Teaching Boys.......

[DianaB]

We have a Wednesday night progam for kids at church. For girls, it's Missionettes and for boys, it's Royal Rangers, kinda' like boy scouts. Glen has been in charge of it for years and I've stayed away, only helping when he needed something small, like cupcakes or something.

Well, this year he was short on teachers starting out (we only have the progam while school is going on) so I volunteered. Last night was my third night of teaching. I spent most of all day yesterday getting my lesson ready and getting supplies around for games and crafts.

The church has a really neat program going on in the fact that we bus the kids in and feed them supper. Our ladies cook really nice meals for the kids.

Anyway, I have one little boy, Billy, who can NOT stop talking. Another, Ethan, wants to hit and tackle the others. GRRRRRRR!!!!!

I told the lesson (with difficulty) and we did crafts. I've been doing lessons on pirates and applying it to a Bible lesson so my crafts are also about pirates. Last week we made pirate hats and the boys got to decorate them. This week we made treasure maps out of brown paper grocery sacks. The boys got wild with the crayola markers and some how ended up under the tables. GRRRRR!!!!!

We finally made it outside to play a game. I was so excited because I though the boys would really enjoy a game called Cannonballs. Once outside, they ran off.......every which direction. Nobody wanted to hear the directions to the game. After a while we went back inside and I made them just sit until class was over. They weren't happy because they didn't get to play the game. GRRRRR!!!!!!

I DON'T UNDERSTAND BOYS!!!! I keep trying to think like a boy but I just can't. Glen told me that I don't have to teach if I don't want to but I know that he'll have trouble finding someone else and I don't think that having a helper will help. I need to do something to get the boys' respect so they'll listen to ME.

I'm just venting. I know that I'll go back next week and try it again. It just takes a lot of the fun out of it for me. I could just do a plain boring lesson and just let them color, run outside for awhile, then go home but that's not what I want to do.

[judy]

How old are the boys Diana? Boys have tons of energy don't they? I would give them several short activities which they have to focus on. If they are reading, you might also have them read out loud. They seem to quiet down, probably out of fear, when they have to read out loud.

How does the church feel about involving the parents if a child is not behaving? I found that a lot of boys respond to that. You can also call them on the side and ask "I know your mother did not raise you to ______. What would she say if I told her what you are doing?"

I also would not take them outside until they learn how to behave inside. Let them run around at home!

[Janet]

Good advice Judy!!! Also...if they don't behave...they don't get a treat or whatever it is you give them. There is also the corner they can stand in when misbehaving.

[gja1000]

I know nothing about teaching young boys - but I have always heard they are more immature than girls of the same age. That may be true or not. It sounds like they have lots of unchanneled energy! I'd consult a teacher of the grade they are in to see how she handles these sorts of problems. It's like they don't respect you evidenced by not listening. So how to handle that??? - maybe a lesson from the bible on respect or something like that. Maybe an activity where they have to demonstrate respect (don't have a clue what that might be???) I'm just guessing, as I don't really know much about young kids.

[Blueyes]

Maybe the preacher needs to stop by for a little visit. Kinda like talking to the principal

My sons and grandsons don't (didn't) behave like that. They really don't Are these kids usually there or are they there so their parents can have a night off??

[DianaB]

Sorry, I did leave out their ages. They are kindergarten and first grades. Glen cut out 2nd grade in order to make my class smaller and easier to handle. Ha!!

The boys are bused in so there's usually not a parent involved. There is a guy at church that I can call and he'll take the boy into the adult church. That might work. I think that he also gives the boy a talk as well. A lot of parents send their kids to just get them out of their hair for awhile. Usually the ones that cause the most trouble have the saddest home life. Thanks for all of the ideas!!!

[Marilyn]

Oh, Diana, I can sooooo relate. I've been teaching off and on, but most of the time since I was in college. I've taught pre-school thru junior high girls. Never really had a much of a problem until last fall. I was teaching 1st - 3rd grade, a class I'd been teaching for 4 years, and really enjoyed. It was like I'd found my niche. Anyway, three boys were promoted into the class. One, Parker, has emotional problems. They thought he was autistic when he was a baby, but he has improved immensly since then. He interacts well, but has a short attention span. You have to keep getting his attention or he'll drift off. He really liked me and we got along well. Another, Kirk, is a sweet little boy, but he likes everything to be in a pattern. You have to do the same things at the same time during the class, or he gets frustrated. If he doesn't have time to finish something, he'll cry if we don't stop the class and give him time to finish. Then there is Manny. Even though I know his mother is a strong disciplinarian, he acts like he has no discipline. If he doesn't want to do something, he'll turn into silly putty and slink to the floor. He says unkind things to Kirk and Parker when he doesn't like something they do or say. Overall, he's a very very disruptive factor in the classroom. You put the three together and it can be overwhelming. I tried having Rex in the classroom with me, and it didn't help much. I tired having Manny's mother in the classroom, and he is better when she is there, but she needs to be in her own class.

I taught this class for two quarters and finally had to tell the deacon over the youth education that I couldn't do it any longer. I've never had to give up on anything like this before, but they were reducing me to tears. I had to admit that I'm just not the person for the job. They found another lady who is like a drill sargent and she seems to like the class and is very firm with them. More power to her.

