Monday was a disaster.
Bad time management + group time chaos = child been bitten by another child = not a happy parent = a scared teacher >.<

Tuesday was much better.
My group of children on tuesdays are the best :) Quiet, focussed, cooperative, attentive. I look forward to Tuesdays.

Today taught at a school.
First thing i was told about this Gr. 4 class was 'You have to be tough with them or else they're going to give you a hard time. Don't let them get away with anything. They always misbehave so make sure you put them in their place.'
In my head I was thinking, "OMG! what have I gotten myself into?!" I was so scared. And if that wasn't enough, before the children came in the door, I could hear them talking about me:

'Oh, Mrs. ___ isn't here, its a sub! yeah!' '
'She's chinese, I wonder if she speaks English'
'On the count of three, let's call out 'ching chong'
'Yay! We don't have to do any work today!'
'She's a b****' (after not letting them inside to get a tissue)

And just from listening to all that, I was expecting a whole class of terrors. I was really scared. I was shaking. I was nearly in tears. But I couldn't let them get to me. So i prepared myself, walked outside and gave them a big lecture about being racist, disrespectful and being very very rude. And yes, I can be mean and scary when I need to be. :) After that, we had a few behavioural issues but overall they knew what I expected from them. By the end of the day, we were all friends and having fun. Surprisingly. Such good friends, in fact, that they wanted me to come back and teach them tomorrow because I was now 'better' than their actual teacher and that I 'cared about them more'. I was touched :)

At the start of the day I was ready to walk out and tell the principal that I just couldn't teach this class. But I proved to myself that being a teacher isn't just about teaching children whats written in the curriculum. It's about being able to connect with your students, knowing how to use different strategies to improve situations and make it easier for both you and the students. Today I improved my behaviour management strategies. If you set clear boundaries and they know the consequences if they misbehave, children will listen and respect you. It's all about showing them that you can be their friend as long as they respect you.



my thoughts @ 6:18 PM

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