Comments on: Update on the little girl

By: Linda

Linda — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 17:48:00 +0000

Yeah, canceling recess is a bad idea, but I also just hate, hate, hate the idea of group punishment.

I feel for teachers, though, I honestly have no idea how I would control a large group of children who aren’t much interested in sitting still and listening to something they aren’t particularly interested in, much less how to discipline them.

By: Running2Ks

Running2Ks — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 04:28:00 +0000

Geez, did the teacher just miss discipline 101 or what? Of course, I grew up in the days where spanking, paddling, and duckwalking were allowed. So this is better–but she is in for it!

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 18:29:00 +0000

I know, everyone makes mistakes. And Miss Smith is on a steep learning curve right now. I know from my husband’s experience that student teaching does not prepare you very well for the real thing. And she clearly has her heart in the right place.

Still, one of the points I meant to make in the original post was the surprising fact that my daughter even mentioned this. She does not usually give such detailed reports about her day. And in fact, after she told the story she said (so sweetly), “But maybe that’s not what she said. Maybe I wasn’t paying very close attention.” Pause. “But I was looking right at her when she said it.” Interesting that this incident made such an impression on her.

I will be helping in the classroom once a week. I’ll keep you posted.

By: Mummy/Crit

Mummy/Crit — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 15:55:00 +0000

Golly, what a hard one! Sounds like the new teacher needs some mentoring, or a hand…my response would probably be to get in and make friends with her, and see if I could give her a hand from there. I agree with everyone who has commented here saying that punishing the wole class is not the best of ideas, and that punishing by taking away their down time is even less of a good idea, but then to realise it half-way, and instead of saying “oh, OK, I shouldn’t have said that” and back down with an apology to say “one more and _then_ you get the punishment”…yikes…kids need discipline, and adult leadership from the adults, and part of that is admitting mistakes, aplogising and fixing them up.

Good discussion topic Julie, thanks for having an interesting life for us!

Looks liek the word verification is keeping the spam down…

By: purple_kangaroo

purple_kangaroo — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 09:59:00 +0000

Wow, that would be tough to respond to as a parent. What did you say to your daughter about it?