Here's something you might be interested in.
I am working today. I normally would not be writing. But here I sit in a room full of kids. Try not to guess what it is I do. The kids that I am with are students that have been sent to my care because for whatever reason they could not sit where they were at! They are an interesting bunch. Some want attention, some want help, some want to be left alone. I try to get every kids attention! I talk to them, I ask what's wrong, I ask what are you mad at. I always have the students write an incident report. It allows them to vent, to tell their side of what happened. We all just want to be heard, to be listened to. Kids have the hardest time. Sometimes their little voices scream and we still don't hear them. I try to listen! Sometime they try to tell us adults and we just don't get it. I listen , I hear, I care, Who knows what is going on in a kids head. They don't know what they say.. Kids call kids names and they think that it is funny. Kids steal..No wait Take things that are not theirs. They are learning ever so slowly the difference between right and wrong. Those kind of lessons used to come from our parents. Now the parents expect the schools to teach the kids how to act in public. I am a parent and I am proud of the way my kid acts around his peers and elders. I have high expectations of my son and I have high expectations of all the students that I come across. I guess that I expect everybody to try like it matters! It does matter, and the sooner we take responsibility for ourselves and our community; we can move on. I tire of watching students struggle because they feel that their is no reason to do their best. why should they? They see friends and family working and they might not have succeeded in school. Why should they? They listen to their parents who live in the fact that they might be going back any day. Why should they invest time and energy in something that might not even be there for them next year. I tell kids that the sooner you take responsibility for your actions, the sooner you can start to act mature. They think its funny, they act all bad, they puff out their chests and say I am responsible!. The next thing that comes out of their mouths is "he did it". I laugh! Kids are great! If I wasn't getting paid I would be doing this for free, somewhere.............
4-13-10: I write for myself. I appreciate the comment... I will try to use language that is more colorful in the future. I wrote what i felt. I have reread it a few times and I still wonder what is wrong. Or maybe what you think is wrong! It seemed like it was a good picture of the class that I was teaching that day. I wanted adults, parents, whoever reads it to understand that there are many sides to education and I was in a side that not many people get to experience. I just wanted to share!
I am working today. I normally would not be writing. But here I sit in a room full of kids. Try not to guess what it is I do. The kids that I am with are students that have been sent to my care because for whatever reason they could not sit where they were at! They are an interesting bunch. Some want attention, some want help, some want to be left alone. I try to get every kids attention! I talk to them, I ask what's wrong, I ask what are you mad at. I always have the students write an incident report. It allows them to vent, to tell their side of what happened. We all just want to be heard, to be listened to. Kids have the hardest time. Sometimes their little voices scream and we still don't hear them. I try to listen! Sometime they try to tell us adults and we just don't get it. I listen , I hear, I care, Who knows what is going on in a kids head. They don't know what they say.. Kids call kids names and they think that it is funny. Kids steal..No wait Take things that are not theirs. They are learning ever so slowly the difference between right and wrong. Those kind of lessons used to come from our parents. Now the parents expect the schools to teach the kids how to act in public. I am a parent and I am proud of the way my kid acts around his peers and elders. I have high expectations of my son and I have high expectations of all the students that I come across. I guess that I expect everybody to try like it matters! It does matter, and the sooner we take responsibility for ourselves and our community; we can move on. I tire of watching students struggle because they feel that their is no reason to do their best. why should they? They see friends and family working and they might not have succeeded in school. Why should they? They listen to their parents who live in the fact that they might be going back any day. Why should they invest time and energy in something that might not even be there for them next year. I tell kids that the sooner you take responsibility for your actions, the sooner you can start to act mature. They think its funny, they act all bad, they puff out their chests and say I am responsible!. The next thing that comes out of their mouths is "he did it". I laugh! Kids are great! If I wasn't getting paid I would be doing this for free, somewhere.............
4-13-10: I write for myself. I appreciate the comment... I will try to use language that is more colorful in the future. I wrote what i felt. I have reread it a few times and I still wonder what is wrong. Or maybe what you think is wrong! It seemed like it was a good picture of the class that I was teaching that day. I wanted adults, parents, whoever reads it to understand that there are many sides to education and I was in a side that not many people get to experience. I just wanted to share!