A Lesson - Have a Little Heart

I began my student practicum in Mrs. M’s 4th grade class at the end of September. At first I was a bit nervous about how I would be received by the cooperating teacher and her students, but that quickly came to pass once the students walked in the classroom. They were all excited to see a new “teacher” and greeted me with big smiles.

Mrs. M explained to me what was expected of the students prior to their arrival. They had the first few minutes to unpack their book bags, begin the morning language arts practice sheets, and settle into their seats for the day. Well, as with most children they weren’t quite ready by the time the morning announcements came and a few came in late. With a little prompting from Mrs. M the students were ready to begin their day. During this time Mrs. M collected lunch orders, picture money, and a few other odds and ends from the students. She asked some of the students if they had done their homework and entertained their questions.

In her dealing with two of the students I began to feel a bit uncomfortable as I felt she was being too harsh with them. As this was my first day I said nothing and just observed, hoping that Mrs. M’s reactions were caused by her knowledge of the children she had been with for the past 3 weeks.

The one girl, Jenny, didn’t have her picture money and it was picture day. Without her money she would not be able to get an individual picture taken and she was upset when she learned she could not bring it in the next day. Mrs. M told Jenny that she would still be in the class picture but she wouldn’t have a personal portrait taken. She turned away from Jenny and said to me, “Watch there will be tears now”, and then walked away from the girl. At first I thought that this was a bit harsh and that she could have provided Jenny with a possible solution, like going to the office to call one of her parents, but I dared not make that suggestion. I did not know if it was acceptable in this school for the students to go to the office to call their parents for something like this.

Within minutes Jenny began to cry. Her face turned red, and all I could think of was that this little girl was going to be in her class picture with teary, swollen eyes and nose and a red face. Before Mrs. M began her first lesson she told Jenny several times to calm down, stop overeating, to pull herself together, and that she has to stop reacting like this all the time. I deal with children at my job everyday. Although I am not in the classroom with them I am the one who handles discipline problems, upset stomachs, and children waiting for their parents to pick them up. I frequently see the children work themselves up towards a potential melt down and try to circumvent it by taking their minds off of whatever is bothering them. But Mrs. M just continued with her daily routine and ignored Jenny. After about 45 minutes, Jenny raised her hand and asked to go to the office to call her dad to see if he could bring the picture money, and to my surprise Mrs. M allowed her to go. I couldn’t help but wonder why Mrs. M did not make this suggestion to Jenny sooner. I know that sometimes children overreact to things, but I thought that it was the responsibility of the teacher to help children work through it when the situation was at hand. I also understand that this is not always possible, but when faced with such a small problem that was causing such distress I would hope that there would be enough time to present a potential solution to the problem. In the end I was happy that Jenny found her our solution, I just felt bad for her.

The second thing I observed within in these few minutes that bothered me was conversation between Mrs. M and another student, Samantha. It was evident to me that this girl was a bit scattered. Her books and paper were thrown in her desk and some were hanging out. Her back pack was stuffed with school work and she was struggling to get it unpacked. As she was empting out the crumbled papers from her bag Mrs. M approached her about a worksheet that she had apparently lost earlier in the week. Mrs. M held the paper in front of Samantha and asked her in a harsh tone if she knew where Mrs. M had found the paper. Samantha looked up at Mrs. M with her eyes beginning to brim with tears and said she didn’t know. Mrs. M explained that she had found in Samantha’s desk the day before and wanted to know why Samantha was unable to find it herself. Samantha said she didn’t know but that she did look for it. Mrs. M then told her that she better not lie to her anymore. Samantha quickly became defensive and explained that she wasn’t lying and that she did try to find the paper. Mrs. M did not accept this defense, told her it better not happen again and walked away. As she was walking towards me she rolled her eyes in disgust. Again, I did not know Samantha or anything that may have transpired over the past few weeks but I still felt that the situation was handled rather harshly. How could Mrs. M be so certain that this girl did not attempt to look for this paper? It was obvious to me that she was disorganized, and as I observed through the course of the day, Mrs. M moves at a rapid pace there may not have been enough time for Samantha to dig through her desk to find it. Confronting Samantha about finding the missing paper was the right thing to do, but to accuse her of lying was a bit over the top. Maybe this could have been a lesson about being more organized. Maybe Samantha would have to miss recess so she could take the time to organize her desk to avoid future situations like this. This interaction set the tone for Mrs. M and Samantha for the rest of the day.

