One day at my service learning site, I went to PE with the students. What an adventure! They ran into the gym like they were mad children; fighting, pushing, screaming. The PE teacher, all the while talking on her cell phone, blew her whistle and yelled at them. She told them to sit on the wall. So, they scrambled to do what they were told. She had scoot boards, hoola-hoops, and basketballs out on the floor. She blew her whistle and chaos broke out. Kids were running into each other with the scoot boards, a few girls were chasing a boy trying to hit him with a basketball, and a few kids were fighting over a particular hoola-hoop. The teacher did absolutely nothing. She just sat at her computer, with her back to the students, and talked on her cell phone. Every now and then, she would turn around and yell at someone.
I watched the madness, and desperately wanted to do something. However, I had no control or authority to do so. It was really bad. Two students started threatening each other. I tried separating them and talking to them individually, but it didn’t really help. Before I knew it, she blew her whistle and told them to go back to class… and she was still on her cell phone.
I felt useless, and I was. There was nothing I could do. The order of things had already been established and I, only spending one day a week with them, could do nothing to change it. I have been told that you can learn a lot from bad teachers. I must say, I did learn a lot. I saw that it is important to have a management plan set, otherwise kids will be kids… and kids are mean. They will end up hurting others as well as themselves. They will do as much as you let them get away with.
Crazy Classroom image found at: http://www.ngkids.co.za/images/games/crazyclassroom_popup_image.jpg
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