Aside from having good parenting I was a pretty amiable kid. When someone said shut up, I usually shut up, If a teacher was talking I listened, and I can remember all of 1 time in which I had OCS in 7th grade, in fact I can't remember where OCS was in high school, that's how many times I went there.
I've said it once but I will say it again, I do not understand the motivation behind being a rude or disrespectful kid. Where is the payoff? They get the immediate satisfaction of "besting an elder in front of their peers," but this victory is short lived once they are in the principles office or have some other sort of behavior correction. The last couple of days have given me a couple of examples of kids who have been just Rude.
School site : CHS
Ssubject: English
I've kind of let go of my tough guy exterior, I used to try to yell and scream at the kids but this was never really productive, I was never convincing enough or the situation would just backfire on me. So as a substitute I have been much more reactive, you do something wrong you get punished for it, kind of like the real world, if you break the law there are consequences. I was having trouble with this class in general, they were all at risk students so I was actually pretty liniment, one thing I will not tolerate however, is rudeness. During the second part of this class I mentioned that I would not allow cell phones out, they are not supposed to be out any way. Well one male student had his out and I gave him plenty of chances to put it away, he was grumpy but not rude. The female student next to him took this to the next level. She placed her book in front of her phone, to "hide it." I told her it does no good, I know you are still on your phone, please put it away. To which she responded by displaying her phone more prominently and giving me a " I don't give a damn what you say" look. So off to in-house she went. Really, I assure you,your conversation was not worth getting a referral over. I'm sorry was I infringing on your time during my time? Yeah, it doesn't work that way.
School site: BMS
Subject : History
I finally get to teach a little bit, I have all of an hour to put my lecture together, but this should remind me why I wanted to teach, right? Well during my lecture I finally get the kids to settle down, except for one student sho kept making a gaging noise when I talk. I asked him to stop, and he starts arguing " I didn't do anything, " sure you did that's why I called you out, there is more arguing, really all he needed to do is be quiet at this point and concede that he was being rude but no he steps it up by saying, " be quiet with your stupid goatee." I.E. please give me a referral. The old substitute me would have huffed, puffed and sent him out, instead I was calm continued my lecture an wrote him a referral.
Once again where is the motivation? If I talk and I'm a jerk then I will be the greatest ever. The greatest what? It really makes no sense to me, and all of this animosity because you simply can not shut your mouth? It boggles the mind.
Last, but certainly not least,
School site:BMS
Ssubject: History
Same day by the way, next period. I've had this student in the past, somewhere along the way I lost his respect and this is always the hardest because I do not feel effective as a teacher, and these kids have even less respect for a sub than normal. He will not read, he will not stop talking, and even after I ask him to stop he just continues being a neusance. Even the RSP sub has taken notice to this kids behavior. When I tell him I'm going to write him up he says" it's just a piece of paper, it doesn't mean anything…"
I should mention that this kid has "identified special needs," but honestly I think he us just BSing. He's a smart kid, I know he is, but he has been allowed to get away with murder for so long that no one questions it. His whole motivation has been to see how much of a rise he can get out of the substitute, so I've kind of played it poker faced with this kid, so far is has been a better avenue, we'll see, I know this is not the last I have seen of him.
This kid kept talking throughout my whole lesson, so i wrote him a referral.
UPDATE: I had this kid for two periods today, I was definitely concerned, but I did my poker face routine and he was actually a lot better today. He would get up out of his chair and I would ask him to go back to it, and this was much better than trying to compete with him. I let him know he could ruin everyone's break if he was not quiet during the movie, and he was even quiet.
So I did not emphasize it too much in my description of the days incidents but the problem with kids these days are their parents. In fact the kid in the last story had his parents pick him up early because he didn't feel like staying, this is of course his parents enabling this type of behavior. If I acted a fool like this and I got a call home, and a referral, there would have been consequences. Does this not happen now adays? I realize, once again that I had great parents and my mentality was never to defy them, or anyone of authority for that matter, but is there no motivation to just not be a jerk now these days? I can, by no means, claim to be an expert on parenting, but I have always lived by the ideal that you should treat others as you would want to be treated, but if everyone is being treated the way these little jerks treat me, then I am afraid for the future. I know things are not all rainbows and flowers, but if would be nice if they could treat the other human being in the room decently for the whole 60 minutes they may ever see them in their life.
Substitute teaching continues to be a challenge, my abilities, and my motivation, are put into question almost everyday, but I forge on bravely, or stupidly, really it is hard to tell.
