Classroom Management- Bullying

I am currently completing my student teaching requirements in a third grade classroom. During my student teaching observations this past week, there was an incident in the classroom on Friday (my off day). As I am still learning about the students in the classroom, I was able to observe how my host teacher handle the situation. 

The Incident:

One student wrote a note to another student that said something inappropriate. The student who received the note stated that the classmate (student A) who handed it to her stated it was from another student (student B). 

How the teacher handled the incident on Friday:

When the teacher asked student B about the note he swore it was not from him and that he did not write it. After looking at his handwriting compared to the note it was obvious that the note was not written by Student B. The teacher then had the entire class do an activity where she had them write down some words. The students were not aware that these words were to help determine who wrote the note. The teacher took all of the students sample writings of those words and compared them to the handwriting of the note and was able to determine who actually wrote the note. Before she addressed the issue with the individual student, she did a lesson on mistakes with the whole class. 

My Observations:

From what I have learned with during my time with Fordham so far, it is important to never single a student out in front of the entire class. Addressing an issue as a whole class is beneficial because it acts as a reminder of the expectations of your classroom and what behavior is deemed inappropriate. In one of the  courses I have taken here at Fordham I was introduced to the Social Justice Standards. When I heard about this incident, I recalled learning about the social justice standards and shared them with the teacher. She absolutely loved the idea of incorporating these into her lessons so that the students may be constantly reminded of how we should treat others. 

How I will maintain peer respect in my future classroom:

After doing some research, I came up with a few helpful tips to alleviate bullying in the classroom.

1. Teaching basic communication skills- Students need to know how to communicate their feelings in a respectful manner. If a student has an issue with another student, they should know that it should be brought to the teachers attention. Students should not resort to saying mean words to one another out of anger because something was not brought to the teacher's attention earlier nor will that be tolerated in the classroom. 

https://jasontaylorfoundation.com/news/jtf-forum-2017-20-06-5-reasons-spoken-word-is-powerful-in-the-classroom/?gclid=CjwKCAiA3L6PBhBvEiwAINlJ9Cpwihrr5rkRdboZjAjHusll9Q8Lhu9KANJcYM9nqDF3uyHiP4R-nhoCgigQAvD_BwE

2. Students should be made aware in a very clear manner that bullying of any nature is not tolerated at all under any circumstances. 

3. Inclusion of the social justice standards into all aspects of their learning experiences throughout the year.

https://www.learningforjustice.org/sites/default/files/2017-06/TT_Social_Justice_Standards_0.pdf

4. Maintain open communication between you and your students, and students and their peers.

Allowing for open communication will help students to better express themselves. They need to learn appropriate communication such as : "can you please stop humming, it is making it difficult for me to focus" instead of "stop doing that it is annoying". An important aspect of allowing for students to have open communication is to remind them of the way they should say things. Their tone as they speak to one another makes a difference as to if it is perceived in a nice and respectful way or a mean/ demanding way. 

https://www.verywellfamily.com/ways-prevent-bullying-in-classroom-460756

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