Finally, the weekend!
A well deserved break.... it was a long week for the Bad Wolves. We seem to be in our first major lull of the year, and I know that we need to get out of it before things get bad in the classroom.
I have been able to attribute most of the behaviors that are creeping up to 2 very specific changes in the class:
1) The busses have not been coming on time. For the last week, "quiet fire" is the first bus to school, always earlier than all the others, even the walkers, and the 2 students of mine that are on it have a LOT of down time waiting for the school day to begin. So when school begins at 8:25, I have only 2 students. As you may be able to immagine, they are antsy and anxious because they have been waiting, but the other buses are still not there yet. Then, at about 8:30 the "pizza" bus arrives. I have 3 students that ride "pizza" but they aren't necessarily friends, so they don't come up to the classroom together, they show up one at a time from 8:30-8:40ish. This not only is frustrating, but it is hard to have a clear start to the day. Finally, at about 8:45, when breakfast is supposed to be OVER, morning announcements are done, and our Math Message for the day should be started and almost finished, the last bus, "hot dog" arrives with the rest of my students. Before this bus dilemma, when they all came ontime, we always walked upstairs together, taking short "morning meetings" in an empty classroom when needed to get our days off to a good start together-- but now SO much time is being wasted... I can't wait until 8:45 to begin the school day.
2) We have a new aide in te classroom. She is young, and attractive, and she doesn't have a lot of experience with kids, so she doesn't know how to interact with them appropriately always. I really feel for her, because I can tell that she is trying really hard to be helpful-- which is more than I can say for most aides in the school-- but she just doesn't know how to balance between helping and befriending the kids. Seeing as my class is dominated by hormonal boys, they are all infatuated with her-- and the fact that she wore pink polka-dotted underwear with green trip-- and the fact that I KNOW THAT-- hasn't been helping keep my students in the mind-set of "respecting everyone." They are all over her! So, we have daily talks about what it means to show respect for the adults in the classroom, and each and every one of them can say that they wouldn't want anyone talking to or about their mom like that, but then I still have Jerry asking her, while his arm is across her shoulders, "I like the tattoo you have on your back, where are all of your other tattoos?" He's 11 years old, and she answered him.
Needless to say, my classroom is not going as well as it was before these changes. I am worried for obvious reasons, and specifically because respect takes a long time to develop, and with my students not respecting the new classroom aide, and seeing her only as a fantasy in the flesh, I don't know what I can do to make that situation much better. Then, there is the bus thing, and I think that the only solution for that is to be creative, and complain a lot to the administration in hopes that they will do something, like TALK to the bus company about it.
I have been able to attribute most of the behaviors that are creeping up to 2 very specific changes in the class:
1) The busses have not been coming on time. For the last week, "quiet fire" is the first bus to school, always earlier than all the others, even the walkers, and the 2 students of mine that are on it have a LOT of down time waiting for the school day to begin. So when school begins at 8:25, I have only 2 students. As you may be able to immagine, they are antsy and anxious because they have been waiting, but the other buses are still not there yet. Then, at about 8:30 the "pizza" bus arrives. I have 3 students that ride "pizza" but they aren't necessarily friends, so they don't come up to the classroom together, they show up one at a time from 8:30-8:40ish. This not only is frustrating, but it is hard to have a clear start to the day. Finally, at about 8:45, when breakfast is supposed to be OVER, morning announcements are done, and our Math Message for the day should be started and almost finished, the last bus, "hot dog" arrives with the rest of my students. Before this bus dilemma, when they all came ontime, we always walked upstairs together, taking short "morning meetings" in an empty classroom when needed to get our days off to a good start together-- but now SO much time is being wasted... I can't wait until 8:45 to begin the school day.
2) We have a new aide in te classroom. She is young, and attractive, and she doesn't have a lot of experience with kids, so she doesn't know how to interact with them appropriately always. I really feel for her, because I can tell that she is trying really hard to be helpful-- which is more than I can say for most aides in the school-- but she just doesn't know how to balance between helping and befriending the kids. Seeing as my class is dominated by hormonal boys, they are all infatuated with her-- and the fact that she wore pink polka-dotted underwear with green trip-- and the fact that I KNOW THAT-- hasn't been helping keep my students in the mind-set of "respecting everyone." They are all over her! So, we have daily talks about what it means to show respect for the adults in the classroom, and each and every one of them can say that they wouldn't want anyone talking to or about their mom like that, but then I still have Jerry asking her, while his arm is across her shoulders, "I like the tattoo you have on your back, where are all of your other tattoos?" He's 11 years old, and she answered him.
Needless to say, my classroom is not going as well as it was before these changes. I am worried for obvious reasons, and specifically because respect takes a long time to develop, and with my students not respecting the new classroom aide, and seeing her only as a fantasy in the flesh, I don't know what I can do to make that situation much better. Then, there is the bus thing, and I think that the only solution for that is to be creative, and complain a lot to the administration in hopes that they will do something, like TALK to the bus company about it.
Labels: BD, ED, Special education
posted by liquidwafflegirl at 10/21/2006 10:03:00 AM
2 Comments:
Hi,
I'm a special needs teacher in the Netherlands.
I understand some of you're problems. We have at our school a person who is responsible for the communication between school and the busses. That helps a lot.
Have you asked the busdrivers why they are so late?
Goodluck with everything.
Best wishes,
Kaj
hello comrade in arms!
you live my life! nearly every blog posting could be one that i or my behavior interventionist penned. you've a beautiful writing style and have thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts. i'm also an e.d. teacher, but at the high school level. i look forward to reading more of your insights and feel a bit more a part of the universe.
oh yah, i'm a ms. g. too!
k
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