Causality

As mentioned in the prior post, some of the students' behavior is disrespectful, absurd, destructive and a whole list of other things I'd rather not say. To provide some examples;

• Tardiness -Today less than half of the class returned from lunch on time. The usual problem was compounded by the lack of bells (the MME is still going on), but even on a regular day up to 1/3 of the class can be late. Even worse, they're late not because they couldn't get to class on time but because they loiter just outside the door and refuse to come to class when told to do so.
• Texting -It happens all the time. For some it seems like an outlet when they find the material too difficult or confusing, others just a way to pass time. In either case, most will respond when told to put away their phones and then wait several minutes to remove them again. I've had several tell me to wait until they finish their text, and others that will start texting after asking me to explain a problem. On a brief side note; why students play back music on their phones as they walk around is entirely beyond me.
• Insubordination - The other day a student was given a ruler to use for graphing on a quiz. Throughout the quiz he talked continuously despite being told not to, and furthermore decided that insulting other students and making a wide array of noises was a great idea. After the quiz he took to spinning around his ruler and throwing it at which point Molly asked that I take it away. I told him to hand me the ruler and he started to play the game where he pulled it away at the last instant. In the background the teacher is trying to continue instruction while scolding him, and I'm getting awfully close to telling him how I really felt about his antics. I think Molly has given up on sending students out in all but the worse cases as she had removed the student several times during the week to no effect. It's awful to feel completely impotent as an instructor.

In each case, the consequences are either mild or inconsistent which (I think) give the students the impression that the teachers have no authority. My understanding is that our class is not an exception in this respect either. I rarely had kind words for my teachers in high school, but I was damn sure never to say them in any situation where the teacher in question could hear me. At YHS it's not uncommon to hear a few students each day muttering obscenities at me behind my back. My father would say that I have a bleeding heart for the number of times I've tried to help students that just immediately prior insulted me, I'm all for second chances. However, at this point I've begun to wonder if there's some sense in KIPP's military-style discipline. Even if the school adopted stringent and uniform policies that were enforced equally by each teacher, the necessary momentum to change the attitude of high schoolers has got to be enormous.

I don't want to be so glum though. There are a number of students that are respectful, but they can be hard to notice with everything else going on and they're certainly not the majority. I was hesitant to bring up the subject because I harbored some belief that an instructor could be so compelling that they shouldn't have to resort to anything so crude as punishment. As the behavioral issues have continued through about 7 months of classes, it is apparent that something fundamental should change. The trouble is in determining what that is.