Ms. Monomial

The experience that I want to share is regarding two of my students that like to play fight and can sometimes be too rowdy and rough during the beginning of the class period before the bell rings and we all settle down.   These boys are great friends and are constantly talking to each other and being normal, happy, social kids.   However, sometimes they can get carried away and become too rambunctious inside the classroom.   This is normally just horseplay and other types of goofing off that is easily corrected when I address them.   The issue, however, is not that they don’t listen when I correct their behavior, but that the behavior was happening too frequently.   Every time that I corrected it, they would listen and get back to work, but then fall right back into the same thing next class.   I cannot count how many times I have said to them “you know, guys, one day someone or something is going to get hurt.” This was becoming such a co...

The experience that I want to discuss is something that is very sensitive but very important for all personnel in education to be aware of and to hear about.   Several weeks ago, I had a student who was exhibiting some odd symptoms in class.   The student appeared very distressed, was breathing heavy, and was shaking.   When I noticed the student, who had moved to the back of the room, with their head down, I went over and tried to figure out what was going on.   The student was strongly gripping their cell phone, and I had, at first, thought the student had received a message that made him or her angry.   It was very unusual and just strange: definitely like nothing I had experienced before.   The student kept telling me that he or she was fine and continued to ask me to leave him or her alone.   At this point, I asked if he or she wanted to sit with a chair in the hallway to take a break, which they did.   I continued to try t...