As I mentioned last week, I only have 5 classes that I teach. Four of these classes are honors classes and the other is a very, very low level pre-algebra class. The kids in this pre-algebra class literally do not care to be in there one bit. It is a class full of some of the worst students in the 8th grade. I do believe that each one of these students has potential, but each one tries very hard to impress their classmates with his/her bad behavior. We have an in-class support teacher in this room and the students are extremely rude and disrespectful to her. If she tries to help them with something they say they do not need help and then they come over to ask me for help. There are three teachers in this class and the students are uncontrollable. They do not care to do any work, they will not take any notes and they certainly do not do homework. I try to make the material interesting for them and try not to make the class boring for them, but it seems the more I try to make it better for them the worse they get. I find that they continually try to take advantage of me. They do not show disrespect to me with their words, the disrespect is manifested in their behavior. They actually really enjoy having me teach them.
These students give everyone in the school a problem and it would appear that every single problem student in eighth grade is in this class. I do not know what else I can do to gain their attention and make them interested in algebra. Are there any suggestions that you would like to make as to how I can change the attitude of these students?
Finding motivation for students is a very tough thing to do, because each student is motivated in a different way. It is difficult to find the balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, ideally we would like to be able to have students who are all self-motivated. I have found with students that are not self-motivated, using incentive based motivation is the most effective way to go. Using movies, games, role playing, and debates have worked with my students. I also believe that families should have an active role in student motivation.
ReplyDeleteLauren your situation seems similar to mine in several aspects. In my 6th period class my students have made it loud and clear that they hate my co-teacher and because of this they act out horribly in order to upset her. What my students are not understanding is that the more they act out to get a rise out of the co-teacher they are also disrupting the class and ruining the experience for everyone else who is trying to pay attention and follow along to the material that I am teaching in class. Also, I have one student with an IEP who refuses to do any work and just whines and says "Noooooo" and then pushes the work off her desk like a toddler. My cooperating teacher usually coddles this student and practicially does the work for her, my co-teacher yells at her and forces her to do the work, I'm the middle man who firmly believes she needs to do the work herself but if scaffolding is needed then I'll be more than happy to help. Some things that have worked for me in this class is taking the problem student out in the hallway to do the work, this way she is not distracted and she can get the work done. For as bad as it sounds, I find that it's better to make the co-teacher absent in the classroom by being the one to take a child out of the room to work with them as opposed to me. I have found that when the co-teacher is absent from the room my students calm down and focus on the task at hand rather than how to tick off the co-teacher with their shenanigans. Also, I maintain close contact with the parent of a struggling student via email in order to try and get the student motivated even at home. These are just a few things I have picked up and have had some success with, I hope they work for you if you try to use them.
ReplyDeleteLauren, this is a very difficult situation. It is such a hassle to have all these students in one particular class. I have found the "problem children" in my classes are split evenly amongst my 5 classes. This makes it a bit easier to control. Having 3 teachers in a room and no successful can be very stressful. I would talk with my co-teachers and come up with a strategy to tackle the class all together. The three of you need to be on the same page, this way the students do not "divide and conquer". Stick to your plan that the 3 of you come up with and I feel you will succeed, even if it's just one day at a time.
ReplyDeleteLike Sam I have my "problem children" divided among 2 classes. What I have found to help motivate students in my classes is to relate the Do Now with sports. For example the NBA seeing how so many of my students come to school with your basketball jerseys on. Or I've related it to soccer during the Champions league. Now, relating that to middle school math might be a little more challenging but its worth a shot.
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