Teenagers - it's a tough lesson

 Hmm, it's been a reflective few days.

I had an experience in the classroom that has really hit my heart and made me very reflective on teenage students, their experiences and all the other things in life that they are dealing with.

The situation was that there was some "misbehaviour" on Mentimeter which was unacceptable.  This resulted in the school disciplining the class with some students receiving severe punishments including suspension. Everyone in the class had to apologise personally and collectively for the behaviour.  

I've been thinking about this a lot.  

It's been too easy for me to forget that the students are teenagers first and foremost, going through all the stuff that teenagers go through...finding out who they are as individuals, what they stand for, who they want to hang around with and what they want to be known for.  Learning English is probably nowhere near the top of their list of priorities most days.  It's probably more important to go with the crowd or be seen as cool, rather than be the one who stands out or stands up  for what is right.  

Some students were crying in class following discipline by the school and I realise this has been a really hard lesson for them.  They are not "bad students" at all, they are great.  They just made some poor decisions, as most of us do at 14/15/16.  It's a hard way to learn a lesson not to mess around in class nor follow the crowd.  I can see from how upset some were that they will probably choose differently next time.  

As a new teacher starting out, I've learnt a lot through this too.  It has shown me that the school will pull together as one and the teaching staff work as a single unit to support each other.  It has also reminded me that teens have a lot going on and anything that helps them become successful adults is a good thing, even if it is difficult for them (and me) at the time.  I've also learnt to really consider how to use tools such as Mentimeter.  But, the most important thing I learnt is to believe in the students.....after the royal telling off, I chose to re-run the lesson again with the same class, using Menti again, in the same way and it worked a charm.  

Lots to think about and for the record, I still love teaching teenagers!


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