Complaints & Arguments
So this year has been long and tough, but I've survived! I taught 6th-11th graders with 7 unique curriculum plans. Most of my classes were very well behaved, and I overall felt like we were very successful together.
Then... there were the 7th graders.
I am not kidding, every single day it would be them complaining and arguing with me about something.
"Why do we have to do bell ringers? I HATE THESEEE!"
"I don't want to read this, it's so boorrinng."
"I don't want to do this, so I'm just going to sit here for the whole class and do nothing."
"Do this, Ms. J" "No, because..." "Ms. J, do this!!"
I felt like it was most of them against me, and it was exhausting! To make matters worse, I taught two classes with them, so I had them for 2 hours every day.
I do NOT want to have a class like this again if I can help it, so I'm wondering what has worked for you when dealing with a group of students that tend to complain more than you breathe?
Detention doesn't mean a thing to them, most of them are unmotivated by positive reinforcement (except for playing games on their tablets which was strictly prohibited at my school,) so I was always at a loss for what sort of positive reinforcement to offer.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Also, I'm thinking of starting my classes off with a small time spent on motivation, how to motivate yourself, why you should learn to do it, etc. Thoughts on that? Has anyone ever tried it?
Thanks!
Then... there were the 7th graders.
I am not kidding, every single day it would be them complaining and arguing with me about something.
"Why do we have to do bell ringers? I HATE THESEEE!"
"I don't want to read this, it's so boorrinng."
"I don't want to do this, so I'm just going to sit here for the whole class and do nothing."
"Do this, Ms. J" "No, because..." "Ms. J, do this!!"
I felt like it was most of them against me, and it was exhausting! To make matters worse, I taught two classes with them, so I had them for 2 hours every day.
I do NOT want to have a class like this again if I can help it, so I'm wondering what has worked for you when dealing with a group of students that tend to complain more than you breathe?
Detention doesn't mean a thing to them, most of them are unmotivated by positive reinforcement (except for playing games on their tablets which was strictly prohibited at my school,) so I was always at a loss for what sort of positive reinforcement to offer.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Also, I'm thinking of starting my classes off with a small time spent on motivation, how to motivate yourself, why you should learn to do it, etc. Thoughts on that? Has anyone ever tried it?
Thanks!