Last week I observed a P.E. class and was really surprised because it was the first I’ve been to this semester. The teacher running it is the boys head director and he is an awesome guy. I spent a lot of the class talking to him about the bad rap that P.E. gets from not only the students but from the other teachers as well. He’s been teaching about 18 years and believes P.E. is important, as do I. As we talked I watched the class and realized some of the students were pretty skilled and others were really behind in certain skills. Most of them were playing basketball and the rest were sitting in the bleachers. He told me that most of the kids had probably been in athletics in junior high and then dropped it when they got to High School and those I saw playing really showed some athleticism. There were a few who really had poor mechanics but were still playing. As we talked a student came up and handed the teacher a note and told him he was leaving and they began to get into a bit of an arguement. The kid felt that because he was late he shouldn’t have to be there at all. The teacher told him he could stay or go and he left. I don’t think the teacher expected that though and went after him. However, the kid just walked away and left the building. I’ve had this kid in other classes and he presents the same behivior.
I really started thinking about consequences in my classroom and in class we ran through a list of things like, standing near them, giving them a verbal warning, seperating them from the situation, talking to them alone, sending a note home and so on. My concern is that there are some kids that are phased by none of this. They may not have parents who care if they get a note home or a phone call, they may not even have parents. So, when the child doesn’t care to be in class, doean’t care about any consequences, what are you to do? You shouldn’t be sending them to the principal every day, but in every class I’ve seen him in, he leaves, is either sent out or just walks out. It will look like you can’t handle the student if you send him away, but if they choose to leave or he has to leave as not to disrupt the class, what are you supposed to do?
I will ask the teachers I know the kids sees in class and see what they do. I will ask Dr. Bond and maybe research some behavior tecniques online.
Hello Sandy! Very nice description of this event. As I read your comments, I am reminded of Mr. R’s guest lecture on relationship-based teaching. Has anyone really connected with this student on a personal level? Has anyone built genuine rapport with the student? Of course, based on this one episode, it’s hard to tell. But, I don’t sense that this particular teacher asked him how he was doing and why he was late. Did the teacher ask if there was anything that he could do? It’s no wonder that the student didn’t want to remain in the class.
Motivating students is not easy in this day and age. I believe that when motivation problems arise, then there is something wrong in one of four areas. First, the teacher may not have built rapport with the learner. We know that if kids like the teacher (and vice versa), then the students are more likely to do the things that the teacher asks. Second, the curriculum may be boring. Do students see the real-world connections? Third, the instruction may be boring. Fourth and finally, what kind of reward system is in place? We often focus on the negatives, the consequences, but we rarely emphasize the positives.
Food for thought. There are no easy answers and “no magic bullets.”
By: jb50block on February 28, 2009
at 6:30 PM