The Blue Sheet
I think I should get back to the things I learned in my first experience at RCC as a teaching assistant. I want to make sure that I don't forget anything so that I'm prepared if/when I have to fill out the application forms to teacher's college.
One of the measures of discipline that was used throughout the school was called "the blue sheet". This method consisted of a child filling out a form that was printed on a blue sheet of paper. The form had the child explain what they had done wrong to warrant the use of the form, and it gave them an opportunity to explain their side of things, especially if the problem involved a fight with another student. I think back now on this method of correcting children's behaviour, and I think that ultimately it wasn't an effective means to discipline. I don't think the use of the blue sheet was properly governed, and even though kids understood that the mention of the blue sheet meant they were in big trouble, it wasn't a threat serious enough to manage the students within the school. It tended to quiet them down for the time being, but I never got the sense that the kids had learned anything from their mistakes, especially since the blue sheet had had to be used more than once for the more disrepectful students. To me those sheets were an emergency measure for frazzled teachers instead of a behaviour modification/learning tool, and I can't help but question the true effectiveness of such an approach. In the case of the teacher I worked with, she couldn't manage the class in such a way that the students knew exactly where they should be and what they should be doing at all times. That was part of the problem, and one that the blue sheet did not ultimately rememdy.
There was one incident in particular that I believed to be an improper use of the blue sheet, and I felt it in my gut immediately. I was outside with the class about to start a game of soccer-baseball. There was one girl in the class who often behaved pretty badly, who was disrepectful and pushy, and who you could tell was often quite angry. There was no joy in those eyes. I knew that she didn't come from the most supportive of households, from what the teacher had told me, and I remembered having seen her once at the local market doing the grocery shopping by herself for the family. She was only 11 years old. Anyway, she refused to participate in the game "just because" and no matter how much the teacher yelled at her, she wouldn't change her mind. Having quickly gotten to the end of her rope with this girl, the teacher asked me to take her inside to fill out a blue sheet and leave her at the office. I knew immediately that the teacher was misusing the blue sheet as quick end to her outrage at this kid's disobedience, and I could tell that the girl felt a kind of injustice, as did I. I walked her across the field and tried to talk to her a little, saying things like, "so, I take it you've gotten these blue sheets a few times, huh? So why didn't you want to play out there?". Needless to say she had no reason to trust me so she didn's say much, but she was definitely quite upset at what was going on, and her anger and sadness could be seen in her red, teary eyes. I mean, the kid didn't want to play a game with the rest of the kids, but does that really warrant being punished like that, having the incident put in her file and dealt with by the principal's office? Especially since it was blatantly obvious that this kid has serious emotional issues at home. Disobedience is one thing if it means a child can get hurt or hurt someone else, but refusing to participate in a game is not that bad when clearly there is a problem underlying her behaviour that has been there for a long time. Had I been in the teacher's place I would have asked me to escort her inside and have her work on an assignment, or let her sit and watch the game, then talk to her about it later. Instead she was disciplined harshly for a fairly small infracture, which cemented her unwillingness to cooperate and communicate in future situations. I seriously doubt the teacher ended up having a serious talk with the student about her behaviour. Given that she lectured the entire class for poor behaviour (at least weekly) instead of discussing it with them individually (they were old enough to discuss their behaviour), not to mention learning how to actually manage the classroom, I had put very little faith in how this teacher followed up on a blue sheet.
I'd like to add that I do understand the frustration teachers go through on a daily basis. And the kids are very good at pushing your buttons. I could see that this teacher really wanted to see her students succeed, but she wasn't willing to actually put in the effort to teach instead of simply "survive", as Dr. Harry Wong puts it. It wasn't an accident that the students who filled most of the spots in the after-school tutoring programme that I also worked with came from her classroom. After that year the co-ordinators had to put a quota on the number of students per class who would be tutored. She simply did not have the management skills, the energy or the confidence to host the kind of learning environment that these kids so desperately needed (and often hadn't gotten from previous teachers in that school). I am someone who can lose patience easily, but sometimes it's just not an option and a teacher with any kind of experience needs to at least know that. When it comes to children, my patience has to stay in check no matter what, and I'm glad to say that it does. A bad day is one thing, several bad weeks literally changes the way these kids respect treat you as teacher, which directly affects how much they learn.
