Substitute Teachers Lounge

Ultimatums Make Substitute Teacher Life Easier

November 27, 2021 Greg Collins Episode 132
Substitute Teachers Lounge
Ultimatums Make Substitute Teacher Life Easier
Show Notes Transcript

There comes a time when a substitute teacher must issue an ultimatum to a student.  What should it be and how should it be handled?

Greg:

Somebody grows up to somebody you just love to burn. You've had those bad students, maybe it's time we make life easy on ourselves. Alright, Greg Collins substitute teachers lounge, I know what you're thinking, you think maybe I've finally lost my mind. Maybe I've finally found that student that just pushed me over the edge. I'll be honest with you. It's a little of that. And it's probably just as much what people have told me, Greg, your podcast is so positive all the time. And I'm thankful for that. But do you ever encounter students that are just over the edge? And there's really nothing you can do? And yes, I have to be honest, I have. Have I given them an ultimatum? Yes, I have. So we're going to talk about that a little bit today. Well, I'd try to put a positive spin on it. Not necessarily. I mean, maybe it's time in certain cases that you just punt and hope for the next student to cheer up your day. And speaking of cheer up your day, this is November 28 2021. We just completed the Thanksgiving weekend. I will say it like this. It was a great weekend, I have got so many things to be thankful for. And I know that wasn't proper English. But there's so many students out there, I should say that brighten up the day and help offset some of the students that really give us a lot of trouble. I want to mention that one of the things on on Wednesday, I guess it was our last day. That's not true. It was Tuesday, our last day before Thanksgiving. This year, they had students write thank you notes to anybody in the building. It could be friends, it could be other students. It could be teachers, it could be janitors, it could be the librarian, the principal, anything like that. And yes, I did get some good slips, I want to read a few of them to you. But I'm not going to bore you this won't take but just a few seconds. I do want to read one because I've taught this student for three years, thank you for always being the best serve, you always make class fun and somehow managed to teach a subject you don't even know about. I think that is worded perfectly perfectly. I do want to mention some of the others, just from the standpoint of there's a couple I got from students that I really haven't had that often. And, you know, they they're basically saying thanks for making, you know, making the class fun, we can tell that you have a loving soul that will help out the students every chance they get. So that's kind of cool. So we'll start the show with that some note of Thanksgiving, I hope you had a great one. Now we're going to talk about troublemaker kids. And I first see this being a very popular episode, if you just scan back and look at the most popular episodes. Any time we do one on kids that give us trouble in class, then it's always a popular episode. And I've got some stories to share. What makes me most willing to consider going off on a kid I'm talking about from a disciplines to avoid not for me anything bad verbal or embarrassed them too much in class, the ones where they when you say something to them, they're still smiling at their friends, because they're trying their best to get attention. And it doesn't matter what you say, they still get that same look almost like an I'm better than you look, I can do what I want to maybe they know that we have to be careful in today's environment, we should have been careful in every day's environment for that matter. But we have to be careful about how we discipline kids how we create structure in our class. I'll start with one example that I was but yet, I wasn't involved with one class that I've had. I was in there teaching was a class where every now and then a collaborator would pop in. And I was I don't like to call it lecturing because I don't really like lecturing. I don't like that word. Even if I'm doing the same thing. I want to call it something else. Just talk Coming in, you know, I don't want it to be a lecture for the entirety of the Class I, you know, I'm more of a five minute talk five minute off thing when we can discuss all that type of stuff. And lecture has just gotten to be a, I don't know if you'd ever say lectures, a positive word, anytime you hear the word lecture, whether you're in the White House, or whether you're in a school, it just seems to have a negative connotation to it. So I don't call them lectures anymore. Nevertheless, I was talking through some things in a class wants, and just so happened to be the collaborator was in there. And they're probably I can't imagine in a group, this would have been about 30 students, I can't imagine in a group of 30 students, that there was only one person not paying attention. It was actually fairly quiet. But you know, you don't have kids or some kids just aren't paying attention. Well, all of a sudden, to my not only surprise, I'll say shock. The collaborator at the top of