Domain 2 Personal Development
A few things stood out to me today...
One of our students brought pictures of girls in thongs (basically naked and way inappropriate, especially for a 3rd grader)! My teacher, after school, said that she thinks she got "through" to him. She didn't get mad or yell, she said, she just told him how disappointed she was in him. He cried.
If I remember correctly...this is not the most appropriate way to respond to a student...that doesn't really set any kind of promise, hope, or expectation for the student. It sounds so degrading and humiliating. Not that I am not guilty of such, but I just wasn't excited to hear that.
Something else - the teachers at lunch today were talking about how ANGRY they were with some of the students. They were using strong words, such as furious, and I don't know...I was just shocked. I mean, we all have student stories, and yes, they can upset us at times, but to let things get to us that much or to take it out on the child. To me, it's a sea of bad parenting and unstable home lives. Grant it, I don't always look at it that way when a situation occurs, but I hope I don't ever talk with such anger about any of them.
One more thing...my teacher and at least one more 3rd grade teacher use the phrase "boys and girls" a lot....AHHHH! I feel like we are back in the olden days. I don't think it's a bad term by any means, but it just bothers me to death. I like to say "3rd graders" or "3rd grade" instead. Not really a big deal; I've just been thinking about it this past week and wanted to mention it.
Actually, I do have just one more thing. I found out today that the little girl I observed being more touchy recently experienced her mother walking out on her family (not recently but a few years back, I think). That explains her outbursts of odd behavior and her need to be loved by a woman...WOW!
Have a great evening!
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Olivia,
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely learning what your philosophy is and how this will pertain to your future students. All of this is good for you to process through. I do pray that you always keep a positive perspective and understand that the students do not ask to come to school from broken homes or from dysfunctional families. They need role models to demonstrate how to behave in the world and what it feels like to be cared for. School should be a "safe" place for these children.
I guess you are truly seeing a "real world" picture.
Prof. Forshey