Today was very hard for me. I was so frustrated and at my wits end. The students weren’t listening to me at all. They know the rules, and more importantly, they know the consequences for breaking the rules. I had twelve behavior tokens (or more) by 10:30, which is our first recess. That means that about eight to ten students had already lost their tokens, therefore they lost their recess. Some had even lost more than one token, and school had only been in session for one hour! The day was not looking good.
In the mornings, I have the students doing morning work (daily math, daily oral language, and writing in their journals) while I call up students and check their homework. As I would look up and check on the students, many of them would be wandering around and having little chats with other students across the room. (That’s when I started taking behavior tokens.) About forty minutes into the morning, I asked a certain young man if he was done with his work. His desk was all cleared of work, and he was working diligently on . . . cutting paper. I asked him if he was all finished, and he said, “Yes, it’s all done.”
Not believing him (I know him!), I asked him to bring it up to me so that I can check it over. He started to get angry and pushed his desk around (the desk did nothing to him!), mumbling angrily. I asked him again to bring his work to me. He fisted up his hands on his desk and loudly said, “I’m done with my stupid work!”
This did not make me happy. He kept throwing things around his desk, pulling out papers and shoving them back inside. I told him to go up to the office. It was disrupting the little work that I was actually able to get out of the students. I told him to take a book and that I would send up some work when I had a moment. As he was getting his book, he mumbled under his breath that he “didn’t want to do any f***ing work.” Yeah. Very nice. He was out of my class for the rest of the day.
The remainder of the day rolled along at the usual bumpy pace. We got very little done. This is my quandary. I spend so much time with classroom management that I lose out on instructional time. That is completely backwards. Usually I have the classroom managed and my instruction time is good. I’m still trying to find the magic solution for this class. I’ve tried positive reinforcement – rewarding them for their good behavior. I really have tried! There’s just so little opportunity to reward them. We have P.A.T., time that they earn for some fun activities at the end of the day. They can earn more time by finishing their work early and getting tasks done before the allotted time. That, after two weeks, has not seemed to work. But I will continue doing it. I’ve tried negative reinforcement – behavior tokens, loss of recess, etc. Positive reinforcement is what I prefer; they just don't seem to be buying into it. Sometimes it just takes a bit for the kids to get used to it.
It was just a very long day. Because we get to all of the things that I had wanted to, one of the assignments on the homework sheet was deleted. I went over it with the kids several times, asking if anyone had any questions. We “chanted” the change several times to help them remember. “There is no math homework. We need only to study for our tests.”
That night I received a call at home from a parent. He asked me about what “Johnny” needed to do. He kind of hemmed and hawed around the homework sheet, and I immediately said, “He has no math homework tonight. We didn’t get to the chapter today in class. He needs only to study for his tests.” The parent (who’s also a teacher at my school) went on to say something along the lines of, “So . . . the homework sheet . . . do you go by this or . . .?” There was a bit of sarcasm in his voice that offended me just a bit. I’m not sure if that’s how he intended it, but that’s how it came across.
Needless to say, I was a little taken aback. I called Patsy and vented a little bit. I didn't know how to take that conversation. I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or what. It’s not as if I was going to talk to this teacher about it. I’m not very confrontational. I know how defensive of his kids he gets. I’ve seen it. I know he loves his kids, but they are in no way perfect. Thinking back, I should have mentioned how “Johnny” needs to work on his listening skills (subtly, of course). But I didn’t. I hope this isn’t an indication of how the whole year is going to be.
I asked Patsy for her advice on some of the things that are going on in class. She suggested some things, and I told her how I already incorporated those suggested things in my classroom (which she figured I probably did) and how it just doesn’t seem to matter. I told her what my classroom management techniques were, and she felt that they are as good as any. She gave me some suggestions for some additional positive reinforcements and for my homework. I usually initial changes on students’ homework sheets if there’s been a change, but no one wanted me to do that. Therefore, a change in my homework sheet will be made. It’s going to allow for changes so that I won’t have to worry about another call from Mr. Teacher. (Good thing I like Mr. Teacher! It’s the only reason that I have doubts about the indication of what he said. I really don’t think that he intended it to be offensive.
I have some new tricks in my bag. I think it’s going to be okay. I know that I have the skills, the talent, and the love for what I do. It’s just a matter of putting it all together and finding the right combination for these kids. I’ll do it, too, dagnabit!
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