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Respecting teachers in the classroom, imo, actually is partly respecting yourself as a student. Here is what I think a respectful student will do:
1. Come to class on time with a good attitude.
2. Have all of your supplies with you and be ready to use them.
3. Pay attention to the teacher's instructions.
4. If you have problems with anything, raise your hand and ask for help.
5. Stay quiet and attentive until the direct instruction portion of the lesson is over.
6. If you are talking during the classroom work portion of the lesson, be sure that you are talking about the work and that you are doing so in a quiet voice.
Note that respect does go both ways. Teachers need to respect their students.
1. Get to know your students as individuals
2. Discipline in private not in front of other students.
3. Make sure the rules and procedures for class are clear to everyone. Having the students work with you to set the rules is really helpful for this.
4. Make sure that work is graded and returned on time.
5. Stand up for what you believe in and stand up for your students when you see them being bullied.
There are plenty more, but that is enough for now.
From activity to activity, I expect my students to be able to adjust their behavior accordingly and come prepared to class. The one rule I use (taken from Teaching With Love and Logic) is, "you can do anything you want as long as it's not a problem for someone else." It doesn't take middle school students too long to figure out that abiding by this rule takes a lot of conscious attention to their community, which includes their teacher. It also helps to reinforce that classroom rules are not arbitrary; they help us all to learn better, stay safe, and be happier in our school.
Last edited by Mrs. 14th & You; 07-31-2010 at 10:17 AM..
Well my kids are in Catholic school and they are quite simply told that they are to do as told, NEVER back talk to a teacher and show respect toward the teachers and other students. They'll have you scrubbing sidewalks for rolling your eyes or saying "whatever" under your breath to a teacher. They'll have you running laps for bullying others in the locker room or using cuss words in PE. They'll have you sitting in the office until they feel like calling your parents and your parents get around to coming if you get in a fight. If you dare mess up before a field trip you can forget going and plan on staying back (not home) to wash tables and help the nuns in the library shelve books. No fun. Anything worse than the above? Pack up...you'll be suspended for awhile.
Might sound old fashioned and harsh, but I will say that my kids VERY rarely deal with any disruptions or outburst in class. The kids might be 'BAD' outside of school or in corners where no one sees them, but in class the rules are clear and are obeyed. Whoa be it to those who break rule number one: Obey.
The teachers usually (like all school, there are some awful ones!) are very firm and clear to the kids...and very encouraging and helpful. My kids LOVE their strict teachers. I guess it goes with the saying that kids like structure.
1) Accepting that I am worthy of my position and someone you can learn from. (Given the process that teachers have to go through to get hired, it amazes me the number of students and parents alike who assume we don't have the expertise to do our jobs until we PROVE to them personally that we do.)
2) Accepting that I know more than you (hence you follow my rules even if you don't see why you should have to wear safety glasses today).
3) Accepting that I am the authority in my own classroom. It's a monarchy not a democracy. I have been charged with managing my classroom not you. (Though my students do get a say in rule development during the first week of class, I am the one who must inforce them) Do not argue with me. If you have something to say to me about how something was handled, it should be taken care of after class.
Respect is shown by:
1) Showing up to class on time and prepared.
2) Listening during lectures (not disrupting the learning of others)
3) Raising your hand if you have something to add or a relevent question to ask and NOT raising your hand in the middle of a lecture or demo to ask to go the bathroom or inform me you didn't get the hand out from the day you were absent. DO NOT disrupt my class with things you should have taken care of before/after class (this includes personal grooming.)!
4) Following the rules and procedures in my class even if you don't agree with them. You only have to put up with me for one hour per day. You'll live. While you may not think you need safety glasses today, it is MY CALL not yours.
5) Understanding that I, like veryone else, has forgotten 95% of what I learned in school. So, when I tell you that I need to look something up and get back to you on that it is NOT proof I am stupid and don't belong in front of the classroom or proof you are smarter than me because you asked a question I could not, immediately, answer. My brain does not work like an encyclopedia and I do not have a photographic memory.
6) Treating me like I'm someone you want to learn from even if you don't. You're in my class and my job is to teach you. It will go much smoother if you just accept that. Resistance is futile....well, it's, probably, not futile but it's, certainly, not in the best interest of either of us.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 08-01-2010 at 11:03 AM..
1) Accepting that I am worthy of my position and someone you can learn from. (Given the process that teachers have to go through to get hired, it amazes me the number of students and parents alike who assume we don't have the expertise to do our jobs until we PROVE to them personally that we do.)
Just because I am a licensed teacher in my state, does not make me automatically worthy of my position and someone students can learn from. I hope that IS the case with me, but I have plenty of colleagues who have tons of expertise, but are horrible teachers.
They think because of their knowledge, they are good teachers. Even though they don't know how to interact with or motivate students.
They think anything and everything they do in their classroom should never be questioned by parents or admin. Ahem....if my child is in your classroom, I have an interest in what goes on. "Because I'm the teacher, that's why" is a very lame argument. If you have a constructive reason why you do what you do, explain it to me. And yes, as a teacher of my kid, you may be expected to do just that.
As a teacher, I believe it is my responsibility for my students and parents to understand why I do what I do in my classroom. They may or may not agree with the "why" behind it all, but they have the right to discuss it with me. I ask that they simply understand why I do what I do, not necessarily agree with me.
Well my kids are in Catholic school and they are quite simply told that they are to do as told, NEVER back talk to a teacher and show respect toward the teachers and other students. They'll have you scrubbing sidewalks for rolling your eyes or saying "whatever" under your breath to a teacher. They'll have you running laps for bullying others in the locker room or using cuss words in PE. They'll have you sitting in the office until they feel like calling your parents and your parents get around to coming if you get in a fight. If you dare mess up before a field trip you can forget going and plan on staying back (not home) to wash tables and help the nuns in the library shelve books. No fun. Anything worse than the above? Pack up...you'll be suspended for awhile.
Might sound old fashioned and harsh, but I will say that my kids VERY rarely deal with any disruptions or outburst in class. The kids might be 'BAD' outside of school or in corners where no one sees them, but in class the rules are clear and are obeyed. Whoa be it to those who break rule number one: Obey.
The teachers usually (like all school, there are some awful ones!) are very firm and clear to the kids...and very encouraging and helpful. My kids LOVE their strict teachers. I guess it goes with the saying that kids like structure.
Taben
I think kids need struture. They need to know the limits and they need to know there are consequences. They also need redemption. What sounds like a punishment (washing tables or shelving books in the library) is really working off an offense. When done, you start over. Kids need that.
I've never understood why we don't do this at the high school level. As you may recall, I had a student squirt one of the chemicals we were using in a lab down my back, last year. While he was suspended, he was never required to make up his offense to me (or even appologize). IMO, he should have had some after school detention cleaning up the lab. I could have found lots of things for him to clean .
God forbid one of my kids did something like this, you can bet your bottom dollar they WILL appologize and they will work off the offense.
I like the school you describe. It's good for the soul to work it off.
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