So in the past few weeks, I definitely feel as though I’ve gotten into the groove of teaching. And the funny thing is that my 5th period class – once the bane of my existence, is now my favorite.
As prepared as I am starting to feel, there’s definitely one situation I still don’t feel 100% ready for. I had a student recently transfer into my class, and ummm. Well, to begin with “RJ” is a male transgender in the process of becoming a female. No biggie in of itself – except, oh wait, he’s extremely confrontational with male students. And he’s got an IEP for being emotionally disturbed. And included in that IEP is his ADHD. And he’s emancipated. And he’s homeless.
This poor child has so many things working against him outside of my classroom, that it’s hard to control the catastrophes he creates inside of it. My CI and I are working very closely with the SPED educators and his caseworkers, but there are times where his behavior is so out of control I’m legitimately at a loss. Yet, you can’t help but sympathize with him, knowing that his outbursts could easily be a result of him not having a place to sleep the night before, or his hormones, or the lack of ANY support system outside of school.
We are lucky in the fact that he likes us – and so his outbursts are far less in number than other teachers’ rooms. However, that doesn’t limit them to 0. Guidance is considering putting him in an online class instead, but I worry how the lack of social interaction could effect him. But maybe if it’s for the good of the class, it’s something to be considered.
So the query is – anyone have experience with this one? Considering that his outbursts tend to be offensive towards males, sexual in nature, and highly disruptive – I’m clueless.
ps – On the bright side, a non-profit here in town thinks he will have an apartment provided for him in a week or two, so we’ll see what affect that has.
November 30th, 2010 at 2:10 am
This is a tough one for any teacher. I think I would keep working the tolerance and respect angle – if h/she wants tolerance he/she needs to give it. Same with respect. Perhaps he/she is expecting ‘trouble” from the other male students and is getting in early.
December 2nd, 2010 at 3:27 pm
This is a touchy situation because you want to let the student know that you care about them, but they have to understand the importance of boundaries. Just because he’s comfortable with his sexuality or current state of being doesn’t mean everyone else has to be. Not to say that he needs to be riddiculed because of it either. Maybe just talking to him in private about those kinds of things may help, and because he likes you then maybe he won’t feel threatened by it. Just a suggestion. I’m no expert, but I would try to see it from his end, too.