My routine of a Monday was a bit skewed today in the sense that, the children were just getting back from spring break. What this means is they were acting like it was still a holiday. Not really a surprise, because I remember not acting right after a long absence from school. But the big surprise of the day has me reaching into "My Thoughts".
I'm going to tell you a story about a child in my school. In order to protect myself from any type of litigation, I'm going to call this child(niggas will sue over anything now-a-days lol), "disruptive kid".
Disruptive kid has been a problem for me every since I arrived at Shepherd Elementary School. He constantly interrupts class, I constantly send him to the office, and his parents were the first call I ever made home. Actually his class might be the worse class in the school, but somehow he manages to stick out. Mrs. Gilmore's class is one of two fourth grade classes that we have in the school, and they are as different as night and day. So, since disruptive kid belongs to Gilmore's "goons" (which the staff affectionately calls them lol), I was a bit surprised to see him walking out of Mrs. Valentine-Nelson's class this afternoon (the other fourth grade teacher). My first thought was,"Why the hell is he in here!" Mrs. Valentine-Nelson must have read my mind (or maybe I said it out loud lol) because she looked at me and said disruptive kid would be in her class for the remainder of the school year. Now, this really bothered me because Mrs. Valentine-Nelson's class is probably the most well behaved class in the school; and since he was the sore thumb that stuck out of Mrs. Gilmore's class, I figured that he would corrupt Mrs. Valentine-Nelson's class. Boy was I wrong. Not only did he come to class and behave, he wrote me an apology for his previous behavior. I stood amazed and surprised that this disruptive kid was able to change his behavior. I was so impressed, that I told his teacher of his pleasant behavior and she announced it to the class along with his reception of a reward.
I'm sorry it took me so long to get to the point, but I want some feedback from you all on this matter. I saw from this experience, that any child, no matter how disruptive, can change their behavior. All they need is the right circumstance. But the trouble I'm having is the vehicle that sparked this change. Was it the change of scenery from one classroom to the next? Was it being around a more well behaved group of students? or Was it the promise of reward that changed disruptive kid's behavior? I have my own opinion, but I would love to hear yours; And whatever you opinion is, this is "Just My Thoughts, Just What I Was Feeling at the Time"
2 comments:
I think that children can be provided with a blank slate as this kid seems to have done, but the test of time will reveal the real truth. Its easy to change for a day, a week or a month. But it is how he will respond over time that will determine if the change is true. However, children are children, and they are products of his environment. Often negative behavior is the way a child reacts to what is going on at home-- even if the behavior is seemingly unrelated. It may just be that he has not had alot of structure, but kids also can recognize who not to f*ck with. Like the kids who sass their own parents, but they got that one aunt that will whoop dey ass? Maybe the new teacher is having a good influence on him. For all the teacher's sakes, I just hope it remains consistent.
I think that the disruptive kid was so used to being the center of attention for the wrong reasons. Now, that he has had a chance to be the center of attention in a more sterile environment, he has had an "out of body" experience. He doesn't want to act out anymore around these kids because they have the stigma of being the well behaved class and I'm sure he knows this. You remember how we as kids always talked like, "Ms. Valentine don't play!" Either way, whatever she did has made put him on the right path and thank God for teachers like that.
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