Saturday, March 15, 2008
"It's not so much what you learn..."
My "aha" moment of the class today was Dr. Closen's quote "It's not so much about what you learn but about the fact that there are no right or wrong, black or white answers. Everything should be taken in context." That made me think that it isn't enough to just set a rule, you have to look at each infraction and judge accordingly. If a first grader brings a key chain with a tiny plastic gun on it perhaps you should rethink the policy of expulsion for a weapon or weapon look alike for this particular incident.
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3 comments:
I agree with you Debbie. I thought about the same thing today. Its definitely important to look into the specific situation that occurs instead of trying to handle every situation the same way. In fact, sometimes its even vital to treat students differently to assure success.
It was reassuring that others feel the same way about every situation has a different outcome. Working in a primary building we have many that think some of these students need to be axed out the building for a water gun. It is a hard concept for teachers to understand that once you turn the student over to administration or another teacher for consequences, all of your power is gone. You no longer have a say in the outcome. Therefore there is no need to be commenting on the decisions made by the office staff. Every situation is different and will be handled in that same manner.
I agree. At the Primary Academy, when working with the little ones, we run into this weapons issue quite a bit with students bringing water guns. Many issues should be seen as "teachable moments" in order to turn a negative action onto a learning situation. No two situations are the same and it's important to get all the facts and come to a decision for each case. I also agree with Alicia about teachers who send students to the office or to another teacher's room for time out. When they made the decision to do this, they put the control into the hands of administration or another teacher and must respect whatever becomes of that.
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