I have stressed the importance of teamwork and unity in my class all year. The students have responded. They encourage each other and work together. I was pleased with their progress until the other day when one of the students got in a fight on the bus and two others jumped in saying "We're Construction class B#####"!" I'm not sure whether I've created a sense of unity and pride in our class or a street gang.
Most of us (vocational ed. teachers) get students who are not functioning well in a traditional school environment. That's just a fact of life for most of us and I sometimes I have to be reminded that I cannot expect for students to make a complete turn around in nine weeks after a lifetime of negative behaviors, frustration and failure in a traditional school environment.
I'm disappointed with these boys but I just don't see taking away extracurricular activities (I can do that at my school) for an extended period over this incident. They were suspended and I feel that is enough. Also, the students involved have not been disciplinary problems in class. I do not want to "beat them down". I do want them to do an assignment about how they could have avoided this incident. This is my gut feeling about how to handle this situation but I would appreciate some input.
I totally agree with your views on this situation, and I think having the students [involved in the fight] write about how they could have avoided the incident is a great idea. You might even want to devote some class time to a whole group discussion/brainstorming session on ideas for resolving conflicts non-violently. You have great instincts as a teacher, and your students will appreciate your fairness and wisdom in dealing with these types of situations.
ReplyDeleteJohnny, I agree with Jessie. Have you heard about the cop who is doing this to first time offenders who are teenagers? Instead of sending them to jail, he is having them write an essay about choices they have made and how it's impacted their life. I think you are being very fair in your decision!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on needing a different way to deal with repetitive ISS students. My students are getting ISS for "who knows what reason?" And they don't seem to care at all. It has turned into a full time job for me to keep them work sent to ISS, much less catching them up in labs. I feel that I could do a better job with my classes, if I wasn't spending so much time on work for repetitive ISS students. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
ReplyDelete-Riley