This posting below is taken from the blog Do Not Drink the Paint Water: The Misadventures of One Urban Art Teacher. I am posting this with the author's permission and because she wants, understandably, some help. There has been a tremendous response to this on Facebook's Art Teacher page, but I am hoping we can reach a larger audience who may have suggestions to help her. She teaches at an urban school in Chicago. I think she is very brave for being willing to share her challenges.
What It Is Like To Teach In HELL!
ISAT testing, so my first class is not meeting. Yay, I get my very very dirty tables cleaned for the first time in weeks and I finally get some grading done. There is even time to eat lunch today.
10:45, 5th grade arrives.
11:00 am, The 5th grader who pulled the fire alarm 2 weeks ago and was only suspended for 5 days, sexually assaulted a girl during art. Girl doesn't even understand that when boy grabs her breasts like that she is being violated. Security called to escort them out.
11:25, the 5th grade class has broken all the new crayons and thrown them at one another, I call security to get some control back.
11:50, 3rd grader fight over calling out one anothers mamas, kids sent to office with referral.
12:00, fighting kids returned to art room after being told to be nice(great, that should help, rolling eyes).
12:15, 3rd grader throws up gang signs at me for telling him to sit in his assigned seat.
12:20, school goes on lockdown due to uninvited visitors(several neighborhood gangbangers somehow got into the building and were walking around on the 3rd floor unnoticed until a teacher sees them out his classroom door).
12:40, visitors escorted out and interviewed, arrested by police, (possibly for illegal possession of fire arms and what looked like drugs from the 3rd floor window according to 7th graders).
12:45, 7th grade arrives to swarm the windows to watch the police and discuss who these guys are. 25 minutes to get class into their seats. They actually worked on their art for about 30 minutes(woohoo, success).
1:45, half of 8th grade arrives. I teach my lesson on tessellations. I feel success twice in a day(that never happens). The other half the class shows up and starts swarming me for what to do. I try to re-teach the lesson, but they are having none of it and have now distracted those I had working to start.
2:10, girl and boy start screaming at one another, almost fight, but I kick them out to the hall and am grateful that security is in the hall. A student starts playing music on his phone and refuses to turn it off. I try to get the phone, but no luck. The others in class start breaking pencils and throwing them at one another.
2:30, I put on my coat, get my bag and sit in a chair by the door, ignoring everything happening in my classroom at this point because frankly, I cannot take anymore for the day.
2:45, I get the students out the door and I leave for home. Can't wait to return tomorrow!
10:45, 5th grade arrives.
11:00 am, The 5th grader who pulled the fire alarm 2 weeks ago and was only suspended for 5 days, sexually assaulted a girl during art. Girl doesn't even understand that when boy grabs her breasts like that she is being violated. Security called to escort them out.
11:25, the 5th grade class has broken all the new crayons and thrown them at one another, I call security to get some control back.
11:50, 3rd grader fight over calling out one anothers mamas, kids sent to office with referral.
12:00, fighting kids returned to art room after being told to be nice(great, that should help, rolling eyes).
12:15, 3rd grader throws up gang signs at me for telling him to sit in his assigned seat.
12:20, school goes on lockdown due to uninvited visitors(several neighborhood gangbangers somehow got into the building and were walking around on the 3rd floor unnoticed until a teacher sees them out his classroom door).
12:40, visitors escorted out and interviewed, arrested by police, (possibly for illegal possession of fire arms and what looked like drugs from the 3rd floor window according to 7th graders).
12:45, 7th grade arrives to swarm the windows to watch the police and discuss who these guys are. 25 minutes to get class into their seats. They actually worked on their art for about 30 minutes(woohoo, success).
1:45, half of 8th grade arrives. I teach my lesson on tessellations. I feel success twice in a day(that never happens). The other half the class shows up and starts swarming me for what to do. I try to re-teach the lesson, but they are having none of it and have now distracted those I had working to start.
2:10, girl and boy start screaming at one another, almost fight, but I kick them out to the hall and am grateful that security is in the hall. A student starts playing music on his phone and refuses to turn it off. I try to get the phone, but no luck. The others in class start breaking pencils and throwing them at one another.
2:30, I put on my coat, get my bag and sit in a chair by the door, ignoring everything happening in my classroom at this point because frankly, I cannot take anymore for the day.
2:45, I get the students out the door and I leave for home. Can't wait to return tomorrow!
What advice can you offer her?
I teach art in somewhat of an urban environment in the South Suburbs of Chicago. I find that sometimes it is more important to focus on establishing relationships with students and speaking to them about what their issues are with each other than what my actual lessons are for that day. God knows what these kids have going on at home. I seem to be able to establish relationships with the kids and, in return, they enjoy coming to art and seeing what I have to teach them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment!
