You don’t need a degree to know that adequate classroom management skills should be possessed by any and every teacher. As teenagers, we tend to get unruly and disrespectful in educational environments every now and then. However, it’s up to the teacher to keep attention on the task at hand and handle disrespect in a fashion that doesn’t eat away at valuable classroom time. There are various standards that need to be taught and learning goals that need to be met and wasting frivolous time isn’t in anyone’s best interest.
At some public schools what’s stated above is easier said than done, especially at the high school level. Imagine being in a class of thirty students and over half of them aren’t serious about learning in the slightest. These unruly students constantly play around and ultimately distract from a conducive learning environment with their childishness. As the teacher, you’re left with the task of attempting to control their behavior all while having to teach your lesson in the bit of time left before the next period. And this cycle repeats itself throughout the school day with almost no breaks. I know it drives teachers crazy!
The best teachers handle their classrooms with stride and ease. But, on the flip side, you have many in the profession of education that should just throw in the proverbial towel. I tackled one subset of horrible teachers in my novel The Diary of Aaliyah Anderson with Mrs. Connor and the “Teacher Mafia”. Simply put, they’re old and bitter teachers that have a certain arrogance about how they conduct themselves in the school environment. Their traditional views of strict and harsh classroom management and respect is challenged by the millennial concept of sovereignty and individualism. Because of this power struggle, they sport snippy attitudes and even have the tendency to talk down upon their students. We see this displayed in how Aaliyah interacts with Mrs. Connor and the two other older teachers on her schedule.
That’s not to say that every teacher that is significantly older than their students exhibits the traits of the “Teacher Mafia”. But, enough in my school career have been like that for me to document in my novels. There’s another type of teacher that I haven’t addressed in my writings and that is the passive, pushover teacher. Unlike the “Teacher Mafia” type teachers who tend to be too harsh and hardcore, these educators display poor classroom management skills that seemingly have a fear of their students to the point that they allow themselves to be constantly tested, disrespected and walked over. You usually see these qualities displayed in individuals that aren’t used to the atmosphere of the more rougher public schools. Simply put, they are culture shocked.
You can see the perfect example of the “passive educator” in a recent viral video that’s been making its rounds on Facebook. In the video, there are two teenagers that claim to be members of the Blood street gang. During classroom discussion, the teacher happened to be using blue ink on his promethean board to write out a math problem for the class. The Blood gang affiliated young men urged the teacher to change the color on the ink to red. One of the guys even was bold enough to walk up to the board and erase what he wrote without the teacher even saying a word. The teacher quickly changed the color of the ink to black, which the two young men were cool with. Along with it being a neutral shade, it’s also the color that the GD’s (Gangster Disciples) rep.
Personally, I feel as if we’re giving the teacher too much of a pass in this situation. Yes, the boys were completely out of line and that isn’t behavior that you bring into an educational setting. You definitely don’t tell an adult to write correctly. That broken gauge of disrespect can be attributed to poor parenting at home. But, there’s a point in time where you need to demand respect. I understand there are several ways you can handle a situation and fighting definitely isn’t an option. But, how did those boys just choose to pull this stunt on this particular teacher. This had to have been planned, seeing that the cameras were already rolling.
They had to have known they could pull this stunt on him. Unless this is an older video, they filmed this towards the end of March. By now, they should know the idiosyncrasies of that teacher and what he does and doesn’t tolerate. Obviously, he tolerates blatant disrespect that goes virtually unchecked and unnoted. I’m just saying! I couldn’t see this situation happening to any of the male teachers on my class schedule. I don’t even see my female teachers putting up with this nonsense! I can even envision what one of my teachers would say to those two brothers.
“Sir, if you don’t like what color I use to write on my board in my classroom you can be dismissed. It’s your choice.”
One of the major problems in this failing public education system is that we have too many apathetic, lackadaisical teachers that don’t hold their students to higher standard. Instead of challenging us to think, they are indoctrinating us and even punishing us for utilizing our creativity and curiosity in some cases. Respect and decency is foreign in the classroom because they don’t demand it. And what these teachers are doing is aiding in creating a miseducated adult population that isn’t adequately prepared for the real world. It’s a cold harsh truth, but one that needs to be stated. The first step in bettering yourself is identifying the problems. We know what plagues us. Let’s work on solutions!
See the shocking video below! What do you think?
-We came, we saw, we conquered! My debut publishing effort “Riverview High: Circumstances” reached #2 on the Amazon charts! Check it out on Amazon today. Don’t forget to leave a review!
-“The Diary Of Aaliyah Anderson” is out now! Make sure to go get it!
Do you have any questions, comments or concerns? Was I right or wrong on this issue? I would love to hear from you! Contact me directly at:
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