A
Aisling
Guest
In 25 years of teaching I thought I had heard or seen it all, but today brought a new first. I had an email this afternoon from a 9 year-old boy in my 4th grade class. He wrote that he was mad because he was always quiet and never misbehaved and informed me that I was going to have to figure out some way of making an exception when I have the class put their heads down when they are too noisy or dock them a minute recess time when they can't settle down. He said he knew I was trying to be as fair as possible but that sometimes "it wasn't good enough."
This afternoon, as a special treat, I did a math facts game where each correct answer got them a tiny Halloween trinket. I had four different types and said that I was going to do four rounds so that kids who had learned their facts well could win all four. The kids were pretty wound because this is our last day of school this week, my class sang at assembly this morning, and Halloween is Monday. They just could not be quiet during each other's turn, despite repeated stopping for them to settle back down, so after three rounds I cut it off, saying that we might pick it up again on Monday.
Well, this kid is livid. He said he and two others were quiet and therefore, to be fair, I should have allowed them to continue another round while the rest of the class watched. (I can't say I noticed anyone being anything that resembled quiet.) He said he would like to "sit down and discuss this with me."
He then went on to report misbehaviors that he had observed in class which he believed had escaped my notice. He said he had not shared this with me during school because his popularity would have slipped from "8 to 2" and people would be mad at him. He asked that when I dealt with these students he had reported, that I not mention his name.
This is a well-behvaed child and a good, but unmotivated, student. Not perfect, as he claims, but usually very compliant. I have a very young, noisy class this year so I have actually tried very hard to make sure to address individual behaviors rather than make sweeping statements about the class (except, of course, to praise.)
Apparently, the young prince thinks I haven't done enough. This is a child with a very elevated sense of importance, but it does take quite an ego to think it approrpriate to address any adult like that. I'm sure his mother told him that if he had issues he should write to me and address them. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. This kind of communication from a parent is irritating enought - but now from a child? Oh, my.
This afternoon, as a special treat, I did a math facts game where each correct answer got them a tiny Halloween trinket. I had four different types and said that I was going to do four rounds so that kids who had learned their facts well could win all four. The kids were pretty wound because this is our last day of school this week, my class sang at assembly this morning, and Halloween is Monday. They just could not be quiet during each other's turn, despite repeated stopping for them to settle back down, so after three rounds I cut it off, saying that we might pick it up again on Monday.
Well, this kid is livid. He said he and two others were quiet and therefore, to be fair, I should have allowed them to continue another round while the rest of the class watched. (I can't say I noticed anyone being anything that resembled quiet.) He said he would like to "sit down and discuss this with me."
He then went on to report misbehaviors that he had observed in class which he believed had escaped my notice. He said he had not shared this with me during school because his popularity would have slipped from "8 to 2" and people would be mad at him. He asked that when I dealt with these students he had reported, that I not mention his name.
This is a well-behvaed child and a good, but unmotivated, student. Not perfect, as he claims, but usually very compliant. I have a very young, noisy class this year so I have actually tried very hard to make sure to address individual behaviors rather than make sweeping statements about the class (except, of course, to praise.)
Apparently, the young prince thinks I haven't done enough. This is a child with a very elevated sense of importance, but it does take quite an ego to think it approrpriate to address any adult like that. I'm sure his mother told him that if he had issues he should write to me and address them. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. This kind of communication from a parent is irritating enought - but now from a child? Oh, my.
