Sunday, September 7, 2008

check your behavior


Um, about your behavior in school... how's it going?
1. Are you bringing all materials to class? You always have to bring something to write with, notebooks, and textbooks. Teachers get really irritated with students who come to class without the basic stuff. Keep some extra pencils in your locker. Have at least one with you at all times. It shows that you are ready to get work done, even if you really dont feel like it. fake it. Let's say you got to class without your book and your teacher starts getting mad at you and you hold up your pencil and say, "I'm partly prepared." then show your best puppy dog smile. I think you'll just get a warning and you might even be allowed to go to your locker and get the book you need.
2. Are you concentrating on the lesson? Hey, see that teacher standing in front of your class talking? Look. The teacher is talking to you. Yes. YOU. Of course, she is talking to some other kids at the same time, but you are being given information that you need to learn. Pay attention. Oh, I know it's hard. There are cute kids in your class who you need to watch. There are silly kids who might do something really funny and you could miss it if you concentrate on the teacher. There are juicy notes to write. Concentrate now. Play later. Concentrate now. Daydream later.
3. Are you talking out of turn? Put 28 people in one room. They all have stuff to say. About different things. At the same time. The word for that scene is chaos. Complete confusion. You know classrooms can't operate like that. That's why there's one person in charge. The teacher. He will allow others to speak but they must do it in an organized manner. Are you being cooperative with the system of taking turns when talking in class? If not, it's time to start. It's part of growing up.
4. One more thing to check today. Are you acting goofy behind the teacher's back? You know exactly what I mean. He turns to write on the board. You make monkey faces. He turns to get something out of the bookcase. You act like an octopus. He helps another kid and isn't looking at you. You put a Kick Me sign on someone's back. While this behavior is funny, it's not allowed in middle school. Maybe it was ok in 3rd or 4th grade but now we all need to get work done and we don't really have time for your silly stuff. It's immature. It's time to stop doing that.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

You write very well.