This incident occurred on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at about 11:30 during 4th period (the school was on a alternative schedule due to Benchmark testing). At this time my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Teacher, was running an errand and was not in the classroom. I had placed the students in small groups of three to four individuals to complete the graphic organizers at the front of sections one and two of chapter 16 in the textbook. They were to work quietly with each other. All was going well when Student #1 asked for some help. I went over to his group and asked something to the effect of, “What’s up?” He was working with two other male students. He replied that he did not understand what we were supposed to be doing and I repeated the instructions of drawing the graphic organizer on a blank sheet of copy paper and going through the sections and writing down the information required on the graphic organizer. I asked if he understood the instructions and if he was okay with the explanation or something to that effect. He said okay and I walked away.
A little later, as I was walking around I saw that he was doing nothing and had the words “I’m not doing it” written across the top of his copy paper. I asked him if he was done and he said no. I asked if he was going to do it at home and he said no. I asked if he was just not going to do it and he said no. I said, “So, you’re not gonna do it uh?” He repeated that he wasn’t going to do it and I said, “Well, as long as you’re not going to do it why don’t you go ahead and draw this circle,” motioning to the graphic organizer, “and draw this cross in the circle” and now write each of these words next to each quarter of the circle.” As he wrote the words his handwriting was getting sloppier and sloppier until it was illegible. Growing increasingly frustrated by the time he finished this portion I simply took up the paper and told him that we would discuss this further when Mrs. Teacher returned and he said, “okay” and I walked away.
When Mrs. Teacher returned I handed her the paper and noticed the letters “Fu” at the top of the paper after the words “I’m not doing it.” It appeared as if he was expressing his aggravation and frustration with the letters “F. U.” (Decorum prevents me from spelling it out). I informed Mrs. Teacher of what happened and she called Student #1 out of the room and eventually the other two boys as well. What ultimately came out of these discussions is that Student #1 had not written anything along the top of the paper but that Student #2 had written what Student #1 had said. As for the letters “Fu” they were part of the phrase “Kong Fu” (sic). Mrs. Teacher, nor myself, had noticed the word “Kong” (sic) written immediately above the words “doing it.”
Initially, Mrs. Teacher was going to write Student #2 up on a disciplinary referral for writing the letters “Fu” but when it was discovered they were part of the phrase “Kong Fu” (sic) no referral was written. Mrs. Teacher did ask Student #2 not to sit with Student #1 or the other boy anymore during small group activities. Nothing more came of the incident except for my own edification.
The dilemma was simple and straightforward: I saw his stubbornness to do the work as a struggle with my authority. As I stood there thinking of what to do, I considered what I would do if my own son had done this and I proceeded with what I would have done. Ultimately, this failed because I cannot force a child to do his class work if he/she really does not want to. The incident is significant but there was nothing to reinforce. Instead what will be reinforced is what I learned from it.
I immediately realized my error as I saw the student start to quiver as he wrote. I should have simply stepped aside with him and encouraged him to continue with the work and worked through one of the problems with him. Aside from that, I should have done nothing. I was told by Mrs. Teacher and the team leader, you cannot make a student do class work and they cannot be given a disciplinary referral for not doing the work. Realizing what I would have done differently is what I did learn from it. I did not yell at the student or raise my voice so that others could hear what was going on. I do not even know if anyone else knew that something was going on. I am glad I did not embarrass him in front of his classmates, as far as I know.
I do not know if anything in my Teacher Education Program (TEP) trained me for what I was supposed to do in such an event. I knew from being in the military and being a father not to raise my voice or to embarrass him in front of others. I tried to respect him as I wanted to be respected but to gently prod him into doing the work. I suppose the TEP reinforced the ideas of not raising my voice or embarrassing him in front of others. I really had no idea that a student can simply refuse to do work and there is really nothing you can do about it as long as he is not raising a commotion.
I did learn that in his next period he was sent to one of the assistant principals for misbehavior and refusal to do any work. The next day he showed up to school and attempted to gain access to his brother’s 6th grade classroom and called that teacher a name and was written up. Additionally, I discovered that he had threatened this teacher earlier in the year and he is, in general, a troublemaker. While he came to school the next day he did not show up in class and I heard he may have been sent to ISS or home.
