Episode 1: Throwing a glass of water to a drowning man.
On Monday, I decided that it was time to stage an intervention for my 2nd hour class. To refresh your memory, this class is a class of 22 boys, several of which are back for the second time. Needless to say, the kids had expressed no interest whatsoever is reading our novel - especially outside of class, although that would have given me a significant amount more leeway in creating activities - so eventually I consented to have them read aloud during class. However, this is painfully slow and difficult to execute, as some readers are faster than others and many students simply hate reading aloud.
Did I mention this is a NOVEL that we just finished? A novel.
So. The stage is set: a classroom full of kids that are convinced or in the processed of being convinced that they hate school and hate English, a book that interests no one, and a teacher that has fought tooth and nail for every ounce of respect she can get (from the few kids that seem willing to give it at all). Over the course of the past several weeks, the climate of the classroom has become more and more volatile, and I have felt almost helpless to stop it.
Of course, with just a glance at last weeks post, you can see that I had finally hit a wall.
I had tried every trick up my sleeve - I reiterated my expectations and requirements nearly every day; I spoke with students individually and either praised them or expressed concern (depending on the situation); I assigned detentions; I raised my voice when the volume began to get out of hand. Nothing was working.
After being completely degraded and insulted by a particular student (in front of the entire class) in this class on Friday, I was done. I have been sick with a cold that refuses to go away for two weeks; I have been consistently short on sleep - especially with late rehearsals for the play; I had no more patience.
Drastic measures were in order. So I called in the Dean of Students.
After Mr. "Scarypants" addressed the students as a whole and, essentially, threatened them within an inch of their misbehavin' lives, the whole atmosphere has changed. The students began to take things a bit more seriously and are more motivated to work in class. The group of boys who like to stir up trouble and distract the rest of the class (the ones who consistently undo every bit of work I do to create an atmosphere where learning can happen as I do it) have been momentarily quieted, and I can go about my business. Of trying to actually teach them something instead of walking away exasperated every day.
Although the choice was an effective one (at least in the short term), I do seriously regret that it had to come to that. I wish that I had been able to find a strategy that would have corrected the problem without outside help, but it was a very rational decision and a situation that I felt was beyond my control. A professor who I respect very much put it this way: "You don't make students behave. Students behave for you." So, I feel that if the cards were stacked against me and the initial respect wasn't there, I didn't have much recourse. So, yes, I certainly feel that the students have been artificially motivated to do well in my class, but it may simply be a challenge specific to student teachers, as they are all well aware that my presence in the classroom is temporary.
Now, I feel that I've been given a new start, literally and figuratively, as we begin a new unit tomorrow.
A small caveat: I do feel that things might have been different for this class had it been "my" class, where I would have been given the freedom to select the text for the unit. Granted, I realize that there is no magic text that automatically engages students and makes them excited to come to English class, but the combination of the classroom disdain for school (magnified and exploded by the very vocal "problem" students in the class...not helpful) and the totally uninteresting novel was a recipe for disaster. Crisis narrowly averted.
Episode 2: When Life Hands you Lemmings, Make Lemmings Wade
Ok, so I have a weakness for the comic strip "Pearls Before Swine"...or just silly puns. Regardless, it applies to a certain incident that happened in my 7th hour class this past Wednesday, where I issued a dozen detentions in a single class period.
Yes, a dozen.
And yes, that title is intentional.
For whatever reason, this particular class seems to have no self control whatsoever. They are LOUD. So loud. Really, like a bunch of lemmings. They have no problem obeying my instructions...if they can hear it over the conversation they are having with their neighbor. I mentioned in an earlier post the difficulty of having a class where the majority of the students are acting up, and this is a perfect example.
On Wednesday, the cold was in full force and I had nearly lost my voice by the end of the day (although I hadn't been straining myself overmuch). I told the class that I wouldn't tolerate excessive volume that day since I couldn't shout over them to get their attention; I gave them their instructions, and informed them that a class-wide warning was in effect and that any student who was found talking would be given a lunch detention. In the time it took to walk around the room, 3/4ths of the class was engaged in very unproductive discussion. So, I called out a dozen names and that was that.
Apparently, Mr. "Scarypants" was not very pleased with me for all the paperwork I was having him do, so he took it upon himself - without my knowledge - to call in all 12 of the students together to have a little chit-chat.
And, yes, things have been much better since then, thank you for asking.
Tune in next week for more exciting detention-giving tales.
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