Call in your support team

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Home : 2004 : January : 2

Call in your support team
By Jenny C.

This sounds like a very exasperating situation! I feel for you! If it were me, I'd get help from others--it seems an appropriate next step to ask the principal to play a greater role. It sounds like you've had plenty of parent
contact; I'd pull back on that now. The boy sounds like he needs counseling, frankly, but he certainly does not belong in your class pulling you and the other children off task constantly. Do you have a child study team? You could come up with a behavior goal as a team, have the principal present it to the parents, get them to sign it. It would be documentation of a certain goal for

the child, a plan for how to help him reach the goal, and (the best part) a plan for what to do when he makes poor choices with his behavior. I'd do something like a 3 strikes plan, with the third strike resulting in an office visit, at which point the principal can contact parents, the boy can have a consequence given, etc. It sounds like right now there is a ton of emotion attached to this case by the parents, and felt by you. I'd try to pull back in regards to that as much as you are able, and that is probably getting this boy out of your room when he acts out severely. I hope your principal would support that. Good luck! I have certainly had my share of these charming parents. It can really make a schoolyear stressful if we let them get under our skin. Don't take it personally whatever you do! As personal as our jobs as teachers get, it is still just your job--keep your chin up and take care of yourself.