I'm feeling a little abused today. I had a parent/student/teacher conference today after a student left class today instead of letting me hang onto her phone for the remainder of the class. She is failing and does not need to miss any days. I guess the abuse I am letting happen because I keep repeating in my head,something she said in the conference. "Everybody says you never help us and you give too many assignments." Mind you at this same time 5:15 P.M. there were 14 students in my room. I do not like to get into blaming or defensive conversations, so I did not negate her accusation- I recognized, out loud to her that she is feeling not seen and made a promise to put extra effort into recognizing her calls for help. But, I asked her to promise to read the directions at least twice after I explain them before she calls for me. Still I can't help but hear her voice, "everybody says you don't help us...". I know this is not true, but I also know about 40 percent of the students in that class need help, a lot of the time, and I am not able to always help everyone. I convinced her if she actually reads the directions a few times, she could probably help people too. And I better check in with some other folks...
A-ha:
Maybe some students see me as unavailable with all my busyness.
Reminder:
Double check for understanding.
I can sympathize with your feelings! Sometimes though it is better to speak your mind and say something about the fact that a lot of students come to your classroom after school. That is not negative at all, and it makes the student in question reflect on your side of the story.
ReplyDeleteyes, I hear you- I have been reflecting on that interaction quite a bit. But guess who was in my class after school today? Baby steps...
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