[Teachldsseminary] [!! SPAM] Re: Students with Attitudes

Tue Oct 23 11:05:52 MDT 2007

I am EMS first year also.  One of my students was very rude to me
which I always felt wasn't directed at me so much as it was what
was going on inside of her.  She did not want to be attending
seminary period.  Ultimately her parents gave her the choice and
she is not attending any more.  Her rude comments and remarks did
stop though before she quit coming - they quit when she was able
to express her feelings to her parents.  She still did not want
to be there but no longer found it necessary to vent or express
her feelings with rudeness towards me.  Our relationship is good
and I hope she will have a change of heart.

After reading your situation I went to the Teaching the Gospel
handbook to find some answers and on page 27 it lists some direct
steps you can take when behavior and attitude aren't being
solved.  Talking to the student privately is the first step.
Sister Haynie in her post gave a perfect example of how this did
work with her student.  Actually what she did followed some of
the other steps such as be firm and possible parental
involvement.   I am always so thankful that we can start over
when things don't go perfectly.  Regroup and then calmly take the
steps you need until the problems are resolved.  

Mary
EMS - First Year
http://GreetingCardGoldmine.com

-----Original Message-----
From: teachldsseminary-bounces at latter-dayvillage.com
[mailto:teachldsseminary-bounces at latter-dayvillage.com] On Behalf
Of TERRY L HAYNIE
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 8:58 AM
To: Free Email list for LDS Seminary Teachers
Subject: [!! SPAM] Re: [Teachldsseminary] Students with Attitudes

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 la
tter-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
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