As I mentioned in class last week, I had a very interesting experience at my school a couple weeks ago. When I was working with my first grade students I noticed that one of the boys was in an obviously bad mood. Another boy in the group confirmed that the boy in the corner was upset over an incident that happened before we met in gym class. This is not the first time I have seen this boy in a bad mood. He has come to group with poor attitudes before and refuses to work with the rest of the group. When I asked him to read a line in our story, he told me to f-off. I was very taken back by his statement because he is so young. I remember that when I was that age I was scared to even think the F word! It made me wonder what his life was like at home and if it was a normal thing to use that kind of language there. I know that if my parents ever heard me use that kind of language I would be grounded for months.
The following week I returned to work with the same group. The boy who swore the previous week was in a bad mood again. This time, in the beginning of class, the classroom teacher approached the boy and nicely asked him to forget about what happened in gym class and do his best to work with the rest of the group. He was still a little reluctant to participate, but eventually gave in and worked with his classmates and I. This made me realize that maybe if I change my attitude about how I react to children, such as the boy who was in a bad mood, maybe it will assist in changing their behavior to a more positive one as well.
