Personal Attitude Statement

CIE 508

How do you feel when students ignore you when you are giving directions?

Mary Joy Mondejar

One of the challenge the teachers face, especially for a first-year teachers are student who

ignore following the directions. For the first few weeks of the school year having the students

follow your directions quickly is quite difficult and frustrating. During my first 2 weeks in the

classroom, I’ve days that I became angry and frustrated for my students not following the

directions or instructions right away. During the last 2 weeks I have become frustrated in my

students and less confident of myself as a teacher. One of the reasons that I’m frustrated was

because before the school year started, I planned my rules thoroughly to have a smooth year, I

even worked earlier (unpaid) to make my classroom rules posters (and also classroom set-up).

Just to caught up in a seemingly simple rule that my students don’t follow. Another reason for

my frustration was that I would like to be seen by my administrator as competent teacher, but if

they see my students ignore my directions, I don’t think my administration will see me as one.

I teach kindergarten, and another challenge of teaching this grade level is that they can

be distracted easily. There were days that I have think to myself that maybe I am not firm enough

or that I need to change my tactics to “serious-tiger teacher”. I’ve thought maybe that will work.

However, that is not my style of teaching. I want to be as nurturing teacher they can have. I told

myself that I need to do something to regain my self-confidence in the classroom back. On the 3 rd

week of the school year, I moved the classroom rules list in a more visible location (beside the
smart board). My classroom rules are follow directions quickly, raised your hands for permission

to speak or left the seat, respect your classmates and your teacher, make smart choices, and make

your dear teacher happy. I have realized that you can’t only tell the students the rules one or few

times of the beginning of the year and leave it that way. No, that will not work. Students,

especially younger students need constant reminder of the rules. So, I review the classroom rules

almost every morning as part of our morning routine. During the 3 rd week I’ve also added 2

behavioral management (1) Behavioral chart: Blue for consistently behaving and following the

rules, green for good, yellow for reminder, and red for that following rules (2) Students get a

golden ticket if they have blue card at the end of the day. Students collect these golden tickets

and when they reach 10 tickets, they can get a reward from me. I would say that my classroom

has improve dramatically as compare to my first few weeks.

To conclude, as a teacher we should be flexible and willing to make changes positively if

things do not go as smooth as we like. We should always keep trying. We should always remind

our students that rules in the classroom makes them successful and you as well.