At what point do you give up & just say "What I do doesn't make a difference?"
This past Thursday I took my students on a field trip to the zoo. It went pretty well at the beginning. We got there at a decent time & were met by the Zoo Teachers. They had some classes set up for our students, which they ended up loving. They learned a lot about pond life, tortoises & various other animals & their life cycles. After the classes, which lasted about 2 hours we ate lunch & then entered the rest of the zoo. All of my students went with the chaperones, so I was free to tour the zoo by myself. I constantly ran into groups of my students & they were excited to entertain me with stories about the animals they had seen.
Around 3:15 most of the groups were gathering back towards the front of the zoo where there was an "Insect Zoo". One of the chaperones approached me & told me a store keeper had told her two of my students had been caught shoplifting. The students completely denied everything when I confronted them, but the chaperone (who was a cousin to one of the students) questioned them & they finally admitted to what they had stolen. I took them to the front desk & they called for a manager. Thankfully the zoo didn't press charges since they had returned the items. When we returned to school I informed out assistant principal & he spoke with the parents & gave the students 5 days suspension. It would have been more, but our Spring Break is next week & they would be out of school for a total of 3 weeks including that week off.
These two students have the worst attitudes of all of my students. I work with them & try to do my best to help them. They can earn rewards in class & get extra help when needed, but whenever they get in trouble for anything they whine & pout & throw fits worthy of a two year old. Nothing I do seems to make a difference. I have sent notes home, talked with the parents & written referrals at school, yet nothing seems to change. If anything it only seems to get worse. How long do I keep on trying to reach them? At what point do I give up? When is enough really enough?
3 comments:
You never give up. You may have to retreat for awhile, and focus on the good students. Sad that some students just don't understand they are wasting their lives if they don't learn while they can. See you soon.
I think probably the best teachers don't give up. They keep plugging away as best they can -- maybe mentally they think they've given up, but they keep faking it. I don't know, obviously I don't have personal experience. But I think maybe students like these are why the summer break was invented for the teacher. That's when you can wash your hands of them, so to speak. Oh, you thought summer break was for the students? Silly you. :o) I can't wait to see you, Sis!
In giving up it is probably the same thing that is happening to them at home. We do award the others with "Cub's Pride" tickets. (names are called at the end of the day for a prize) The troublers are awarded too with tickets for ANYTHING that they do good, even a smile. I love when the kids all grown up will say "We know you are/were tough, but we knew you loved us" Teaching is acting for several hours a day. You are gaining your angel wings one day at a time and you are making a difference.
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