• Patriotism
• The Next Survivor Show
• Bathroom Privileges
• Classroom Discipline
• Should Schools Provide Inservice Training For Teachers?
• What is Bilingual Education?
• Treat Teachers Like Professionals!

• The Common Denominator of Success

"In Spain, of course this is after all the oppression and forced patriotism with Franco, they think someone who puts out a Spanish flag as "facha" (fascist). Of course, in front of a school or a government building, it's normal and fine, but a private home with a Spanish flag would be viewed as very strange. Also, to my knowledge, they do not do any kind of pledge to the flag at school. All of the Spanish people I know are very proud of their culture and cuisine, and will discuss it with passion, but don't seem to talk about pride in themselves in a nationalistic manner."

My response:

I remember when I was studying in France in 1990 talking to a French couple about patriotism, and they said they couldn't think of anyone who would say they are "proud" to be French. "We just ARE French," they said, shrugging their shoulders. They were quite mystified by the American idea of patriotism and flag waving.

I also recall having a German exchange student speak to my classes one time, and she said she didn't know anyone who was proud to be German. She said the shadow of the two world wars has left its mark on them, even though most Germans alive today were not involved or even born then. She also said she thought saying a pledge to the flag was dangerous, reminiscent of what Hitler did, brainwashing people so that nationalistic pride became more important--or even
worse--intertwined with--religion.

I have to say that what she said caused me to reflect on my own view of patriotism and saying the pledge of allegiance in school. Up until that point I had just accepted it without really thinking much about it, because we had been saying it in school most of my life. But I have come to believe that saying a pledge like that should be done sincerely and with reflection on the words one is saying. Anything else cheapens the whole idea of patriotism, which I think should be taken seriously.

It is unfortunate that so many people think that ideas like mine are un-American and unpatriotic. Quite the contrary - I have this view because I DO value my flag and my country and it bothers me to see my students every day repeating words--sometimes racing through them--that they do not mean.

Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 6 weeks. Each business person will be provided with a copy of their school district's curriculum, and a class of 28 students.

Each class will have five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three will be labeled as severe behavior problems.

Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives, and modify, organize, or create materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences.

They must also supervise recess and monitor the hallways. In addition, they will complete drills for fire, tornadoes, or shooting attacks. They must attend workshops, (100 hours), faculty meetings, union meetings, and curriculum development meetings.

They must also tutor those students who are behind, and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient.

If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show. Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment at all times.

The business people will only have access to the golf course on the weekends, but on their new salary they will not be able to afford it anyway. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to 30 minutes, 10 of which must be spent walking your students to lunch, getting them through the cafeteria lines and seating them at the correct table.

On days when they do not have recess duty, the business people will be permitted to use the staff restroom - as long as another survival candidate is supervising their class.

They will be provided with two 40-minute planning periods per week while their students are at specials. If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials at this time.

The business people must continually advance their education on their own time, and pay for this advanced training themselves. This can be accomplished by moonlighting at a second job or marrying someone with money.

The winner will be allowed to return to his or her job.

"If you do not let students out to go to locker, bathroom, etc, they stop asking, really. If they forget books/homework/projects/, well they lose participation points."

My response:

As a teacher, I have had "emergencies" myself where I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of a class. I am glad no one else had the authority to tell me I couldn't go. I guess that's one of the advantages of being a teacher instead of a student. A student has to ask permission to use the bathroom and many teachers will give him a hard time about it before letting him go or simply say no without listening to any explanations.

I have done both of those things in the past, but no longer do. Why not?

(1) Growing older has given me a whole new respect for the urgency involved in such calls of nature.

(2) Several years ago, after an incident where I asked a student to finish his quiz first and he had an unfortunate accident, I was told by school administrators that students have a fundamental right to use the bathroom when they need to.

(3) Sometimes I think we teachers contribute to a sort of "dehumanization" of our students. We automatically assume they are going to abuse their privileges before we have even given them a chance. We spend far too much time criticizing them and not enough listening to what they're saying. Few students will admit how much they are hurt by our sarcastic remarks and public criticism, but at the middle school level, this can be devastating to a young teen.

Yes, I believe kids have to develop a thick skin and understand that the world is a hard place that is not going to cater to their every whim. But I don't think "dehumanizing" our students is part of a teacher's job description. On the contrary, our actions should show them that we respect and care for them as human beings, and that part of that caring involves having high expectations for their academic work and development as responsible people.

Today during lunch I talked to an 8th grader who just hung around after class and kept talking while I ate lunch. He wanted to talk about a number of things. First of all, he said that he didn't think my exploratory course was going to help him much, since he just wants to be an auto mechanic. He seemed a bit hesitant to say so because he didn't want me to get mad. (Hah! I've heard that many times in 15 years!) After we discussed that, he told me that he is often frustrated because teachers tend to get mad if you disagree with their point of view. He gave a couple of examples. The result is that he is now afraid to state his own opinion in class, so he doesn't say anything.

