I'm having some respect issues with the third and fourth graders - worse than last year. Yesterday, I found myself getting overly frustrated and losing my calm with them. I'm so sick of the back talk and the attitudes when I call them on something.
I know humour can help, but it's hard to let it roll off you when they are pushing your buttons. Our kids all say "Oh, Wow" (sarcastically) whenever they get in trouble so I'm going to try to respond with something that diffuses the tension (at least for me) rather than lecturing them.
How do you handle respect from your kids, particularly when you only have them once a week?
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1 comment:
Yeah, I had one of those days the other day too.
We have a lot of behavior/control issues but not too many actual attitude problem/respect issues, which I guess has its perks! But there is one kid who has been frustrating the whole school with his attitude -- very attention-seeking from peers, knows exactly how to push teachers' buttons, etc. and I have NOT worked out a strategy for him. When he is acting up right in the middle of the lesson, I feel like any reaction I give him only fuels the fire. And of course the kids flock to him.
However, I do have one strategy that has been working for a lot of kids. If I catch kids acting up during check-out time, I send them to be checked out by the aide (which kind shames the older kids because they are doing self-check), and then sit them down with some kind of boring dictionary worksheet or whatever. Aside from reminding them of the rules and saying a quick "you know better", I find that the action speaks louder than words -- they feel like idiots and want to be able to be with their friends the next week, so they shape up for a while, and I didn't have to see eyes rolling while I lecture them. It's much more peaceful for me. I have a lot more trouble when kids are acting up during the lesson though...I hate to interrupt a book to move kids' seats or whatever! On those days, I just remind myself that I only see each kid for 30-40 minutes a week! I also always try to give them the benefit of a good listening to -- it helps both me and them if I start the discussion from the frame of mind that they are good kids who must have something going on to make them act like this. It really helps my peace of mind, anyway, and as the librarian, it's not like I really have to be the disciplinarian!
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