their voice started yelling at one of the kids. And the collaborator called out the kid said, you're not paying attention, come with me to the office. Now, there wasn't anything terrible that happened. Or I would have seen it. I mean, if it had been where he was confronting another student, in fact, it just so happened that the student was right next to me, with their back to me. So I couldn't see what was going on. Apparently, the collaborator did now that I think the collaborator went too far. Maybe I just say it this way, would I have reacted the same way the collaborator did? Probably not. If I thought that student was being flippant, if he was just laughing off anything, I would say it, I would have gotten more serious. But that's what happened that day. So that collaborator marched the student down to the office. And before the day was over, I got a call from administration in the office. And they asked me, Mr. Collins, how would you describe what happened? And I was honest, I've told them, I'm not sure what happened. All you know, I was talking, all of a sudden the collaborator started disciplining the student, and I allowed him to do so there. I mean, he's, he's a regular teacher there. And if he wasn't paying attention, or was doing other things to distract, I was not aware of it. I said, it would have been in quiet, because if he had been too noisy, I would have heard that they were setting right in front of me. So I laid all that out. I don't know what came from that. I don't know from my description, if the, if the administration was a little more lenient, I did not see that student on the list of students that had to go to a special room the next day, because they were being disciplined everywhere, they basically give you extra work that you have to do. So none of that happened, I don't think my gut tells me that that student had been in trouble a lot. And that this collaborator, was sick of it. And I guess to a regard, I will give substitute teachers, I will give teachers, the right to, I will say I can go along with, even if the student is not doing anything more than maybe some of the other students, well, you know, falls into this three strikes, you're out. If you're constantly doing that in every class, I can see where you get fed up with it. And I would give you, Mr. Collins permission to discipline in that regard. What I do it I don't know, I mean, maybe if I had had the same student three times in a row out, my eyes would be more focused on them. And I would see them misbehaving before I'd see others. And yes, I would discipline as need be. But at the same time, I do try to give students second chances. So that collaborator did not or maybe they did, maybe this was like the student's 10th or 11th chance. I just don't know that. But I do know from the administration's call that they wanted to know what happened in this specific situation. And I told them, I feel for it. Now, with all that setting our base for this discussion. Here's what has happened to me. I was substitute teaching a class and it was given Pose probably 95% of students that knew me extremely well. They known me for three years, they changed a lot over the three years. One thing that hadn't changed is I enjoyed having them in class. They enjoyed having me in class. They knew when it was too far in what they were doing, they knew how our discipline if need be, maybe they went to the edge, but they never did cross where they knew I would get upset. I mean, they're still students. They're still, you know, pre adult, so we have to take that into consideration. But it just so happened in that class, there was one student that didn't know me, I don't know if they came from another school. I didn't at that point anyway, I don't know where this steady student came from. But they were constantly doing things that were inappropriate in a classroom in order for us to conduct the class. And they had that smirk on their face. That rubs me the wrong way so badly, that it pushes me to the way I was maybe 20 years ago, when I didn't always have my temper under control, like I do now. But that pushed me to the limit. I finally said, All right, I have given you enough warnings. I think I even said, get that look off your face. That just shows me you're ignoring me and trying to get the attention of your friends. And instead, get up out of your chair and go set in my chair behind the desk, away from everybody else. You know, at first he said no. But then he nodded his head because he could tell from the reaction of the other students in the room. You better do it because Mr. Collins doesn't do this very often. He got up went and sat in that chair. Now after 15 minutes, I told him he could return to his chair. He was much better. Okay, that was day one. I probably went through three weeks without having that student in class. Okay, well, three weeks later, multiple day assignment long enough that the teacher instructed me, you know, once you get a feel for these students feel free to change the seating chart. We are still, as I said, it's November 28th 2021, we are still under enough of a COVID protocol, a pandemic protocol that we need to keep track of all of our students