Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Battle of the Seating Chart

After my preview the prior week, I was not looking forward to beginning the four weeks in the Success Seminar class. And things went about as I expected them to go. 

The first order of business: keep the students in their assigned seats. 

The classes are a bit wild. Mrs. B, in an effort to mellow them out a bit, reassigned the seats in all the classes before she left. She left me with the updated seating chart. 

My first day in class was an even day. (We're on block schedule. Even days are periods 2, 4, 6, and 8. They have a name based on the school colors, but I can never keep that straight, so it's odd and even days for me.) That meant I got to see period four again right away. 

And... every class battled me on the seating chart. 

In period four I had one boy who just had to sit next to another boy who "helped" him with his English assignments. Okay, fine. But it wasn't work on other classwork day. 

In period six, I had two boys who swapped names/seats. They got angry at the other students when they got called out for it, but I was the one who went to each table and verified that each student in each seat was the student noted on the seating chart. 

But that was all child's play.

Period eight... They were going to sit with their friends, and there was not a thing I could do about it. 

Soleil was on her phone, having a full on conversation, when class started. And when I wouldn't let her friend sit with her, she could not understand why. Just the idea that perhaps I wanted them to pay attention in class was completely foreign to her. 

So, I lost that fight.

Their assignment was a "recap" (read: test) over the unit they'd just finished. But it was a group assignment. The whole table could work together on it.

Period eight worked with their friends rather than their table. Which was not the assignment. 

Mrs. B had to grade this as I hadn't been there for the unit. (The recap was online.) And she saw right away that the groups weren't the groups she had assigned. She left a note in their Google Classroom the next class day stating how disappointed she was that they hadn't followed instructions. 

The next class day, the students sat in their assigned seats, albeit reluctantly. 

So, win? Nah. More of a détente for the moment. It's going to be a long four weeks.

17 comments:

  1. I sometimes imagine you as a lion tamer with a chair and a whip. Yes, I know you don't use whips, but I think the image still fits.

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    1. It does. Sometimes. Period 8 is mellowing, but mostly because they realized that I've already told Mrs. B what they've been up to.

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    2. It does seem an apt analogy. lol

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  2. People bundling together into groups starts early. It's why our society is becoming a dystopia. Too many people self-segregate, and this fuels divisiveness, and our society takes another step toward an eventual civil war. I guess that has to start somewhere. Might as well be your classroom, and a million other classrooms from one coast to the other.

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  3. They really push the envelope don’t they?

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  4. I could not handle it and would be called in for using a whip on these brats.

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    1. Whips don't work. Fs catch up with them eventually.

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  5. I'd either be the meanest teacher ever or have a breakdown.

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    1. Ah, but if I push, they push back. The mellower I am, the more it mellows them out. It jus takes time.

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  6. Sounds like an exhausting day--especially period 8. I'm sure they're all shocked to know there were consequences to their actions.

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  7. Oof! That's a pain that they fight you so much. Good on the teacher to call them out on it. I hope your next four weeks aren't as troublesome!

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    1. Sigh. I just finished day 3 of week 2, and... Yeah, not so great. Maybe tomorrow will be better?

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  8. It does take time. I occasionally subbed at my old school after I left because I was familiar with the program and the types of students in it. I had far fewer kids with which to contend than you do. Hope the mellowing continues and things get easier for you.

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  9. The powers that be (bosses in this case) want you to be there all the time, Monday - Friday and they want you to battle the kids while there....YIKES

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    1. That is kind of the job, though. And I did have an inkling of what this was when I took the gig. I'll get through it. I hope.

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  10. My gosh! You’re a patient soul, Liz. Those were the kind of things that made my substitute career a very short one.

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