[Teachldsseminary] Students with Attitudes

[TERRY L HAYNIE]

Boy-did this sound familiar to me!!! I have taught Seminary for 11 years now, but have only done EM for 3. When I first started I had several attitudes that came to class each morning, especially those who were not used to EMS. My class is very much like yours Barb-6 students-2 jr's, 2 soph's and 2 freshmen. I have dealt with many of the same problems you are experiencing. First, if you meet in the church, lock your classroom door! I use many visual aids in my classes and one morning walked in to a room that looked like a tornado had hit it. I found out that there had been an activity in the building the night before with unsupervised primary age kids who found my "toys" too good to leave alone. Now I lock my room up at the end of the class, to avoid this situation.
Second- apologize to your students for blowing up. Let them know how much you love them and want the best for them, but the Spirit cannot be in their class with their current attitudes. I took one of my class leaders aside and told him point-blank that his attitude was the pits and that I expected so much more from him. I said that he was the natural leader in our class and his attitudes and habits were rubbing off on the others. I also mentioned that his parents and I might have this chat if he didn't get with the program. The next day, he was and still is a new man! 
Third- don't give up!! I continue to set high expectations for everyone in my class. they know that their scriptures must stay open during the entire class time, they are expected to be on time and ready to learn. I use many of the same strategies that our High School does. Several of our branch members are teachers and our Branch President is Middle School Principal. He has been a great resource to me for dealing with "attitudes".  He can also be an excellent tool for you. I have asked him to discuss seminary with my students when he interviews them throughout the year. This way, he can give me a "heads-up" if he thinks there might be a problem. He also lets me know if there are any situations at home that I might need to be aware of and then can work my lessons around that. 
Each and every one of us has had "one of those days". I have come to realize that Satan knows what a tremendous thing Seminary can be in the lives of our young people and thinks that if he can get one of us to be discouraged or not put our best effort into teaching, he can win. This work is too important to let let him win. Pretty soon when the kids know that you are not going to give up, they may just come around. This job is not easy-but the rewards are real and will come in their own due time.

Sharon Haynie
Del Norte   CO
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Barb Gardner<mailto:dannbarb at sbcglobal.net> 
  To: teachldsseminary at latter-dayvillage.com<mailto:teachldsseminary at latter-dayvillage.com> 
  Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 7:11 AM
  Subject: [Teachldsseminary] Students with Attitudes


  I am a first year, early morning seminary teacher.  There are 8 students in my class.  There are 2 freshmen girls that are very enthusiastic.  Then, there are 3 sets of 2 siblings each (2 of which are my own children) that are upper class-men.  Does anyone have ideas and suggestions on how to deal with the rotten attitudes of these upper-class students?  I am beginning to see the value in dividing the class by grades.  

  My fear is that their poor attitudes will rub off on the younger students.  Our seminary program has truly struggled for the past few years for various reasons, so I've really been putting a tremendous amount of effort into making the lessons interesting, getting the students involved, and making it enjoyable, but most importantly, being on time and being prepared.

  But, this morning, when I arrived, some of my visuals had been tampered with, the clock that we use to sign in everyday is completely gone, and someone had glued my scripture mastery aids together, making them unusable.  Now whether it was my students or not, I don't know, but it was the breaking point for me and I lost my composure.  Ironically, I was teaching the lesson about Moses not feeling confident about his calling to lead the people of Egypt out of captivity.

  Has anyone else experienced this type of struggle, and if so, what did you do to get through it?

  Thanks for your help
  Barb G
  _______________________________________________
  FREE teachldsseminary email list sponsored by Latter-dayVillage.com
  teachldsseminary at latter-dayvillage.com<mailto:teachldsseminary at latter-dayvillage.com>
  http://latter-dayvillage.com/mailman/listinfo/teachldsseminary_latter-dayvillage.com<http://latter-dayvillage.com/mailman/listinfo/teachldsseminary_latter-dayvillage.com>
  or http://tinyurl.com/bemmh<http://tinyurl.com/bemmh>  

  List archives at http://latter-dayvillage.com/pipermail/teachldsseminary_latter-dayvillagecom/<http://latter-dayvillage.com/pipermail/teachldsseminary_latter-dayvillage.com/>
  or http://tinyurl.com/7dpqf<http://tinyurl.com/7dpqf> 

  List FAQ:
  http://latter-dayvillage.com/support/users/kb.php?category_id=3<http://latter-dayvillage.com/support/users/kb.php?category_id=3>