To be sick of having my stuff trashed

[flobird]

Stupid rant and I just want sympathy but I am so fucking sick of giving pens and rulers out only for them to be smashed and thrown across the room or crushed/wrecked.

I feel like I'm constantly replacing stuff

Oh I'm not helpless MrsD but over the pen issue, I am, if you follow me.

I think no matter how good the school you expect to lose some equipment and anyone can forget or lose a pen - but the magnitude with which this happens in this particular school makes the casualty rate far higher than typical. Sometimes kids do just wander off with them - I don't mind that so much as its my own fault for not being more robust with who borrowed what, but there are a significant minority who will take anger and frustration out on my poor innocent pens! Plus, some will as I say just drop them where they are trampled by other students!

Most of them are gorgeous, MrsD, which is why I won't let Becky and her mates wreck thei lesson.

In fairness, I don't think I've ever worked st a school (and my resume includes a boys' grammar and a vair pawsh school in a naice area) that has ensured every kid has the correct piece of equipment. It's fair enough; as I say, anyone can forget a pen once!

We have a myriad of little things! We have enough little things that we could start our own business! Uniform, the building, attendance, punctuality, staffing, argy-bargy in the corridor ...

the sort of kid who'd meekly hand their shoe over is not the sort of kid you worry about trashing your pen!

I've told you what kind of school I work in so I find your dismissive and defeatist attitude offensive. I work in the kind of school where your "worst of the worst" kids end up (I use " " because I think those kids are fucking brilliant).

I very, very rarely have to trade for a shoe these days because I have, you know, decent behaviour management skills. If you take the easy way out every time of course you won't get anywhere. Yes, it will be horrific for a bit but it will pass.

And just FYI a kid kicking off in my school usually involves smashing windows, punching staff in the face, kicking anything and everything, throwing the computer on the floor, ripping staffs' clothing etc so I'm really not preaching something I wouldn't practise.

You won't take anyone's advice or opinions so I guess you're just stuck in your shit situation.

some schoolchildren are dangerous though MrsDeVere.
have you ever had things thrown at your breasts or been threatened with rape in the classroom? i have.

These terrible children are beyond your help.
your tone is coming across as sarcastic. you just can't see it.

Oh, I see, it's my poor behaviour management skills - that's why no one has a pen?

(I did say I just wanted a rant, by the way. Incidentally, I think your shoe idea is far more offensive than anything I've put here and I can't explain why but it's pretty demeaning. I wouldn't like it.)

Will hide the thread. Thanks for letting me moan :)

please don't hide the thread OP.
there are legions of teachers out there in your situation. its good to talk about these issues so they don't feel alone.

One more thing though blue - in an EBD school I imagine you have in class support, small class sizes and a building not falling down around you.

Making kids walk in my classroom without shoes really would be dangerous. I'm not kidding. The desks aren't secure and nor are the chairs - the bloody ceiling probably isn't secure! - there could easily be a nail or more likely a sharp bit from a previously shattered pen. Plus the floor is filthy.

Thanks Muck, but don't worry :) I didn't want to come on here to row with anyone. I know what the 'clientele' of the school is; I knew it when I got the position (I was head hunted, believe it or not!

I know I'm doing a really good job teaching and that's what matters, but just the same, I don't want to have to defend myself as it just upsets me and makes me feel bad.

OP, as soon as I saw the thread title, I knew.

21 years inner city, me. I don't (now) resent the trashing of my stuff, but I do think the trashing of my life was a bit of a problem. I don't blame them - I blame myself for not leaving.

Good lord! So adapt a suggestion to your situation! Think!! The students will have something they could hand over. The whole point is you only do it a dozen times before it becomes habit.

That, or a colleague of mine buys One Direction pens from the pound shop and the boys are less keen to keep those.

And if students are continually turning up without a pen and then swearing as much as you claim then yes I think the behaviour management could be lacking. It sounds as though it is a school wide issue.

Y'think?

1D pens would be hurled across the room in a raging fury, blue. They really would.

