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Whether or not the approach is too harsh depends on the student. I don't think that his/her self esteem is necessarily "ruined." The embarrassment the sleeping student suffers is a consequence of his behavior. However, there may be a unique personal circumstance that's causing a student to lose regular nighttime sleep (having to work long hours after school, having a disruptive home life, a medical condition). Unless the teacher knows his students really well, he risks embarrassing them over circumstances out of their control. A simple after class conversation with the offender is probably a more appropriate strategy.
Yet, why not just teach differently? Lecturing and calling on students who raise their hands is a recipe for some tuning out -- whether it be in obvious or subtle ways. There are a number of teaching methods that require all students to be engaged. For example, some studies indicate that teachers should be assessing their students at least every seven minutes. Teachers can require students to hold up laminated multiple choice answer cards, record answers on erasable slates, or use think-pair-share responses, or use other techniques to ensure that all students have to think about the content taught.
In High School the teacher gets frustrated that the students are not listening to him, so in the middle of his presentation he looks out into the class and finds the sleeping students and walks up to them and asks them to go up to the front of the class and repeat what he just told the class. Of course the sleeping student has no idea what to say because he or she has been day dreaming. The rest of the class laughs at the sleeping student making a fool of himself. The teacher is angry that he was not being listened [to] by some people in class and the previously sleeping student returned to his desk red faced.
I'm surprised to read so many responses in support of the teacher. I don't think the solution is to ignore students who aren't paying attention, but this teacher did not deal with the situation wisely. He was caught up in expressing his own emotions rather than trying to deal with the problem.
In this case, the teacher is frustrated. Things already are not going well. It's time for the teacher to back off, not attack. He can think it through when he's calmer and try something different the next day/class.
Why is he frustrated? Because the students (plural) are not paying attention. So this is the problem that needs to be addressed. Is it because they don't care about school? Is it because they don't understand the subject and have given up? Is it because no one has ever held them accountable? Is it because they want the teacher to entertain him and he doesn't?
And why is this student sleeping? Is it because he is trying to be disrespectful? He stayed up too late playing video games? He was studying late last night after getting home from work? There's too much commotion at his house? He's on drugs? He hasn't had breakfast? He usually has an energy drink before class but ran out of them? He isn't sleeping well because he has sleep apnea? Does the teacher know what the problem is? Does the teacher care?
When the teacher, out of his own frustration, uses this student to "teach the others a lesson," he is not trying to do what's best for the class. He's reacting out of his own anger. Whether or not the kid "deserves it," this kid and the other kids will perceive it as unfair, they will see that the teacher does not have self-control and does not care about them, and they will not respect that teacher. It's not going to be easy to get those kids back.
Being a good teacher is difficult and stressful. Not everyone can handle it.
School is your job and the teacher is your boss ..... the best working relationships are ones that work both ways with respect
however, when that is being breached on occasion the hammer needs to drop
the teachers are beholden to their bosses and the students to the teacher and their parents
I definitely wouldn't take kindly to sleeping in class and this is coming from someone who was very guilty of drifting off growing up .... I was often bored in class, the days were long and they couldn't really hold my attention .... I pulled really good grades so I could effectively counter any attempts by them .... a few teachers with success made a game out of it ... others turned me off, but that is life
regardless of how good of a student it is and how effective they are at making their marks you have to learn to "show up"
regardless of what you graduate into such disrespect isn't going to be tolerated and depeding on the employment situation you'll be lucky if all you get is a little public embarassment
i've seen someone fall asleep at their keyboard as an intern when the CEO happened to be making a visit to the office .... he came up and banged on the guys desk waking him up, then went on to introduce himself and told the employee to go to HR as today was his last day working for any company that he's running
And why is this student sleeping? Is it because he is trying to be disrespectful? He stayed up too late playing video games? He was studying late last night after getting home from work? There's too much commotion at his house? He's on drugs? He hasn't had breakfast? He usually has an energy drink before class but ran out of them? He isn't sleeping well because he has sleep apnea? Does the teacher know what the problem is? Does the teacher care?
All of that is irrelvant .... those are issues to the students and ones he better sort out if he doesn't want to get run up on again
You can hand hold students to a point, but at a certain time they need to work past their individual situations and meet their responsibility .... if they can't then face the consequences
Teacher calls on Student A to repeat what he said. Student A has no clue. Students B also has no clue. Neither does C. Student D is nervous that he's about to be called on, but he also realizes now that he is not alone. In fact, cluelessness is now becoming quite popular. Who wants to be on the side of the boring old teacher? Join with your peers and be clueless!
If a teacher is being observed and doesn't call out a disconnected student it will be noted on the observation.
If the teacher is being observed and has let the class get this far away, that will also be noted.
If the teacher loses his temper, that also will be noted.
I'm in favor of correcting students, and of disciplining students. I'm against "calling them out." Those are fighting terms.
What do you think of this as an instructional technique. In High School the teacher gets frustrated that the students are not listening to him, so in the middle of his presentation he looks out into the class and finds the sleeping students and walks up to them and asks them to go up to the front of the class and repeat what he just told the class. Of course the sleeping student has no idea what to say because he or she has been day dreaming. The rest of the class laughs at the sleeping student making a fool of himself. The teacher is angry that he was not being listened by some people in class and the previously sleeping student returned to his desk red faced.
The next class session has few sleeping students but the self esteem of the bored sleeping students is ruined. Is the teachers approach too harsh?
Is this something you just made up? Under what capacity are you in the classroom making observations about daily teacher performance. If you are there as the assistant is it professional to share your observations in a public forum? Is that the nature of collegiality?
I do that with my husband--when I catch him with that dazed far away look. "What did I just say"? But, as far as in a professional role, it sounds like the teacher is getting frustrated, He really needs to find better ways of instruction to keep the kids' interests peeked.
high school kids need to also figure out a way to self motivate and trudge through something, even if it isn't the most interesting or appealing subject
Not everything that needs to be learned is entertaining. It is not the teacher's responsibility to entertain.
I think there may be some other variables to consider (class rapport, personality and social chemistry), but calling a high school student out for not paying attention to something important sounds like an utterly appropriate response to me.
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