I always believe that as a teacher we have a great responsibility.It is not just the notes,curriculum or the tests and grades that matter but what also matters is what values you are inculcating in the little minds.
I try my best to teach them how to make the right choices and how to learn from the wrong choices they make.This is the age when they are learning about right and wrong,truth and falsehood and vice and virtue albeit in a matter of fact manner.This makes it more important for us as to draw their attention to little deeds or misdeeds that can help or harm them in the long run.
This brings me to the situation in my class yesterday .Birthdays are special occasions when the birthday kid brings chocolates or biscuits to share with his classmates and teachers.As I teach in a school having 12 divisions for one standard there are quite a few days when I go home with a biscuit or chocolate.So yesterday I got a chocolate bourbon biscuit and a melody toffee.As is the usual practice , I kept these in my lunch bag.That evening when I opened my bag I found the toffee but the biscuit packet was missing though I was sure I had kept it there earlier.
It was not a rare occurrence but it was for me as this has never ever happened in my classroom.Many of my teacher-friends have complained of missing biscuit packets ,pens, chocolates from their classrooms.they have ignored it and have let it pass saying that kids are tempted at times to do so and they do not realise that they are doing something wrong.
This incident saddened me,not because I wanted the biscuits but because this meant that it was a possibility that one of the children from my class had opened my bag and taken the biscuit packet.This may seem to be a non-issue for many (C'mon,it was just a biscuit packet!He/she is a kid,it's no big deal !) But for me it WAS a big deal!
I felt that if there was a child who had taken the biscuit packet,he/she should be be spoken to but in a discreet manner.This could become a habit for him/her.I take pride in the fact that I try to instill good values in the children and regularly talk to them about what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.I do a follow up of all the values they learn through constant reinforcement (praise and appreciation or reprimands)
I shared this situation in the class as I believed that if anyone had taken the biscuits he/she would own up.No one did.
I told them that I was saddened to know that some child had resorted to stealing and voiced my fears about it becoming a habit.My kids too said that it was not the right thing to do.Frankly , I do not think this was done by any kid from my class.This may be the handiwork of any other kid who entered the class for language class or who entered the classroom when my class kids had gone for Art or PE.
My kids listened to the case of the missing biscuits and had so many great ideas to find the culprit.Here are a few suggestions from the brainy 9 and 10 year olds:
I try my best to teach them how to make the right choices and how to learn from the wrong choices they make.This is the age when they are learning about right and wrong,truth and falsehood and vice and virtue albeit in a matter of fact manner.This makes it more important for us as to draw their attention to little deeds or misdeeds that can help or harm them in the long run.
This brings me to the situation in my class yesterday .Birthdays are special occasions when the birthday kid brings chocolates or biscuits to share with his classmates and teachers.As I teach in a school having 12 divisions for one standard there are quite a few days when I go home with a biscuit or chocolate.So yesterday I got a chocolate bourbon biscuit and a melody toffee.As is the usual practice , I kept these in my lunch bag.That evening when I opened my bag I found the toffee but the biscuit packet was missing though I was sure I had kept it there earlier.
It was not a rare occurrence but it was for me as this has never ever happened in my classroom.Many of my teacher-friends have complained of missing biscuit packets ,pens, chocolates from their classrooms.they have ignored it and have let it pass saying that kids are tempted at times to do so and they do not realise that they are doing something wrong.
This incident saddened me,not because I wanted the biscuits but because this meant that it was a possibility that one of the children from my class had opened my bag and taken the biscuit packet.This may seem to be a non-issue for many (C'mon,it was just a biscuit packet!He/she is a kid,it's no big deal !) But for me it WAS a big deal!
I felt that if there was a child who had taken the biscuit packet,he/she should be be spoken to but in a discreet manner.This could become a habit for him/her.I take pride in the fact that I try to instill good values in the children and regularly talk to them about what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.I do a follow up of all the values they learn through constant reinforcement (praise and appreciation or reprimands)
I shared this situation in the class as I believed that if anyone had taken the biscuits he/she would own up.No one did.
I told them that I was saddened to know that some child had resorted to stealing and voiced my fears about it becoming a habit.My kids too said that it was not the right thing to do.Frankly , I do not think this was done by any kid from my class.This may be the handiwork of any other kid who entered the class for language class or who entered the classroom when my class kids had gone for Art or PE.
My kids listened to the case of the missing biscuits and had so many great ideas to find the culprit.Here are a few suggestions from the brainy 9 and 10 year olds:
- Check the CC camera footage and see who entered our class when we were not here.
- Send your lunch bag to detectives to match the fingerprints on the bag.with those of the students of our class and the next one.
- Keep a bigger biscuit packet in your bag again and let us all see who takes it this time.We will catch him/her red-handed.
- Bring a police dog ,he will surely find the thief..
- Let us all hide and see who is entering our class to take the biscuit packet.We will hide under the benches and catch him/her.
Wish I had a way to find out.
Any suggestions???
Haha cute way of the innocent kids to solve the problem!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the problem is serious. May it wasn't any kid, it was the handiwork of say a peon?
Most probably it was a kid as there have been many such cases of kids doing it in the other classes too.There have been instances when kids have also innocently asked the teacher for a particular biscuit packet.
ReplyDeleteThe peons do not enter when we are not in class except when they clean up after school.