Afraid I can't help much

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2001 : July : 6

Afraid I can't help much
By Mariella

Sharon: I'm afraid I can't be of much help as I teach in Southern Ontario (Canada) and our whole system is so different from that in the U.S. I read of your challenges, below, and was literally gobsmacked! I've had occasional
unruly classes but nothing like the situations you and many others seem to encounter fairly frequently. To hear that security guards seem to be fairly routine fixtures in schools surprised me - we just don't have that up here. Some larger highschools have security cameras and guards on duty when the schools are closed because of break-ins and thefts. I think it's just a very different

world up here. I do sympathize with what you encountered - no one should have to put up with that sort of treatment. I would have posted to you but that thread of comments seemed to be quite old and I wasn't sure if you'd see my comments (I only just found this board a few weeks ago). I think what I would have done in that situation where you were literally assaulted is to return to the school on my own time on a day when the regular teacher was there (perhaps arranging this with him/her ahead of time) and confront the class about their behaviour with their regular teacher there, and together address how they behaved. It might also have been interesting to see how they behave (if they behave at all) with their regular teacher (some students aren't a whole lot better when the regular classroom teacher is there!). I think the reason there hasn't been a lot of response to your request is that with school out, this board just isn't very busy. I'll print out your request and give it some thought and try to get back to you but I think my input may be of very limited value because of where I live.