It's hard to look forward to another year when I find out that one of the students I am getting got kicked out of summer school on the first day for throwing chairs. (Sigh) how do I keep myself from thinking so negatively about the new year?
Are you still teaching kindergarten? If so, I'm assuming that the child hasn't had any formal education before, based on his behavior. Once he gets settled into a routine with some structure, things should get much better. Plus, summer school is a bit laid back. I'm teaching summer school right now, and some of the behavior is ridiculous. I know the types of things I;m seeing wouldn't occur during a more structured school day. To make you feel better, I had a 3rd grader last year that had never attended school. He was awful. He was suspended 4 or 5 times by Christmas, and had ISS, too. (Even though the elementary technically didn't have ISS!) He even hit me once. We just kept on trying new strategies, and slowly his behavior improved.
I went through a similar situation last year. A student transferred mid-year into my class from another school in the district. Her cum folder had a rap sheet which made me want to run for the hills! Throwing chairs, throwing punches, exposing herself to peers, she even bit her previous teacher on the arm! The previous school's guidance counselor called to warn my principal what we were in for. She was a challenge, but the situation was much better than I expected. She needed a lot of attention, but by the end of the year I grew really fond of her. Sometimes a change of environment or teaching style does the trick.
You shouldn't really think about what a student did in the summer - it's almost like holding that against him. You're going to teach everyone rules and procedures, and you'll provide whatever strategies each student needs. Some might need you to be more firm, others need even more consistency and some might need a second chance approach. Whatever this student did, it happened a couple of months ago. I'm sure some other students of yours have pasts, too, you just don't know it. So go in there with positive expectations only. I've looked at my roster and saw some of my students (I know 90 % of them from last year) and thought - oh boy. Then I reminded myself that all I need to do is be firm and consistent in my approach and it'll be ok.
I know how you are feeling. I had a similar student on my roster a few years ago. She already had a reputation in Pre-K from so many office referrals and everyone in the school had heard her violent tantrums. I read several different books over the summer about different management plans and I also learned everything I could about her. She had been removed from mom by CPS for abuse and given to dad. Dad ended up getting arrested so the kids went to their almost 70 year old grandmother's custody. I figured out pretty quickly that what she responded to and how to give her what she needed. Long story short-it didn't end up being as bad as I thought it would be. She matured a lot that year.
Reading everyone's replies made me feel better. I know I shouldn't judge this student based on their reputation and what other people say. I've had students where everyone had only negative things to say. But, they turned out just fine. However, I've never had a student before that had a reputation of being physical so I am nervous. It's just my nature to always expect the worst. I am definitely preparing myself for any situation that could happen. I know that this is kindergarten and getting kids who are completely oblivious to rules and routine is definitely not abnormal. I just hate not knowing what to expect.
I remember during open house last school year, one of my parents told me that her child was a "firecracker" and had a very short temper. That in her previous preschool program she was a challenge behaviorally. Once school started there were ZERO of any of the above type of behaviors. She was one of my sweetest students. I even gave her a nickname Sweetie Pie which I don't ever do.
My new 3rd graders are apparently the WORSE group of students in the building- although the 6th graders are happily trying to earn that title too (but this will be my 4th year having them so I can deal with them). I know one of the 3rd graders will leave me stressed out- I dealt with him in my after school club (which may have been a blessing so I was able to start learning about him), but he's on medication during the school hours (and it wears off by the time the club starts) so I'm sure I'll see a different student. My faith and our school's philosophy teaches that each child is holy and Christ-like (maybe just not all the time), a child is a blessing, and our gift of teaching should be used to help that child to learn about their world and help them grow to be more Christ-like. I try to keep my mind set on that- and not the other issues I deal with like making my principal or the parents happy, kids not doing what they need to do, how much grading I have to do, or when I'm going to have time to lesson plan. (I'm really trying to work hard on getting out of summer vacation mode- it's HARD.)
I had a few children in the past who came into my classroom (I teach self-contained special education) with long FBAs and serious aggressive behaviors. I was preparing for the worst and when the child arrived, I never saw any or very little of the behaviors that I was warned about. It seemed quite strange because it happened several times. I think the kids who were coming from inclusion were a lot calmer because my class was much less over whelming and consistent compared to a general education classroom. Though I also had two who came from other self-contained classes and I never really understood why they were so different between the two. Its not exactly the same as your situation, but children do at times improve with a change in environment both typical and special needs.
I found out I'm getting a new student and he's the kid that pulled my hair the first day I ever saw him. I'm thinking he has a bunch of bad habits that need to be addressed ASAP (he's coming from a crummy classroom the ONLY teacher I have ever complained about) so we'll see if we can get him to act more appropriately. Sometimes it's the classroom or environment that brings out certain behaviors in students more than anything.
