Week 10 Reflection

October 26th - 30th, 2009

During a post-lesson conference, my teacher mentioned that I was being too confrontational with a BD student. This student, who I will refer to as 'Beth', has unpredictable mood swings and isn't very receptive to discipline or criticism. However, she is very intelligent, especially in reading and writing.

The first time that Mrs. Chico cautioned me about my interactions with Beth was when I read a list of students who had missing assignments at the beginning of a class period. It would have been too time consuming to address each individual student during class, and I wanted to make a point that all of this late work is unacceptable. While most students might be embarrassed or annoyed when a teacher calls them out, oral reminders are usually still effective. However, Beth took this as a personal insult.

Today, I must have been getting too close to her when I was explaining the work that she had missing. Beth didn't get physical or yell, but Mrs. Chico sensed she was getting overwhelmed. Mrs. Chico said, "Alright Beth, that's fine. Just drop it." I wasn't aware of being so confrontational, and I don't want to seem like a nag. I just haven't had much experience with BD students and tend to get frustrated and impatient too easily. But now, I feel like I'm walking on thin ice any time I interact with Beth. I'm afraid that now I'm letting her get away with missing assignments, filling out SRs for not having work completed, and prompting her when she isn't on task. Giving her special treatment wouldn't be fair for the other students. And I have a feeling that she senses I've been easier on her, because she rarely does work in class or for homework anymore.

I know that the solution is not to simply ignore the problem, so I need to come up with methods to encourage productivity without sounding demanding. I've found some success using other students to show examples of good work without directly addressing those who aren't giving their best efforts. I'm also trying to be more enthusiastic about what I'm teaching and the work I assign, so that students like Beth might actually want to complete it because they find it interesting. English is Beth's favorite subject, and I don't want her to dread coming to my class because she feels all I do is pester her. She's going to be one of my biggest challenges this semester, but I am determined to find effective strategies to work with her and establish a better relationship!