Marcus: On Being Good by Carla Shalaby was this week’s
reading and my favorite so far. It brought to light the reality of a student
“Marcus” and his struggles within the classroom. At first glance it would be simple
to say that he is a “troublemaker” that interferes with day to day operations
of the classroom, but as the reading goes into depth it makes you take a step
back and observe rather than judge.
Some of the visible codes of conduct that govern the classroom are the rituals put in place by Mrs. Emily. Things like their morning circle, the take a break table, the buddy room, timeout desk, and bathroom pass are all examples of the rituals and rules that the class follows. The invisible rule/goal that seems to govern the classroom is independence. As stated in the reading Mrs. Emily’s core principle in teaching was independence.
Trouble making in my after-school space would be in the form of someone talking over me during instruction or being rude to any of the other students. I have had students that have fallen asleep, or just constantly on their phones. One thing I like to do in my youth spaces is create those visible codes of conduct but create them with the students. Making the rules with the group helps them set expectations for themselves and for me so that we all feel heard. In order to keep my group engaged I set up time for a break and leave enough time in the agenda for free time; if we finish everything we get free time, if there are issues that keep us from going the work then we wont have that extra time. When it comes to the students, I would constantly have sleeping in my class it was easy to be upset and make him wake up and expect him to participate at the same level as everyone else. However, what I did was pull him aside and asked him why he was always falling asleep. It turned out that there were some issues at home, had I not taken a step back to understand then I would not have known how to approach the situation. Its tough on teachers when they have a classroom that is typically over the class size average but its important in understanding the students to take a moment and understand.
My experiences vary from youth space to space. Once constant is the similarity that I too want for my youth to be independent. That is not to say that I will not be there to aid them, but I don’t want to be a source of power and fear. I like my students to try on their own or even use each other as aid before coming to me. In addition, I like the idea that there are stages in Mrs. Emily’s class before being “removed”. In many classrooms I have seen a student like Marcus would immediately be removed from the class. Having areas for students to take a step back for a little is very beneficial. This gives them independence and a chance to regulate their own emotions as well. There are many times as an adult that I need to just take a break for 5 minutes.
