Inferior Imitator

ep·i·gone n. A second-rate imitator or follower, especially of an artist or a philosopher.

Friday, October 31, 2008

I was Right - Now What?

I was right about the approach: last night, the first thing I did was lay out the expectations. Testing is six weeks away, there are only five classes left after this one, this is what you need to know, we need to buckle down and work hard and be quiet while instructors are teaching and if we do, we'll have time for games at the end of class. I haven't seen a class do so well this semester. We even did line drills, which are the hardest thing for kids to do and not talk, and they were quiet. V showed up to teach last night (she's only really scheduled for Mondays), and I thought it was a great opportunity to point out the difference in results. But when I talked to her about it, she said "Oh? I wasn't paying attention." and pretty much dismissed me.

Now I've had "issues" with V. in the past - she wears her sleeves rolled up, which is not the proper way to wear a uniform, and she was dismissive of me when I mentioned it. While that rankled me, I mentioned it to the head instructor and let it go, because I didn't feel it was worth pursuing. But yesterday I ran into a parent of a couple of the kids - long time participants and really good kids - and she expressed her concern to me as well, because the boys want to quit because they don't like her. That reinforced my impression that V. relies too much on punishment and not enough on discipline, and that the kids aren't reacting well. These are my kids and I'm not going to let it go.

I think I'm going to try one more time to talk to her, and be a little less diplomatic in my approach. I don't have high hopes given my experience with her, but on the other hand, I didn't mention that a parent had talked to me, either. I want to fully make sure she understands the depth of my concern before I talk to either Norpel or Ashton. Wish me luck.

Edit: I realized I wanted to talk a bit more about my teaching philosophy in this post...I rely more than most on positive reinforcement. I try to offer compliments on a job well done as much as I do correction. I don't do a good job of remembering whom I've complimented and whom I've corrected, and I've been working on trying to make sure that each student gets a good balance of each, and not just the class as a whole. I try to notice when a student has improved - like last night I mentioned to Matt how much his front stances have improved, and he just glowed. I try to compliment when a student realizes he or she made a mistake and corrects it without prompting. I also say "I can tell you've been practicing that" - and the kid is proud because his or her hard work paid off, both in the form of improved techinque and recoginition of the time and effort. I know this works, because I see improvement, and I see other kids work harder and correct themselves when I offer a compliment to one of their classmates.

So when someone else comes in with the complete opposite teaching style - yelling and excessive pushups as punishment for not obeying her expectations that I don't think she's established appropriately for that particular age group - to the extent that kids want to quit after two of her classes...it just makes me sick to my stomach.

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8 Antiphon:

10:46 AM, October 31, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous

Yikes. She sounds like a nightmare. Punishment does not work! Ever! Consequences work. It drives me nuts that people do not understand the difference.

 
11:38 AM, October 31, 2008, Blogger Chelsea

I hope you can figure things out. I wonder what my teaching style/philosophy is? You have to be firm but also positive and encouraging, which is definitely I never really thought about it.

 
11:43 AM, October 31, 2008, Blogger Chelsea

Ok, not sure what I was typing there. I think my cursor got misplaced and then I accidentally hit "enter"....Anyway, I was trying to say you have to find a balance b/t being firm to encourage discipline yet be positive and encouraging. Maybe that's my philosophy. Hmmm...

 
4:46 PM, October 31, 2008, Blogger Ems

You also have to realize the age group you are working with. Developmentally, it has been shown that kids do not respond to an approach like V's, because they aren't "wired" like that. Not for a long term result anyway. Positive reinforcment helps childrem build self esteem. I appluad your philosophy. BTW, what kind of name is V?

 
8:43 PM, October 31, 2008, Blogger Laurie

Geez...can't we just make "V"...disappear, or something?

 
10:21 AM, November 01, 2008, Blogger allison

You sound like a wonderful teacher! Positive reinforcement is pretty much always the most successful way to teach a child. Add that to setting achievable expectations and holding to it, and you have the mix for kids to learn and feel good. Yelling and punishment just create bad mojo and rarely lead to positive results. Good luck with your talk. However, I suspect V will not get it and you will have to take it to the next level.

 
4:36 AM, November 02, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous

I think the kids wanting to leave her class sums it all up, really.

She sounds like a real bag of fun.

On the plus side, I'm glad that the kids enjoy your classes, and that they actually took on board what you were saying this week. I wish I could teach my reading group more like you! (They are really enthusiastic, but sometimes it's hard to get them to Shut Up and Listen.)

 
3:06 PM, November 02, 2008, Blogger CosmicAvatar

I hope something can be done about V, as she's clearly not on the right track.

 

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