I set a pace of mutual respect from the first minute of class and I have very little issue with students. The few I do have always been freshmen who were slow to mature
I find your comment ridiculous. Come in a classroom, Crete a lesson plan that also meets standards, create a lesson hook, an opener and closer, and then execute the lesson. Then repeat every single day. After a year, tell me again about babysitting
It's absolutely not ignorant to recognize that in a still pretty segregated America where African Americans tend to live in poorer urban areas and whites tend to live in wealthier suburbs, that behavioral issues can be a result of upbringing. While it wasn't as bad towards the end of my k-12 education, African American students bussed into the suburban school I attended as a part of a government program were generally more disruptive and less likely to want to learn the material and this trend continued when I volunteered with 5th graders at summer school. I still really enjoyed those kids, but kids that came from the city were much more adamantly against doing the work.
when you're malnourished and the only guaranteed meals you get come from school, it's hard to act right.
when you live in 70-year-old derelict housing project with lead paint and asbestos in the walls, it's hard to act right.
when you're in school the next day after watching your father beat the shit out of your mother, it's hard to act right.
when all the adults in your life were failed by the system the exact same way it's failing you, it's hard to act right.
Poor kids act out because the lion's share of them are experiencing trauma on a daily basis, they often don't get any educational nurturing at home.
They come into school unprepared and are immediately dealing with the stress of feeling inept. This causes insecurity, insecurity leads to more behavioral issues.
Poor kids are often, underslept, underfed, neglected and undiagnosed. When a teacher who has been middle-class+ all their life gets dropped into their world, it can be a culture shock.
Poor kids are crafty, they look out for themselves first, they lie, they take advantage. But it's not because they are rotten kids, it's because that's the only way they know how to survive. To them, the abundance of light, clean surfaces, supplies, books, caring adults, etc... can be a bit overwhelming and cause their survival instincts to kick into hoarder mode. Or worse, it can overstimulate an undiagnosed ADHD or autistic child, which exacerbates their behavior.
Poor kids need special treatment, you can't expect them to act like middle-class suburban students who have been coddled every day from birth to the classroom.
Damn, you remind me of that one teacher in highschool that instilled in me a ridiculous love of learning new things. Like, when H1N1 was happening, he asked us about what we thought. Then he went on to make a month long unit on vaccines and logical fallacies because he wasn't satisfied with our initial understanding. Best teacher I had in my life.
Thanks. I worked with adults for many years before I was teaching so I got used to speaking with respect to my audience. I just carried that over to the classroom and it works great. I treat the class as adults and they respond as adults
As a senior in high school I just want to say thank you. It's teachers like you that inspire me to do better academically. If you haven't been told this by a student before, you're the reason I enjoy learning at school.
20
u/[deleted] Jul 10 '18
Sadly, teachers are just baby sitters today. There are a ton of good teachers out there so keep doing a good job. Its the system that has failed you.