NEVER underestimate the power of the kilt to teach

[pdcorlis]

'Scuse me, but if you teach school... WEAR YOUR KILT TO SCHOOL!

Couldn't agree more Alan. My kilted classroom experiences have taught me that the kilt can open doors to conversations that flow in many directions - virtually all of them good.

[Blu (Ontario)]

Good stories Alan.

You know... I think you're having W a a a a y more fun doing this job than you had at the last one!

[TimC]

Opening minds as you move in and out of lives is what it all about - Great job Alan!

-Tim

[Barclay]

A great story, thanks for sharing and no doubt, you've had a great influence on these kids. Good on ya!

[kiltimabar]

I hope we will be hearing news of the Celtic Heritage Club real soon.

[michael steinrok]

Darth Vader voice: whoosh wheeze "Luke you will come to know the power of the kilt!" whoosh wheez

[Alan H]

So, here's the thing.. I know that I don't have to take any abuse from kids when I go to a school. I remember what I and my buddies did to substitutes when I was in high school, and we were pretty darned good kids. The whole game has gotten a lot rougher, now. Still, the flat-out truth is that when I'm in a classroom with 30-40 kids I am responsible for getting some work done with them and getting as many of those minds to learn something as I can.

I REFUSE...I utterly refuse to let one or two class clowns...kids that soak up all the attention by acting out, ruin class for the other 29-30 kids. If a kid gives me lip, he's/she's gone..>GONE...right now, in the hall, I don't care if you go whine to the principal, or leave the campus or not. You mess up my class for the other kids, you're GONE.. If a kid refuses to do what I tell him to do...outta here. I'll ask a kid two, maybe three times to do something. If he/she won't, or does it and then 60 seconds later is back at whatever-it-is again.... He's gone. I don't have time for it, thje other kids don't have time for it, and it's HIS/HER choice to act like that.

Almost invariably, I give it to the kids broadside and HARD in the first five minutes in class, show that they're not going to run roughshod over me, and DEMAND their respect. If that means throwing the troublemaker out into the hall, then I'll do it. I'm not there to be their "buddy", but my job is a lot easier if I demand and get, their respect.

What happens over and over and over again is that when kids RESPECT you, then they will at least *try* to learn from you. If they don't try, that's OK...if they want to sit there like a lump on a log....and let me tell you, about half the Hispanic girls that I see in these schools are nearly inanimate lumps....FINE. Just don't create any situations where you inhibit someone ELSE's learning.

So when I step into a classroom, I DEMAND respect right up front. To those kids that give it, I cede them respect as well, and then we move on to learning. The moment that happens, the kilt becomes an irrelevancy in the dynamics of the classroom. Almost every class wants to know about it, so I'll take five minutes and tell them what it is, what a sporran is, and where Scotland is. Nonetheless, by the time we get to that point, the kilt has totally stopped being a factor in the classroom interplay.

I am no more a whiz-bang teacher than any other professional that goes in there day after day. In fact, the substitute has it easy in terms of content, lesson plans and so on. They just have to manage classroom dynamics, which is a challenge, but not so bad, really. No, it's professional teachers that go into those classrooms day an in and day out and make the long-term differences in the lives of their kids that deserve the REAL credit.

[scoutniagara]

When I had a difficult child in class, after telling him/her my expectations that the students in the class had a right to an education, and that he/she had no right to disrupt that right, I just buzzed the office, and told the secretary, that "So-And-So" was on his/her way down to the office to speak with the Principal/Vice Principal. My job was to teach, not discipline, outside of classroom management.

Retired, kilted and loving it!

[McClef]

Darth Vader voice: whoosh wheeze "Luke you will come to know the power of the kilt!" whoosh wheez

Stand by for the jokes about the "dark side"