The class I covered all last week is a middle school math class. One period of 7th graders, four periods of 8th graders. (Luckily, I have a co-teacher at the beginning of the day who's doing all the heavy lifting, which means I'm not coming up with lesson plans on the fly. Ms. V is a total rockstar who's keeping me on track and sane through this.)
Period 6 is... challenging...
Abraham is a standout in a difficult class. That is, he likes to stand up when he should be seated. He likes to shout out when he shouldn't. And he probably has a bit of ADD with all the squirming around he does.
By Thursday I figured it was time to tweak the seats to try to get the immature boys as far away from each other as possible.
I decided to seat Abraham in the front center. All the better to keep an eye on him.
On one side, I put a sweet girl who's been nice and kind and working diligently. On the other side I put the girl who requested a front seat (so she can see the board better). Behind him, I put a quiet boy who seems to be comfortable with the class.
Yeah, I decided to surround Abraham with students least likely to react to him.
Unfortunately, it didn't help. He was still squirming around. Still shouting out answers. Still out of his seat when he shouldn't be. But at least his neighbors aren't enjoying the show.
You would think the positive peer pressure (i.e. good students) would have been an influence on him. It is good that they are not reacting to his negative peer pressure and following his behavior in class.
ReplyDeleteOff the subject, but it came to mind since I know you are a substitute teacher, about 3 weeks ago there was this terrible wreck here, I think racing was involved, killed a young college student; 7 cars involved (she was the one either racing or going incredibly fast for the street). Anyway, she hit a car going the other way who was a teacher on his way to school. He had to be helicoptered to another city for extensive surgery, will eventually make a full recovery. I'm sure there would be a long term sub for him because I think its going to be at least several months before he's back into the classroom if he even makes it back this year.
betty
Yikes, that's awful. One of the schools I sub at, a few years ago, a teacher was killed in an accident on her way to school. That was an awful day (I happened to be on campus covering a different class). It does happen.
DeleteOnce again I have to wonder how teachers cope. I also wonder how fair it is to those other kids to have one that is so disruptive in their midst!
ReplyDeleteThere's the rub--each child should be able to get an education, including the disruptive one. It's not fair to the others to have him in class, but it's not fair to him to kick him out. And every teacher has at least one period with that sort of mix.
DeleteAnd that is why we struggle so in this nation. Why is it that the disruptive child is promised an education in he classroom. Put him in a room all alone if he is disruptive. Or have one of his parents come be his teacher! Wouldn't it be a novel idea if we became a nation of people that hold others accountable for their actions.
DeleteAt some point they either mellow out or they end up in an alternative placement.
DeleteWell it looks like you know he is not just doing it for attention. Or maybe it's the teacher's attention he wants, not the other kids. Hope you can get to the bottom of it!
ReplyDeleteIf he does have ADD, he might not be able to help it, especially if it's untreated. People are always so quick to blame kids like him for being trouble makers, not understanding that they have a lot of internal switches that don't work right.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought.
DeleteOh I bet he has ADD or ADHD because of just the things you mentioned. He is finding it too difficult to follow the class. His mind is already 5 steps ahead and any distraction will not help. They can't sit still and they often need someone else to take notes because they have a difficult time processing the information. I think every teacher needs to take a course about how to detect if a child has a learning disability. These kids often feel they are stupid and so goof off to hide the problem. It is very hard on the teachers
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the young man is a challenging student. Hopefully the diligent ones won't be upset about having their learning time disrupted.
ReplyDeleteThey've all come to me and asked for him to be moved. So, no, they didn't like him there.
DeleteI know it sounds a bit weird, but perhaps you could try letting the kid stand up. I taught an all boy year 9 English once and found that as soon as I accepted that they were better moving around, discipline improved. Sounds counter intuitive I know.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea. I bet he would focus so much better if he wasn't stuck seated all day.
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