Job Discussion Forums

[Sweetsee]

How would it look if a foreign teacher in your homecountry attempted to discipline a student in methods never used there?
I just have to laugh when I read some of the previous posting, I guess if you have not been through what I endured you would never know. The idea that most students are looking to us to take care of discipline is ridiculous. As Jim pointed out, and should be obvious, is that this is not our system. As important as you may consider your lessons or your efforts in general, remember, we teach a non-subject. We are only in the classrooms because the powers that be deemed it necessary.
I guess you have to learn these things for yourself, painful as it may be.
The last paragraph of your post Soba reminded me a lot of my thinking at the start of last year. All this business about being a teacher and good students and discipline and students behavior, that's all fine on your home turf.
Guess you just have to learn for yourself, don't listen to me. Wasn't it you Soba who asked for advice? Didn't I say it is illegal to boot kids from the room?
Here's a tip I got last year on this site: care less.

[Sweetsee]

whoops, sorry

[Sweetsee]

[Sweetsee]

[Sweetsee]

Here's the best advice I got last year Soba: care less.

[angrysoba]

Sweetsee:

[angrysoba]

Sweetsee:

[JimDunlop2]

I just spent an hour writing out some guidelines on classroom management and discipline -- all was lost! These server problems on Dave's are really getting out of hand.

Anyway, what's done is done. I've decided not to re-type what I wrote.

I WILL however make this comment. For some reason, discussions of this nature tend to get quite heated. I think it's because when someone doesn't agree with our disciplinary style or classroom management style, we see it as an affront to the profession and get personally insulted, and our collective egoes get tied up in knots! Heaven knows, there are people on Dave's with very strong opinions when it comes to this particular topic and they are not shy in letting others know about it. I think I'm one of them.

My advice is, approach this topic gingerly and avoid personalizing some of the comments -- I've already had to bite my tongue a number of times just in reading this thread... But as I've heard it said before, sometimes being right is overrated. If you don't think a particular method holds any value, you may want to be careful how you criticize that -- the person who suggested it may have had considerable success with it in their own situation... That doesn't mean it's universally applicable however.

[Sweetsee]

Me too, Jim.
Soba, let us know how the reinvention of the wheel goes.

[Jazz1975]

[angrysoba]

Jim, I know what you mean about the server problems. My advice is to save messages, particularly if they are long and took alot of time to type, into a word document.

It may be a bit more hassle but not as much as having to retype.

[angrysoba]

sweetsee:

Me too, Jim.
Soba, let us know how the reinvention of the wheel goes.
_________________

You don't understand the irony of your own post. You agree with Jim that some people are being too personal with their posts and then you make a sideswipe at me. You can do that if you want but you have to understand that this is a forum for teachers not people who come here to earn money to teach 'non-subjects' and generally ruin the reputation of those who try to do a good job.

Sweetsee, go home. Stop　

[Sweetsee]

My bad Soba. My post at the top of this page wasn't meant to be submitted but was due to the server dumpage. It was another poster's systematic striking down of each previous post and advocating their own methods that irked me, not you. You are obviously a concientious teacher who really wants to make a difference, like me. Further, this topic is like an open wound for me and I was only reitterating advice that helped me. I am sorry. Your students are very lucky to have a teacher like you and I hope that you too aren't chewed up and spit out for your admirable intentions.

Enjoy your beautifully sunny saturday,
s

P.S. One more day till spring break!

[angrysoba]

Okay, do you ever have students that you wish you could eject from the class?

Of course you do.

There are ways to deal with this if the students are particularly beligerent.

If you cannnot remove these students from the class, remove the class from the student. You do this by asking the other students to move their desks in and refuse the disruptive student from coming into the circle.

It's a little difficult to do if you have a big class, but you can consider sitting on a troublesome students' desk if they try to move into the circle.

Don't be afraid of treating a bad student with contempt. I believe your duty is to the good students. Let them be your focus. Keep yourself open to the bad kids coming around and if they are good to you then they should see that your respect towards them is a rare thing. Hopefully they will consider it a precious thing too.

[Glenski]