Just a bit of a rant.
Is it just me, or am I just old and cranky?
This group of kindergarten students is a CHALLENGE, to say the least. I have not seen a class with behaviors this extreme before.
They don't listen, follow directions, follow the rules or even seem to care that they are in trouble. Most cannot tie their shoes and don't care that they can't. They walk around with their shoelaces trailing and then get mad when another student accidentally (or intentionally) steps on them causing them to fall down.
They cut in front of each other in line but get mad when someone cuts in front of them.
They hit, kick, spit, push, yank on arms, pull hair, say bad words because they just want to.
They dance around, sing, spin in circles, get out of line for whatever reason and couldn't care less if there is a consequence.
Today at recess a student hit another in the back. When asked why he told me because a different student had pushed him on the bus that morning. Four hours earlier and a different student, not the one he hit. This kid is in trouble all the time, multiple times a day. Usually his response when asked why he did something is "I don't know" or "I wanted to". Two other boys were hitting themselves, not each other, in their privates. I couldn't get them to explain to me why they were doing that. I asked the only male teacher in our building to talk to them. They were doing it just because.
The last couple of days the other aide and myself have been doing literacy testing with tablets with every student. Several of them have chosen the incorrect answer, intentionally. Intentionally. And, said they knew the answer the were choosing was wrong, but they wanted to pick the wrong one. They will get retested, but I don't know if the results will be any different.
Several have said they are tired, they are quitting the test. There are only 28 questions. It takes about 10-12 minutes to take the test. They just stopped answering.
I am so tired. And frustrated. So is everyone else, so I don't think it is just me being old and cranky.
Don't get me wrong, a lot of students have shown growth. But, the other ones, the ones that don't care, I am very concerned about them. I don't think it is a maturity issue with most of them. They just don't care if what they are doing is not socially acceptable. They are not phased by red dojos (red is unacceptable behavior, green is acceptable behavior. The parents are able to track this info also), time-outs, consequences, being sent to the principal's office. They are seen regularly by the school counselor.
And, they are sneaky. They keep an eye out for me and the other aide to see if we are watching them. Yes, we are! As soon as they realize we have seen them they stop or try to hide. So I know they know what they are doing is wrong. So frustrating.
I know they are young, and I have seen this type of behavior before, but it has never lasted this far into the year. I am looking forward to June.
1 comment:
It's not just you. I see people today use poor English and you don't dare correct them or you are the "Grammar Police". I see people who don't know something and aren't the least bit embarrassed that they don't - and actually seem to be proud of the fact that they DON'T know. It used to be that you would be proud to be able to say that you knew something - or if you didn't - you could find out. Today - they just DON'T CARE - because it doesn't matter. Poor English is the norm - and not knowing something is perfectly acceptable - you can always "google" it. If you ever figure out how to make someone CARE - you could bottle it and make a fortune.
Poor manners and poor behavior is easy to blame on the parents - but sometimes it's just the kid. I was taught that "punishment" should be "immediate and unpleasant" - not physically harmful - but "unpleasant". Something as simple as standing still with your hands at your sides and your nose on the wall - I used that one all of the time - LOL - ;))
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