DeleteIt is difficult, I went through a simular situation...I also had students that had emotionally disturbed issues. I was ducking flying chairs, anything that wasnt nailed down. The principle told me I had to keep teaching the lesson no matter what was going on around me. With the mainstreamed students there were times I was successful, through not allowing the students to show disrespect reinforcing positive behavior. Having the students chanting "I know I can." Because not a lot thought they could do Art. This worked quite well on three fronts, they were under peer pressure to chant and they expelled energy and they began to believe they could create Art.. I made arrangements with a teacher who was a strict disciplinarian to take the really disruly children into her room. Those were on report to their regular classroom teacher. I had to write referrals which at times equaled too many because the students could only get so many until they were suspended. So I held detentions after school... as far as the crayons: I brought in plastic containers for all the tables. If the crayons were broken then that was fine, you can do a lot with broken crayons. What bothered me though as a new teacher was when students purposely messed up the new watercolors paints. I asked the kids and they said they learned to do this in head start so no one would want to use them and they protected their ability to have a good tin of watercolors. So it is not easy to overcome culture. I taught for three years. The kids actually grew to.love me because I did not allow them to get away with any bad behavior. . The students and I learned from each other. I began teaching at the age of 63 and retired at the age of 66. The kids cried when I told them I was retiring. I looked like their grandmother sometimes that helped or sometimes it didnt. I made my dream come true (becoming an Art Teacher) it took me 23 years to graduate with an art degree not even art education. So I had to learn all the discipline and classroom techniques on my own. I observed other teachers in their classrooms whenever I could. I took all the workshops that I could find. One thing I hold dear is my teaching certificate and I was not about to let anyone steal my dream or turn it into a nightmare. I retired because my husband is in poor health and not because I couldnt take anymore from children's behavior. The important issue is why do you want to teacher? I said I know I can alot, too. It helps. Never Give up, never Give in.
ReplyDeleteDonna Hirsekorn
Thank you Donna. I am totally going to try the "I know I can" chant, especially with the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. They lack so much confidence and I know much of the poor behavior is from fear of failure.
DeleteDonna gave me permission to post her comments here.
ReplyDeleteI was a little frustrated to see some less-than kind people talking about this post on FB this morning. So, I wrote about my feelings about it -as an Art teacher in an at-risk environment- here: http://artfulartsyamy.blogspot.com/2014/03/try-little-tenderness.html
ReplyDeleteI've also written quite a bit about how I manage behavior at my school. . .If the author is seeking advice, some of these might be helpful:
http://artfulartsyamy.blogspot.com/2013/12/classroom-management-in-art-room-when.html
http://artfulartsyamy.blogspot.com/2013/04/lets-talk-classroom-management-in-at.html
http://artfulartsyamy.blogspot.com/2013/04/pt-1-at-risk-classroom-management-rules.html
http://artfulartsyamy.blogspot.com/2013/04/pt-2-at-risk-classroom-management.html
http://artfulartsyamy.blogspot.com/2013/04/pt-3-at-risk-classroom-management.html
I would say the single most helpful part of managing behavior in Really Tough Environments is cultivating a community that is both a listening ear (when needed) and a source of helpful information (when needed). I've had some pretty amazing master teachers (who also worked in frustrating environments) who have shored me up and helped me along. You really need people who are willing to listen and people who "get" it.
The original author -or anyone who is struggling- is more than welcome anytime to email me. I promise to listen and try to help (if help is wanted). I also totally understand that sometimes you just really need to vent it out too. Sometimes, we discover our own answers by talking or writing it out.
artful.artsy.amy@gmail.com
My Best.
Thanks for your comments. I am hoping the teacher will feel the support and help of the art education community. Many of us have been in her shoes at some time. The first year I taught middle school, I was not absent for the whole year because I was afraid to be!
DeleteI teach in both an urban and suburban private school. My classes are smaller than the ones mentioned, but I still experience some of the issues of students fighting and throwing crayons. In November, I was hit in the nose with and ipad when a student took a classroom ipad from another student. I just happened to be in the middle of them. I could see that the student was especially anxious as soon he walked in to my room. I had trouble getting him to settle down, and I knew something bad was going to happen. I was so frustrated and stressed out with the situation, that I went home and took the next day off. I rarely take any days off. I was frustrated because I finally felt like I was having a good year in the urban school, and that everything was going to go downhill from this day on. About a week later, I was laughing with another student about a funny picture I took that was on my ipad, and the student looked at me and quietly said, I'm glad that you came back". I felt like it was one of the nicest thing anyone ever said to me.
ReplyDeleteAs for the student who hit me, he never apologized verbally, or with a written note. Due to his class' behavior overall, the principal and middle school teachers are now working on ways to create empathy among the students. Sports activities and lessons are being planned to build confidence in the students, and to help them work better with their classmates.
Being an art teacher requires a lot of hard work. Writing lesson plans, grading, tough schedules, and trying to come up with classroom management systems that will work for several classes, not just one. I am also an art on a cart teacher for the urban school this year. My days require me to change floors after each class, so the next day I am pretty tired and sore. I often ask myself why and how long I will be able to teach mentally and physically, since I am approaching 50. I think the reason is the kids at my urban school are very creative and I love trying to bring their creativity out of them. That's why I still teach. The teacher that originally posted the article will have to ask herself the same question. Why am I doing this? She has to look back on the year and see what she has accomplished so far. I usually take pictures of my student's work, which helps me to see what I have accomplished. I also like to save notes and cards from students to read on those tough days. They make me feel better. The teacher should also have some way to distress once she gets home. I have an electric fireplace that I find soothing, and I keep the bright lights off. My kids are loud and my days busy. I need quiet time.
As far as the negative teacher's comments, I have to say there are different types of teachers. Teachers with a lot of confidence, some that have been teaching long enough to feel somewhat confident, and teachers who are not very confident, and question their career choice. The confident ones are the teachers in the faculty room that talk about themselves constantly at lunch, saying I did this today, I did that today, or "wait until I have that class next year." That's when I usually excuse myself and go get ready for my afternoon classes. My point is, the last thing a teacher needs that is not feeling confident, is an overconfident teacher talking about themselves. It's a good thing to give advice, but another to brag. I think all teachers fall in to these different categories on different days. Do any of us really have the right answer? No, but we can communicate our ideas to each other. Everyone's teaching experience is different.
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Delete*de-stress
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