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franceslievensI never quite grasp where the disruptive behaviour starts. In this case it was probably with me not being effective in ordering them to put that big green caterpillar back where they found it. Then D., W. and L. left with my permission. It was D.'s birthday and he had some leftover cake to hand out to the teachers. The girls would work on a drawing until the boys returned.
When the boys returned and we had eaten the last bits of cake, there was half a lesson left. It's enough for me to explain a task, which they should do by themselves. That's when the trouble really started. One of the boys noticed a biro had gone missing. It's one of the school pens – I had warned them to be careful with those. Of course no-one knows when and how it has gone missing – neither do I.
While the boys were in search of the lost pen, the girls kept on laughing and enjoying themselves, not in the least willing to work on the assignment. One of them had written one sentence: "I have nothing to say." When I asked her why she wasn't doing her work, she simply replied: "I'm finished." "Do you think this is a colouring class?" I retort. She replies affirmative.
That's usually the moment when my blood starts to boil. I must have yelled at them. After which I started monologuing about their unacceptable behaviour. "I know it's the last period on a Friday, but still you're required to work." The whole thing must have been something along those lines. The two new girls, who had been doing as they pleased for the complete hour, were unimpressed. The others? I'm not quite sure.
On Monday I'll inform their teacher that they were having a laugh in my class instead of paying attention. They won't be allowed to sit next to their friends, and I will go through the points of attention again with them.
Still I can't help this feeling that their behaviour was caused by my behaviour, and that I'm ineffective when it comes to class management. They don't try this behaviour with their own teacher, and certainly won't talk back to her, like they did with me. I don't know which punishments I can throw at them, and it's this uncertainty they feed on. Every kind of disruptive behaviour still takes me off guard, and I get angry at them, instead of staying calm. Come Monday I'll do what I said above, but part of me is always convinced that once I've "lost" a class, it'll never return.
When the boys returned and we had eaten the last bits of cake, there was half a lesson left. It's enough for me to explain a task, which they should do by themselves. That's when the trouble really started. One of the boys noticed a biro had gone missing. It's one of the school pens – I had warned them to be careful with those. Of course no-one knows when and how it has gone missing – neither do I.
While the boys were in search of the lost pen, the girls kept on laughing and enjoying themselves, not in the least willing to work on the assignment. One of them had written one sentence: "I have nothing to say." When I asked her why she wasn't doing her work, she simply replied: "I'm finished." "Do you think this is a colouring class?" I retort. She replies affirmative.
That's usually the moment when my blood starts to boil. I must have yelled at them. After which I started monologuing about their unacceptable behaviour. "I know it's the last period on a Friday, but still you're required to work." The whole thing must have been something along those lines. The two new girls, who had been doing as they pleased for the complete hour, were unimpressed. The others? I'm not quite sure.
On Monday I'll inform their teacher that they were having a laugh in my class instead of paying attention. They won't be allowed to sit next to their friends, and I will go through the points of attention again with them.
Still I can't help this feeling that their behaviour was caused by my behaviour, and that I'm ineffective when it comes to class management. They don't try this behaviour with their own teacher, and certainly won't talk back to her, like they did with me. I don't know which punishments I can throw at them, and it's this uncertainty they feed on. Every kind of disruptive behaviour still takes me off guard, and I get angry at them, instead of staying calm. Come Monday I'll do what I said above, but part of me is always convinced that once I've "lost" a class, it'll never return.
