bad advice
Want to be an effective teacher? Ignore all the bullshit they tell you in teacher credentialing programs, in-services, and books by people who make lots of cash since they left teaching.
Tell a kid when s/he is being a jerk and tell them to knock it off.
Screw the reasoning, the tiered consequences, the assertive discipline, the upbeat mantras, the private conferences where you tell them how much you care.
Of course you care - they can smell it. If you don't care, GET THE FUCK OUT OF TEACHING. There are enough deadbeats already.
You need to be a lot more like a gang leader than a mommy. Most kids treat their mommas like crap, and when you got 35 like that at once, it's enough to cause a nervous breakdown.
Instead, be persistent and firm, and never, ever give up. A kid can hold their own with me for a while, but eventually - and it doesn't take long - they give up. I'm a stubborn shit. It's because I don't have kids of my own - I rest up at nights and get ready to fight a new day.
Also because I don't have kids of my own, I don't think any teenager gets to give me a hard time. If I wanted that, I wouldn't have used birth control for so many years. At least those shits would need to support me in my old age.
Never trust administrators. I don't care how good and caring and supportive they seem - they have a different mission than you. You are there to ensure the kids learn and are successful, and you are required by the teacher code to do whatever it takes. Administrators have to worry about the building level. You don't. You have to worry about every punk-ass who walks through your threshold. And that's more than enough.
Don't send kids to the office because then you lose control. If they start to be a jerk, jump up in their face and say, "Hey! Stop being a jerk or go someplace else!" 99 times out of 100 they'll want to stay and they'll stop being a jrk. The 100th is a sociopath who will tell you to fuck off - getting all the kids and administrators on your side. If you were reasonable with that kid, you would have to explain why you failed. Instead, he's clearly a jerk.
I tried to send a kid to the office today, but he begged not to go. And it worked - I knew that he would work if he had to, and he did. I got a kid who has failed out of high school and had horrible attendance TO BEG TO STAY IN MY CLASS AND WORK AND LEARN, and then he did.
He got what he wanted - which of course is what I wanted. Instead of saying, "Little Vincent, I would really like to see you complete this essay so that you'll earn a C this quarter, so please do it for me," I said I was done babysitting him and I started writing an office referral.
Sometimes the first one works, but you have to weigh the moment and the kid. I used that with the kid who has never attended high school because his entire adolescence has been in lock-up. "Look, I think you're smart enough, and I know it hurts your head to think like this, but I want to see you do it, so please do it for me." And he did. I had to hold his hand - but shit, the kid has never in his life written an essay and now he did, and that's gotta feel good. He wrote it about how Pomona is infested with gangs and murderers and drugs, so we both got educated. And I could hold his hand because "Vincent" got told and he had to figure things out independently. Which he could do because I gave clear directions and helped him write it last time.
I got this new kid who was "homeschooled" which I think is a euphemism for something. He said he could write an essay, but when I told him to he froze, and eventually asked for help. I showed him the 4-square (good god, I never thought I would teach that crap, but it works so well with my ELD kids) and he was good to go - and thanked me more than once.
A kid thanked me for showing him how to write an essay.
That's cool.
A kid thanked me for not kicking his whiny ass to the curb.
That's cool.
Every kid will turn in the required work that's due tomorrow (the last day of the quarter).
That's cool.
The principal said I'm the polar opposite of the last ELD teacher - she wanted to protect the kids and keep them in ELD forever. I want to challenge them and move them along - because I firmly believe that helps them. I do not kick out any kid that needs ELD help, but I will not be part of a system that punishes kids for being bilingual by requiring them to take remedial classes for eternity and therefore limiting their options. That's bullshit, and it's a civil rights issue, and the kids who've actually thought about it say "that's racist."
I'm not arguing. Because my kids, for a bunch of delinquents, are smart. And they wrote some awesome personal narratives which are actually interesting and enjoyable to read.
That's cool.
Tell a kid when s/he is being a jerk and tell them to knock it off.
Screw the reasoning, the tiered consequences, the assertive discipline, the upbeat mantras, the private conferences where you tell them how much you care.
Of course you care - they can smell it. If you don't care, GET THE FUCK OUT OF TEACHING. There are enough deadbeats already.
You need to be a lot more like a gang leader than a mommy. Most kids treat their mommas like crap, and when you got 35 like that at once, it's enough to cause a nervous breakdown.
Instead, be persistent and firm, and never, ever give up. A kid can hold their own with me for a while, but eventually - and it doesn't take long - they give up. I'm a stubborn shit. It's because I don't have kids of my own - I rest up at nights and get ready to fight a new day.
Also because I don't have kids of my own, I don't think any teenager gets to give me a hard time. If I wanted that, I wouldn't have used birth control for so many years. At least those shits would need to support me in my old age.
Never trust administrators. I don't care how good and caring and supportive they seem - they have a different mission than you. You are there to ensure the kids learn and are successful, and you are required by the teacher code to do whatever it takes. Administrators have to worry about the building level. You don't. You have to worry about every punk-ass who walks through your threshold. And that's more than enough.
Don't send kids to the office because then you lose control. If they start to be a jerk, jump up in their face and say, "Hey! Stop being a jerk or go someplace else!" 99 times out of 100 they'll want to stay and they'll stop being a jrk. The 100th is a sociopath who will tell you to fuck off - getting all the kids and administrators on your side. If you were reasonable with that kid, you would have to explain why you failed. Instead, he's clearly a jerk.
I tried to send a kid to the office today, but he begged not to go. And it worked - I knew that he would work if he had to, and he did. I got a kid who has failed out of high school and had horrible attendance TO BEG TO STAY IN MY CLASS AND WORK AND LEARN, and then he did.
He got what he wanted - which of course is what I wanted. Instead of saying, "Little Vincent, I would really like to see you complete this essay so that you'll earn a C this quarter, so please do it for me," I said I was done babysitting him and I started writing an office referral.
Sometimes the first one works, but you have to weigh the moment and the kid. I used that with the kid who has never attended high school because his entire adolescence has been in lock-up. "Look, I think you're smart enough, and I know it hurts your head to think like this, but I want to see you do it, so please do it for me." And he did. I had to hold his hand - but shit, the kid has never in his life written an essay and now he did, and that's gotta feel good. He wrote it about how Pomona is infested with gangs and murderers and drugs, so we both got educated. And I could hold his hand because "Vincent" got told and he had to figure things out independently. Which he could do because I gave clear directions and helped him write it last time.
I got this new kid who was "homeschooled" which I think is a euphemism for something. He said he could write an essay, but when I told him to he froze, and eventually asked for help. I showed him the 4-square (good god, I never thought I would teach that crap, but it works so well with my ELD kids) and he was good to go - and thanked me more than once.
A kid thanked me for showing him how to write an essay.
That's cool.
A kid thanked me for not kicking his whiny ass to the curb.
That's cool.
Every kid will turn in the required work that's due tomorrow (the last day of the quarter).
That's cool.
The principal said I'm the polar opposite of the last ELD teacher - she wanted to protect the kids and keep them in ELD forever. I want to challenge them and move them along - because I firmly believe that helps them. I do not kick out any kid that needs ELD help, but I will not be part of a system that punishes kids for being bilingual by requiring them to take remedial classes for eternity and therefore limiting their options. That's bullshit, and it's a civil rights issue, and the kids who've actually thought about it say "that's racist."
I'm not arguing. Because my kids, for a bunch of delinquents, are smart. And they wrote some awesome personal narratives which are actually interesting and enjoyable to read.
That's cool.
posted by NOLA at 4:47 PM
1 Comments:
Way to school, sister!
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