The Class from the Black Lagoon

Overview:
I have honestly never witnessed behavior and utter disrespect like I witnessed during this
experience at In Tech High School. Although this experience was not very helpful in learning
how to teach the actual material associated with my content area, I did gain some insights as to
how students of this age group behave and how I can deal with this behavior when I encounter it
in the future. I learned about how to gain their trust and that in order to get through to them, you
must let them get through to you by allowing them to explain themselvesgo figure. I got to
experience some one on one time with a troubled student and through that I learned how to gain
the trust of students. Although this experience involved some of my worst nightmares as a
teacher, it also left me with some new insight about how to deal with misbehavior in school.
Skills and Insights Gained:
During my experience observing high school classes at In Tech, I spent a portion of the time
working with two boys that sat at the same table as me during one of the classes, and the
majority of the time watching the students and teachers have private conversations around the
classroom. I observed two different teachers with five different classes on three different days.
Each and every class was the same; everybody speaking, nobody listening, very little teacher
intervention in misbehavior, very little student participation in lessons. I was appalled. During
one of the class periods, there was no lesson, because the teacher was in the corner of the room
having a private conversation with an extremely disruptive student while the rest of the students
were assigned a packet to do in groups. Nobody did the packet. At this time I was not sitting in a
desk where the students were, but at a large table off to the corner and I was quite isolated. I
chose to sit in a desk next to the students the next day so I could talk to the students and help
them with their work if their teacher were to do that again.
Because there was hardly any material being discussed or learned during my time observing, I
had to try to make it otherwise useful. I took notes on their behaviors and tried to brainstorm
ideas about how I could discipline them and engage them better. I have never before witnessed
such utter disrespect in my life. My jaw dropped at multiple instances. More racial slurs, curse
words, and sexual terms can be heard in the classrooms of In Tech than on Kanye Wests latest
album. I heard a ninth grade girl graphically describe her mothers sexual history in the same
breath as calling a Dominican faculty member an f-ing Mexican C word. Some of the terms I
heard these kids use today I hadnt even heard of until well into my college career. I couldnt
believe that these kids even knew some of these terms, let alone felt comfortable and audacious
enough to say them to their teacher! What surprised me even more was that the teacher just
rolled her eyes and laughed along with the class. I felt offended for her, and she didnt even seem
to be fazed. When I saw the teacher roll her eyes, unbothered, when a student shamelessly asked
her an extremely graphic, invasive, and offensive question about her sexual preferences I knew
that I would have to take a unique approach to solving this issue before I fell victim to something
like that. That was my A-ha moment. My cooperating teacher isnt all wrong in her approach,
because through being extremely lenient and passive she has gained the trust of her troubled
students, and she certainly wont be a hated teacher; however, barely any material was
internalized and surely many students feelings were hurt by the disruptive student in the
process. At the end of this particularly disruptive class period, the student was begging the
teacher to call the dean and report her. The teacher finally complied, and as she was on the phone
I decided to intervene. I asked her why she wanted the teacher to report her to the dean. She told
me that she loves getting in trouble. After the several inappropriate anecdotes she shared with us
about her mother, prior knowledge of her apparently extremely long IEP, and mere observation
of her behavior, I was quite aware that there was some sort of home life issue or emotional issue.
After she told me she loved getting in trouble I asked her why she liked getting in trouble, and, if
she liked getting in trouble so much, why had she spent both prior class periods with me
complaining about how teachers are out to get her and how she hates being in trouble. She told
me she didnt know, that she knew it was bad, and that it was because she was crazy. I told her it
is okay to be crazy, in some ways, but its not okay to use that to be disrespectful to others. I
think that because I was asking her how she felt and allowing her time to explain herself, while
also offering her constructive advice and helping to identify her role in the situation, she felt
respected and comfortable enough to talk to me about her situation for a couple of minutes even
though I was a complete stranger, and also came to realize some things that she can work on. I
didnt attack her or act on my impulse to scold her highly offensive behavior and language. I
learned through this experience that to get through to disruptive students, you have to gain their
trust, find out how theyre feeling and what causes this behavior, and then try to offer
constructive advice that highlights points they should keep in mind or work on. I also learned
that there is definitely such a thing as too lenient, and that allowing disruptive behavior to
continue with no intervention seriously takes away from the learning of the entire class.

Lessons Learned
Before observing these classes, I had never truly witnessed or experienced severely disruptive
behavior in a classroom. At my high school, I would have never even dreamed of having
teachers this passive and lenient. I never thought about how I would deal with such behavior
because I never imagined that students actually behaved like this. Because of this experience, I
was put in a position where I had to think critically about how to handle the new situation.
Through it, I gained a new insight into the mindset of a troubled teenager, and drew a conclusion
as to how I could work with it.
I can use this knowledge to deal with other teens and adolescents in the future. I can even apply
this knowledge to dealing with children; some of the behavior I saw today reminded me of that
of my six year old cousin. I can use the insights Ive gained when aiding my little brothers
through the confusing age of 15-20, and maybe even use them if I have my own children one
day. Although the student I personally dealt with in this situation is extremely unique, I think that
many adolescents of that same age share a similar desire to be heard and respected. Because of
this, I am able to use the knowledge Ive gained through my experience with her in situations
with other students and adolescents in general. I know now that I must hear them out in
situations like these so I can understand why they behave the way they do, so I can help them to
change these aspects of their lives.

Impact
This experience has helped me as a future educator because I have gotten a glimpse of how
horrifically detrimental behavioral issues can be for a classroom while also gaining new insights
as to how to deal with them in the future. I have always wondered about the scary possibilities of
not being able to control my classroom. Now that Ive had this experience, I have seen the
possibilities so I have time to think of strategies to combat them. I have also dealt one on one
with a troubled student with serious trust issues and now have the firsthand experience of
working out an issue that has deep emotional roots. I feel more confident in my ability to
approach confrontational situations with disruptive students and more confident in my ability to
gain the trust of students. Having control over your classroom and being respected by your
students is absolutely crucial to the growth of your class; therefore, this experience helped me
develop a vital part of my teaching identity.
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