This year
I have 25 kids.
25 5 and 6 year olds. And a half time aide I share with a teammate of mine. Within my 25 students:
9 of my students have been written up and sent to the office. For all different things but basically the same thing-being disrespectful and continually disruptive.
I have tried telling my admin, my teacher BFF/teammate has tried telling admin, our math curriculum writer (who has taught in urban Washington D.C public schools) tried to tell them, and no one would listen. They all brushed it off “You’ll make it work, you’re a great teacher, I believe in you.” Until yesterday.
I got my first formal observation of the year (2 per year for contract teachers) and at one point-as I had one child shrieking and wailing on the carpet because she and another boy at her table grabbed the same paper and both pulled on it and her paper ended up ripping at the top, a whole other table (of 5 children) talking over me and ignoring any attempt of mine to get their attention, and a different child decide he didn’t want to do the independent practice activity just get up and help himself to the LEGO table-I made direct eye contact with my principal, with my hands at my sides and shrugged.
Now she had made a comment earlier in the year about never being able to hear me teach out in the hallway before and this year she could and was I okay? I simply explained to her that I have a consistent group of about 6 kids that just never ever ever shut up so I have to teach over them. They don’t stop, they don’t care if you take iPad time, computer time, recess, buddy, or free choice time. They tell me “I have candy at home-idc if I don’t get a sucker/M&M/Skittle etc.” “I have a tablet at home, idc if I can’t play on it now-I’ll just do it when I go home” and no matter how often I communicate with the parents that we are struggling-the behavior all happens the same.
After a few tears and “I know it’s bad I just don’t know what to do’s...” she looked me straight in the eyes and said “I don’t know what to do either.” She told me she’d seen me have rough classes before and still have a functional classroom. She said in all her years as an educator and an admin she had never seen a teacher be so thorough and explicit in their expectations and procedures and have the kids simply not follow them. She asked if I had missed a procedure or anything I normally do with other classes and I said no-and in fact-I’ve done everything I normally do and more and NONE of it has worked.
All-in-all it was gratifying for her to see (finally) why I’m exhausted all the time and why I’m short tempered with my kids (and colleagues) at the end of the day but it was just not what I wanted or needed to hear when she said she didn’t know what to do to help me. At least my pleas for help and support were validated. It’s been a ROUGH year. And I just pray that over Christmas break they all grow and mature and I have a different class come January.