I was talking with my mom the other day after school. As I was telling her about my day and some of the things my teacher and I talked about, I realized something.
I am from a small town in Southern Indiana. The schools that I attended growing up and hope to teach at in the future are so called “4 star schools”. Most of the students in our corporation are in the general education classrooms. They are on grade level and for those who are not on grade level they get help during study halls in the upper grades and pull out programs in the lower grades. These are very similar pull out programs that happen here. The thing that stands out to me from the substitute teaching I have done at home is the behavior. You still have your talkers and students who can not sit still to save their life. The big difference is the amount of fighting. The behavior here is much more aggressive and hurtful.
My mom has been picking on me about changing my major. I told her after Mrs. C was gone for two days, “If I wasn’t so stubborn, I would seriously think about changing my major!” I have no clue what I would change it to because all I have ever wanted to do is teach. She told me the other night that I was going to switch majors again and I told her the thing right now that is keeping me from it, is knowing that the behavior won’t be as aggressive at home.
I feel that I can’t do anything about the behavior of these children. You stop them from punching, kicking, or pushing each other around and tell them the right way to handle it but it doesn’t matter. They fall right back into the fighting when you turn around. I think I am going to get a lesson on anger management for this week or next week. Not that I’m sure it will help but something has got to work!