This year, I have a student in my class that has challenged me all year. He is incredibly kind and caring, and he is one of the first students that will go to help someone who is hurting or feeling sad. At the same time, he has taken on the role of the "class clown." He intentionally makes inappropriate comments during lessons to get others to laugh, and he'll purposely break rules to see what reaction he will get.
For a long time, I have felt that the issue for this student is not that he is a "bad kid." The issue is that he thinks that he is. Whenever I need to pull him aside to talk about a poor decision he has made, he begins by saying that he is receiving a consequence because he is a "bad kid." No matter how many times I reiterate that he is not--that it was the choice that was bad--he can't seem to get past this view of himself. We have had conversations about the great qualities he has, I praise him when I see him make good choices, etc. Continually, though, he goes back to seeing himself as bad and, I think, makes poor choices to continue on in that role.
Does anyone have any ideas about helping him to see himself in a different role?
I am no expert by any means but here are a few suggestions that I might try if that student was in my class. You might try putting him on a behavior chart documenting his unacceptable behaviors and making goals for the week on how many he can cut-down. You could think of some kind of reward for him. This might be hard to do, but maybe video taping him in class and watching it with his parents. This might help him see what he looks like when he is acting foolishly and then also what he does that is positive behavior. Not sure if those would work, but just suggestions.
ReplyDeleteAre there responsibilities you could assign him that speak to his strengths? I wonder if he had some kind of ownership over a part of your classroom or routine, if he would step up because he needs to be more mature. (Ask him to look out for a student who needs a friend, to be in charge of remembering to pass out/collect something, etc.) Not sure if that's helpful, but there it is...
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