T O P I C :

A Matter of Attitude

Grace poses the question: In my first period (Pre-AP 8th grade English) class, I have two students who are in that "I don't respect anyone" phase of life. They are not friends, but both have the same attitude. They roll their eyes and stare at me and my mentor teacher with hate when we make an assignment. Student A's stepmother works in the building. The stepmother says, "She won't listen to me. She actually tells me she hates me. You need to talk to her father." Student B is not only disrespectful but disruptive at times. When I give directions for an assignment, repeat them, and give them in written form, I will tell the class to get started, and he will ask, "What am I supposed to do?" This was not funny to his classmates the last time he did it. A few even gasped, and others did the "ohhh, you are in trouble" thing. I spoke to him in the hallway, but he still did not complete the assignment.

What can I do to establish respect or improve the attitude of these two students in my classroom?

Posted September 28, 2008

R E S P O N S E :

What Doesn't Work.

Tara Griner writes: I only wish I had this problem with just two students. I don't know that I have any suggestions, but I will tell you what I have seen that hasn't worked. My teacher generally just punishes the kids by sending them to the hall or to the office when they have attitudes like what you are describing. I understand her reasoning for doing that because those attitudes are so contagious and can set the tone for an entire class. However, I don't think it does anything for the students who are difficult to deal with. Wish I had more suggestions!

Posted October 12, 2008

R E S P O N S E :

A Reaction to Being Bullied

Elizabeth Findlay responds: I had a student who suddenly turned surly, was mean to the other classmates, and didn't want to work. He was originally a pretty quiet kid, so I don't think he was on the same disruptive level as your two. We found out that he was being bullied, he had been since the beginning of the year, and it had been building up to this point where he turned ugly.

I couldn't stop him from being picked on, but I did try and give him some extra attention with getting his work started in hopes of him not feeling he's being completely ignored. I know this doesn't offer a solution to your problem, but 8th graders are just too young to be so disrespectful; at this age, they're supposed to have a lot of teacher-pleaser left in them. Something must be going on with those two, and perhaps if it was possible to find out what, (I think the mother who works in the building should have been a little more helpful than that) that might give you some ideas on how to stop their behavior.

Posted October 16, 2008

R E S P O N S E :

A One-on-One Chat

Laurie Trahan writes: Grace, have either of you tried talking to them one-on-one? I know that with my students, many times, if I show them individual attention, they seem to respond better to me. Maybe you could just catch them as they are leaving class one day and ask them if everything is going okay for them. Let them know that if they need any help or have any questions to come ask you personally. Many times students with that kind of attitude have some kind of sitution (at home, etc.) that is causing them to behave that way. Maybe that could help?

Posted October 6, 2008

R E S P O N S E :

Another Teacher May Help

Kelli Cole writes: Like Tara, I don’t have a ton of experience in eliciting positive outcomes from those students who just don’t want to do their work. However, this particular case may help you, even though it has only worked for one student.

A boy in one of my classes is super-smart; he just doesn’t want to do the work. He wouldn’t even do work on the TLI test they took two weeks ago. He filled in all of the multiple choice questions, but would not do the writing prompt. My mentor teacher went to the Literacy Coach and asked how she could get him to write. All it took for that student to write on that test, and every writing assignment since, was a visit with the literacy coach. And any time that he refuses to do anything, we send him to her room with a note, and he comes back ready to work. For some reason, this student was very responsive to that particular teacher praising and motivating him to do his assignments.

Your student may not be responsive to the literacy coach, but he/she may be responsive to another teacher. If your student(s) have a faculty member or a different teacher that he/she likes or respects, you may go ask if they will take a special interest in your student.

Posted October 19, 2008

E-mail your suggestions and comments to fbowles@uark.edu