Katherine Graff
The Class Bully Report Session 8, Page 07,
Activity 05
EDUC 5329
M.Ed.T, Secondary, Foreign Languages (Arabic)
ACTFL, NCPTS (
Content practice test NOT TAKEN
TExES content exam NOT TAKEN
PPR practice test NOT TAKEN
TExES PPR 8-12 NOT TAKEN
As I was reading this section, I thought about a student
that made an outburst in class against an activity because he “hated Iraqi’s
and all Arabs” because he had seen so many of his friends blown up in combat
and tried to aid many that died in his arms.
I became upset with him because he challenged my authority and I did not
know what to do with him. If he went
unpunished, the rest of the class would view that as a window of opportunity
for rebellion.
Now that I reflect on the situation, I think I should
have had him take out a sheet of paper are write a letter to the person(s)
[might not necessarily have been an Arab] that killed his comrades in great
detail that addresses every single one of his issues. This would have given him an opportunity to
air his grief and get everything out, but in a silent fashion. I think this would have opened the door for
him to talk about his frustrations and his anxieties and proven therapeutic for
him. After he was able to vent and
release anger, then we could discuss behavior alternatives for his anger in the
future more effectively.
I had a fight break out in my class once, and I cleared
everyone out of the room except for the class leader. I had the student that I knew did not want to
fight leave the room, assuring him that I wanted to hear his side immediately
when I called for him. I kept the more
aggressive one in class with me to talk first so he could vent his anger before
assimilation back into the classroom. I
then had the class leader escort him into a quieter part of the building for
his break time. I had the rest of the
class return to the room while I spoke with the less-aggressive student in the
hallway. After speaking with the two of
them, we created a plan for them to get along for the remainder of the
class. They sat apart, were not allowed
to initiate contact verbally or physically unless it was respectful and they
would participate fully in class. I
reminded them that their primary focus was Arabic, and that nothing else
mattered inside the classroom. They
agreed to the terms, and they were fine the rest of the class.
At one time, I had students write an essay on why Arabic
was important and how it was related to the Marine Corps’ overall mission. Then I had them discuss what their role was
in the grand scheme of things and what they must do to accomplish that
role. I had them illustrate my part in
the play and what they expected of me. I
then had them describe what would happen when either one or both of us failed
to pull our weight. They all complied
with the assignment, but I am not so sure it was successful with this
particular class. Upon analysis, I think
they took it as I was “nagging” them, so they blocked me out. But, these were my ‘special’ brand of
students from last class, so it may not be the last time I try it.
BULLY - Buddy
Response A
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Message
no. 1874 |
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Author: Erica Bensik |
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Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 4:49pm |
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Hi Katherine! Well, I certainly learned a
lot from your post and I always really appreciate your contributions to these discussions. I
know that you are providing honest thought and real experience from your classes and I
really think that is so valuable. The situation you shared
about a fight breaking out in your class. Do you think that they way you handled it would
generally be a good way to handle most issues like this or did you choose to handle it
this way because of certain qualities the particular students possessed? Is this a strategy you
would employ again? Also, I really appreciate
you sharing the honest experience you had with the essay you assigned because according
to the texts I have been reading for this class and others that might have been
particularly effective. |
BULLY - *My
Response* to Buddy Response A
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Message
no. 2187 |
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Author: Katherine Graff |
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Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007
8:15pm |
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Erica, The technique I used was a
strategy I learned in Substitute Training Sessions in fight, all you have to do is
give it to him. S/he will be glad for
the chance to escape. You then get the two stories
separately to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I had seen minor incursions between
the two in class and had been keeping tabs on them for about a week, so the blow up was
no surprise. I quizzed their
classmates on how they were getting along "randomly"
to get a better sense of the depth of the problem. So I could make a plan for them as the
animosity progressed. I continue to
use this strategy because it has proven successful. Sometimes, the best
learning occurs "outside of the books", and I am glad to share my experiences with you all. Thank you for the thoughtful commentary and
the probing questions. It helps me learn as well : ) |
BULLY - Buddy
Response B
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Message
no. 1968 |
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Author: Cassie Essary |
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Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2007
4:36pm |
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Cassie Essary EDUC 5329 Initial Teacher
Certification, M.M. All-Level Music TExES Music EC-12, TExES PPR EC-12 Again, always such a unique
perspective offered in your reports. I
like your idea of having the student who
"hated Iraqis and all Arabs" write out his frustrations on
paper. Hindsight is 20/20,
right? :-) Definitely a learning experience for you
though; I can imagine that his sentiment may not
be all too uncommon. I also found very
interesting your approach in handling the fight that broke out in your classroom. I noticed you mentioned having a
"classroom leader." Who is
this classroom leader, and do you believe
that position justified him being included in on the conversation that took place between
you and the aggressive student? I
would fear also for the class leader's safety
in having him escort the fighter alone.
