Just got back from Hebrew School
Oct. 17th, 2004 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xiphiasVery mixed day. Some things worked well, some things didn't. Tamara was out sick, so I had the class to myself. She'd also done, last week, most of what I'd been considering doing this week -- she phoned this morning to let me know she was sick and all, so I got a debrief of last week, and redid my class prep.
Since Tamara was sick, we started off making get well cards. I need to drop them off to her -- they're really nice cards. The kids are genuinely good and loving folks, one and all -- that worked well. But Julian made a comment that it was very quiet the past week, because more than half of the kids weren't there. Anessia took this personally, and felt that Julian was saying that class went better when she wasn't there. Which, I don't think, was anything like what he was intending to say. But Annessia kept acting up and seeming to be trying to get me to send her out of the room -- which WOULD have made things easier for me and for the rest of the class, but I didn't have anywhere to send her, and I didn't want to get rid of her, either.
Annessia is really having a tough time with Hebrew school, and I'm not sure why. It seems to be an identity thing for her. She feels overwhelmed by having to learn Spanish AND Hebrew, but I don't really think it's just the amount of work -- I think SHE thinks it's just the amount of work, but, to me, it feels more that she's not sure WHAT she is or where she fits in. I need to talk to Rafi about this -- I've got some ideas about talking about Jews around the world and bringing in Ladino and the great flowering of Spanish Judaism, but I don't want to overdo it or take time away from other kids.
Naturally, Julian and Anessia ended up setting each other off behavior-wise. Not in a hostile way -- instead, I really got the feeling that they were acting up almost as a bonding method -- Julian felt bad about making Annessia feel bad, so that naturally ended up with the two of them putting chairs on their backs and pretending to be turtles to cement their friendship. I can understand it, but it's really disruptive to the rest of the class, and I'm not sure how to deal with it. I can stop them from doing stuff for short periods of time, but it requires my direct attention. And Rafi, of course, was teaching Tamara's class so wasn't available.
Things were pretty muich rough all day. Hebrew actually went, in some ways, a little smoother, and in others, much, much rougher. Annessia has REALLY been fighting the Hebrew part of class a LOT. We tend to do three things in the Hebrew section -- copying words into notebooks (writing practice), reading stuff out loud (decodng practice), and games (speaking practice). Annessia and Julian both really hate writing, and Shayna claims to, but I notice that pretty much everyone else either doesn't mind, or actually likes it. Max, for instance, likes it because it's got defined goals and he knows what to do, and does it well. He's not the fastest at writing, but he can do it, and it looks good, so he feels comfortable with it. Eli is good at writing, if very sloppy, and so enjoys it. Emma and Ella both appear not to mind it.
Decoding practice, on the other hand, Max hates, because he has a lot of trouble with it. Ella does well with it if she's given a chance, but she's quiet so it's easy for people to step on her. Annessia pretty much refuses to participate, as does Julian, and, well, when they decide to refuse to participate in concert, that's when you get turtles playing Go Fish.
We did a couple fun things with the mah zeh game -- I actually passed around one of the smaller chairs which everyone thought was funny, and then Shayna asked, "How do you say 'hat' in Hebrew?" I told her, then she put the chair on her head and said, "zeh kovah." That was pretty funny.
I love my class. I want them all to be happy and to feel safe and enjoy being there. And to learn a lot. And it's not always easy to get all those to happen at once.
Since Tamara was sick, we started off making get well cards. I need to drop them off to her -- they're really nice cards. The kids are genuinely good and loving folks, one and all -- that worked well. But Julian made a comment that it was very quiet the past week, because more than half of the kids weren't there. Anessia took this personally, and felt that Julian was saying that class went better when she wasn't there. Which, I don't think, was anything like what he was intending to say. But Annessia kept acting up and seeming to be trying to get me to send her out of the room -- which WOULD have made things easier for me and for the rest of the class, but I didn't have anywhere to send her, and I didn't want to get rid of her, either.
