When I Was A Teacher…

When I was a teacher, I probably taught more life lessons than I did book lessons. Tried to teach them to pay attention, think long-term. You know, all those things that we look at adults and say, “Damn. They don’t know how to _____!! How were they raised?” I was a seventh grade Reading and English Teacher for special needs students. Nevermind that many of the kids were bigger than me. Nevermind that I was very young. Nevermind that these are typically the forgotten kids.

Let me tell you how I ran my class. When the kids arrived, they did not just roll into the classroom. They had to settle down outside of my room. Yep, you guessed it, they had to line up to gain admission. Not just line up, but wait until everyone was ready to go in. It only took a week or so for them to master this.

When they entered, they sat in desk clusters of 4. Every person in that group had a job. Since each child had an individualized educational program, they each had a folder with work taylored to their needs. It was one student’s job to pass out those folders for his/her group. Another student would be copying down the bell work. The other two students were in charge of making sure they had supplies for the hour and making sure their area was clean. All this happened in the first 3 minutes of class.

Next, we’d review the bell work and do the lesson for the day. One of my favorite things to do was read aloud. Yes, special education kids, who were way below grade level, who were on medications for ADHD, read aloud. Keep in mind, on my first day there, the former Reading/English teacher told me that these kids would never read aloud and would never read a book. So what did I do?? Did I listen to the negative nancy?? That’s not how I roll.

I would start off reading, and in the middle of a sentence, or anywhere while I was reading, I’d call out a student’s name and s/he had to pick up reading exactly where I left off. The student could read as much as s/he wanted then call on another student in the same way. If someone was caught slipping, their name went on the board and someone else was called. As the class went on, people who’d gotten their names on the board could be called again. If they were paying attention the second time, I’d erase their names from the board. At the end of our reading, if there were no names on the board, everyone got a point for the day. But if one name was still there, my name too, nobody got points. This method helped them pay attention and made the lessons fun. I’d stop periodically to check comprehension and they loved it. Nobody made fun of anyone for not knowing words. If someone got to something they didn’t understand, they could pause and ask someone.

After they completed the lesson, they went into their folder to do the work taylored for them. Then we’d have a review of all we did that day. Finally, the kids would do the jobs they were assigned. One person collecting folders, one person making sure the area was clean, etc. These jobs changed weekly.

What if someone needed to go to the bathroom? Good question! There was a set amount of hall passes each student could have each week. They had to sign for them and when they ran out for the week, they were short. Or they could barter with other students to get one. It was funny because some kids saved them while others couldn’t wait to hit the halls. It only took them a few weeks to learn to use those passes sparingly. This only worked because I’d worked it out so that they got bathroom breaks at the end of the class before mine.

How’d little old me maintain order? I’m glad you asked. Each group had a score sheet. It was used for the entire week. It was up to each group’s leader to keep up with the sheet for the entire week. On the first day of class, we developed rules for the class. In fact, they actually developed them. Then I made a rubric that was used to determine how students would rate on a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the highest. In order to get 5, each group member had to have completed their job, have supplies, have homework, and behave during class. Each member had the opportunity to exclude him/herself one day each week. When you’re dealing with kids with behavior issues, you’d be surprised that they know when they are having bad days. Further, they can be responsible enough to know that their bad day will affect their group’s performance.

At the end of each class, each group (cluster of four desks) could score a maximum of 5 points. Then at the end of each week, those with a total of 20 or more points got something. One week it could be an extra five points on a test. Another week it could be a night without homework. This taught the kids to work together. I didn’t care how they maintained order so long as there was no violence or threat of it.

I wonder what happened to all those kids. I did see one child a few years back working at the drive-thru of a local McDonald’s. He was in high school though. He’d been one of the ones people had expected to be in jail, convicted as an adult by 16.