Thursday, September 06, 2007

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

i'm sure that my 6th graders are elated that i have not yet subjected them to my lesson plan on respect/social norms in the classroom. the lesson plan i created for my certification class this summer that involves, among other things, the playing of a certain song performed by aretha franklin. i have, however, consistently reinforced that in my class, i will be respected, classmates will be respected, you will respect yourself and the school property. and you will respect very well. if not, you will have a small chat with me outside the classroom or i will glare impatiently at you until you start respecting or your classmates inform you that i'm waiting for you to be respectful. in my class, respecting the person speaking (whoever it may be)involves not rummaging through personal belongings, not even holding a writing utensil (unless instructed to take down notes), and certainly not talking, and looking at the individual speaking. i realize this is slightly extreme as most are capable of multi-tasking, but i hate repeating myself. plus i just enjoy enforcing my will upon these poor students. just kidding.

so today i busted out the new textbooks and the base 10 blocks. manipulatives are so cool. i hated them as a student b/c i didn't need them to help me understand the concepts so i found them boring. i tried to preemptively combat this feeling in my pre-AP class by explaining that solving a problem in one's head or on paper and modeling a problem with blocks are 2 separate skills and they need to be able to show that they have both these skills. most of my classes did well, and they had no difficulty with my long speech about maturity and not throwing blocks, not chewing on blocks, not hitting people with blocks, not building tall towers with the blocks, working together and sharing the blocks,etc.

then came last period. this is a TAKS prep class i teach to help out some kiddos that didn't pass the test last year. i don't know if its b/c its last period or if its because this is their 2nd math class of the day which i'm sure they find annoying, but this is a rough class. today i gave them a chance to work with the blocks. we had some issues, blocks were everywhere...not cool. so i stopped the class about 20min in, waited for respect, and then said, "i'm really sorry. i think there's been some mistake. i was supposed to have a 6th grade class this period. somehow things got messed up and i have a 3rd grade class. let's line up at the door because its time for my 6th graders to come to class and learn something." and so they did. everyone lined up at the door. when class begins i greet my kids at the door with a little knuckle smash and hows it goin. so they all stood in line, got their knuckle smash and hows it goin, and had a seat. i then began class like i normally do, adding, "the weirdest thing happened earlier. some 3rd graders were in my class and i didn't like it very much. i'm so glad i have my 6th graders back!" the kids played right along, and were like "really? thats so weeeird!!" i hope that they were playing along anyways, and not really that lost.

5 comments:

Evelyn said...

way to handle that one!! I would never have thought of that - quite funny too :)

Congrats on finishing the 2nd week!

Unknown said...

you're the bomb.

Anonymous said...

Sharon, you are amazing. Wish I could be in your class! Love, Nana

Anonymous said...

This is terrific - I'm going to learn some great tips reading this blog.

I find it so funny that you are into this RESPECT thing - and all of the things you mention are things that I don't think students (in college) think about. Like, it is say...disrespectful to read the school newspaper during class. Or, it is say...disrespectful to sit in class with absolutely nothing on your desk, as though there will nothing of any importance discussed today. These kinds of things

M&B said...

What about reading a different book underneath the desk? As long as you're not disturbing anyone else, I really don't see a problem.

And when else are you supposed to read the college newspaper?

Some might say that a decluttered desk is a decluttered mind and a decluttered mind lends itself to amazing discoveries.

In retrospect, after reading this post, it would appear that M&B were not the most respectful of students during their school days. Hopefully with our continued reading of this blog, we will develop a greater appreciation for R-E-S-P-E-C-T.