Rain Day = Crazy Day

So today I had my first experience in my block where I had to raise my voice with my students. For some people this may be deemed traumatic, but I thought that today at Stevensville was probably the most beneficial day I have ever had, and the biggest learning experience.

The day started off with the scariest experience of my life- the office buzzed down to ask us to send a child down to the office (my student with ADHD)...but he had not come to class...At first we didnt think anything of this, but then the secretary came to our room in a panic (thinking out teacher was kidding when he said he was not in class) and explained to us that the boy's father was at the school to drop something off to him- and he was the one who had dropped him off at the school this morning. This is where the panic set in- we had an 8 year old boy with ADHD missing- I searched the whole school and finally, after putting an annoucement on the PA system, he emerged from the bathroom he had been hiding in. His reasoning for this scare? "I hate school and its boring"...

The rest of the morning went quite smoothly: the kids had a spelling test, I did some PM Benchmark testing with them, they had a science test...and then things started to go a bit downhill. After informing a boy that he could not stay indoors for recess to colour a picture, he threw his chair. Now, he's in grade 3 and the sweetest child in the world, and I dont think he really MEANT to act up- but he did. I was in the room with him and did not raise my voice but calmly told him to pick up his chair, and he apologized.

Then, during recess, a boy in the class slapped a girl in the face...This same boy about an hour earlier had grabbed another child (with force) and tried to throw him into the recycling bin-while both myself and my teacher were in the room, he did not see what happened; I did. For this reason, I felt it was appropriate for myself to handle the situation. I raised my voice, told him to let go of the other child, apologize, and reminded him that we keep our hands to ourselves in the classroom (using the statement in a positive way instead of saying "dont touch other students"). As a side note, my teacher was extremely impressed and proud of me for handling the situation appropriately because he "didnt think I had it in me" (the raising of the voice).

The end of the day resulted in even more rambunctiousness on the part of the students, and it resulted in my teacher raising his voice (loudly) with his entire class (which he almost NEVER does). He explained to me that some days (Friday afternoons/indoor recess days), the kids simply have a "bad day" and get out of hand. They also take advantage of the situation, so the teacher sometimes has to raise their voice to remind the students of where they are, and to remind them to respect their teacher (and one another). I thought it was a very valuable lesson that I learned today- I did not like to have to raise my voice, and I know most of us hope that we never have to- but today I realized that sometimes it is okay to do so if you have tried other tactics and they do not work- I do not agree with teachers constantly yelling and raising their voices with their students on a daily basis, but once in a while when the students are having one of those "bad days" and they need to be reminded that they are in school and are there to learn and show respect, then I think that it is acceptable, if done properly (and fairly).