were there setting in case one of them test positive and we have to quarantine students that were close by we still try to keep them socially distance. I've come to hate that word. I'm sure you have to. But we still try to keep them separated in that regard. So seating charts are necessary in the class it was it, you could just come in and let them set where they want to. So here we are, I'm going to have this student multiple days, first two days, he didn't show up. Starting to think, Alright, is this one of these habitual Students who miss all the time? Well, the third day, they showed up, and they showed up with that same smug look on their face. And I was concerned, in fact, I was probably more concerned about when the teacher told me I would be teaching for them. They made the comment that you'll have to keep an eye on this period, and especially this student, and it was him. So that student had a reputation. So I was going to have to be the one that dealt with it. Well, we got into work. The first couple of days, the things that we were trying, were was note taking. The student did take notes, but they weren't really good. He was at a table next to another student. He liked to aggravate the student, student aggravated him too. We did some group projects, and the student didn't do well in groups. And keep in mind that this is what I had told every class so I'm not singling out those class every class. I told them all right. You're in a seating chart right now. I will let you I will give you the ability to earn your new seating chart. I'll let you set by who you want to, as long as over the next couple of days. Use show me that you earn the right to do that. And for that matter, once we do it, you're going to have to show me over the next couple of days then that you earn the right to stay there. I think that's fair. You know, the emphasis being I'll let you is basically saying all that you set by your friend, if you and your friend both get your work done, I don't mind the talking unless it's distracting others. But you have to get your work done. So all the classes were set up that way. For the classes came through, one of them did not guess what, in fact, it was so bad that I decided it was ultimatum time, I was going to design a seating chart for that class of my own, not because I thought they earned it, but because I thought they didn't earn the right to tell me where they wanted to sit. So I did that. I isolated the student in question. We had enough room, so isolated that students so that they really weren't setting with anybody. With everybody removed around them. My fingering is, they would no longer be able to cause trouble in the class. They had caused trouble. There was physical contact, maybe with another guy, but it was more of a slap on the back to aggravate him. It wasn't because they were really mad. So it wasn't the kind of tap that if I saw another student, I knew they were joking around. Now, here's my answer for that. I've had students do that before. No horseplay. I did it when I was in high school, probably still do it as an adult from time to time. There's going to be horseplay in your room. Now, do you let it go? How much do you let it go? Here's my philosophy. When I see it, I always tell the students listen, I know that you're probably friends, and you're just goofing off. Keep in mind, teachers can't tell when you're just goofing off. So try to keep that to a minimum. Because if we feel like it goes too far, horseplay or not, it will require us to write you up. So that's the way I handle horseplay. He had done that he didn't do anything wrong with a girl. But it was getting to the point that I wanted to isolate them. Okay, so all that was going on. It just so happened the day that the seating chart was to go into effect already had posted in the Google Classroom. I knew even though some of them like attention, they were still going to go to the seating chart. They knew if they didn't, they would be in trouble. And maybe they would set by somebody they enjoyed working with anyway. So they went to the seating chart, they sit down in their seats, just so happened that I put the student in question closest to the door. One of the closest to my desk. I my theory was if I removed every body and every distraction from around him, he would have to behave, would you be happy about it? Probably not. In fact, I expected him to be mad. Well, it just so happens that before their class, there is a study hall and the study how we just let them study, I don't have to give any assignment. So at the end of that study hall period, I put a picture of the seating chart for this next class the class in question up on the screen so that they would see it as soon as they come in. Well, this guy came in, before classes had changed. And I'm thinking what in the world is he doing? You know, why is he coming in this early? I said, I told him, I said, Man, you know, you're not in this class. And he said, Yeah, I just wanted to sit in here for a minute. And that really bothered me. I'm thinking, Why in the world, is he in there? Is he getting ready to go off about something? What on earth is going on? Then I had got to thinking, Man, that