Friday, January 09, 2004
My object all sublime
Yesterday was Thursday. Nothing out of the ordinary about that, except that I am currently scheduled to serve as supervisor for the 9th grade detention. The 9th grade came up with the idea of holding a school-run detention to provide teachers with an effective consequence for student misconduct. Failure to attend the detention would in theory lead to suspension, at least on an overnight basis. Because I tend to utilize the detention system, I felt it was the least I could do to donate some of my time to help the system function.
Yesterday, I went to the room down the hall where detention was held. NO ONE was there. Most notably, the freshman I had assigned a detention the day before for walking out of my class five minutes early (and more importantly, without permission) decided that half an hour was too long and just walked out.
So there I am...me, the teacher whose room I'm using, and another veteran teacher, sitting there debating the merits of the detention system. My basic argument is that without some effective consequence that students either fear or want, changes in behavior are impossible. The younger of the two teachers agreed, but also argued that without effective followups on skipped detentions, there's no reason to give detentions. It's just more hassle for the teachers. The older of the two concurred with this assessment, but argued that detention could be run independently of the 9th grade administrators. (He actually said it more eloquently than that...but I regrettably didn't write it down.)
I'm not sure why the situation surprises me. After all, people tend to look out for their own interests; if the people who volunteered to run it initially fail to show up (as is the case several days a week), and the coordinator is busy and has tmie following up on every student who cuts, then the system is bound to fail. I just wonder if I should continue clinging on to this system for lack of anything better. Should I go run detention next Thursday? Or should I write a letter outlining its flaws to submit to the administration? Or what? I'm not sure.
"My object all sublime," the Mikado once stated, "I shall achieve in time. To make the punishment fit the crime, the punishment fit the crime."
Sounds great in theory, but Messr.'s Gilbert and Sullivan likely never faced the complexities of life at Underwood High.
NB: Today marks the first time I have ever written a blog entry every weekday for a full week. It's not the biggest milestone, but to all of you who have been following along from the beginning, and to any new viewers this blog might have, I just want to take the chance to say thanks for reading.
Yesterday was Thursday. Nothing out of the ordinary about that, except that I am currently scheduled to serve as supervisor for the 9th grade detention. The 9th grade came up with the idea of holding a school-run detention to provide teachers with an effective consequence for student misconduct. Failure to attend the detention would in theory lead to suspension, at least on an overnight basis. Because I tend to utilize the detention system, I felt it was the least I could do to donate some of my time to help the system function.
Yesterday, I went to the room down the hall where detention was held. NO ONE was there. Most notably, the freshman I had assigned a detention the day before for walking out of my class five minutes early (and more importantly, without permission) decided that half an hour was too long and just walked out.
So there I am...me, the teacher whose room I'm using, and another veteran teacher, sitting there debating the merits of the detention system. My basic argument is that without some effective consequence that students either fear or want, changes in behavior are impossible. The younger of the two teachers agreed, but also argued that without effective followups on skipped detentions, there's no reason to give detentions. It's just more hassle for the teachers. The older of the two concurred with this assessment, but argued that detention could be run independently of the 9th grade administrators. (He actually said it more eloquently than that...but I regrettably didn't write it down.)
I'm not sure why the situation surprises me. After all, people tend to look out for their own interests; if the people who volunteered to run it initially fail to show up (as is the case several days a week), and the coordinator is busy and has tmie following up on every student who cuts, then the system is bound to fail. I just wonder if I should continue clinging on to this system for lack of anything better. Should I go run detention next Thursday? Or should I write a letter outlining its flaws to submit to the administration? Or what? I'm not sure.
"My object all sublime," the Mikado once stated, "I shall achieve in time. To make the punishment fit the crime, the punishment fit the crime."
Sounds great in theory, but Messr.'s Gilbert and Sullivan likely never faced the complexities of life at Underwood High.
NB: Today marks the first time I have ever written a blog entry every weekday for a full week. It's not the biggest milestone, but to all of you who have been following along from the beginning, and to any new viewers this blog might have, I just want to take the chance to say thanks for reading.