I will talk more about my own experience when I taught this class in groups of four sometime soon.
One of the measures of discipline that was used throughout the school was called "the blue sheet". This method consisted of a child filling out a form that was printed on a blue sheet of paper. The form had the child explain what they had done wrong to warrant the use of the form, and it gave them an opportunity to explain their side of things, especially if the problem involved a fight with another student. I think back now on this method of correcting children's behaviour, and I think that ultimately it wasn't an effective means to discipline. I don't think the use of the blue sheet was properly governed, and even though kids understood that the mention of the blue sheet meant they were in big trouble, it wasn't a threat serious enough to manage the students within the school. It tended to quiet them down for the time being, but I never got the sense that the kids had learned anything from their mistakes, especially since the blue sheet had had to be used more than once for the more disrepectful students. To me those sheets were an emergency measure for frazzled teachers instead of a behaviour modification/learning tool, and I can't help but question the true effectiveness of such an approach. In the case of the teacher I worked with, she couldn't manage the class in such a way that the students knew exactly where they should be and what they should be doing at all times. That was part of the problem, and one that the blue sheet did not ultimately rememdy.
There was one incident in particular that I believed to be an improper use of the blue sheet, and I felt it in my gut immediately. I was outside with the class about to start a game of soccer-baseball. There was one girl in the class who often behaved pretty badly, who was disrepectful and pushy, and who you could tell was often quite angry. There was no joy in those eyes. I knew that she didn't come from the most supportive of households, from what the teacher had told me, and I remembered having seen her once at the local market doing the grocery shopping by herself for the family. She was only 11 years old. Anyway, she refused to participate in the game "just because" and no matter how much the teacher yelled at her, she wouldn't change her mind. Having quickly gotten to the end of her rope with this girl, the teacher asked me to take her inside to fill out a blue sheet and leave her at the office. I knew immediately that the teacher was misusing the blue sheet as quick end to her outrage at this kid's disobedience, and I could tell that the girl felt a kind of injustice, as did I. I walked her across the field and tried to talk to her a little, saying things like, "so, I take it you've gotten these blue sheets a few times, huh? So why didn't you want to play out there?". Needless to say she had no reason to trust me so she didn's say much, but she was definitely quite upset at what was going on, and her anger and sadness could be seen in her red, teary eyes. I mean, the kid didn't want to play a game with the rest of the kids, but does that really warrant being punished like that, having the incident put in her file and dealt with by the principal's office? Especially since it was blatantly obvious that this kid has serious emotional issues at home. Disobedience is one thing if it means a child can get hurt or hurt someone else, but refusing to participate in a game is not that bad when clearly there is a problem underlying her behaviour that has been there for a long time. Had I been in the teacher's place I would have asked me to escort her inside and have her work on an assignment, or let her sit and watch the game, then talk to her about it later. Instead she was disciplined harshly for a fairly small infracture, which cemented her unwillingness to cooperate and communicate in future situations. I seriously doubt the teacher ended up having a serious talk with the student about her behaviour. Given that she lectured the entire class for poor behaviour (at least weekly) instead of discussing it with them individually (they were old enough to discuss their behaviour), not to mention learning how to actually manage the classroom, I had put very little faith in how this teacher followed up on a blue sheet.
I'd like to add that I do understand the frustration teachers go through on a daily basis. And the kids are very good at pushing your buttons. I could see that this teacher really wanted to see her students succeed, but she wasn't willing to actually put in the effort to teach instead of simply "survive", as Dr. Harry Wong puts it. It wasn't an accident that the students who filled most of the spots in the after-school tutoring programme that I also worked with came from her classroom. After that year the co-ordinators had to put a quota on the number of students per class who would be tutored. She simply did not have the management skills, the energy or the confidence to host the kind of learning environment that these kids so desperately needed (and often hadn't gotten from previous teachers in that school). I am someone who can lose patience easily, but sometimes it's just not an option and a teacher with any kind of experience needs to at least know that. When it comes to children, my patience has to stay in check no matter what, and I'm glad to say that it does. A bad day is one thing, several bad weeks literally changes the way these kids respect treat you as teacher, which directly affects how much they learn.
I will talk more about my own experience when I taught this class in groups of four sometime soon.
posted by DaftLadybird at 8:01 PM
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