Where I worked virtually all GCSE (resit) students would turn up to their exam without a pen, pencil, ruler, calculator, etc DESPITE them being given a box containing all those things before they went on study leave. And yes, eventually they were just given out in the exam itself instead, but that meant they didn't have those things for doing any revision.

Fuck!! Who would be a teacher?? You all deserve medals and early retirement with humungous pensions.

But in all seriousness, we are doing it all wrong in this country. Its disgusting how badly let down so many kids are. Teachers in that ^ kind of school are pissing against the wind.

I will try to explain, actually, then I really will go and let the thread die a death.

Typically I know who the repeat offenders are - children who will not have a pen - and as far as possible I have books, an activity and a pen out ready.

The start of lessons are VERY hectic and this isn't necessarily typical of all schools but our building isn't safe - too many students in too small a space - so they are (rightly) encouraged to come straight in. This means I frequently have one class piling out with another piling in and, of course, this is a secondary school so they are physically tall and often have big coats and bags.

Lesson changeover is very tricky because of this and so yes, students do often sometimes wander out with my pens. I'm not so arsed about this: it's the kids who trash them.

In the last week I've had:

• a pen hurled at another girls head (some argument about something or other - I rang down for assistance and it came, but the pen was still wrecked. I doubt the girl maliciously meant to destroy my pen: that's just it. It was just worthless - not someone else's item, just Something.)

• a pen smashed in a rage because I asked child to wait a moment (I'm not joking!)

• any number of pens dropped and smashed by massive teenager feet on the way out!

• a couple that 'exploded'

'Make them give something of theirs over' - well, how? I've confiscated phones because they've been on them in the lesson and every time it's a big massive kerfuffle. I do it, because I'm not having kids whatsapping through the lesson, but honestly, for ten/twelve kids? I'd never teach anything!

It's a symptom of the disease not the disease itself. Ultimately and sadly, education is not valuable enough to some of them - if you say 'no phone, no pen' they will self righteously see that as YOU depriving them of the ability to produce work some managers would agree - they wouldn't humbly agree the work was essential, it must be done and after all, they'll get their phone back.

It's a shame. I don't doubt we'll change things we will have to or ofsted will shut us down but I don't think the pen problem is going anywhere for some time. And as I say, it's always been an annoyance; it is just that in some schools it's an annoyance that happens twice a day if that. Here, twice a lesson would be a bloody miracle

MrsDeVere.
where did i say you are an idiot?
where have i patronised?

The equipment situation needs to be as much a art of your lesson planning as the subject matter. Plan it and own it. You know there's no help for above. Be there at the door with pencils and an equipment list. Replenish them endlessly and grab the moments when bizarrely they're working quietly to tell them you're proud of their work and reinforce expectations.

But knicker, 'replenish endlessly' usually means out of your own money!

Then yes, your school has a massive issue with behaviour management and student safety. I'd get out before Ofsted puts you in special measures or shuts you down.

Yep, I do knicker, thanks. Things still get lost, broken, smashed and ruined :)

Wrt phones. When i was in school if your phone was seen or heard it was taken from you and kept til the end of the school year. It was policy. Written in the handbook so no-one could say it wasnt fair. They'd been warned. Some teachers even (wrongly IMO) read pupils' messages aloud to class and parents were contacted if the messages were of a sexual nature or looked like bullying etc.

Is confiscation of phones not done anymore? Surely that would be enough for them to keep them in their bag during class?

It's the scale of it Surly

Today i could see a child on his phone. Told him to hand it over and back at the end of the lesson. He refused.

I was VERY lucky and the HT came round on her learning walk then. He handed it over. If he hadn't - if I'd had to ring down - he'd probably have given it to one of his mates. The child would have been removed - all well and good (but the phone still wouldn't be confiscated.)

After that child though, the same thing happened with another child! I rang down, phone was confiscated!

Thank God, they were the only two! Can you imagine if I had to keep doing it (before anyone says anything, I would, but honestly ...)