I am a new teacher starting off with permenant relief work in a school where the behavior of the students is very demanding. I had my first day in a class of 7/8 year olds and couldn't get them to settle once. I repeated all the routines, gave them practice opportunities and was patient and I gave positive rewards to the students who were following instructions. There are several kids with either adhd or similar and I couldn't manage them at all. At one point the teacher from next door came in to tell this kid off because bit was obviously disrupting her class too. I'm so embarrassed. This kid ended up throwing chairs in the cloak bay. The rest of the class was upset, unfocused and I couldn't leave them to deal with the other kid because of how unsettled they were. I cried all afternoon and I really feel like giving up. I told the class teacher what happened but she didn't seem that phased by it. Is this normal ?
First of all, Wow. I'm guessing you didn't get a list of possible student behavior issues. If the class teacher shrugged it off, it's probably happened before. If you're going to be at this school on a regular basis, DEFINITELY get to know the office staff. They may have insight into the group of students you're about to meet. Don't give up!
Oh man! I feel you on this one. I am in the same situation. New teacher dealing with kids who mostly struggle with add/adhd. I teach middle school, no one has thrown a chair yet, but they are like herding cats and cannot seem to stop talking/yelling over me during instruction. I definitely wanted to cry every day this week. Today, I had a student literally rip up the assignment given today and threw it in the trash.
