I have dealt with students since I began teaching who think they have the right to take anything that they fancy. I have had my cell phone stolen, colorful pens, doodads, (we won't even discuss money), candy, whatever.
I was raised that the definition for that behavior is "theft." My students tell me I should know better than to have (fill in the blank) at the school.
Today a student left her phone on the desk. She came to me after the next class had been there to ask if I had seen her phone. Her teacher had not let her come down during the class to get her phone.
I hadn't seen the phone, but I knew who had been sitting there. Went to where the 1st boy was - he pointed to a second boy. Went to the second boy - he told me where the third boy was and told me the first boy had the phone. Went back to the classroom (since first and third boy were in the same class) and told them I needed to see them in the hall - at which point third boy hands me the phone. (
Now, he gets brownie points for giving up the phone, but whose jackaninny idea was it to take the phone in the first place? It's not like they didn't know it wasn't theirs.
The Small Subtle Poisons
5 hours ago
5 comments:
Absolutely ridiculous...sounds like elementary school...yet, I assume this is HS?
Oh, yeah - although the similarity to kindergarten is astounding. They have no self control. They wasn nap time. They think they need recess. They want to draw.....
Finally, a point where we differ! My classes were scrupulously honest. I would lay my keys down all over the classroom and they were always right where i left them unless I started sceaming, "where are my keys," and one of the kids would point to where I left them. I had all kinds of equipment that the kids would use and return. This went on for years, until last year. I had one class made up of non-Academy kids who were so dishonest, but they always took care of my stuff.
Oh, they won't steal my keys, my coffee, my flash drive. But "sparklies" that grab their attention - gone.
You make it sound so simple. It's truly a no-brainer. In the schools where I work, if you don't literally hold on to it, it's going to disappear. That's the life I've been trained to accept in a world where people have no qualms about taking whatever they want. Thanks for the reminder that this is not normal.
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