Yesterday, one of my newspaper staff, a 7th grader, happened to mention that a certain teacher was suspicious of his sudden improvement in class and called his parents to say that he suspected him of cheating. He didn't have any idea HOW the kid was cheating, just a "feeling." Apparently, he called the parents of several other students who suddenly began to get better grades. Now, I have only heard one side of this story and I know there's probably more to it, but teachers have been known to do things like this--it actually sounds like something I might have done when I first started teaching--and this reinforces the notion of the teacher being "the enemy" who is out to get you.

I, for one, do not want ANY student to think of me as "the enemy." At least, not if I can do anything about it. I'm not going to be their close friend, but at least they can trust me to treat them with compassion.

"Hello, I am a methods student in my last semester before student teaching. My question is about classroom management/ discipline. This is probably what scares me the most about student teaching, since I am the kind of person who tends to avoid confrontation. How do you handle students that simply refuse to participate, or challenge you at every turn? I remember classes I had in high school that got very awkward at times because some kid decided it was his mission to make the teacher cry. It seems like sending a disruptive student to the principal or asking the administration to deal with it should be a last resort. Hopefully I will not have many holy terrors to contend with, but I'm sure that no matter how engaging I try to make my class, I will run into a few challenging students somewhere. What are some strategies that you have found successful?"

My response:

When I first started teaching, I remember coming home often depressed about discipline problems. I felt that I had to handle it all myself because I didn't want the principal to think I was shirking my duty by sending my misbehaving students to him. This went on for a number of years, until a guidance counselor friend (who has since retired) did me a GIANT favor by helping me devise the following plan:

1. Find a punishment that kids won't like. In my case, it's called lunch detention. If the student doesn't show up, I go down and get him and all the kids snicker at him/her.

2. Give him/her an out. I take the student out in the hall and calmly
explain that this behavior is not acceptable. "You have a choice. You can go back in the classroom and behave appropriately, or you can keep up this unacceptable behavior and get a lunch detention. It's your choice: have lunch with me, or have lunch with your friends. Which do you prefer?" They usually choose to have lunch with their friends. (No, I do not take it personally!)

3. On rare occasions (2-3 times a year), I will take the student out
in the hall with my cell phone and call a parent to report the student's behavior IMMEDIATELY. Then I hand the phone over to the student. Usually by this time the eyes are teary and the hands are shaking. The reason I rarely have to do this is because after the first time, the news gets around and few students want to risk being put in that position. This method has worked for me 100% of the time.

4. There are always a few tough cases that will never respond to #3, and it's good to know that ahead of time. Not many parents will defend their child's misbehavior, but there are a few around and I'd rather not have Johnny snickering at me while his parent tries to make me the bad guy. These are the kids that get referred to the office, as well as those who are extremely belligerent. I don't mess with these kids.

I can't honestly tell you the last time I got upset about discipline problems. Frankly, it just doesn't faze me anymore. Don't get me wrong--discipline is still not my strong suit and sometimes I blow it and lose my temper--but most of the time I can get a student to behave without raising my voice.

I teach in a suburban school, so what works here might not work in other school settings. We don't have security guards or anything, just a secretary-person who monitors people coming and going (new this year).

It also depends on the support you get from the principal's office. But these principles have a high success rate, even with a wishy-washy principal.

You know, another thing I have realized is that the kids have to perceive you as being caring, competent, and fair. If they sense that you really dislike them or are shirking your job by showing videos all the time, they will show their lack of respect by misbehaving. But if you plan engaging activities and show them you care and really believe in what you are teaching, they won't be as likely to harass you.

And you know something else? Now that I feel confident of my ability to control the class, I find myself really liking the kids I teach, even the ones who are hard to love. I don't think I ever had the freedom to do that before--I was always too busy thinking what I would do if someone challenged me.

Someone wrote on a listserv I belonged to once:

"I disagree that School Districts must provide "In Service" training. Most business and professional organizations require that staff seek their training. Doctors must constantly pursue training. The same for business owners. Why should teachers be different. The question of training on one's own time, or on-the-clock is a different matter. True professionals seek continuing education whenever possible. One of the problems with school funding these days is the loss of respect by voters for teachers. Respect for the teaching profession is being chipped away, at least in part, by teachers acting like UAW workers, and not by acting like true professionals.

My response:

Quite the contrary, many businesses find it cost-effective to provide training to their employees. Computer training is a big one. Most people will learn on their own, but the cost of the loss in productivity will far outweigh the cost of in-house training.

Increased use of technology will fundamentally change the structure and function of schools...for the better, in my opinion. However, the pace will be excruciating if teachers are not properly trained. It makes no
sense to spend large amounts of money on hardware/software— which will have to replaced or upgraded every four years or so—if it is not being widely used. Most sources say that a school district should spend as much on training staff members as they spend on hardware/software. That way you're at least getting your money's worth, and the students are the real winners.

Incidentally, while we are talking about comparisons, my sister's degree in computer programming was completely paid for by the company where she worked as a secretary at a salary that was higher than mine for the first several years of teaching. Not only that, but after she graduated she quit and got a better job somewhere else!

Of course, we could bring up the summers off (she didn't have those) and the papers to grade at night (she didn't have those either), and perhaps others. However, I'm not sure what good it does to argue the point. We all know teachers who dig in their heels and resist change, but I think most teachers have their students' best interests at heart and will take every opportunity they can to improve their teaching skills.