no laughing matter

It was the end of a particularly bad day for Tammy. She had been defiant, she had been out of her seat more than not, and she stuck out her tongue at her classroom teacher.

At the end of the day, she asked me if she was going to get a sticker ("ticker?"). I sat down with her at my teacher table while my other students were reading quietly. I pulled out her behavior chart just as one of my colleagues showed up at the door. He stood in the doorway and watched us for a minute.

I counted the smiley faces for "I will follow directions". Two.
I counted the sad faces for following directions. Eight.

"Oh no, Tammy!" And as I started to debrief with her, I noticed my colleague at the door is laughing quietly. "You have more sad faces today! You did not follow directions. You did not stay in your chair. You stuck your tongue out at the teacher! No sticker for you today. Let's try again tomorrow."

Out of the corner of my eye, one of my other students was mouthing to my colleague at the door: "Stop laughing! It's not funny!" Her serious scolding made him laugh even harder, so he left our doorway.

I'm so glad the rest of my kids think bad behavior is no laughing matter!!

5 comments:

JoAnna said...

it's amazing how many people you mention at your door. if i saw that many adults breeze by my classroom, i wouldn't know what to do with myself! especially if they stood their smirking.

Shell said...

I would probably laugh, too!

My favorite years of teacher were the ones where I was out in a trailer and then in the classroom that wasn't near anything. No one came by unless they actually needed something. LOL

Steff said...

Hahahahaha I loved the sticker charts in school. If a kid mouthed that to me I would laugh too!

Sarah said...

Lol! Love the other child telling him not to laugh! Kids are too funny!

Bethany said...

My kids need a sticker system.

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