Annessia is really having a tough time with Hebrew school, and I'm not sure why. It seems to be an identity thing for her. She feels overwhelmed by having to learn Spanish AND Hebrew, but I don't really think it's just the amount of work -- I think SHE thinks it's just the amount of work, but, to me, it feels more that she's not sure WHAT she is or where she fits in. I need to talk to Rafi about this -- I've got some ideas about talking about Jews around the world and bringing in Ladino and the great flowering of Spanish Judaism, but I don't want to overdo it or take time away from other kids.
Naturally, Julian and Anessia ended up setting each other off behavior-wise. Not in a hostile way -- instead, I really got the feeling that they were acting up almost as a bonding method -- Julian felt bad about making Annessia feel bad, so that naturally ended up with the two of them putting chairs on their backs and pretending to be turtles to cement their friendship. I can understand it, but it's really disruptive to the rest of the class, and I'm not sure how to deal with it. I can stop them from doing stuff for short periods of time, but it requires my direct attention. And Rafi, of course, was teaching Tamara's class so wasn't available.
Things were pretty muich rough all day. Hebrew actually went, in some ways, a little smoother, and in others, much, much rougher. Annessia has REALLY been fighting the Hebrew part of class a LOT. We tend to do three things in the Hebrew section -- copying words into notebooks (writing practice), reading stuff out loud (decodng practice), and games (speaking practice). Annessia and Julian both really hate writing, and Shayna claims to, but I notice that pretty much everyone else either doesn't mind, or actually likes it. Max, for instance, likes it because it's got defined goals and he knows what to do, and does it well. He's not the fastest at writing, but he can do it, and it looks good, so he feels comfortable with it. Eli is good at writing, if very sloppy, and so enjoys it. Emma and Ella both appear not to mind it.
Decoding practice, on the other hand, Max hates, because he has a lot of trouble with it. Ella does well with it if she's given a chance, but she's quiet so it's easy for people to step on her. Annessia pretty much refuses to participate, as does Julian, and, well, when they decide to refuse to participate in concert, that's when you get turtles playing Go Fish.
We did a couple fun things with the mah zeh game -- I actually passed around one of the smaller chairs which everyone thought was funny, and then Shayna asked, "How do you say 'hat' in Hebrew?" I told her, then she put the chair on her head and said, "zeh kovah." That was pretty funny.
I love my class. I want them all to be happy and to feel safe and enjoy being there. And to learn a lot. And it's not always easy to get all those to happen at once.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-19 09:35 am (UTC)It's always hard to deal with the kids who act out (even if their acting out isn't hostile or violent). However, kids always act out for a reason, and, as the teacher, it is easiest to find out that reason through talking to the child about his/her behavior.
In this case I have a suggestion:
1) create a lesson in such a way that the children will all be working quietly (preferably individually, but small groups or pairs are okay), and give yourself enough time for this assignment so that you can pull out each "disruptive" child individually.
2) talk to each "disruptive" child individually (not as a pair--part of this is due to child psychology. It's easier to keep "secrets" from adults if you have a partner).
3) ask each child about his/her reasoning for this behavior. It is important that the child questioned knows that their answer is valid and important, and that they will *not* get in trouble for answering. It's also important that the child knows that their behavior is disruptive to the rest of the class. After the child has talked about why he/she is behaving in this fashion, let the child be a part of the solution by asking how *we* can improve his/her behavior in class. Make sure to stress how important it is that all the students work together to maintain the good atmosphere that *we* have developed in this classroom. Work with the child's ideas for improvement. Keep in mind you may have to make some suggestions as well (not all children are good at evaluating their own behavior and improving upon it).
4) Let the children who are an issue work on their behavior on their own first. If their behavior does not improve, try giving them specific tasks which call for some responsibility (example: Julian, from now on it's your job to pass out the reading books). Make sure this is seen as a priviledge and not a punishment. Children who are given responsibilities in the classroom often behave better, since they know that their job is important.
I hope this helps!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-19 01:54 pm (UTC)I feel such love for you. :)