Benitto and Jessica were really going at it today. So much disrespectful verbal banter. "I'm just gonna keep arguing with you cause if I piss you off enough maybe you'll leave this class," exclaimed Benitto. I'm not sure what Jessica's response was to that one as it's not fresh in my mind at this point, but what is fresh in my mind is the frustration I felt inside as I watched their insults being thrown back and forth like a vicious game of red rover, red rover send another insult over. What do they actually have against each other? Anything? Or, is it just a projection of things that are pissing them off inside and rather than keep the anger bottled in why not let it out...on someone else?
After diffusing the the situation as best I could and encouraging the two students to act as professional as possible while in a classroom environment I realized how innefective my words were. How many times has an adult explained to a child (or young adult) that you're not always going to work with people you like, but you still have to find a way to work in a respectful manner. What a classic speech. A speech that I highly doubt affected either of my intolerant pupils. Benitto even said that he had heard the same thing from his father on repeated instances. I'm pretty sure my words were listened to as much as those spewing from the mouth of Charlie Brown's teacher. Wah, wah, wah and more wah.
The dilemma...how can I put out the fires created by my students, convince them that we should all just "get along," and make sure everyone's learning a challenging level of mathematics, at the same time! Is it possible that not every kid is in a place to engage in learning everyday...most certainly. Is it also possible that teachers aren't in a place to teach everyday, but still find a way to press forward...most certainly. How do adults develop that ability to overcome their "stuff" and still get the job done. Tiger Woods doesn't blame a bad round of golf on the fact that his baby daughter kept him up all night (not that he has a lot of bad rounds). Where does the intellectual perseverance come from and how do we get more of it. "I know I'm having a rough day, I know things in my life aren't perfect, but you know what...I'm gonna get the job done and I'm definitely not gonna stop someone else from doing their job."
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2 comments:
I constantly feel as if I too am fighting and putting out the "fires" in my classroom instead of teaching. Many of the words that come out of my mouth in a day include "Treat others as you want to be treated," "Is that how you want to be treated," "Would you want someone to say that about you?" Much of the time is seems as if I am doing more babysitting and just rambling a few words about perimeter and area of shapes. So, what I am really trying to teach...math or life 101?
Thanks for writing about what many of us teachers feel we are doing on a daily basis. I wish more teachers would collaborate on how to be more effective rather than gripe about the loss of prep time for meetings.
Hey Ms. Michelle. I really appreciate your comment. I just noticed it as I do my best to share any comments with the class as we start each period reviewing the blog. Please keep them coming and sharing your thinking with me and my students.
All the best,
David
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