to shoot spider webs from my hand, nor is it the ability to move things
with my mind. No, my super power super hearing. I often hear my students say
extremely negative and hurtful things to one another. The most typical phrases
I hear are: "shut up", "you're stupid", "you're
gay" and etc. Students say this stuff to each other EVERYDAY. I hear it,
even when I am not listening for it. I do not believe students have malicious
intent when they say these types of things to one another. I do not believe
they consider their friend, or someone else could easily be offended by the
words they speak.
When I hear students use
negative phrases to one another I generally ask them to not use the language
again because it can be offensive. Well, asking does not appear to be doing
much. A few days ago I was teaching an intervention course and one of the
students continued to say "shut up" or "you're stupid" to
his table mate. After asking him to discontinue saying those words he continued
to do so. I was a little frustrated at this point. I begin to wonder a few
things:
1. How much will this
problem escalate?
2. How much more class
time will this continue to waste? - Things obviously aren't working.
3. How can I get him to
be respectful to his peer?
After hearing this
student utter another "you're", I turned to him and sternly said,
"I do not want to hear this again. You are being disrespectful to your
peer." I did not ask, I told. After I got his attention through sterner
voice I then proceeded, "You need to say something positive about your
peer instead of something negative." This proved to be effective. The
student was a little thrown off his game. I don't think he has ever been asked
to say something directly positive as a result of negative behavior. After he
thought a moment he replied and said, "Student A is nice."
I hope to try to employ
this tactic other situations. I often hear students have negative attitudes
about their day, a class, etc. I think I will ask them to say a few positive
things, to help put the brighter side into perspective.
I am not sure how
effective this method will prove next class. I am willing to try it again if
the situation arises.
Things are going well in
my other classes. We are finally finished with Kaffir Boy. I really enjoyed this unit, but after all of the snow days,
things were way too extended. Students were able to write a 3-5 page essay over
character traits the author exhibited. Students absolutely ROCKED this essay.
Many of these students openly said they have never written so much in a paper.
I am not sure if I should feel proud that they were able to accomplish this or
if I should feel a little like the Wicked Witch of the West for having them
strain their fingers and minds so much ; ). Each day we worked on the essay I
provided a little piece of paper with the day's goals on it. By the end of the
class period the student should ideally have the goal completed. This visual
really help pace students. Many students placed the visual card on their
keyboard or on their monitor. I will definitely use this technique for my
future students. While students were working in the PC lab I was able to work
with them one on one. I absolutely loved getting that personal time with each
student. I went around the room one student at a time and looked over their
paper and gave advice or answered any questions they had.
I am at the grading
point right now. It is hard grading student essays. I don't mean the process of
reading and assessing is hard. I mean simply cranking out one paper after the
other. I typically make comments and correct minor grammatical errors on every
paper. They add up!! I am enjoying the overall process. It is wonderful seeing
the connections the students made and how diverse they can be with the same
prompt. I am proud of them.
If I had any doubt that
teaching was not the profession for me, it has long since vanished.
Happy teaching!
Ms. Hays
