This particular class of 7th graders has a reputation. Last year on the last day of school, the 6th grade teachers stood in the hallway and (literally) pointed at me and laughed, saying, "Ha! Ha! Now they're YOURS!" But I haven't found them to be quite the little devils they were cast to be. Talkative, yes! Immature, absolutely! Inconsistent, sure! Low-achieving, unfortunately! But not defiant and not disrespectful, at least not by my definition. I draw clear distinctions between behavior that is immature or inconsistent and behavior that is intended to disrespect, deceive, or distract. Immature is a student who just can't control his mouth because, well, because he just can't, not because he means to interrupt the lesson. This kind of student talks out in class, and when asked to be quiet says, "Oh I'm sorry," gets quiet, then three minutes later is at it again. Defiant kids, when you ask them to be quiet, roll their eyes, throw themselves back in their desk, and say loudly, "I wasn't talking, I was just telling him a story!" (How is telling him a story NOT talking?) or "Geez! This class is stupid!" (Read: This teacher is stupid for hindering my social life.)
Here we are three weeks from Christmas break, and I still don't have a handle on this group of talkative 7th graders. I still spend half of each class period saying "Be quiet. Stop tapping your pencil on the desk. Don't touch his notebook. Sit down. No you may not go to the office to call your mom for permission to go home with your friend. Put your cell phone away. Don't braid your neighbor's hair during the lesson. Stop kicking the desk in front of you. No I do not have a pencil you can borrow." This ought not be happening by this point in the school year. Last year by now, we had a groove. I could assign small groups and work with one group at a time while the others worked. Not this year! Small group work quickly becomes chaos. I know the research says students learn better in small groups, but not if the other 2/3 of the class is brawling on the other side of the room!
So today I had a heart to heart with my 7th graders. I ask them, in all sincerity, what they suggested I do to maintain a classroom environment where people could learn. I said, "I think there are some people in here who want to learn and who are frustrated that I spend half my time telling people to be quiet instead of teaching." Several heads were nodding--those I never have to (check that, never get to) say a word to. So I asked for suggestions. Third period suggested I give a warning or two, then send the offender to the hallway to "cool off" for 5 minutes. After that, they suggested, they could come back in and participate in the class, but if they repeated the offense, they should go to the office and get a discipline write-up. (This was their idea, not mine!) I like it. So I took a vote--90% of the class agreed that they thought this was fair and appropriate. They said it gets the noisy person out of the room so the rest can learn. I said, "What's the punishment if they just sit in the hall with the other talkers and have a party?" The studious ones responded, "Well, they'll miss the lesson and their grades will suffer." Wow. Out of the mouth of babes . . . Fifth period had a different idea. They thought the write-up was unfair. (How is a write-up more unfair than them stealing lesson time?) I thought they were just playing me, and I was about to implement the third period idea anyway, but decided to ask for more input. "What shoud I do then?" "Call our parents!" came the answer. Really? I asked how many of their parents would be unhappy if I called to report that they were too talkative in class. About 75% raised their hands. The rest had a smug look of satisfaction on their faces. "Yeah, that's a good idea!" They said. One turned to his neighbor and said, "My mom won't do anything!" At this point, I could see a change (funny thing about 7th graders--you can often see the wheels turning in their brains) as some of them thought I might be catching on to their game. "Oh, no! Don't call our parents! We'd be in trouble!" The 25% now changed their tune. Almost with a physical nudge to "back me up", they of one accord changed their story. "Oh, I'd be in big trouble if you called my parents!" Now one of the tactics that I'm learing in my latest professional development group is not to make decisions on the spot, but to let it set, so I told them, "I'm going to think this one over a couple of days and I'll get back to you." I could tell they were uncomfortable, and I suspect they could see the wheels turning in my head then!
Tonight I called four sets of parents. I explained to each one that their son or daughter was not in trouble and that I was just calling for input. I found something positive to say about each student, and then added the dreaded "but". But he talks too much in class. I told them about our heart-to-heart and explained that the students had suggested a phone call home instead of a write-up, and I asked what they thought would be more effective with their son/daughter. Of course the four I called were all from the 25% group! Each parent thanked me for calling, agreed that calling home was more effective than a write-up, and promised to have a discussion with Sonny that very evening. I reiterated that Sonny was not in trouble--that I just wanted input, but each time they insisted, "Well, I'll have a talk with him anyway."
Correction--three of my phone calls went as above mentioned. The fourth was a bit different. This boy (let's call him Jaime) has a father who speaks only Spanish. I didn't know that when I called, but when he answered in Spanish and continued to answer me in Spanish, what could I do? I'm always insecure speaking Spanish with native speakers, and talking on the phone is even harder, so I tried three times to get him to say something in English, but when he didn't, I finally switched to Spanish. It was a brief conversation and the English translation goes something like this:
"I'm Mrs. Blah Blah and I'm Jaime's English teacher."
"Okay." (Serious tone)
"I'm having a problem in English class."
"Okay." (Displeasure in the voice)
"Well, the boys won't stop talking."
"I will take care of it."
"Oh! Okay."
"Thank you for calling. Good-bye."
(Alrighty, then!) I doubt I'll have any more trouble out of Jaime.
Today I'm thankful that I took the time to listen to input from my kids--they might be more insightful than I give them credit for. And I'm also really thankful that I was able to speak to a Spanish-speaking father instead of using a translator or perhaps having to go through a mom who may not have responded the same.
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