I had a situation were a group of students wanted to talk more than complete a computer lab assignment. I asked the students to stop the monkey business and get back to work. Then one of students twisted the remark and said, "I called him/her a monkey." The reply by the student was obviously trying to provoke a situation. Then the student took my last name and turned it into a racist word. The situation never escalated beyond that point. Parents were called and administration handled the discipline. The parents were familiar with the common cliche "monkey business." This simplistic seeming incident could have been a nightmare. I guess there will always be someone or something trying to distract a teacher from a good work. The amazing part of the story was how much the students disliked the racist remark.
Garyb
Gary'
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that things worked out in your favor. I bet that was not only an interesting situation to be in, but also a scary situation to be in. Thankfully the parents and administrators were understanding. It always amazes me to see how manipulative kids can be. I bet you won't have a problem with thatt student anymore, but beware.
Toni
Hello Gary and Toni,
ReplyDeleteFirst, you handled this situation like a pro. You didn't engage. Toni, thank you for your support of Gary with your comment. Dr. J
Gary,
ReplyDeleteI have been in your shoes before. I think you handled the situation very well. My husband who is also a teacher and works in a VERY, VERY difficult school environment has had some of the same situations happen to him. In fact I am not sure if you read in the paper recently or not, but he was witness to the "alleged", you know we have to call it that because we don't want to falsely accuse anyone, student stabbing at a local Cobb County high school (don't want to name the school) for other obvious reasons. However, he was actually there to help the student who was injured. We ALL have to be so careful today.
Talk to you soon-
Christina