All that you have is your soul (Tracy Chapman).

Thursday 3 November 2005

Waste Of Space

It’s been a very long week and I’m just about awake. Today, I said something to a student that I’ve regretting since. I told him, in front of the rest of the class that he was a “waste of classroom space” and I fully admit that I was wrong in calling him this.

Yes, this student has not done any work since he walked into the first lesson in September.

Yes, this student is on the way to being kicked out of school, because every other teacher is fed up with his immature behaviour.

Yes, I’ve had to throw him out virtually every week because he keeps on disrupting. Later on, I had him removed because he was holding a conversation across the room with another pain in the neck and he was giving advice on how to steal cars.

But all these reasons, do not give me the right to say these things to him. I promised myself that I would never denigrate a student in such a manner. I feel that I have really let myself down here.

I have discussed this with a number of other teachers and bar one, they’ve told me not to worry about it since the kid is already in so much trouble. Should I be fretting? Should I apologise to him?

The truth is that he’s not a bad kid. In fact, he’s quite bright. Unfortunately, he has got into the wrong company with another student who’s a prime troublemaker. I’ve already separated them, but it hasn’t made any difference?

Any advice folks?

2 comments:

Sunny B Irrigation said...

Tough one, I am also a teacher. I teach English in a Hungarian school. I have a couple classes that have students like that, and when I try to correct them, what do you know, they all of a sudden do not speak any English. I fequently refer to the movie Stand and Deliver about Jaimie Escalante for hope. There are also several web sites as well that discuss his techniques. Sometimes we are just not challenging them enough, especially if they are bright. Forget the books, the curriculum and try taking him to the next level. Good Luck...

The Scribbler said...

Thank you. It is most gratifying to see that other teachers are reading this site.

I have not seen Stand and Deliver, but I think I will definitely look out for it now.

This student is bright, but he's not at all interested in the subject I am teaching him.

We have started a role playing game, where the students take on a character and as this person, they have to secure a job (by creating a CV, looking at adverts for jobs and going for an "interview") and deal with some of the challenges we adults face on a daily basis - like maintaining a sensible work-homelife balance.

How can you get a 16 year old who knows everything, to get involved in and derive something really useful out of the game?