Our last full week has been a VERY busy week. The words hectic, exhausting, fun, busy, crazy, wild, etc all come to mind to describe this week. We had three days in a row of no specials, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. With Monday also being an indoor recess day, it was a lot of them and me together in the classroom, at times going stir-crazy! AHHHHH! Of course there are lots of fun things going on "Popcorn Day" (an hour or so of PE games outside hosted by the sixth graders), field trips, Readers' Theatre, father's day gift-making, etc.
But, along with all of those positive and exciting things, the behaviors start to accelerate. This is to be expected, and is somewhat understandable, but nonetheless still challenging at times. I do not have a lot of tolerance for tattling, picking on others, or disrespectful behavior. Some of my students are experiencing anxiety about summer I am sure. They crave the structure of the school year, as opposed to the chaos that is their home life. Some students are simply sick of one another at this point. However, it still does not excuse, making other students feel bad.
My Friday morning began with students entering the room with smiles, followed by a parent (of one of the gems) asking to speak to me privately. This is a challenge, when I have students entering the room, no other adult present, and parents, children, and staff out in the hallway. We quietly spoke in the hallway, with me keeping one eye on the room. She politely informed me that her daughter has gone home every day this week in tears. This shocked me and upset me. Apparently two of my boys have been harassing her, making kissing faces, and pushing into her, and trying to sit next to her all week (never in the classroom though, because they know that I would not allow it. It was on the playground, at P.E, at lunch, etc). She did not want to tell me because she did not want to "tattle." However, she had tried asking them nicely to stop and it continued. I was horrified. I know that this is "normal" second grade boy behavior, but the fact that she was so upset by it, and her mom did not tell me until the end of the week, I felt very angry with those two boys. Unfortunately, one of them was absent and therefore, we could not discuss the issue. But, the little girl, the little boy, and I sat down and discussed the issues. Things seemed better for the day, but it was difficult to tell.
I received an email this morning from the mother of the girl student, thanking me for resolving the issue, and said that her daughter "bounced" home from school today (Friday) with a weight lifted from her shoulders. I am glad I received that email. I know that this is normal "kid" behavior, but I am very protective of my students, especially the kind, conscientious, sweet ones, and I just wanted to take away her uncomfortable feelng. I know that we can't prevent all wrong-doing, but, oh if we could. If I feel this protective about my students, I can't imagine how I'll be as a parent someday! Watch out! Hehe
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It's so unfortunate that these behaviors occur at the end of the school year, but as your rightly pointed out, it is expected. Our high school students too experienced a lot of the same negative behaviors during the last few weeks of school. They were so badly itching to get out for summer, that they became so restless. Unfortunately, a lot of consequences ensued. Within the last week, seniors had to complete a number of community service hours for their actions, or they would not be able to walk at graduation. It is always upsetting to see students have to go through this, often for a behavior that could have been easily prevented with a little forethought.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, bravo to you for handling the situation so well. I would've been stuck in your shoes. I have a hard time knowing how to address a situation, particularly when students don't want you to discuss what happened with the harasser. Deep down, I know that it is my responsibility to talk with the harasser, but I always fear that the situation will escalate and the harasser may go after the target. I must admit dealing with these situations is definitely one of the harder aspects of my job, as I am sure it is for many of us. It would be easy if there was a sort of protocol to go through in these situations, something that would spell out the black & white of it, but unfortunately, these situations always lie in the gray area. No situation is ever the same, and therefore, must all be handled differently.