Week 4 Blog Posting

I am beginning to realize that our students really listen to the teacher’s when we speak. They unintentionally listen to how we talk to each other and other students. We have one student that speaks little English and has trouble with her behavior. We are constantly talking to her and saying her name during class. Many times we have to stop whole class instruction to correct her behavior. It is very difficult and tiring to keep her on task and focused, as you could imagine it would be being from another country and not understanding the language being spoken. As teachers, we are constantly trying to correct her behavior without interrupting the other students learning. I have noticed that the other students are starting to talk to her like the teachers do. They try to boss her around and tell her what she should or should not do. In some ways it is good that are students know what they need to be doing and try to help this student get on track. There are many negatives to this situation. I feel like the students see this particular student in a negative light. She is consistently bothering the other students by touching them and talking or making noises during instruction. As teachers, we tend to say this students name loudly, directive, and authoritative. I have heard the other students talk to her this way. I feel like we do not realize how negative we make this student look to her classmates. I heard a student in line the other day say, “I have to stand by the weird girl”. This was upsetting and eye opening to me. Our students probably see our frustration with this student and find her weird and not like the other students. I want this student to be treated fairly and normal. I never realized how much our students listen to not only what we say but the tone of our voice. I am not sure what the answer is to fix this problem. I know that I am going to try to talk to this student in not just a demeaning tone. I want the best for this student. I do not want to give her a bad reputation with her classmates because of how we speak to her. I also have a student with a behavior issue that comes from an interesting home setting. We have had some serious issues with him cursing and hitting other students. He has no earned star cards (our reward system) multiple times and it does not seem to phase him. We kept him in from his second recess for cursing at another student and it did not phase him at all. Today we had an issue with him hitting other students on the playground and at lunch. He will tell the other students sorry if we ask him too. When we ask him why he hit his classmates he has no reason. We gave him a red light (behavior management system) and it did not seem to affect him. I am not sure how to punish someone who does not care if he is punished. Our punishments are obviously not making a difference in his behavior. I do not know how to keep our other students safety in mind when dealing with a student who does not care to hurt others. I have learned a lot about my students this week. Every week I am learning more about them academically and personally. I am really enjoying my time in Kindergarten!