I have been having a tough time with 2 of my classes both on B day. One is my advanced class and the other is my Intro class. I had to be out on Wednesday to go to a workshop and had left some good sub plans for both classes. My advanced class had begun creating an appetizer menu that we were going to be cooking soon and the Intro class had an assignment about equipment which they needed to learn before they cook for Thanksgiving. I was excited about the appetizer menus that I would come back to and was hoping the Intro class would complete the equipment assignment.
I came back to school after the workshop and found the sub's notes which included a long note about the Intro class. The advanced class was well behaved but the Intro class had been loud, disrespectful, and did not complete the assignment. When the advanced class showed up today, I was thinking they would have their menus ready since they had been well behaved but instead only one group actually did the assignment.
The problem is that I have tried positive reinforcement with both groups and then have resorted to taking things away like cooking days and still nothing works.
My frustration is building and I do not know what to do. I feel like I am going backwards rather than forward. The worse part of it, is that I am getting observed on Thursday and I requested that she come during the Intro class that I just told you about because I was hoping she could give me some pointers but since that request, they have gotten about 10 times worse. I can't even imagine what she will have to say. UGH!
Ginger,
ReplyDeleteI have been in your situation where you leave an assignment for a class and you think you have developed a repore with the students and they will do what you have asked. I don't know if you are in the same boat as me where I believe that the students have bought into my program and they want to be effective at the trade we are teaching them, but then you turn around and for the lack of a better term, they give you crap for af product. My advice to you is to read my post about Christmas break! It is not far away. Just kidding. My advice is really to bounce back with encouragement and show them that you are disappointed with what they are doing but yet you believe that they want to pull through and make this a great product.
Ginger,
ReplyDeleteI understand totally where you are coming from. The good thing about it is, if you only have them for a semester, it is almost over and you will have a new batch in the new year. Not much of a consolation but it works for me (and I try to make it to my goal..getting a new batch). Secondly, you have to take it for what it's worth. In the words of my former principal, "parents are sending us their best" and sometimes their best is all we have to work with. It's not like the parents are saying "Imma send this little bad joker to school and mess it up for everybody". So what do you do? You look for any ounce of "best" that your class has to offer and capitalize on that. I have learned through all of this that no matter how much I want for my kids to excel and succeed..sometimes my goals aren't theirs. More times than not, my goals for them are much higher than their own personal goals. So in closing, lower your goals for them (or at least minimize them), look for their "best", and stay motivated. They are learning more than we give them credit.
be good girl and have a blessed week.