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I am student teaching in an urban/inner city elementary school, and while it goes well much of the time, I am currently in a class where the kids are SO disrespectful. I have been spoiled by attending and substituting at small districts, where the kids say yes, ma'am, no ma'am, please, thank you, etc and they do what you say because you are the adult and you are in charge, and that's just what they've been taught to do. This school is much, much different. These kids come from some rough homes with people coming in and out of their lives and parents who may or may not have any discipline, or may just encourage them to beat people up. I am in full teach, and they have been fine, but this week something has changed (maybe because the end of school is near) and they have been awful. This specific school is a non-traditional school that has had pretty much zero discipline from the administration as well. (Kids here can hit, spit, claw, and throw things at a teacher, and nothing happens; one child was actually sent back to the classroom and we were told not to send the child back to the office.) The particular instance that really frustrated me today was when I told them over and over not to talk (it's a constant, disruptive thing, not just chatting), and they all just looked at me and laughed. Several of them won't work and turn in blank pages, but I can't give them a grade below passing. They have learned that they can get away with anything. I have tried everything I know, but all but a few of these kids just will not listen to what I say. I know that I can only do so much since it's not my room, but are there any ideas on how to improve the situation? Thanks.
You have a nightmare scenario. There are no quick solutions for you and few long term ones. Without administrative support, and the inability to provide any consequences at all, you are only a babysitter. I'd love to get one of these complainers about "bad teachers" into your classroom. Don't you have a cooperating teacher to help.
Pick up a copy of Teaching with Love and Logic by Jim Fay and David Funk. I promise that you will find at least a half dozen good answers to your question in its pages. Overcoming disrespect involves having multiple strategies for dealing with your students. Depending on the day, the child, and the action, the strategy will be different. I recommend reading the book and choosing the approach(es) that works best for you.
I will say that you might want to try different assessment tools, rather than having the students each turn in individual papers. Try in-class assessments where everyone is required to hold up an answer on a slate or a card (true/false or a,b,c,d) in response to your questions as you teach. Assess at at least every ten minutes. Refuse to move on until each student has made an effort to respond. In place of writing, try using presentations as summative assessments when practical; reluctance to embarrass themselves in front of their peers will motivate some students. Remember also that some of the most stubborn smart a** students are the ones who have the least mastery of content. Now might be the time to pull out your most challenging students for some one-on-one tutoring. The disruptions might just be cover and distraction for their lack of knowledge.
Keep in mind that it is almost the end of the school year. Don't worry too much about what isn't going right at present. Soon you'll move on and so will they.
Honestly, if you don't have both strong, consistently enforceable boundaries, AND a strong backup support for those (i.e. administration who will uphold you), you're sunk, and it's through no fault of your own. Rules that can't be consistently enforced and nonexistent consequences or consequences that mean nothing to those subjected to them are worthless. It's a bad situation, but also a learning experience about what types of settings you do and don't want to teach in.
I am student teaching in an urban/inner city elementary school, and while it goes well much of the time, I am currently in a class where the kids are SO disrespectful. I have been spoiled by attending and substituting at small districts, where the kids say yes, ma'am, no ma'am, please, thank you, etc and they do what you say because you are the adult and you are in charge, and that's just what they've been taught to do. This school is much, much different. These kids come from some rough homes with people coming in and out of their lives and parents who may or may not have any discipline, or may just encourage them to beat people up. I am in full teach, and they have been fine, but this week something has changed (maybe because the end of school is near) and they have been awful. This specific school is a non-traditional school that has had pretty much zero discipline from the administration as well. (Kids here can hit, spit, claw, and throw things at a teacher, and nothing happens; one child was actually sent back to the classroom and we were told not to send the child back to the office.) The particular instance that really frustrated me today was when I told them over and over not to talk (it's a constant, disruptive thing, not just chatting), and they all just looked at me and laughed. Several of them won't work and turn in blank pages, but I can't give them a grade below passing. They have learned that they can get away with anything. I have tried everything I know, but all but a few of these kids just will not listen to what I say. I know that I can only do so much since it's not my room, but are there any ideas on how to improve the situation? Thanks.
I'm not in an inner city school, so you have it much worse than me but I have the same issue. I'm lucky that it's, usually, only in one or two classes where it's so bad (due to reaching a critical mass of disrespectful students) that it creates a real problem.
You need immediate consequences to the behavior. Ones your administration will back you on. If they won't, I'm not sure what you can do. I, somewhat, have the same problem. I was treated like it was my problem until one day, I ended up lecturing (apparently too loudly) my class on expected behavior and the pricipal came in only to get the same disrespectul behavior they'd been giving me. After that, he allowed me to send the students to the office and just give them a zero on the work for the day. While many of my students don't care about their grades, they don't like being told they can't do their work (if that makes any sense). I find that now that I can send them to the office, and not have them just sent back, it is better. You, sorely, need support from your administration.
BTW, I too am spoiled. I came out of industry where respect was given automatically. Even in heated arguments with the union representatives and workers, I've never felt as disrespected as I do as a teacher. Students seem to think they deserve respect just for existing while you and I are required to earn it and I'm not sure what actually constitutes earning it in their eyes. I do know that telling them to get on task is considered disrespectful. At least that one I can handle. If they won't do their work in school, it becomes homework. I gave out a test review yesterday in one of my classes and half of my students never picked it up to look at it so I told them we're moving on to the new material. Then they got upset that I wasn't going to let them all check out a book to study from (as if they would ). This test will be the last grade on their progress reports. This should be good. We'll see how they behave today as it's their last chance to ask questions before the test tomorrow.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 05-05-2010 at 04:05 AM..
I agree with Tabula and Zarathu. There is very little you can do to improve the situation, and any efforts from you will most likely be in vain. Teachers are not the only part of the equation. And much as we teachers would love to get that rowdy class of seemingly irredeemable students and be such a good teacher that we change their lives and behavior, that really only occurs in movies (for a reason). If I were you, I would take the time you might spend reading lit or seeking advice about how to improve the situation and use it to look for another [better] job. This one is only going to break your heart and your spirit.
When I was at school (many many years ago) the teachers just used to belt us. That worked well until we were big enough to fight back by which time we were more interested in girls than being disruptive in class.
GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE. What you describe is a no win scenario. No matter what you do with no Admin back up bend over and kiss your butt goodbye. IMHO. Unless you are Mother Teresa and that is your calling then have at it.
When you're student teaching, you don't usually have the option of getting the hell out of there. I loathed my student teaching placement, personally, and it played a fairly prominent role in my working in other fields for a good decade before returning to ed, but it's basically a class that can't be dropped if you want to get certified. The only thing to do is just get through it, the end is in sight.
Welcome to the world of teaching in an inner-city school district. What you describe is simply how it goes in schools like that. I am a bit surprised it's that bad at the elementary level. Can you imagine what those kids will be like when they hit grades 6-9? LMAO (in a sinister, cynical way)
Now, please, do us all a favor and don't start pushing for the disruptive kids to be placed in special education! It happens for that reason all too often at the elementary level in inner-city schools.
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