Wednesday, October 18
During the course of the day, I noticed
that Jack and Jeff have been fighting. I am not certain why Mrs. B. chose
to put their desks next to each other, it seems like it was an accident
waiting to happen. After hearing them complain about each other for the
morning, I spoke with the two of them at their desks. They were adamant
that they be separated and that the other was at fault for the situation.
We came to the conclusion that they would prevent further argument by ignoring
each other. I had to leave soon, but it seemed that the situation was handled.
Thursday, October 19
Today the situation between Jack and Jeff
grew worse. I watched and listened to their arguments and complaints to
me, and noticed that they were mainly bickering over what the other was
allowed to “get away with.” Since I had time and knew that Mrs. B. would
not mind me dealing with the situation, I took the boys outside the class.
I had been reading my Nelson book last night, so I was semi-prepared for
this. I let each have a turn to air their thoughts on what was happening.
The boys were obviously angry, refusing to make eye contact with me or
with each other.
Jack was mad because Jeff was turning around
to talk to Mike and not getting in trouble. Jeff was mad because Jack was
tattling on him so often. I asked Jack if I could guess what he was feeling
about the situation. He nodded. I said that I guessed Jack was feeling
frustrated that Jeff could talk without getting in trouble, and also that
he was mad that he had trouble controlling the volume of his voice. As
I said these things, Jack went from being despondent and refusing eye contact
to looking into my eyes and nodding emphatically. At the same time, Jeff
began to look at both of us again. I asked Jack if he agreed with my guess.
He said yes. I asked him if he was tattling on Jeff to make sure they had
the same treatment. He nodded again, a little hesitantly this time.
Then I turned to Jeff. I know that Mrs.
B. has been working with his mom on classroom behavior, including volume
control. I asked Jeff if he knew what it was like to be frustrated with
his body for not making the right volumes all the time. He nodded. I asked
them if they could see that they were both struggling with the same problem.
They nodded. I asked if maybe they could help each other monitor their
volume so that neither would get in trouble. They looked at me, and then
at each other, and nodded. I hope this works a little better than yesterday’s
solution.
Monday, October 23
This morning, as I leading the class in
correction of the five-a-day, there was a dispute going on between Dale
and Jenny. Just as we were calming the situation down, Jeff interrupted,
telling me, “Miss Jost, you should take them outside and do the thing you
did with Jack and me, because we’re just fine now!” I had noticed that
they seemed to be doing well that morning, but I did not know that they
were both so conscious of the impact. It goes to show that squelching the
problem is not a solution, but talking about what is going on helps the
situation incredibly. I wonder how I could implement this in my own classroom. |