I'm now teaching 4 & 5 year olds. There are three girls in the class, and we are having a blast. One of the girls is Kirk's little sister, and I see some of the same traits in her, but they are a dream compared to the boys. Sometimes we just have to admit that we aren't the right one for the job and let someone else take the reigns. In my case, this all worked out for the best.

Diana, so hope that things work out for you. I do feel your pain and frustration. Hugs!!

[DianaB]

I knew that you'd understand, Marilyn, since you also teach in church. I also teach a Sunday School class that's about the same age, but mostly they are kids raised in church with parents that are there. I was running about 6 to 8 kids until we had promotions and now I have any where from 1 to 3. It's a really nice class now and I'm not fustrated with so few.

It doesn't help that the boys are allowed to run willy-nilly all over everywhere right before class on Wednesday. I'll try a few more times and see how it goes. I've never really wanted to teach boys but Glen needed the help and I'm feeling pretty good with the new meds that I'm on so I thought that I could tackle teaching them. I was so excited about some ideas that I had but last Wednesday night has really taken some of the excitement out of me. We'll see what happens.......

[judy]

Sadly, Diana, children from not so great homes tend to respond to the drill sergeant type of teacher Marilyn gave her kids over to. They need a lot of structure, and they are used to adults being harsh with them. They sometimes just don't know how to react to kindness, so they ignore you.

You really don't seem like you have that drill sergeant in you!

[Marilyn]

Diana, so hope things work out better for you this next Wednesday evening!!

One thing that I left behind when I switched classes is my prepared material. Our material repeats every 4 years, so I had worked up the 4 years worth of material, with each quarter in a binder organized by weeks, and we were just starting to repeat. It was so nice, because I already had all the visuals and other required materials assembled in binders and ready to go. Since I've changed to 4 & 5 year olds, I'm starting all over again with the 4 year program for them. My predicessors in this class did not retain the prepared materials. We're working to coordinate the teachers so that everyone uses a binder system to capture this material so we have it ready to go in the future. Teaching elementary and below is lot of work, we spend hours preparing for a 45 minute class.

[judy]

Lesson plans are the bane of every teacher's existence Marilyn! A good lesson plan takes so much work! When I started teaching high school, I spent the first year writing up my lesson plans. I really never went out. I was using a word processor at the time, and it just crashed after that year!

I never really redid my lesson plans after that. The cut and paste method is wonderful, and worked very well for me. There was always something to add, change , reword, etc., but that is just not a big deal. I just dumped my science lesson plans before I moved. I did keep my health lessons, and I think I still have some of my English lesson plans in a box somewhere.

Have you asked the people who taught the 4 and 5 year olds for anything they still have? It would be hard to believe that they just got rid of everything, unless they were never going to teach again!

There are some wonderful online sites that have good lesson plans. Have you tried looking around?

[DianaB]

Marilyn, I understand your fustration with the lesson plans. My daughter, Dae Lynn was the teacher before me and she gave me the website address that she'd been getting ideas from. It's been really helpful. There is cirriculum but it's difficult to use and you have to work to gain badges. It's not like my Sundy School lessons at all. Everyone knows that teaching these boys is hard and are giving me ideas. My daughter, Amy, is helping with some things as well.

This week will be better......................I hope!!!!

Judy, I'm sure that you're right about what it takes to make the kids listen to you. A man would be better suited to teach this class and we do have several......but they just want to help, not teach. I know that I don't show it on here but I really do have a drill sergent inside of me!!!

It'll work.....just say a prayer for me!!!

[pope1982]

Originally Posted by DianaB

I DON'T UNDERSTAND BOYS!!!!

You said a mouth full! Lucky for us, they tend to stay stuck at a juvenile age most of their lives while we try to figure them out. How thoughtful! lol

[Marilyn]

With regard to the lesson plans, we have some really good material to use. We get a teacher's manual and student workbooks with some good ideas for songs, drills, games, etc. each week to reinforce each lesson, along with visuals to illustrate each lesson. However, you have to take the ideas and turn them into useful materials. Either using poster board, construction paper, printing things from clip art on the computer, etc. When I work up a weeks lesson, I put all the materials and prepared visuals in a page protector with the lesson number printed on it. When I'm finished teaching it, I put all the things that I've prepared back in the page protector and into a prepared binder. At the end of the quarter, there are 13 lessons with all the material in a binder ready to teach it next time. This is what I left behind.

And, no, most of the other teachers are not so organized. They do not keep the materials together. Every 4 years, the material repeats, and I guess they figure someone else will be teaching it in 4 years. We are just starting a new rotation, and my 4 years of binders is beginning it's repeat, and I'm in a different class.

There is some of the leftover material left in storage areas in some of the classrooms and in the teacher's workroom. We hope to have a workday soon to get it all together and figure out just what we do have and what we need to buy to make it all complete and useable.

We have a lot of really good Bible teachers with lots of wonderful ideas. We just need to capture them and make them useable for the future.

[Marilyn]

Originally Posted by DianaB

Judy, I'm sure that you're right about what it takes to make the kids listen to you. A man would be better suited to teach this class and we do have several......but they just want to help, not teach. I know that I don't show it on here but I really do have a drill sergent inside of me!!!

It'll work.....just say a prayer for me!!!

This is what I think the boys I was teaching need, a man to teach them. We have the same problem though, men are willing to help when you ask, but to actually teach elementary children, they are not so willing.

Our men are willing to teach 4th grade and up, however these 1st thru 3rd grade boys can be a handful!!!