Well, as you all probably remember, one of the biggest "problem" students I have dealt with this semester has been my fostered gamer, Kyle. Recently, I've noticed something. He's missing. I can't help but wonder what happened to him, especially since I heard him say a couple of weeks ago that if he didn't get his grades up, they were going to move him... again.
My biggest fear is that this has happened. Am I the only one that thinks this is not the way to go about solving his grade issues? Isn't moving him just going to cause him to care even less about school? He had already said at least once, if not several times, that he had given up. How is moving him somewhere new going to make him care again?
Oh my goodness, that is a lot of questions! I'm so sorry. They've been pounding against my skull recently and I just had to let them out somewhere. I have one more! Should I ask Mrs. Ellis or Mrs. Paxton where he is?
Anyway, on to another "problem" student I've been dealing with this semester. We'll call him John. John is very crude and inappropriate, flipping people off during class (including me) both openly and under his Cookie Monster hat. There is nothing to prompt it, he just does it because he thinks it is funny, I suppose. He also is obnoxious and recently had a couple of his friends moved away from him because they could not stay on task sitting together. I have given him warning signs several times and I feel like that is all I can do. It's not like I can send him to the office or otherwise punish him; I'm not his teacher. How can I get him to behave? What will I have to do in the future to get my students to behave if they are like him?
Finally, I would like to re-address the topic of showing videos in class. A couple of class periods ago, we finished reading Into Thin Air (finally). This past class, Mrs. Ellis showed two videos associated with the book and the second one she showed was filmed by one of the teams that climbed Mount Everest with the author of Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer. The students are bored with this topic. I can tell because several of them nearly fell asleep, perhaps even did, during the videos. The entire class period was spent on these videos with the lights off and the students were expected to fill out a worksheet about the second video. All of the lights were off, so how were they supposed to see to write?
Alright, I'll stop asking questions now. I feel better now that I let all of that out. I hope to get great tips from all of my readers and I thank you in advance for offering any advice.
[EDIT: Kyle was back in class today, November 2, and he informed us that he has all A's and C's in his classes with the exception of Mrs. Ellis's class, which he currently has a D in. A week or two ago, he apparently had six F's, so I'm proud of him for getting those up so quickly! I'm also thankful he didn't have to move again.]
I'm glad to hear Kyle has returned and improved his grades as well. Yay for him! He has not given up! I do not see why they would move him if his grades were failing. This seems like it would get him more off track and behind because he would have to get used to another teacher, environment, and classmates. Not to mention the other class may be on an entirely different lesson that he may not be prepared for. Does the school think that his learning style is not compatible with the teacher's teaching? Do they not know what else to do? Did he get tutoring or was it just a motivational thing that was keeping his grades down? I am very curious about why a school would handle failing grades in this way. It seems detrimental to the student to me. I can sympathize with your frustrations with student disrespect. There was a student in my class that was disrespectful to me when I told him to stop doing something. He thought it was okay to mutter that I was a B. I told the teacher after class, and he got a write up. Since then he has gradually been more respectful toward me (knock on wood) and treats me more like a teacher other than a fellow student. Consider telling your CT what the student is doing after class. What were your warning signs to him? Try letting him know that everyone in the room deserves respect and his behavior is not tolerated. I know its a tough thing to do and it may not always work depending on the kid. If the kid is not purely evil, try making small talk with him if he stops being disrespectful. This lets him know that you don't hold a grudge against him, that you care about him as a person, and that you approve of his improvement. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteDon't fret, Sam. I'm sure you're doing all you can. As you so aptly stated: these aren't OUR classes. We're in them to learn, and if our CTs don't do something, it's up to us to ponder. Pre-student teaching is still considered "observation." Granted, when we're student teaching, we may have a little bit more freedom to do things, but it's still, overall, the CT's class. From what I've seen, there are two different types of class teachers: those whose fire is still raging, and those whose fire is extinguished. Ask your CT if she is noticing this behavior (e.g. the flipping off stuff). It could be an oversight. Better an oversight than not caring or overload.
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