My second week at TSHS has been almost as good as my first. I mostly
learned about the type of disciplinarian I can be, which is terribly different
from the type of disciplinarian I currently am. Basically, I don’t know how to
act when a student, or several, get(s) out of control. The incident occurred
when I attempted to wake up a student who had blatantly tilted his head
backwards onto his notebook and closed his eyes while my cooperating teacher
gave the class explicit instructions to pay attention to the board where she
was projecting an excerpt for a read-aloud. I leaned over and tapped the
student’s notebook and said, “You need to sit up, and you need to WAKE up.” In
a split second, the student had jumped up out of his seat and started hollering
at me. He said things like, “You ain’t supposed to touch me! You can’t do that!
You invaded my space!” I was mortified.
My
cooperating teacher immediately bellowed over the student and the buzz from the
other students. She spent 15 minutes lecturing the class on issues of respect,
and respect for adults in this school, including me, the student teacher. I
meekly raised my hand to contribute to the scolding. I reiterated the
sentiments, and added, “I look forward to working with several groups of
students who seem to value being respected. That respect works both ways. In
honor of that sentiment, I would like to apologize to [the student] if he feels
that I overextended myself and made him uncomfortable…” As I finished my
apology, the student yelled, “Apology NOT accepted!” It took a lot of willpower
not to roll my eyes at him. I added, “But I will not apologize for waking you up during class, or for any
other actions I take that you may choose to bring on yourself. This is a
school, not a playground. I will treat you according to how mature you act.”
By
the time I was done, I was shaking and felt very, very warm. I was thankful for
my dark coloring, because I’m sure I would have turned beet-red and lost all
credibility. It was a strange thing, to discipline a classroom, and have a
public altercation with a student. My CT thought I did a fine job of remaining
composed while making it clear that I was not to be “messed with.” I hope so,
because I was terribly nervous for the rest of the day, and more than a little
concerned about my car and personal belongings.
A
few days later, I took it upon myself to approach the student, but in an
official and professional capacity. I looked over his work from earlier that
day, and during the silent Study Hall, I asked him, “Would you please come see
me after the bell? I need to discuss something you wrote, and I would rather
not discuss it when everyone can hear us.” I expected him to run out of class
right after the bell rang, but he sauntered over to my desk, and guardedly
asked what he had done.
“I
just wanted to compliment you on your thesis statement from this morning. You
were the only one to see both sides and give
solid supporting examples. That’s what lawyers do. It’s difficult, and you did
it in five minutes. Nice job.” He looked shocked and told me he thought I had
something bad to say about him. I very firmly explained, “You expect that for a
reason, and I think you know why. The truth is, teachers like to tell you when
you’ve done something right. It’s
much more enjoyable for everyone.” The student looked me in the eye for the
first time in two days, thanked me, and used my name. It was a victory, as far
as I was concerned.
In
addition to building trust between myself and individual students, I also took
on a few large tasks, that might keep me from sleeping more than 4 hours a
night. Wednesdays at TSHS are currently being used as
“Club Days” where students move from classroom to classroom for six periods,
and each period is a mandatory, extracurricular club that they may or may not
have signed up for. I am now a co-advisor for the newspaper and yearbook club,
but without any real direction. I created a handbook, but I think I need to
work on a weekly schedule or a series of student-created deadlines for each
issue. It’s exciting, but difficult.
I
also took it upon myself to build a classroom website for my cooperating
teacher. Her students frequently claimed that they “didn’t know” about
assignments or due dates, and currently, the gradebook for each section
contains more zeros than actual grades. I hope the website will quash the
excuses.
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