I had a discussion with my principal today about a student who, last year, said that he would bring a gun to school and shoot the kids who bugged him. I guess it was a disregarded comment that has made its way back to the administration after Cho and the Virginia Tech shootings.
Its scary, but we need to be so aware of how students react and how they are dealt with. This specific student is a student who has some social issues, and deals with them by saying inappropriate things about other students under his breath--and most of the students react. He was assaulted in October because some students were mad at him. The problem is, he doesn't realize the damage he might do.
Because of his social issues, he doesnt have many friends, so he plays a lot of video games. I don't believe that video games lead directly to violence, but we are all products of our environment. His environment is blood, gore, guns, and the things that permeate many of today's popular games. So seeing this he might be called a name and instead of saying, "leave me alone," he might say, "I'm gonna shoot you." Thinking that life works like video games and we can just shoot people we don't like. I'm not too worried, but it makes me realize how susceptible we all are to others; the words, and gestures they make.
Otherwise it was a pretty normal day
Although,
I am surprised how disconnected my students seem from the shootings. They think it sounded "cool." I guess the fact that it happened in a college on the other side of the continent makes it hard to grasp.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
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The blog is a really good idea, and probably could be used effectively by most people. I say this because writing something down seems to work well for me. When I write my thought down, especially those things that I am concerned about, there is closure.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that the book you highlighted had some words of wisdom that you have obviously paid attention to. Being impeccable with what you say and write is important and sometimes hard to make habitual. You are definitely on track. Of coarse from my point of view, “Always doing your best” is a key to being happy with yourself. I am starting to challenge myself more each day to get out of my comfort zone. I am not sure this came out of your reading, but striving to get out of your box will work toward a continuation for learning.
When you relate to your experiences (teaching), you cannot always expect your partner, friend, spouse to understand what you are talking about. If they have not walked in your shoes, they will not understand. You can only ask them to be good listeners.
When you allude to the fact that you might be too busy to keep up the blog, remember that you are doing this for fun. This is not a requirement. Also, remember that your job is to teach, which includes planning lessons and grading papers. Teaching has many responsibilities and it is difficult. You have a lot of patience, but it will take you time to get enough experience to really get comfortable with the process. You will do well, just keep doing. Yes, I am available for you. Let me know when you want to get away from the rat race. I am thinking about drinking coffie, hiking, biking, etc.
i agree
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