So here is how it went, week one back from vacation:
As you guys know, it started out rough. Well, it ended that way as well. To
begin with, I became very ill by Wednesday afternoon. By the end of the day,
I had chills from head to toe and was miserable. Thank goodness one of my
coworkers was friends with a sub who happened to be there that day. She sent
her to my room in case I needed to make arrangements. (We have to arrange our
own subs beforehand). Sure enough, she was free the next day, so I decided to
do the smart thing and plan on taking Thursday off. Of course, I stayed until
8pm that night to make sure I had everything ready for the sub. It was her
first week working with middle school, and I could tell she was nervous. Since
I knew it was a rough bunch, I wanted to leave her prepared.
By the time I got home, I had a fever of 101.2 and my eyes felt like they
were going to implode inside of my head. I slept through the entire next day,
chills, then sweats, chills, then sweats until I had to change my clothes
twice. By the evening, my fever was down, and I thought that I was on the mend.
The sub called to give me a report. Bad news...as I had expected, my 7th/8th
grade class was terrible, she said.
I decided I would go into work on Friday because I didn't want to miss
another day or lose valuable time laying down the rules with my students. I know
that every day counts in the beginning. Unfortunately, my fever was back up to
100 that morning, but I went in anyway because it was too late to find a sub.
I felt pretty awful in the morning. Thank goodness my elementary kids were
good. After some dayquil and tea, my fever broke again, and I started to feel a
little better.
Sixth grade wasn't too bad. I moved a couple of seats, and it really made a
difference. At the end of class, two students even asked me if they had been
better. I told them that they had and that I was proud of them but that I
knew they could do even better. That made me feel like they do care and do
really want to do well in my class.
7th/8th grade is a different story. I told them that the sub had given me a
bad report and as a result they needed to write her an apology letter. Of
course they fought me on this, and suddenly, no one had done anything wrong.
Sure. One student who had received a behavior notice from the sub had the nerve
to tell me that she gave it to him because he was black! He even wrote that
in his apology letter to her! After the letters, I explained that until I saw
an improvement in behavior, the class simply wasn't going to as fun as it
could be. I explained that we would have to keep reviewing the rules because they
refused to follow them. I told them that I wanted them to do fun projects
but that they simply weren't allowing it because I had to constantly talk to
them about their behavior.
After the letters, I started a name design project with them. Many of them
had bad attitudes about the project, immediately said that they couldn't do it!
It is the easiest project! I do it even with my third graders, and most
students love it. This showed me that they are coming into my class with a very
negative attitude toward art and aren't even open to it at all. After the
project, I asked them to finish answering the questions on the board about art.
By the last 20 minutes of class, students were getting out of their seats
again and tryign to talk across the room and simply not doing their work. When I
gave those students notices, they wanted to deny that they had done anything
wrong! They thought that I wasn't being fair. Hilarious! I explained the
rule that they broke and that they needed to fill out the form plain and simple,
no buts about it.
So, after school I had a chat with the counselor, and here are our
conclusions:
These students come from broken homes and some from schools without art
programs. These students have been told that the only subjects that matter are
thos that are tested on our state assessment test. After reading their answers
to my questions, it was clear that most students have very negative attitudes
toward art. They don't see any value in it unless you become an artist and
make money selling paintings. They don't like it because past teachers were mean
or never taught them anything. They don't feel like they can draw, so they
don't like it. They think that it is boring and has no importance in education
or in life. Between those papers and the apology letters, It is also clear
that these students cannot even write complete senteces. Here are examples:
"Dear Ms. G.
I'm not very sorry for what I did yesterday. I'm not because every time you
told me to be quietly I didn't. Also I'm not the other students were talking
to. Also because I was talking back. So I'm not very sorry."
"Dear Mrs. g
po Box: 670
I didn't do nothing compared to what the others did like talk and scream I
did my work and draw when I was finished and she was calling somebody special
ed."
"Dear Ms. G
I didn't do anything I was gust Drawing. Most of the people were bad but
some where drawing. Some people were
Im Sorry
P.O. Box"
So, with the exception of about two or three letters, I do not find these
acceptable. Two students wrote that they were not sorry, and I am sending both
of those students to the counselor on Monday to give their side of the story.
I am thinking that I need to have my students rewrite these letters in a
correct format and explain to them that they need to take responsibility for the
actions of the class.
This weekend, I'm revising the plan. I'm going to buy a little bell to ring
when I want their attention because I'm tired of trying to yell over them. We
will practice with it as a signal. I've been reluctant to get one because I
didn't think I should have to, but at this point, I'll try anything. I'm
going to the library today to find some cool books for a unit on line and an
introduction on drawing...maybe someone like Da Vinci. I want to pick some artists
who are interesting. I'm going to start working on some games to have handy
and think of some other fun activities they can earn with good behavior. I'm
going to come up with an outline and mini lesson on how to write a proper
letter and what an apology is. I'm going to continue to think about my discipline
methods. Giving the students who are acting up writing assigments during
class doesn't seem to be improving their behavior. They only become more angry.
I need to figure something else out if that doesn't work.
