I can't. I won't. I will never.

[franceslievens]

It is this that frustrates me in the teaching job: some kids seem to be unable to do what you want them to do. You talk and talk and it doesn't seep into their little heads what they are supposed to do. So I explain again, and while the brighter kids have finished their task, the slower ones keep staring at me with dumbstruck faces. They're nice kids, but their heads aren't exactly in the classroom.
So I go and talk to the teacher. Kid So-and-So and boy Can't-Sit-Still weren't paying attention today. Implicit is the question "How do I deal?" The answer I get baffles me: Don't deal. So-and-So is always like that. On the playground, in class. He dreams. Never knows what to do. Can't-Sit-Still is a little pain in the ass.
I want them all to perform the task I set them. I hate filling out their questions in red biro, because they weren't paying attention and didn't realise they had to copy something from the blackboard. Should I, as a teacher, just let them be and forget all about the dreamers? No, I don't think so, and I do believe that they can do the task set before them if only brought to them in the right way. Unfortunately no-one cares to tell me what is the correct way to have these children take part in class.

Comments

[iphi1.livejournal.com]

Bribe them?

The older ones, you can usually bribe to do sth, I had a teaching job for a while (15-17 year olds). They can usually be made to perform a task by either bribery or good old fashioned threats. Also promising classes about Buffy the vampire slayer was a great motivator. (I guess that falls under the "bribe" category).

As a third option, also very effective, but a bit more difficult to execute, there's always "competition". Tell X you think he's better than Y and tell Y that he's better than X in a specific task and watch how they suddenly start competing each other like crazy.

...
I never said I was a *good* teacher.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I don't think this really works with 6 and 7 year-olds. *g*
Although promises do work. I had first graders working their ass off because I promised them they could do their little theatre piece for the other kids.

Had 14-18 (occasionaly 20) year-olds last year. Bribery worked sometimes. Competition hardly. And threats were considered hollow. It's what you get when teaching morality. The grades they get in that class aren't all-important. ;-)

[thestormcellar.livejournal.com]

See if you can find a way to get the dreamers to be your little helpers. It gets them involved and then they get less bored and distracted. It's possible they are ADD kids. Not always fun to work with (I know, I was one), but when you can actually get them focused, they are very bright kids.

You might find some help here:

www.add.org

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Thanks babe. I don't know if ADD is really the problem here, because I didn't get the idea the the one kid I'm talking about is actually not distracted and bored. He just doesn't seem to be involved in what's going on. The other teachers said to me that it is very difficult to read his emotions as well. It's like he just isn't there.

The other is a kid that talks a lot. Needs very strict boundaries.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Some kids - especially the dreamers - don't respond to 'talk and talk', it just doesn't get through, probably because they're a different type of learner. Sometimes they literally need to be shown.
There are also those who have got serious psychological problems and then that depends on how the school reacts to it - with your comment "difficult to read his emotions" it sounds like there might be something like that going on with him. Seems like the teacher you mentioned it to has somehow resigned. Sometimes you take up a problem like that with the parents but nothing happens. Very frustrating.
And some kids just need a little more time to mature and then they catch up.

*hugs*

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your comments. I think the resignation of the other teachers stems from your last comment. Since he's only 6 he'll probably need a bit more time to mature. And his sister also needs extra help with her tasks.