Teachers and bullys

Teachers and bullys
Do teachers get bullyed? Yes!
In one large city classroom, I made the mistake of attempting to be democratic in my requests to students.
As a sub, I like to select different students to assist where it would be helpful. Not utilizing the same students all day

Sources of Bullys

Sources of bullys
As a teacher and substitute teacher, experiences with bullying students have been numerous.

Some staff can handle them successfully, others can not. They, also, are intimidated.
I have found bullys come from all walks of life. Some of the worst have been from school staff's families and others from the families of community leaders. Some of these were backed up by their families. Of course, others may come from other families and broken homes.

Either way, they need to be dealt with. But, sometimes they are and sometimes not.

Reasons for lack of reporting

Reasons for lack of reporting.
Do not depend on the school to make activities "right".

• Sometimes the scene is not quite in view of the supervisior.
• Sometimes, some other activity is claiming the supervisiors attention at that time.
• Serious bully's watch and wait for these situations and then act.

It is critical that parents follow up on any reports your child gives you when acts are made against them or another child.

• Get as much information as you can from your child, persons, place, time, etc.
• Contact the school supervisior, etc.
• Request a return answer as to what was done. I know schools do not always like these "interferences", but it is your child or your child's friend and should not be ignored.

As a teacher and substitute teacher, I have reported incidents and had them ignored. There will be further information on these later.

Do not let bullying reports "slip through the cracks".

Good Friends

Good friends become good groups.
As your child's friendship base grows, encourage your child to have the group look out for each other. Very seldom, will any of them be all alone at school.
Encourage the children to report any intimidation steps to an adult on duty. Also, to tell their own parents about the situation.
Sometimes, proper reports are not made and followed up on in a timely manner.

Confidence Building!

Confidence building through role-playing.
As school will some be starting, soon, it is a good time for you, the parent, to start teaching your child how to make friends at school or in social groups.
Teach your "lonely" child to look over the area and find another "lonely" child. The one sitting or standing alone, not playing with anyone, etc. They too, are bully targets.

Practice having your child approach members of the household or friends and introduce themselves, compare likes and dislikes, and build a conversation bank for your child to use at school.

Bullys!

Does your child have difficulty with bully's?

The well behaved child often does. The shy child having a difficult time making friends is often an easy target. The child with a learning or physical handicap is often a target.


As the children go into other classes, two problems can arise. They need to make new friends within the class. And, they often meet new bully's.


We are going to devote some space in this blog to the problem of bully's.


You are welcome to contribute experiences, suggestions, and ideas others can use. Student written contributions are also welcome.

Math Workbooks

There are workbooks on the market for home use. Some are very useful and other are confusing.

With beginning students, books with fine print will not be useful. Too much material on a page is puzzling, it slows progress.

Often these books have one introductory page and the next page moves on to another concept. There are not enough pages to enforce the concepts needed.

I have found it helpful in the classroom to collect useful material and tear it out, add it to a notebook with plastic page sleeves in it. Your material can be added and subtracted as needed.
Over the years, I have collected material this way and can furnish material for most needs.

If you plan to use the material for other children, copy the pages before use.
You will also have a clean copy if the lesson needs to be repeated.
Another method that attracts some students is to write on the plastic with a slim line wipe off marker.

In some cases, if you can arrange to have the answers to the problems, tucked at the end of a set,most students like the freedom of correcting their own answers. I have had students go from page to
page more easily if they could correct their own work.

Flash Cards

Keep in mind, the inexpensive cards are printed on thin cardboard, if the answers are printed on
the back in large print, the light shows through the card. Your student will soon learn all that has to be done is read the number backward, and they have the answer.
Hold at least two cards at a time, to keep the light from showing through.

I have had students learn these facts very fast, and then I learned the see-through fact.
We had start all over again.

Multiplication is built on a knowledge of addition.
Division is built on a knowledge of subtraction.
Without these foundations, math will always be confusing and frustrating.

Math A Difficulty

Is frustration with math a difficulty in your home? We all have our favorite activities that are easier for us then others? This is true in school subjects.

This is the time where parents and family can be great teachers. If you know where to start.

At convient times and quiet times ask your child to give the answer to easy math addition facts.
2+2= , etc. Choose random math facts. Some may be easy, others may be missed or unknown.

Whatever the reason, you have discovered 2 pieces to the education puzzle.

Does the child really have the math facts learned?

Practice only a few very easy ones in the beginning.
Gradually add other and drop off the learned material.

Invest in a set of flash cards, starting with addition, if that is the problem.

Add the other math facts in turn: subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions.
Use the same procedures with each of them.

Eyes Not Reading a Line

At times, the beginning reader will be picking words from the line above or below the reading line. Sometimes both.

This usually mean they are having difficulty focusing their eyes on the land. They
may need to see an eye specialist.

They may also need to use a card below the line.Extreme cases may require a slit be cut in a cardboard guide so they only see the immediate line.

Reading Techniques

Another technique we adopted with the student in the previous post.
The students learned not to hurry him. Listen, let him take his time, use phonics to sound out words, as he learned them.

During those times when they were sure he was stuck, them to give him the answer so he could continue. Helping a troubled student too quickly, makes them nervous and distracts them.
Other students will often help quickly to show off their skills.

It often helps a new reader to follow a word line with a pencil or finger. Some students seem to think the words are coming out of the air.
You need to show them where you are getting the words.