Week 3:
Mrs. Dearly and I met inside her classroom and prepared for the morning. As usual, we went outside to meet the children to bring in. Because my house was warm when I left this morning, I didn't bother to bring my jacket. I totally regret that now. I have to remember that the Pacific Northwest is generally cold when the sun is NOT out -- it doesn't even matter what season it is.
I felt that the routine by now was very smooth and I automatically knew what came next. One thing I really like is that the children are so independent that they got down to routine right away. What I observed that when the children are on a transition from outside of the classroom to being back inside, Mrs. Dearly sets out worksheets/assignments on their desks before they came back. By the time they came back into the classroom, they're ready to write/learn. This is wonderful classroom management on her part.
She has told me that when these kids start wandering, it's because they have nothing else to do. She keeps them on their toes. She also goes from one activity to another almost every 15 minutes. This is to prevent boredom and constant repetition, which also causes boredom. Boredom = Chaos.
Because I knew what was coming next, the transitions for myself were very smooth. I hardly asked her any direction as to what is next on her schedule. As soon as the children are sitting at their desks, they're ready to learn.
During Ability Group time, Mrs. Dearly had a total of five children in her class. Ability Group is when the second and 2nd/3rd* graders go to their respective classes to have intense reading with other 2nd and 2nd/3rd grade teachers. (* This is one class with BOTH 2nd and 3rd graders in it). The children in all these classes are divided according to their levels in reading. Mrs. Dearly has the lowest reading group. Although she only has five, there is one boy in the group, "Michael", who is having a difficult time learning. Now remember, Mrs. Dearly goes from one thing to another in a spontaneous motion. If she stops, then learning is disrupted.
Michael and another boy, "Keoni", were assigned to finish a task that they started the other day. Michael stepped out of the class momentarily. Mrs. Dearly explained to Keoni exactly how he should finish his job and told him to give the same instructions to Michael. After he came back, Mrs. Dearly went on to teach the other half of the group.
As Keoni attempted to explain to Michael exactly what needed to be done, he reached out for the activity in front of him and started fiddling around with it. This made Keoni frustrated and really very hard to explain to Michael exactly what they're supposed to be doing. Michael refused to listen and started doing things his own way. I decided to step in to let Michael know that Keoni is trying very hard to explain the task, but he kept going off tangent and started calling Keoni names.
Mrs. Dearly heard the commotion and decided to allow Keoni back in with the group while Michael dealt with the task himself. After Michael finished, he told me that he was right and began calling Keoni names again. Before Mrs. Dearly stopped the lesson, Michael looked frustrated and realized that he did not do the task right! That really blew his top off, and ended up blaming Keoni.
Mrs. Dearly looked exasperated by now and warned Michael about how his behavior is not appropriate and should not be taking it out on Keoni who tried to give him specific instructions. Mrs. Dearly told Michael to forget the task and invited him to the group on the condition that he does not disrupt the lesson or he'll be asked to leave the group. Instead of sitting down, like the rest of his classmates, he walks to the front of the white (magnetic) board and started touching the magnetic letters without her permission. Then, again, without any instigation from Keoni who has completely ignored Michael all this time, Michael started calling him names again! Mrs. Dearly sent him to sit in the back of the classroom.
This is not time out as some may think. Michael simply sat at a different desk away from the group. He is still learning the lesson while Mrs. Dearly gave the lesson. He just wasn't allowed to answer any questions no matter where he's at in the classroom.
Two more disruptive children, including Keoni, joined Michael "outside" of the group. It seemed that Michael set the tone for the class to which Mrs. Dearly wasted precious and important teaching moments because she had to manage behavioral problems in her classroom. Now there are only two children at the front doing some intense learning while the other three are learning away from the group.
Mrs. Dearly asked a question, and even though they knew that they're no longer part of the discussion, the three "outside" children raised their hands to answer. She reminded them that they're not allowed to answer, but they may listen. Michael cussed under his breath and said something inappropriate to the effect of "...teacher sucks...". I was pretty sure he said something worse than that, but Mrs. Dearly dealt with it right there and sent him to the counselor who deals with issues like this -- a behavioral management counselor, is what she's called here.
He grew upset and asked "What for?" She explained to him really quickly that he was refusing to follow class instructions and most of all he was being disrespectful by saying "teacher sucks". He denied saying anything like that, but when he looked my way and I shot him a look of "I heard what you said," he took the pink slip from Mrs. Dearly's hand and stomped down to the office.
When he came back looking sullen a couple hours later, he showed a sheet to Mrs. Dearly. I glanced over and it was a Behavioral Management Plan which his parents must sign and bring back. He also apologized to her. They talked about it and she reiterated what occured (identified the problem), and asked him why he was sent to the behaviorist/specialist (consequence), then told him that his behavior should never happen again in class and may face serious consequences (behavior prevention) (stated in parent handbook -- there are steps to be taken; she has taken the first step)
This was the first time Mrs. Dearly has ever had to send this particular child to a specialist. As this is very rare in her classroom, this occurs once or twice every other school year since she's been here (10 years).
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