I Made Two Kids Cry

School has been under way for about a month and some change already. It was a rough start, but mostly because we were bored. We don’t use books until a month in, I think because it’s tough for the parents to be buying all the books at once, so they have time to get them all. Now that we’re covering book material, it’s generally easier to have a more organized class. We’re making progress, and the kids are learning new things, and they’re excited when they figure out new stuff. For example, in 4th grade we’re doing dates, and after a couple days some of the kids finally figured out how to say ordinal numbers (like fourth, twenty-first) and figure them out with a pattern. It’s really cool to do a few examples and hear a kid say “Ah! Now I understand!” And they actually do!

Sixth grade is a different story. I fight with both of my 6th grade classes for control of the room. Vivi says it happens with 6th grade like clockwork every year. Their teacher, Emilia, seems to have control of her class, but when she leaves them with me, they figure they can get away with a lot. They might be right, so I finally started cracking down. One kid, who is super smart and outside of the class is a nice kid, enjoys making jokes about me and generally disrespecting me and my authority. He thinks it’s cute to talk back, and so do his classmates. I finally got tired of it and sent him to the principal (Vivi). He reluctantly went, and when he did, a few kids started laughing at him, so I took their names. I’m not going to have the kid making problems, but I’m also not going to have others enjoying his punishment.

I should mention that before class started, I brought Oscar in to talk to them. He’s the general director and they are basically afraid of his discipline. He gave them a good solid talkin’ to, and basically said I would give him the names of my problem kids if they continued. Before that time, one of the students already had his name on the board. So when the other got sent away, and he laughed, I put a check by his name (two checks and you leave…my new policy). I continued teaching and after a bit a student by him said “Teacher, Jimmy’s* crying.” I figure he thought I was going to send him home with Oscar. I’m praying that was the last time I had to write his name down.

After class, I went up to the lounge to grade books, and I met up with the expelled. He looked pretty solemn, and I asked what happened. He had talked to Vivi, and he has to think about his behavior and how it affects the class, how he can improve, etc. Then his lip started quivering and he asked my forgiveness and offered his hand. Of course I took it, and then he hugged me. At that point *I* almost started crying. I explained that I like him and think he’s a great student, but he has *got* to let me have my classroom. I knew what he would say next, that he feels like I pick on him more than the rest. That might be true, but it’s because he’s one of three kids who is every day doing something to call my attention and make it hard to teach the class. I told him I will try to be more fair, and he will try to respect me more. Maybe we’ve hit a turning point. We’ll find out next week.

Please pray for my students. They’re all really great kids. I genuinely love each one of them. But they have to learn that in the classroom, as Karen said, I’m “the mom”, and they need to let me teach. If they don’t, they already know that they won’t be in English class anymore, and their parents won’t like that. Please also pray for me that I can discern wisely who is causing problems and administer discipline appropriately.

-j

*Names have been changed to protect me from lawsuits

More great posts:

• No Related Posts