When Mrs. M broke the children into groups so they could begin their math station review, she explained to one girl that she would be working with her since she was absent. She then began to call out the student’s names according to their groups. Once their name was called they were to proceed to their math station and begin their work. The girl who was absent got her math workbook and began to work while she waited for Mrs. M, but in the back corner stood Samantha, alone. Mrs. M had not called her name, nor instructed her about what she was to do. Again the tears began to swell in Samantha’s eyes. Mrs. M finally acknowledged her by asking why she was just standing there. Samantha explained that her name wasn’t called and she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. The teacher, in a condescending voice, asked her why she was confused because every time the class did math stations she was to work on her own. Samantha just stared at her and then got her workbook and began working.

As I was going around helping the class with their work, I made a point to go check on Samantha. Mrs. M had been focusing all her attention on the absentee girl and had not checked up on the others, including Samantha. As I worked with her I realized that she needed attention, positive attention. She was struggling with her work and explained to me that when she asked her parents for help, they did not understand the work so were unable to assist. I also realized that she did not comprehend the work at hand. She could not remember what was taught in the class, it was almost as if she was never taught this particular lesson. I tried my best to explain it to her, and used a few different approaches. I recognized that to a certain extent she was “not getting it” because she needed my attention, so I suggested that she try the first 5 problems alone and told her I would come back to check on her. I walked away and began to help other students. When I returned a few minutes later she had completed the 5 problems. Some of her answers were wrong, but at least she made an attempt. I asked her how she came up with the answers and then I re-explained the lesson told her try to correct the ones she got wrong and then continue with the next 5 and I would be back. I repeated this throughout the time period, and guess what? By the end of the math station session, she had completed the entire worksheet and answered many of the questions correctly! Mrs. M was surprised. Samantha now had a sense of accomplishment.

As the day progressed I continued to see the tension between Mrs. M and Samantha increase. Upon the class’ return from lunch they were to prepare for their science test. As Samantha went to get her science book and notes, everything fell out of her desk. She tried desperately to put it all back before the test was to begin, but was unable to. Mrs. M chastised her for having things on her desk before a test, even though the child was on the floor obviously trying to clean up. Mrs. M began to select certain students at random to move to another location in the room for the test, one of the students was Samantha. Well, I guess the days events had built up the tension between the two and Samantha had an outburst. She slammed her chair under her desk and raised her voice asking why she had to move, what did Mrs. M think that she was going to cheat? Samantha said everyone in the class knew she was going to fail and that the only reason she was being asked to move was because Mrs. M didn’t like her. A hush fell over the class. Mrs. M paused a moment and then asked Samantha to go into the hallway and wait for her. When she talked in private to Samantha she told her she expected an apology for her outburst and a promise that it would never happen again. When Samantha returned to the class she was crying and began taking her test. I feel that this entire episode was avoidable. If Mrs. M had been more sensitive to her needs and handled certain situations throughout the day with more care Samantha would not have felt Mrs. M’s animosity and not have had an outburst. It is amazing how children can sense how others feel about them.

I learned at the end of the day that Samantha came from a very poor family. Their house was recently condemned due to all the flooding over the past few years and they were forced to move out. As a matter of fact, the next day was Samantha’s last day at this school. I also learned that her parents did not spend enough time with her at home and had personal adult problems they were dealing with. Mrs. M told me that she knew Samantha needed attention but she felt that it was not her job to give it to her. My heart just broke. I could not imagine myself, not now nor when I am a teacher, feeling that it was not my job to give a child attention. I know that you cannot focus all your attention on one student when you have a class of 20, but you could give just a little. This was a valuable lesson for me. If I’m ever faced with a similar situation with a student, I’m certain exacting how I would respond, but I know I would try to be more understanding and kind hearted. I’ve seen a second grade teacher in an Abbot District school with 25 students facing many more obstacles than this one little girl, but the teacher did her utmost best to acknowledge every student and give them individual time. I would like to try to emulate this second grade teacher when I have my own class.