Day 5 in the classroom
I didn't sleep at all last night. Two thirty in the morning, I was still lying there, wide awake and staring at the ceiling. I ended up getting up and taking Nyquil just so I could fall asleep, and even then I kept waking up. Needless to say, when my alarm went off at 5:45, my only thought was "No."
I knew from the moment I woke up that it was going to be a long day today. And it was.
The students had attitude towards me, towards each other, and to the lunch ladies while they were in line to get lunch. One student called me a bully. My entire guided reading group (except for the one student in the group who was absent) was mad at me during guided reading. Two students were really mad at me, and most of the class now thinks I'm mean.
During guided reading, the boys in the group I lead are very... distracted by each other. They goof around, play, and don't pay attention. Usually their behavior gets them sent back to their desks, but I don't feel that this benefits them because they're not getting the same information that the rest of their group is learning. So today, I made them sit boy-girl-boy-girl so the boys weren't next to each other. This made them all mad at me - the boys were mad because they weren't next to each other and the girls were mad because they didn't want to sit next to the boys. But we got things done today, and despite the fact that they weren't happy with me, I think it was our most successful guided group meeting so far. They breezed through the third grade level sight words pretty easily. There were 100 sight words, and they had trouble with about 5 of them.
After lunch, one little boy said he was going home because his stomach hurt (he was fine). The teacher left to go down to the nurse's office with the little boy to say that he wasn't going home and to call his mom to say not to pick him up. I was left alone with the class. See, after lunch they do math. They had been just about to start math when their teacher stepped out for a minute. It took less than a second for them to get loud and out of their seats and... "Boys and girls!" I said loudly. I think that was pretty much the first time I've raised my voice to them; they all looked up at me in surprise. "You need to be in your seats. Take out a book, and sit and read quietly!" The majority of the class listened (I feel like they were just surprised that I took control like that). One boy and girl, however, were arguing with each other. The arguing between the two of them is constant, and I had warned them about it already today. I gave them another warning. "You both need to stop the arguing now and get your books out." They got out books and started reading, but not even a full minute had passed before they were arguing again. "(Name 1) and (name 2)! You can put your names up on the board. I asked you to stop with the arguing." They just looked at me. "Go write your names on the board." They didn't move. They acted like they hadn't even heard me.
When the teacher got back, she asked me how the students were while she was gone, so I told her. She called them over to her and made them write their names with a check next to them (20 minutes of recess gone. If they had listened to me and put their names up when I asked, it would have only been 10 minutes.) They were notttt very happy with me. At all. At the end of recess, the little girl looked at me (if looks could kill, I'd've been dead.) and said "I didn't even get to play today." My response? "That's because you made bad decisions today."
The students do journals before recess, and they were being pretty rude while their classmates were reading their journals. They were talking to each other and goofing off. I set my hand down on the chair the person reading was sitting in. "Stop for a second," I said quietly to him. He looked up at me. "What did I do?" he asked. "Nothing," I replied back. "Just stop a minute." Confused, he sat there looking at me and waiting for what I was going to say. "Boys and girls! We are not being very respectful to (name) right now, are we? You need to sit down - all the way, on your bottoms. Your mouths need to be shut and your listening ears need to be on." They listened, though I could tell they weren't happy about it. "You're being a bully," one little girl said quietly. "I'm not being a bully," I said back to her, "but you all are being very rude to (name). He's up here reading his journal and none of you are listening. I expect you to respect your classmates."
It wasn't the best day, but me being me, I have to find the bright side of things and see the positive. Not every day is going to be great; I need to realize that. And this, this was a learning experience today. I need to understand that I am going to have bad days, but bad days are necessary sometimes because they make you appreciate the good days that much more. Hopefully, the kids started to realize today that they need to listen to me, that I'm not going to always be a pushover. You know what? I actually think I needed a day like today. I needed it so I would realize this.
I knew from the moment I woke up that it was going to be a long day today. And it was.
The students had attitude towards me, towards each other, and to the lunch ladies while they were in line to get lunch. One student called me a bully. My entire guided reading group (except for the one student in the group who was absent) was mad at me during guided reading. Two students were really mad at me, and most of the class now thinks I'm mean.
During guided reading, the boys in the group I lead are very... distracted by each other. They goof around, play, and don't pay attention. Usually their behavior gets them sent back to their desks, but I don't feel that this benefits them because they're not getting the same information that the rest of their group is learning. So today, I made them sit boy-girl-boy-girl so the boys weren't next to each other. This made them all mad at me - the boys were mad because they weren't next to each other and the girls were mad because they didn't want to sit next to the boys. But we got things done today, and despite the fact that they weren't happy with me, I think it was our most successful guided group meeting so far. They breezed through the third grade level sight words pretty easily. There were 100 sight words, and they had trouble with about 5 of them.
After lunch, one little boy said he was going home because his stomach hurt (he was fine). The teacher left to go down to the nurse's office with the little boy to say that he wasn't going home and to call his mom to say not to pick him up. I was left alone with the class. See, after lunch they do math. They had been just about to start math when their teacher stepped out for a minute. It took less than a second for them to get loud and out of their seats and... "Boys and girls!" I said loudly. I think that was pretty much the first time I've raised my voice to them; they all looked up at me in surprise. "You need to be in your seats. Take out a book, and sit and read quietly!" The majority of the class listened (I feel like they were just surprised that I took control like that). One boy and girl, however, were arguing with each other. The arguing between the two of them is constant, and I had warned them about it already today. I gave them another warning. "You both need to stop the arguing now and get your books out." They got out books and started reading, but not even a full minute had passed before they were arguing again. "(Name 1) and (name 2)! You can put your names up on the board. I asked you to stop with the arguing." They just looked at me. "Go write your names on the board." They didn't move. They acted like they hadn't even heard me.
When the teacher got back, she asked me how the students were while she was gone, so I told her. She called them over to her and made them write their names with a check next to them (20 minutes of recess gone. If they had listened to me and put their names up when I asked, it would have only been 10 minutes.) They were notttt very happy with me. At all. At the end of recess, the little girl looked at me (if looks could kill, I'd've been dead.) and said "I didn't even get to play today." My response? "That's because you made bad decisions today."
The students do journals before recess, and they were being pretty rude while their classmates were reading their journals. They were talking to each other and goofing off. I set my hand down on the chair the person reading was sitting in. "Stop for a second," I said quietly to him. He looked up at me. "What did I do?" he asked. "Nothing," I replied back. "Just stop a minute." Confused, he sat there looking at me and waiting for what I was going to say. "Boys and girls! We are not being very respectful to (name) right now, are we? You need to sit down - all the way, on your bottoms. Your mouths need to be shut and your listening ears need to be on." They listened, though I could tell they weren't happy about it. "You're being a bully," one little girl said quietly. "I'm not being a bully," I said back to her, "but you all are being very rude to (name). He's up here reading his journal and none of you are listening. I expect you to respect your classmates."
It wasn't the best day, but me being me, I have to find the bright side of things and see the positive. Not every day is going to be great; I need to realize that. And this, this was a learning experience today. I need to understand that I am going to have bad days, but bad days are necessary sometimes because they make you appreciate the good days that much more. Hopefully, the kids started to realize today that they need to listen to me, that I'm not going to always be a pushover. You know what? I actually think I needed a day like today. I needed it so I would realize this.
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