Veena Vasudevan

The LessonThis week's lesson was to get the girls from gathering facts and information about their topics to actually getting into the scripting process. The format for class was to start with a writing activity, then go directly into taking the research they started last week to the next level. I wanted them to see how the research could lead to a compelling story. The first step was for each to team to generate more facts, then prioritize them based on the relevance to the message they were trying to convey with the PSA and finally start to write their scripts.We chose to start class differently which was prompted by my extreme frustration after last week's class. As the girls walked in we gave them an index cards with the following prompts.

Respect is...
I deserve respect because...
I show respect by...

We had each girl present to their peers, which they always seem to enjoy. Unfortunately something that is frustrating is that after girls have presented they get distracted and aren't interested in listening to their peers and either interrupt or just ignore what's happening right before them. I kept saying "we are talking about respect, defining it, don't you think you should be living it?" Some of the girls paused but it didn't stop the three girls that are normally very outspoken and loud, from continuing to chat, call out and ignore their peers. However, we got through it and I really liked some of the things that the girls said. (More on that later!)After this, we said the pledge which has now become another favorite thing. We always have one or two girls lead the Pledge and the Promise with the rest of us repeating after. Again - an alacrity with regard to reading or speaking out loud. After we said the pledge, the girls broke up into their groups and continued their research and conversations. I had two groups that were on their laptops, working and pulling things together. My co-teacher and I circulated the room as the groups were working. However, there was a third group of girls who spent the time watching a video on bullying on repeat, giggling about it after each time they viewed it.Then, the three girls, or our trio just proceeded to cause a commotion. I continued to circulate the room and work with the girls but my co-teacher spent the rest of the class in and out of the hallway speaking with students and in some cases trying to find them.Reflections/ObservationsThere were also the three girls that are always very energetic and for a lack of a better term at the moment, exemplify persistent behavior issues. One of the girls is constantly screaming at the top of her lungs. All three have a tendency to disappear from class. They will run out into the hallway with or without a pass. They want to be free to chat, to run around and hang out with friends. I can't blame them but we feel the stress of trying to help them move along in this 'curriculum' that we're trying to implement. The thing I do mind is that they don't seem to respect myself or the co-teacher.This is where I struggle - is it my job to keep them in their seat so they can "learn" or as someone in an after school role is it more important for me to just try and connect with themresponses are what got me thinking. The number of responses that had said the listening to the teacher were remarkable... and kind of sad. Is that really what they believe or is that what they've been taught through school? I can't begin to judge because I don't understand the dynamics or structure of the actual school day but can't help but wonder why every student when prompted responded in nearly the same way. I will try to post some of these pictures (after blocking out the girls' names).Here's mine...

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - Find Out What it Means to Me

Respect is being patient, kind and accepting of someone with the expectation that they will afford you the same treatment.I show respect (or at least I try to!) by listening to others, being kind without being selective, being patient, being particularly attentive to elders especially my parents and members of my family, by trying to appreciate people's viewpoints and pushing myself to be more openminded.I deserve respect because I give respect and maybe because I try to be a good person and try to do the right thing even when it's not always easy.