I have never been good at this part of my job and my usual technique is "wait until they are 14 and then it stops by itself"
We started back a few weeks ago (international school). We have some new students, so we are back to "storming" as the group finds its feet.
I saw a 13 year old girl on the stairs in the first or second lesson, crying and walking back to her lesson with a teacher who was reassuring her. I don't know what the issue was.
In my lessons, several hours later, it was still ongoing. She was still sad but now she had a crew. There were about four girls who were insistent that they must head to the form teacher with the girl as moral support while she explained something. A couple of them absolutely had to sit with her during the lesson to keep her spirits up. It was imperative that she go find another teacher entirely and inform her of the details of her lesson absence in the morning.
I had to fire fight these requests all lesson and when I made doing those things a more boring option, they weren't interested anymore.
The way I see it: she's having a crisis. Maybe it is for a good reason and maybe it is for a ridiculous reason. As her subject teacher, it's not really my place to judge. I think it is lovely that she is getting support BUT I think the social skills of the group are such that they are riling things up instead. Also, I get the impression that they are not acting out of compassion or altruism so much as they are attracted to the entertainment factor. Adults do the same, right?
What the hell do I do to help them settle the fuck down more quickly and draw ionic bond diagrams in their exercise book?
Is there anything I could be doing pastorally to help calm it down before it becomes a whirlwind after lunch?
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Countering the drama llama, need tips
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shonkyklingonmakeup · 31/08/2018 06:17
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