A day of contrasts...

Today has felt like the longest day ever...

It started at 9am with the teenagers. They were lively as always but on the whole they were well behaved and very hard working. Throughout this mornings lesson one of the female students (Student A) was sat on a table with one male (Student B) and two other females (Students C and D). Another female student (Student E) was sat on the table next to them. B worked very hard and was well behaved throughout the lesson, C and D worked hard and were quiet throughout.

A was badly behaved throughout. I repeatedly asked her to put her phone/music away and to stop shouting across the room. At one point a student from another group walked into the room and spoke to A but I asked her to leave. A maintained that she did not know who the girl was.

Halfway through the lesson A raised her voice again and I asked her to be quiet. E came to me and said A was picking on her and that she wanted to leave the class. I asked her not to leave and asked her instead to move tables and work with another student on their past tense stories. I also asked A to be quiet and to leave E alone.

At the end I dismissed the class and was with another student at the back of the room when A threw a dictionary across the room at one of the boys. I reprimanded her for this and asked her to leave. A couple of minutes later I was still with the student at the back of the room when I saw the Head of SfL in the doorway reprimanding one of the boys and saying she never wanted to hear that word again (I later found out that one of the boys had called A a bitch but I had not heard this at the time).

Now all students involved have been asked to write a report on what happened. A, along with C and D maintains that the student who called her a bitch had been bullying them but I find this very hard to believe. I believe instead that he was provoked. It has also become clear that A threatened and intimidated E and this is being dealt with as a seperate case.

So what have I learned from the incident?

1. I need to be more aware of what is going on in the room. I had a large number of students who required my time today and I managed to assist them all but I do not feel I had control on what was happening in other areas of the class.
2. I need to ensure I am at the door and vigilant when the class is being dismissed.
3. The class need reminding of the ground rules that were set at the start of the year. There have been clear breaks in these rules.

It was highly stressful and I was pleased to have the support of my mentor and many other members of the department who know what the class are like and have been in similar situations.

The contrast? I had to cover two classes today for a colleague who has taken leave due to bereavement. I took his E2 class straight after my E2 Fastrack teenagers. They were a pleasure to teach, the class was relaxed, hard-working and engaged throughout. Tonight I also covered his E3 class. They were all adults and again a real pleasure to work with. Sometimes it can be awkward to provide cover to a class you have never met however they warmed to me straight away and made my life much easier. Thank you to both classes for reminding me about why I'm doing this job!