seating chart is up on the wall up on the screen? Is he going to get mad about it right away? And we talked a little bit and before I know what he turned his head around and he saw the seating chart and he said now that's your new seating chart. And he said, man, he said, You've got me sitting over here by myself. But that's always He didn't act mad. He didn't act upset. I told him, I said, Listen, I know we need to do some things about your grades. And I said, it's not that you're failing, everything you're taking. It's just that you haven't taken them on a timely basis. So the the teacher has been entering zeros for your grades. I think if we can get that caught up, we can get you up to a respectable grade. Well, all of a sudden, he said, I like that idea. And he pulled a note out of his pocket, guess what? It was one of those Thanksgiving notes that I mentioned at the beginning. Now, if there was ever a student, I never expected to get one of those notes from it was this student? I mean, here I am. I would even say that was one of the most difficult situations I've had to handle other than a couple of physical fights at a middle school level, that kind of thing. It was one of the situations that I had to handle. So I'm going to read to you what he wrote. And the way he worded it, I thought was perfect. Maybe the fact that he had already written this down, you know, he didn't give it to me the instant he came in that room, he didn't come in real quick and leave. He came in and sit down in my chair and actually talked a little while talked about the seating chart, talked about me putting him off by himself. We talked about his grades, then I guess at that point, he was comfortable enough to pull this note and give it to me, here's what it says. We've had some problems. But you're a really cool teacher, and the chillest man I've ever met. Can't wait for the rest of the time. We have together Thank you have a good break. Wow, talk about a shocker. Maybe I shouldn't have been. But at the same time, guys, yes, this has been a negative episode. But you probably knew that I was going to have to put a positive spin on it at the end. And I didn't even have to twist anything around. I didn't have to use stories that would turn a positive slant this guy, the one that I had thought I was having trouble with and may continue from time to time have trouble with. He just wrote that note. He at least So enough of me that and I'm gonna guess that he didn't he could see enough from the other students that had had me that, you know, basically told him if anybody's going to help you out, it's going to be Mr. Collins, he will try to help you out as much as he can. I think that's why he gave me the note. Well, sure enough class started, he went right to his seat. And I said, Alright, I've looked at your grades. And I say you're missing this, this and this. And if you get all three of them completed in this class time, I thought that was achievable, then your grade will go up by this much. I've already calculated it just by lowering, putting a grade in there, that's higher than zero, your grades probably going to go up this much. A couple of them were participation grades, or in other words, you've got credit for doing it. If you didn't do it you didn't get credit for there was some like that, because those were automatically going to raise his grade. Well, lo and behold, he came in, did those assignments and got moved his grade substantially. It moved from one letter grade to another. And the thing that showed about me, I'll be honest, I had looked at his grade before any of this happened to see if Okay, is he had troublemaker, does he do well in his class, but he's just giving me trouble. And I could tell that he was struggling in the class. So I helped him out in that regard. I told him what it needed to get done. I said, All right, we've got a quiz coming up next week. You do well on that, and you're going to get a grade in here that you'd probably be proud of. And he said, Thank you for helping me out. Now. If all of this at the end hadn't happened if the note hadn't happened, if he had gotten mad at the seating chart, this would be a different episode. I would still do the ultimatum. I would tell you when I think it's all right, in this case, had none of it changed. It was time for an ultimatum. I will tell you this, don't let contacting administration be your first response. Let it be your last response try to give that student benefit of the doubt I know for a fact administration's have told me that they've had substitute teachers that call leave note about everything Well, guys, they're expecting you to be adult enough to handle some of that. So be careful. I know in this particular case, they've ever asked that teacher back who leads the I mean, I'm thinking one album was She called the school office because the student got up to sharpen their pencil while the substitute teacher was reading something to them. Don't be that person. But if there was ever a situation to say all right discipline when you have to discipline, but don't give up on a student because you just never know the very situation that ascribed to you proved that that works.