How do you deal with a disappointment in the classroom?

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I think that I will do what my Mom did when this happened in my class. When a student does something to disappoint me (particularly them lying, not turning in work, talking back, etc) I think it is important to them EXACTLY what they did to disappoint me. I think that its really important to explain yourself. If you’re just getting angry, but not telling them why… how the heck are they going to fix the problem? Then, I would tell them exactly what they can do to fix the problem. Just like not telling someone what they did…. if you don’t tell them how to fix it… the problem is going to be addressed, but then its just going to stop there. I also think that it is really important to not hold a grudge on a student. If you have addressed and fixed a problem…. why the heck do you need to keep on telling them about it? Move on. If a student continues to disappoint you, I think it would be ok to take away small privileges (writing on the white board, using a smartboard, etc) until they realize that they should check themselves.

4 thoughts on “How do you deal with a disappointment in the classroom?”

  1. Depending on the student this would work wonderfully. I know that this would not have worked on me. At all. When teachers said they were disappointed in me I knew exactly what it was I had done, and I either was already fixing it myself, or I did not care.

    I remember my final grade on a sign language project was a C. I was so sick of the teacher picking on me that I gave up half way through the project and turned it in just as it was. On the grade she wrote that she expected better and was disappointed. My response was to throw away the grade sheet and walk out of her class for the last time.

    However I do know that most of the time students are not aware of what it is they’re doing, or that they do not know that someone cares. Letting them know this might be what they need to get their act together.

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  2. When we discussed this in class, the first thing I thought was, “What did my parents do when they were disappointed in me?” Sometimes I feel like I get a lot of my pedagogical strategies from my parents. I think you’re right…we need to be specific with our students so they can know what they did wrong and how to fix it. I loved what you said about not holding a grudge. Like Antero said, we are technically the adults in this situation so we need to be mature with our response to students when they disappoint us.

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