It is so hard to find the "happy medium" when it comes to discipline in the classroom. I have found that my cooperating teacher is much more lenient than I am when it comes to discipline. That being said, where do I fall when it comes to discipline? Especially when I am not teaching yet? Do I correct even when she does not? Do I assume that she doesn't hear everything that is going on? I used to think I had bad hearing, but if I am hearing stuff that she's not? Maybe I'm not as old as I thought I was. It is entirely possible she has begun to tune things out, too.
I haven't answered my question, though. Do I just give up on some kids and accept the fact that they are going to disrupt my class and act like little pricks? Obviously I am talking about boys here. There are a couple of boys (one of whom I am friends with his mom and dad which makes things doubly complicated) who ignore what the teacher says, have to be told several times to sit down and stay on task, and simply get up and walk around the room for no apparent reason other than to talk with other boys. My teacher is definitely not as strict about this walking around stuff as I would like to be. Maybe she has tried to fix the problem but the kids refuse to cooperate? No, I refuse to believe that. It's not possible. I am still naive enough to think I can make a difference in lives and that kids will do just what you expect them to. I hope I never loose that. Kids will rise to whatever expectation you set for them. If you think they are going to misbehave, they will; however, if you think they can achieve, even at the lowest level, they will. I refuse to think that there are unteachable, unreachable kids. Every student that walks through my door will take something away from my classroom. It's up to me, at least in part, whether that one thing is positive or negative.
I haven't answered my question, though. Do I just give up on some kids and accept the fact that they are going to disrupt my class and act like little pricks? Obviously I am talking about boys here. There are a couple of boys (one of whom I am friends with his mom and dad which makes things doubly complicated) who ignore what the teacher says, have to be told several times to sit down and stay on task, and simply get up and walk around the room for no apparent reason other than to talk with other boys. My teacher is definitely not as strict about this walking around stuff as I would like to be. Maybe she has tried to fix the problem but the kids refuse to cooperate? No, I refuse to believe that. It's not possible. I am still naive enough to think I can make a difference in lives and that kids will do just what you expect them to. I hope I never loose that. Kids will rise to whatever expectation you set for them. If you think they are going to misbehave, they will; however, if you think they can achieve, even at the lowest level, they will. I refuse to think that there are unteachable, unreachable kids. Every student that walks through my door will take something away from my classroom. It's up to me, at least in part, whether that one thing is positive or negative.
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