This morning I was thinking about what I was going to write in my blog entry this week. I needed something hot to drink, and when I ventured down to the teacher lounge in the cafeteria this morning and looked at the trash left by the students during breakfast I knew what my subject needed to be.
We have a beautiful school, but unfortunately there are many students who couldn’t care less about the mess they make and then leave behind. Every day at breakfast and lunch the students leave their trash behind for the custodians to clean up. When the bell rings they just get up and walk away. It’s disgusting. And that attitude extends out into the hallways, where at any given time you might find candy wrappers, paper, food, and beverage bottles just lying on the floor. Teachers pick the trash up but students just walk on by like it’s not even there. It’s disappointing that the students don’t have more pride and respect for their campus.
I also see it in my classroom. I have trained my students to keep the classroom neat and orderly, but when I was out sick a couple of weeks ago, I returned to find my classroom in disarray. It wasn’t completely trashed, but I was disappointed.
Our administration has tried a number of things to get the students to clean up after themselves, but nothing seems to work effectively. One person I was talking to recently (who travels around to all the schools in the county) said that we have possibly the messiest lunchroom in the county.
No one at our school seems to have the answer. Anyone have any good suggestions?
Whew! nothing burns me up more than when I see students leave a classroom in shambles. While you may have not control over what goes on outside your classroom, you can certainly influence what goes on within it. Good for you for training your students to keep things orderly. They will respect you for it, and they will respect your classroom resources more too.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work! I get compliments from the school custodial team for keeping my classroom clean. I didn't think it was something to receive a compliment for, but this is something that we are suppose to do!
ReplyDeleteThis is one thing I'm sure most of see at our schools. I would really like to see what their own rooms at home look like, or maybe I wouldn't!!! It is a hard job to do but as long as you keep it up the students will be right behind you. I just get tired of having to say it to them everyday. I sound like a broken record but it still works.
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