[QUOTE=Inner Stickler]
I don’t know. Speaking as a teenager, and one who did very well in high school, thank you, it would never occur to me to call the office and ask if there was supposed to be a sub. And I know it would never have occurred to my classmates either. Then again, half the time my school didn’t hire subs for the juniors and seniors. If the teacher had left lesson plans, we might get sent to the library. Of course the librarian was part time and rarely there. But usually we just got a free study period. Some people studied for another class, others read, and the rest talked. Anyway, if one of my teachers had failed me on an assignment because I hadn’t magically grokked her expectations for a weird and unusual situation, well, I would lose some respect for her.
[/QUOTE]
We are an urban public school. There is always a sub. This was three years ago–this year, when I was out one day and the sub was 5 minutes late, I had 10 out of 25 kids text me to ask if they still had to do the in-class essay since they would not have as much time as the other class. My kids KNOW I am always a phone call or text message away if they have questions or concerns. Not understanding is never an excuse.
[QUOTE=Manda JO]
Of course they are unlikely to intervene without me spuring them on. I was just illustrating that a good teacher DOES use the social dynamic of the class to help maintain control, and that it doesn’t have to be a matter of “You there! Control your classmates or everyone suffers”. It can be much more subtle. Some people in this thread seem to think classroom management should be done by the teacher dealing with each individual alone without any sort of class dynamic.
I am not defending what the sub did, I am agreeing that group punishment are, 99% of the time, unwarranted, but conceeding that there are extraordinary circumstances and sharing one that I saw. If I did not make that clear, I apologize.
[/QUOTE]
That’s okay; You probably did make it clear (I’m just an easily confused person). Still though, I think it’s safe to say that the typical substitute can’t possibly have a sufficient level of knowledge to flex the social dynamic in their favor, leaving them only draconian measures like, well, detentions (though whole-class detention was certainly both unwarranted and unnecessary).
Oh, and I just noticed:
Never an excuse for your students, that is. I’ve never had a teacher who was even close to that accessible; heck, some of them were pretty hard to understand even when they happened to be present.
[QUOTE=begbert2]
That’s okay; You probably did make it clear (I’m just an easily confused person). Still though, I think it’s safe to say that the typical substitute can’t possibly have a sufficient level of knowledge to flex the social dynamic in their favor, leaving them only draconian measures like, well, detentions (though whole-class detention was certainly both unwarranted and unnecessary).
[/quote]
I agree, but if a teacher has enough respect/control, the attitude that “we behave in here” will last for at least a few days. I substited for a semester or so before I got a real position, and I was shocked at how differently the same kids would behave in different teacher’s rooms. It wasn’t just weird combinations of kids–in Ms. Smith’s room, all the classes would be good, but the next day in Ms. Jones’s room, those same kids would be terrible, every class. And that would repeat on later visits.
On the other hand, there are hell classes. I had one group one year that I simply couldn’t leave. Eight or ten of the most aggressive kids I’d ever taught and they all were either in love with or hated each of the others. One time I had a doctor’s appointment and had to leave them for half an hour: the security guard came to watch them–I warned her that they were a handful and she said “Oh, kids don’t give ME problems”, like I was the rookie. In that half-hour, she had to get the dean in the room. I never missed that class again.
I’m lucky to teach at a school that has a culture that encourages us to be avalible, and I feel strongly that teachers need to be avalible in lots of different ways–kids have different comfort zones, so they can text or call or email or post on the class message board or come before/after school. The price the kids pay is that there are no excuses for not trying.
[QUOTE=Miller]
Jesus Christ, that’s the year I graduated high school.
I now officially hate the OP.
[/QUOTE]
Believe it or not, my neighborhood is mostly composed of families raising young kids, and some of those kids think I’m old. I guess to them, the criteria for “old” is old enough to remember a pre-Dora/Diego/Doodlebops era.
[QUOTE=Madd Maxx] Count Blucher, that is exactly what I thought of too. If the OP is actually in school now though, then he is probably too young to get it. But I bet the teacher would.
[/QUOTE]
