It's All About Your Attitude and Not Theirs
After all these years of teaching middle school English, I wish that I could say that I have the answer to rid your classroom of all bad attitudes. Unfortunately, I can't because it comes with the territory. A bad attitude in a middle schooler is usually the sign of a lack of self-confidence. I know, it doesn't seem that way, but I've dealt with enough to know that a bad attitude is not about me. It's just the way that the kid is projecting him or herself. I've tried several different ways to deal with it, and very few are effective all of the time. Like most things in teaching, you just have to go with it and see what works for that kid at that moment. At the beginning of last school year, I had a student who refused to write anything (not even his name) on a piece of paper. I tried threats and punishments. I moved him away from the group that he was trying to impress. I turned his name into the administration--he spent three days in in-school suspens...