As classroom management, lesson planning, and lesson flow are all coming together, I am getting more curious about student behavior and life skills. I can't help but wonder what kind of families these students come from; how they are treated at home compared to how they are treated at school. There are ways to "manage" students who call out, don't pay attention, can't keep their bodies calm, or don't participate. However, I can't figure out "fairness". That sounds silly but it really has become a dilemma. In elementary school students are taught to always be "fair", parents enforce that their children "play fair", but can we always be this definition of "fair" in the classroom?
I have certain students that, the moment someone is asked to play an instrument, yell out and say, "Is everyone going to play an instrument!? That's not fair!" I always answer as honestly as possible explaining that sometimes not everyone will be chosen, or not everyone can be the leader, mostly because there isn't enough time. I wonder how much of this concern is that they actually think every single student should get to play or perform that activity, or if they are concerned with making sure they get their own turn.
How is fairness displayed in their own homes? How is fairness displayed in other classes? Is it truly terrible if not every student has the opportunity to play the instrument, or perform a solo in every class? How has their definition of "fair" shaped them as students and people?
How do we better describe fairness to students? How do we practice what we preach? Is "fair" still "fair", or has "fair" become "greedy"?
I have certain students that, the moment someone is asked to play an instrument, yell out and say, "Is everyone going to play an instrument!? That's not fair!" I always answer as honestly as possible explaining that sometimes not everyone will be chosen, or not everyone can be the leader, mostly because there isn't enough time. I wonder how much of this concern is that they actually think every single student should get to play or perform that activity, or if they are concerned with making sure they get their own turn.
How is fairness displayed in their own homes? How is fairness displayed in other classes? Is it truly terrible if not every student has the opportunity to play the instrument, or perform a solo in every class? How has their definition of "fair" shaped them as students and people?
How do we better describe fairness to students? How do we practice what we preach? Is "fair" still "fair", or has "fair" become "greedy"?