March 2009
Monthly Archive
Spending a Few Moments with a Troublemaker…
Posted by angelina bencomo on 13 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Discipline
We all have a few of them now and then, troublemakers. Difficult to deal with, yes, but we need to get past the tough exteriors, the tough images.
I’ve had my share of problems with a few of my students this year, but yesterday I spent a few minutes connecting with one of them. It all started when I overheard her say something about me in front of the class to my student teacher. I thought to myself, “She’s trying to act tough again!” A few minutes later I asked her to come talk to me. I got the usual eyes rolling upward and upside-down smile. Then I began with “Lisa, I really want to connect with you, I don’t like the tension between us. What can I do to make things better?” And then we talked … about respect, anger, sadness, love, hate, families and fears. She opened up to me. Beneath the tough exterior I could see in her the frightened little girl who was only begging for love and acceptance. I let her know I cared about her and showed it by listening to her, by being there for her. We connected! I think we both feel so much better because of that and our days ahead of us will probably be a bit sunnier! All because of a little bit of time together. . .
I am actually looking forward to seeing her, and soon!
Mrs. McBloom, Clean Up Your Classroom!
Posted by angelina bencomo on 06 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
This is the name of one of the many children’s books I have in my collection. I have been a Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher at Canutillo High School for 16 years. That could mean less time than some of you have spent as FACS teachers, maybe a few more than others. For me, it means many things… but for my collection of teaching materials, it means that I have enough supplies to fill up several classrooms. I don’t want to admit it, but I have quite a few things in common with Mrs. McBloom! I just can’t figure out what it is about me that makes me feel that I have to be so resourceful! I get some kind of pleasure when someone asks if I happen to have pom-poms or toilet paper rolls, sheet protectors or shoeboxes (or any type of boxes for that matter! I must have something for boxes!).
I have been organized most of my life, but have been a bit overwhelmed this year. I need to get back to things plain and simple. But wait…someone just asked me for a pretzel recipe. I know I put it in one of my files somewhere! Just give me a minute to look for it!