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Post by dansmommy on Feb 12, 2004 18:37:05 GMT -5
Yesterday ds called from school -- he'd gotten three warnings about his behavior, and it's part of their plan that he has to call home at that point. He has a student teacher and she's been giving him a lot of warnings for talking out in class, which I don't think is decreasing the frequency of the behavior, so two of them were for that, but the last one was for leaning his head back as if he were asleep while she was giving the class a lecture about their behavior, and then he started to DROOL!!!! EEK.
He didn't tell me the whole story on the phone but over dinner he told us, so we had him write her an apology and we're going to meet with the teacher after next week's break. I've ordered _Teaching the Tiger_ so hopefully it's going to give us some ideas.
I think he feels like this student teacher doesn't like him because she has this idea that if she's really strict with him, his behavior will improve. I think we're seeing the opposite happen. I haven't interfered much because I suspected her interventions wouldn't be effective but I couldn't say for sure. The student teacher seems open-minded, so I hope we can come up with a better plan. Any ideas about how to help ds and this woman bond before more problems ensue? Thanks, Christie
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Post by catseye on Feb 12, 2004 20:03:29 GMT -5
Forgive me I forget how old ds is?? The first time I read the post I thought maybe he has a crush on the student teacher??
How much longer is the student teacher going to fill in for??
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Post by dansmommy on Feb 12, 2004 22:52:52 GMT -5
He's eight, and the student teacher's in her fifties. Sometimes I think she treats the kids like they're her children, but without the relationship to sustain it. She's suppossed to teach the class for five weeks, and this is her first week. Anyway. It's interesting. Christie
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Post by dansmommy on Feb 13, 2004 13:02:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestion. I guess that could be part of it. The student teacher has been with the class all year though, just not teaching the whole class every day.
I think he's reacting to her attempts to control his behavior and the class. He also feels like she doesn't like him because she's always correcting him. Of course I always correct him at home too -- he actually said the reason he doesn't like her is that she corrects them like a parent. She made some comment about his pencils not being sharp, and he took it wrong, maybe because she was too intense. Christie
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Post by AnneM on Feb 14, 2004 9:55:11 GMT -5
All through his school life (and he is age 15 now) my son has reacted so differently to different teachers ... He can be an "angel" for one teacher and a real "devil" for another. Invariably he is an angel for those teachers he likes and a devil for those he doesn't. Also invariably he likes those that appear to "like" him ... He is against those who appear to dislike him ... (or that is his perception). One day I asked him "Why are you soooo good in English and yet soooo disruptive sometimes in Spanish?" ... He said very simply: "My English teacher respects me so I respect her. My Spanish teacher does nothing but shout at us all the time which really winds me up - so I wind her up" .... (Sounds simple put like that eh??) The other interesting thing is that the English teacher (for whom he was a CONSISTENT angel) never ever rose her voice! ... The Spanish teacher who had lost control of the whole class including my son raised it constantly .... I am certain there is a message here!! (and this is only ONE example of many similar examples) ...
I therefore definitely agree that your son is reacting against a teacher that he feels (rightly or wrongly) dislikes him ... I also wonder whether she raises her voice A LOT and is constantly homing in on "negatives" and never "positives" ??
Another example !! (Sorry but I am on a roll ;D) ... When my son was much younger (around 7) he had a teacher who he just loved ... the WHOLE CLASS just loved her ... The kids who had previously (for other teachers) behaved badly behaved WELL for her ... Her style of teaching was "praise, praise, praise" ... and so EVERYONE wanted to please her ... it was quite incredible the turnaround of that whole class ...
I personally think ALL OF THIS comes down to the teaching style of the teacher ... and some "have it" and some just "don't" !!
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