I am, hopefully, in a few months going to student teach for my B. Ed program. Having only worked with kids for the last 4 years - please share your experiences with working with kids in a school environment.

My own story - we had a 5 year old kid named, lets say "King" at our center. He shed no signs of respect, manners, listening skills, and sense of right and wrong. He runs around the center, in and out the door whenever he feels like, he hits people whenever he feels like (he once hit me with a deadly weapon ex: sports equipment), and his mouth is as foul as the smell under my armpits. One day, he just lost it all - he was enraged with the devil in him, chasing kids and hitting them, pulling hair, threatening, swearing, pushing things away (just imagine you have a wild monkey loose in your house). Under certain circumstances, I had to stop him and physically hold him down because he was harming other children. The end result was that I got hit as well, scratched, kicked and was told that I had a misconfigured face, foul breath, unmanly figure, and a "busted face"(?). 5 other staffs faced similar, and worst, results. Our supervisor didn't want to get her ass in trouble and decide to call lawyer, ministry, child abuse society, etc... instead of giving us information on positive action. For the whole day we had to put up with a 5 year old's crap - worst thing is that we cannot do anything.

I would imagine this is one of the teacher's worst nightmares... if you were in my shoes (Sch-age teacher / councellor) what would you do? At one point, I told my co-workers that I should quit and just walk away... (and slap the child) - but that's just a thought......

Please do share us your point of views.... I would like to learn...


I realized that the root of the problem lies in the family - how the parents bought up the kids. The mother probably told the kid to fight back whenever he had to and do whatever he had to do. So I think to myself, isn't it better to teach parents how to teach their kids instead of teaching the kids directly?

Our society is falling, and it is evident. More and more of these stories are popping up. Sometimes I feel so lucky that my parents raised me and my brother right and we became a positive factor in today's society. What scares me is that as the rich and poor divide widens, and that the poorer sector of the society shows more population growth - what will society become? I am not saying that all poor divide children are negative to the society, dont' get me wrong. But what is your government doing to help prevent one of the worlds chronical illness?

 

I know that this is impossible in this country in this day and age, but I believe that the only way to set this kid on the right track is to hit him. I'm talking about spanking, not like you need to sock the kid in the face, or boot him across the class room. But one or two good spanks will get the message across that he CAN NOT do what ever he wants.

He's only 5, he can still be shaped into a decent human being. Now if I were you I would not take my advice and hit the kid. Only his parents can do that, but from what you've described I doubt they ever will. What you must do is have a serious talk with the kids parents, if the kid is just a complete asshole like this all the time I'm sure there is a procedure for suspending or even expelling him from school even at his age. Let the parents deal with him at home if they can't bring him up to act right with others.

 

when schools spanked kids (until about 1988 or so in TX) kids didn't do this stuff. Even in Jr High kids got spanked, and it humiliated them.

Now, you can't do that, but I would call in the kid's parents and tell him that unless they change their ways, their child will spend the whole year sitting in a detention zone and not learn with everyone else...and that you will fail him for the year. Getting held back in any grade increases chances of dropping out of HS and becoming a janitor for life. Make sure you ingrain that in their heads.

 

Teaching is one of those things were it's not for everyone. A few months ago, my sister (who currently works for Calvin Klein in NYC) said "I want to be a teacher". Actually, what she meant was "I think teaching is so easy. You get to play with the little kids all day and of course they'd love me, and listen to me, and behave. Summers, weekends, and holidays off would be cool too." Unfortunately, many people who do not teach or who do not have relatives who teach don't know the reality of it.

Depending on where you are & where you work, you can see it all. I've worked in middle schools & high schools in NJ, PA, and FL and have seen all types of students, parents, teachers, and administrators. For your student teaching, if you get a strong cooperating teacher, you'll end up learning a lot & probably having a great experience. Should you end up w/ a less-than-ideal cooperating teacher, it could be enough to make you say "forget this!".

You're right that many times what you see a student do is a product of their home environment (or lack thereof). Perhaps that student who you mentioned had actually seen his dad hit his mom. In a situation like that, the child may not know anything else and assumes that this type of behavior is acceptable.

Teaching is a tough job! Don't let anyone tell you differently. In the same moment, you're a teacher, a parent, a psychiatrist, a doctor, a friend, a mentor, and a ton of other roles all in one body.

When you do your student teaching, see if you can observe other teachers too, not just your cooperating teachers. Ask the principal if there's a teacher who's particularly strong in classroom management and see if you can sit in on one or two classes. It's amazing what you can pick up just by watching a few teachers who know what they're doing!

Good luck! It's a rewarding career! You'll learn as much from your students (if not more) than what they learn from you.

 

[QUOTE=steven975,Jul 16 2004, 09:31 AM] I would call in the kid's parents and tell him that unless they change their ways, their child will spend the whole year sitting in a detention zone and not learn with everyone else...and that you will fail him for the year.

 

IMO teachers are the most underpaid and under-appreciated persons in our workforce. They have an extremely important task of educating our children, equally as important and in some cases, even more so, as doctors healing the sick, yet make fraction of what doctors do.

In high school and college I used to be a summer camp counselor during the summers... I thought "yea whatever easy job" but it was very frustrating, hard at times, rewarding, fun at others. I can only imagine what its like for teachers.

If the kid has problems, it usually begins and is learned at home, with the parents. Some parents don't give a shit. Some parents work too much to give a shit. And some aren't mature enough themselves to give a shit.

 

Well said, Mav.

Unfortunately, this is becoming the case all too often now - and not just in public schools. At some of the most expensive & prestigious private schools, you'll find parents who think that simply paying tuition (sometimes upwards of $30,000 per year per student) means that their job is done.