However, I understand you teach
adults, which makes this situation drastically different than if it took place in a grade
school. Thanks for sharing! |
BULLY - *My
Response* to Buddy Response B
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Message
no. 2188 |
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Author: Katherine Graff |
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Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007
8:22pm |
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Cassie, My class leader is the
senior enlisted Marine and s/he is assigned by me on the first day of class. This Marine was in no danger because A) he
was bigger than both of them, B) he could have knocked them
both out with one punch, and C) he has
the luxury of bringing any junior Marine
that hits him on charges according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice since he
is a higher rank. Penalties for just
one perceived attempt can mean loss of pay, loss of rank,
loss of benefits and jail time in the brig.
A lot is at stake for these guys. My students are smart enough to know they
cannot cross that line. As I told Cassie, I learned this
method at Substitute Teacher Training I attended in undergraduate school. It is great for me since I am a 5ft tall
female. I am a mean, spunky red head, but it wouldnt take much for a guy with combat training to kill
me. Thanks for the positive
feedback and your interest in my managment
strategies! I enjoy your questions as always! |
BULLY - Buddy
Response C
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Message
no. 2072 |
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Author: Stephanie Bohn |
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Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007
2:50pm |
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Name: Stephanie Bohn Courses enrolled in: LIST 5326, EDUC 5329 Program: Initial Teacher Certification Only Seeking Certification:
Secondary English National Standards: NCTE State Competencies: TExES English
Language Arts/Reading, Grades 8-12 Content practice test: not yet taken TExES Content exam: not yet
taken PPR Practice test: not yet
taken TExES PPR: not yet taken Katherine, Great paper! You mentioned so many different
perspectives that I had not though of! I always enjoy reading your ideas
and stories. How do you chose your class leader?
Has this technique worked a great deal for you in the past? I had not thought of a technique like this
one. Thanks again for your
report!! |
BULLY - *My
Response* to Buddy Response C
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Message
no. 2190 |
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Author: Katherine Graff |
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Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007
8:27pm |
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Stephanie, Our class leader is the
senior enlisted Marine in class and is assigned by me on the first class day. S/he is in charge of maintaining military
discipline in and out of the classroom, just as I am incharge of maintaining learning and academic
discipline. It would be the equivalent of
you assigning a helper for the week that assists you with various things like passing
out materials and making sure everyone has what they need during lessons, but on a grander
scale. Bonus-my class leader can
discipline my students with pushups and
detrimental paper work and can push for jail time if the offense is serious enough. Thank you for your interest
and your thoughtful comments! |
BULLY,
Response 1 to a Classmate’s Work
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Message
no. 1889 |
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Author: Katherine Graff |
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Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:25pm |
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Katherine Graff The Class Bully Report Session 8, Page 07, Activity 05 EDUC 5329 M.Ed.T, Secondary, Foreign
Languages (Arabic) ACTFL, NCPTS ( Content practice test NOT
TAKEN TExES content exam NOT TAKEN PPR practice test NOT TAKEN TExES PPR 8-12 NOT TAKEN Hi Stephanie, Great strategy for
combating bullies! I like how you
invite students to come to you as a safety net to discuss their
feelings about being bullied and how you include, not exclude the bully in the
conversations. I totally agree with
you about the parental modeling-I wish that was an angle I could
approach with my students.
