A Different Look - BP3

Sometimes you need to step back and really analyze your situation.

What am I doing?

What are the students doing?

Why are we acting in this fashion?

We tend to get caught up in the superficial actions and don't stop and question why. As an educator, and as a human being in general, we should learn to be skeptical and question that which is around us. In many occasions, actions tend to have causes with deeper motives but are masked by superficial ones. It is up to us to stop and think about the underlying motives in our everyday encounters. Due to difficulties with my field experience and the nature of this blog post, I feel that it would be nice to approach this topic from a more personal and first hand account. As an instructor at Mathnsium, a learning center for math, I am privileged to teach a variety of students whose levels range from the basic arithmetic taught in kindergarten to university university calculus. Although I do not command a whole classroom and I am only with each student for hour long periods (90 minutes for students taking algebra and up), I am able to interact with and foster a worry-free and engaging environment for my students. I work with up to four students at a time, but I wouldn't be doing my job correctly if I wasn't paying attention to all the other students in the center similar to how a teacher has to observe their classroom. Due to my experience, I feel it would be appropriate to share my observations involving some of my students with our class. For the sake of professionalism and for the purposes of this blog post, I will be changing the names of the students in my examples.

When working with kids, it's important to remember the fact that they are kids; sometimes we forget this is obvious fact. They haven't fully developed yet, they lack experience, and they are egocentric. Many times when students are disruptive, they don't truly understand the implications of their actions because they are so caught up in the world that is them. However, it's not impossible for them to see outside their own world, they just need a nudge in the right direction and to be made aware of their own actions.

I have this one student named James. James talks. He talks to me. He talks to his neighbor. He sings to himself. He doesn't control his volume. Math hour? He thinks it's social hour. He doesn't realize that his neighbors are trying to learn and develop a proficiency in something that doesn't come as natural to them. James is just being friendly and outgoing, but he's also distracting his neighbors and as a result hindering their development. Some of these kids really need the help, so taking James to the side and explaining to him what he's taking away from the other students isn't fair to them. They've come to learn and receive help and he's just tying up the instructor and disturbing his neighbors. He likes baseball, so when I was talking to him I told him to imagine how it would feel if someone yelled at him every time he took a swing. I had him put himself in the shoes of his neighbors and understand why his actions may be disturbing others. As a result, he's slowly getting better at controlling the volume of his voice and letting his neighbors focus on their work.

In another similar situation, Franco tends to be pretty disruptive. He's in sixth grade, He'll play with anything in his immediate vicinity. He'll talk to anyone in his table. He'll talk to anyone in neighboring tables. I have tried to make him aware of his actions but he still continues disrupting his neighbors. I thought maybe he had some type of disability, but I stopped and analyzed my interactions with him, what we've talked about, and what I had noticed in the brief time between him and his mom when she picks him up. His parents work a lot and when she picks him up she looks exhausted. I think he is simply seeking the attention he hasn't really been receiving at home and it took me a bit to realize this. I had tried ignoring him, but I think maybe diverting a bit more attention at him and engaging him while doing our math work may be more effective. It's worked in that he's completing more of his work, but as a result he only really works when I'm right in front of him which takes away a lot of my time and attention which becomes a problem when you consider the other kids at my table which are equally deserving of the same time and attention.

Stopping and analyzing has proven effective in my development as an instructor and has therefore allowed me to better help my students. However, I am not a book full of answers. What would you guys do if you were me? How would you handle the Franco situation?

Here's a video I found on reframing that I'd like to leave you with that might help you on your future endeavors as both inside and outside the classroom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvPIB8PTYqc