partyintherok:
Why are the bad students always boys?
I had some classes today that the other teachers warned me were the worst in the school. Three in a row. All fifth grade.
The first class was only a little loud. The second class would quiet down long enough to listen to me but it was really hard keeping…
For me, it’s not that my “bad” students are mostly boys, it’s that it’s harder for me to deal with the style of troublemaking that boys tend to perpetrate, whereas I can handle my girls’ problems much more easily.
For example, if one of my boys is having a problem day, that means he is talking loudly with his friends, punching his friends, flicking things at his friends, getting up and walking around the class for no reason, etc. My girls, however, might be chatting and giggling, or doing makeup with giant mirrors out, or doing homework for other classes.
I feel like the misbehaving boys are louder, rowdier, and more likely to actually disturb the learning of other students and throw me off of my teaching groove. I actually have to stop class and deal with them. But with my girls, if they are doing something they’re not supposed to be doing, it’s often only distracting themselves. And the girls are much more willing to stop doing whatever they’re doing with a well-timed glare.
Obviously it depends on the student, but I think partially just because of my personality and discipline style it’s much easier for me to handle problems with my girls than my boys. The longer I’m here and the more they get used to me, though, it’s become much easier.
