Student as Enemy
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- Deborah_Jeter
- Susie_Q
- Deborah_Jeter
- Susie_Q
- XRay1
- ThomasR_5
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» Deborah_Jeter - Interesting points raised here, Thomas. The title is catchy too.
Interesting points raised here, Thomas. The title is catchy too. I guess sometimes the Student sees the Teacher as Enemy and we have to rise above personalities and be the professional we were hired to be.I believe in mentoring. We use that quite a bit in the school where I teach. Student mentoring is not only a strengthening device for the child being mentored, it is equally beneficial to the mentor. It is great for building self esteem.
We also use parent volunteers. We have a program called, VIPS. We honor one or two of these volunteers each month for having the largest amount of time spent helping around school.
Many teachers that I have come across, treat tattling as a bad thing. They often tell the "tattler" to mind their own business.
However, in most circumstances, I have found the "tattler" to have a valid reason for being alarmed at another's behavior. I have been encouraging these remarks from students by giving them extra credit grades for what I now call, "a citizen's arrest". I think it is important for the children to recognize that their actions create circumstances for which they are responsible. In our society, I have seen more and more people NOT wanting to become involved when they see something illegal happening, hence, we have aided in an indirect way, these illegal actions from others.
I let the children tell me when they see someone breaking a class rule. I have found that it works quite well. You won't catch me saying, "tattler" to those students who have valid concerns about another's behavior. I have found that the more eyes I have on the look out for inappropriate behavior, the better. I just thought of something though. It might also be beneficial to have those same eyes on appropriate behavior and reward or acknowledge those children doing well also.
In September, I'll be presenting an article on how to help children behave in School. In this article, I point out that positive reinforcement and healthy expectations are extremely important.
Children will live up to our expectations in most instances. We have to believe the best and speak encouraging affirmative words to these students with behavior problems. We must remember, even with the most challenging of "problem" students, that it is the behavior we don't like, not the child. Bad behavior does not equal to bad child.
The cause of inappropriate behavior is not usually what it may seem on the surface, but rather something much deeper that may be going on at home, or perhaps even chemically or physically with the child.
All areas of the child's environment and physiological and sometimes psychological makeup need to be considered when we are dealing with an uncooperative child.
Above all, we need to keep our cool and BE the example of acceptance, helpfulness and true concern for the child's welfare.
Deborah Jeter
Suite 101 - Music Education Editor
and Education Managing Editor
-- posted by Deborah_Jeter
» Susie_Q - Karen Stafford I know of a teacher, who, no matter how much I t
Karen StaffordI know of a teacher, who, no matter how much I tried to pinpoint some good in her students or if they did something I thought was really cool, would shrug it off, then counter with something negative. Depressing!
I have, though, fallen many times in the student as enemy think mode. Slowly, but surely, I'm trying to learn to pinpoint the good stuff. Kids know! They are so intuitive. When they counter with the "You pick on me, you don't like me", I like to have ammunition back, like the times I give them privileges or responsibilities. It's easy to fall in the negative mode when you eat with teachers who are that way. I was lucky in the fact that I had a fairly long plan time tacked onto my lunch time, so I avoided the lunch shift that had the negative teachers, and ate with the more uplifting ones.
Editor, Flutes and Flute Playing
-- posted by Susie_Q
» Deborah_Jeter - I stay out of the teacher's lounges as much as possible for the
I stay out of the teacher's lounges as much as possible for the very reasons that you cite, Karen.Deborah Jeter
Suite 101 - Music Education Editor
and Education Managing Editor
-- posted by Deborah_Jeter
» Susie_Q - Karen Stafford Well, course, in my case it was eat in the loung
Karen StaffordWell, course, in my case it was eat in the lounge or eat with the kids, seeing as I didn't have a room :-) Actually, quite often, I opted to eat with the kids.
Editor, Flutes and Flute Playing
-- posted by Susie_Q
» XRay1 - Student as Enemy
If you think of the student as an enemy, you have just made yourself his enemy. After many years in Special Education (Speech Therapy, Trainable MR, Multiple Handicapped, Severely Emotionally Disturbed)I can only remember one "truly rotten" student. He came from a "mean" family and I'm sure he is carrying on the "tradition"! The rest of the "problem" students have all been great kids underneath all the garbage behavior. They all respond to positive strokes, high expectations, firm discipline fairly applied, and consistency in the use and application of each. Above all you have to view kids (and adults) as the best show in town! If you don't find kids humorous, you shouldn't be working with them!!!I have always avoided the staff lounge in schools where the talk is always negative towards the students. When asked why I ALWAYS tell them! It is amazing how effective that can be!
-- posted by XRay1
» ThomasR_5 - response to Karen Stafford
Karen Stafford's comment reminded me: When I was student teaching, one of my responsibilities was to take part in bus duty in the cafeteria.One day, there was a girl who came walking slowly into the cafeteria, engrossed in reading a book. I thought she deserved some recognition, so I commented to the other teachers, "That must be a fascinating book!"
One of the teachers said, "Yeah, she probably has a Playgirl magazine hidden underneath!"
How's that for positive reinforcement!
-- posted by ThomasR_5
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