![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regencyladySo inner-city HS teaching is not for me, a short pale chick. I have zero street cred and no physical intimidation techniques. I actually really liked the kids, but not their addiction to cell phones. I could NOT get them to take out their earphones and participate in work. A few did math worksheets but mist just killed time on thornier phones. I was told that it was obvious that I didn’t teach in the inner-city before because I was expecting them to work.
Apparently the regular teachers allow the earphones. I can understand why, to a degree. There were no real behavior problems because the phones were acting as entertainment and, most importantly, as an opiate. It was clear there would have been violence had I attempted to confiscate a phone! Anyway, I was not much more than a babysitter. I was not able to actually teach. I almost did in the literature class because I talked a number of students into trying a few novels in the class. Unfortunately, the books were on grade level. The students however, were nowhere near grade level so they gave up after half a paragraph in frustration. There was nothing in the room at their reading levels. In retrospect maybe I could have read them a short story and we could have discussed it - yeah right. They would have kept listening to their phones. But I’ll give that a try if I’m ever I’m that place again. No, the regular teacher did not leave work or a lesson plan.
I was only cursed at a few times and called a bitch once. I consider this a win given the attempts I made to get my students to work and/or take out their earphones. Again, I liked the kids. They have clearly been systematically under-served by being allowed the phones in school, and I imagine it starts in middle school. I wonder if a school could block cell-phone signals...
Apparently the regular teachers allow the earphones. I can understand why, to a degree. There were no real behavior problems because the phones were acting as entertainment and, most importantly, as an opiate. It was clear there would have been violence had I attempted to confiscate a phone! Anyway, I was not much more than a babysitter. I was not able to actually teach. I almost did in the literature class because I talked a number of students into trying a few novels in the class. Unfortunately, the books were on grade level. The students however, were nowhere near grade level so they gave up after half a paragraph in frustration. There was nothing in the room at their reading levels. In retrospect maybe I could have read them a short story and we could have discussed it - yeah right. They would have kept listening to their phones. But I’ll give that a try if I’m ever I’m that place again. No, the regular teacher did not leave work or a lesson plan.
I was only cursed at a few times and called a bitch once. I consider this a win given the attempts I made to get my students to work and/or take out their earphones. Again, I liked the kids. They have clearly been systematically under-served by being allowed the phones in school, and I imagine it starts in middle school. I wonder if a school could block cell-phone signals...
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2018-04-11 12:18 pm (UTC)I know I'm constantly knitting, which is a distraction, but at least I have the ability to focus on the moment. I wonder what our society will look like in 10 years when all the kids now are already glued to their devices. Hazel's friends mostly have phones and it is irritating to me. they are 10. They don't ride the city bus, they are in an affluent area. What am I missing here? I actually rode the city bus through high school and college and I still didn't get a cell phone till I was 18 (and I didn't want it anyway, although it did make talking to boys easier)