Unfortunately, it is a fine example of the old addage, "Actions speak louder than words." You seem to have a firm grasp on this subject and
I enjoyed reading your plan! |
BULLY,
*Classmate’s Follow-Up* Response
1 to a Classmate’s Work
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Message
no. 2056 |
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Author: Stephanie Bohn |
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Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007
2:22pm |
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Thank you for your reply! I just think from seeing bullies in my
schools and knowing how their parents act, it is
very common for students to model their parents behavior. Since parents are
essentially their role models, their children might think that is ok and provide little, if no discipline! |
BULLY,
Response 2 to a Classmate’s Work
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Message
no. 1888 |
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Author: Katherine Graff |
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Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:17pm |
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Katherine Graff The Class Bully Report Session 8, Page 07, Activity 05 EDUC 5329 M.Ed.T, Secondary, Foreign
Languages (Arabic) ACTFL, NCPTS ( Content practice test NOT
TAKEN TExES content exam NOT TAKEN PPR practice test NOT TAKEN TExES PPR 8-12 NOT TAKEN Hi Frankie! Very insightful paper! I did not think about a class monitor
position-excellent idea. I think talking to the class
will help the students not enable the bullying activity and perhaps they will stand up for
themselves and tell someone if it happens again. Something else I didnt think about-thanks for the guidance! Great hearing from you again! |
BULLY, *Classmates
Follow-Up* to My Response 2
NONE
BULLY,
Response 3 to a Classmate’s Work
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Message
no. 1887 |
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Author: Katherine Graff |
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Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 7:18pm |
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Katherine Graff The Class Bully Report Session 8, Page 07, Activity 05 EDUC 5329 M.Ed.T, Secondary, Foreign
Languages (Arabic) ACTFL, NCPTS ( Content practice test NOT
TAKEN TExES content exam NOT TAKEN PPR practice test NOT TAKEN TExES PPR 8-12 NOT TAKEN Hi Erica, Great job-I enjoyed your
analysis of the situation and I agree with your points : ) I am really behind your
quote, "...it can be effective to give Sally some kind of responsibility within the
classroom community so that she feels important and has something to contribute to the
class. " I
could not agree more! Giving Sally responsibility will also
give her an opportunity to interact with the other students in a more positive way and help her
to get to know and respect her classmates-great idea! I do have one question for
you, related to the topic but somewhat of a 'branch', if you will. Would you approach the other teacher that
asked you to back off and discuss your theories with her? Thanks for sharing! |
BULLY,
*Classmate’s Follow-Up* Response
3 to a Classmate’s Work
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Message
no. 1926 |
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Author: Erica Bensik |
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Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2007
10:35am |
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Hey Katherine! I am glad you agreed with
my point about giving Sally responsibility. I felt like that could potenetially backfire, but think it
would be worth the risk. And great question. I actually thought about whether or
not I would approach the other teacher and I decided that I would not. I assumed that this
was my first year of teaching that this bullying incident happened and I felt like it
probably wouldn't be a very good idea for me to start relationships with other teachers
"on the wrong foot." While I do want to have positive relationships with other
teachers, I think my feelings on this matter may change as I learn more and become more
comfortable in my new role. Also, I would want to think about how to approach the
teacher, should a situation like this come up again, rather than just saying something in
the heat of the moment. I am a passionate person and I wouldn't want the conversation to
be negative or start a conflict. What do you think? How would you have responded to this
teacher, if at all? |
BULLY RUBRIC
Resolution tactics
I had 20/20 hindsight
about an issue I had with a student that hated Arabs; I realized I should have
had him write letters to the “people that killed” his buddies in
Resocialization intervention strategy
For my prize fighters, I separated
them for a cool down session while I retrieved their individual stories. I then held a discussion with them and a
witness and reminded them that their primary focus was Arabic and we created a
plan for them to temporarily get along in class, which included them sitting
far apart in the room and their full participation in class. I think the letter for my Arab hater would
help him relate better to his classmates because he would have a reduction in
anger issues and prejudice that can form a learning block. There was no
re-socialization of my last class because nothing was ever resolved. 10
Responded to three members
of your learning team and replied to all responses to your original post.
I initiated discussions
with Stephanie Bohn, Wenyung Chung
and Erica Bensik
and I received original
commentary about my paper from Stephanie
Bohn, Erica Bensik and Cassie
Essary. 10
Total Possible 30
points My score 30 My percentage 100%
Read the case study "The Class Bully"
(pp. 165-66) and using complete, well developed paragraphs, answer the
following questions using your practical intuition.
- What tactics would you
employ to resolve the conflicts and end the behaviors that threaten the
safe climate of your classroom?
- What strategy would you
employ as an intervention to resocialize the students whose behaviors
threaten the safety of your students and the solidarity of your classroom?
Respond to your web team's postings.
Post this assignment to the Discussion Area:
Session 8 The Class Bully Report.
Rubric
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Highest Quality of Work Possible. Included all required
elements, well elaborated, excellent mechanics. |
Exceeding Expectations. Included most required elements,
some elaboration, generally good mechanics. |
Met Expectations with Minimum Standards. Included the
minimum required elements, little or no elaboration, acceptable mechanics. |
Needs Improvement or Did Not Address. |
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Resolution tactics |
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Resocialization intervention strategy |
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Read and Respond to 3 learning team members and reply to
all responses to your original post. |
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Total Possible 30 points. |
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Please add your
points; divide by the maximum points, and compute a percentage score. PLEASE
place your completed self assessment and a copy of this assignment in your
PRIVATE ASSESSMENT FOLDER found in the discussion area.