Well, my first week at Gordon Bell was interesting in ways i never could have imagined! The kids are unmotivated, they always late that is if they decide to show up, and see nothing wrong with swearing when and where they want!
My first day started well enough but ended with me splitting up two grade 8 girls in the middle of class. They decided it was the appropriate place to pound each other over a facebook comment.
Yesterday the same group ended off my day by attacking one kid with the chalk pastels(which are quite expensive), and practically left him crying! The saddest part is that once you sit down and have conversations with many of them you find out that their stories and ways of behaving make sense. Most of us couldn't begin to imagine the kinds of homes they are coming from and the turmoil they have experienced on a personal level in just a few short years. It breaks your heart!
Despite all this the staff has been really great and that helps especially because they know what it feels like, and are able to give advice on how to deal with certain situations.
As exhausted as i feel right now, i am determined to carry this out in the best way possible and have to develop a different approach to deal with this particular group of kids. I'm not sure what that is yet, but hopefully the week ahead will be better and at least now i know what i'm up against!
I'm really glad to hear the rest of you are all having such amazing experiences in your schools. I know you'll all continue to do amazing!
I really feel for you Sylvia. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for you, and what a let down considering how excited you were to get started. I know I'm going to be in for a shocker down the road since I'm not really getting much exposure to this type of behaviour at my rural middle school. All I can say is that I really hope it doesn't get you too down. I'm quite confident when I say that you will be one of the best teachers in our graduating class. Keep with it sister! You'll be a stronger, more adaptable teacher because of all this adversity. Keep well.
ReplyDeletehey Sylvia. I know that this may sound kinda weird but in a way, this could be a blessing in disguise. Being able to come out of your teaching block will only make you a stronger and better teacher. Where I'm at right now, it's almost too perfect and I can do no wrong even if I tried right now. Sometimes I wish that I could have a chance to try and deal with difficult situations in class. Keep on keepin' on my friend. You'll look back at this experince and see that you learned quite a bit about yourself and your teaching ablilties. Always here for you.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Mitch you are getting experience dealing with issues I can only imagine right now.
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