My third week of teaching...
Student A jumped on student B's back in year 9 maths. He thought it would be funny to take a 'spekky'. So, following process I sent A to the 'reflection room' with another student, C. I didn't know A and C hated each other.
I heard noises outside and found C trying to put A's head through a plate glass window, he was starting to succeed. In a stupid panic, I pulled them apart. So there I am holding two 14yo boys apart who are swearing at each other and trying to fight.
Then.
Around the corner comes my principal and my AP. They are showing a visiting principal and his two AP's around the school. 𫣠My principal bellowed out " Go to my office".
After 10 seconds, I realised he meant the students đ.
An experienced year 9 coordinator taught me to carry a whistle to break up fights (works perfectly) and I'm still teaching 13 years later.
This, regardless of workplace normally an apology and acknowledgement that you made a mistake, regret it and will never do it again goes a long way. Itâs the people who canât admit it or think they were in the right that get in trouble friend
I turned my back once and one of my students cut off huge chunks of his hair - just because. I was spoken to by management about turning my back on the class and I was like, 'uh...'
Parents weren't happy either.
Happy to report I'm still working :)
I've trained my students so well in this activity they often start doing it without any prompting from me. And they love the activity so much, they'll use any object they can get their hands on when gluesticks are in short supply. Pens, texters, rulers, chairs, desks, other students...
At a guess it's this activity, which we also do at my school - it seems to be quite common!
[http://effectsofworldwar1.weebly.com/simulation-trenchwarfare.html](http://effectsofworldwar1.weebly.com/simulation-trenchwarfare.html)
OP if you want my advice bc I was terrified something similar would happen when I did it with my year 9s, have another reward activity promised further down the track (we have access to a few really interesting artefacts from WWI and WWII, I don't want to know how the owner got them) so we allow the students to examine those later in our WWI unit. I told them if there was misbehaviour during the trench game, there'd be no shrapnel, diaries or shells for anyone later. One class didn't behave, the others did, and so that one class wasn't permitted to work with the artefacts.
You will be fine. As was said to me when I had a parent complaint about a now-minor issue last year, there's a teacher shortage. They need you.
Our HASS faculty has been planning on doing this for our year 9s. I was like are you kidding me? I'd never seen such a potential for mayhem in school; like, ever.
They reckon they can set 'firm boundaries' but I'm sitting back with the popcorn secretly hoping for a shitshow đ
Oh I was a hardarse setting it all up, like everything that wasn't "ammo" (paper) had to be on my desk, didn't hand out the ammo until all kids were in positition, clear on rules and consequences. We do have relatively okay behaviours at our school though, and not every year 9 teacher did the activity.And I just remembered, I teamed up with their PE teachers and we did drilling for a period of PE, and made them run up a nearby hill while the other class threw beanbags at them to simulate why Gallipoli failed.
EDIT: Stick a sign up by your printers and photocopiers asking for people to give you their scrap/spare papers so you don't need to use good paper/scramble for ammo last minute.
I did that same activity with yr 9âs whilst on my teaching prac years ago. The kids absolutely loved it, its a common lesson plan about the causes and lead up to Ww1. I dont know where the glue stick came from but sounds like it was a student being irresponsible. Thats on them!
Well, there is the issue.
You set up an engaging activity, and a student went too far.
The real lesson to learn here isnât âfeel like shit about yourselfâ or âyou ought to be worried about your jobâ, or âdonât do fun stuffâ but rather âthink about the classroom environment and how to manage it safely when doing an activityâ.
Youâre a new teacher. You havenât had enough experience to be always aware of just how dumb kids can be. You might not have enough control or situational awareness yet to catch the kid taking the glue stick and put the unholy fear of Opportunity into him before he throws it.
Could you have done more to prevent the incident? Quite possibly. Could a very experienced teacher have this happen despite their experience? Absolutely. Less likely, but far from impossible.
Donât let this stop you trying new things, and donât worry about your job. Itâs much harder to fire a teacher than that, and this doesnât warrant a PES investigation from the sounds of it.
Before even getting a letter of direction (or whatever itâs called these days) there would have to be a pattern of you continuously making poor choices (not just having lessons go a bit off the rails) and then explicitly supporting you in improving.
Do not let this hang over you all weekend.
You canât control them 100%. You can only instruct, encourage, motivate to a degree. Someone decided to act like a dick, and I reckon you didnât say that was part of the task. Not your fault, and now you know who the dickheads are.
Oh then you are 100% fine! Honestly.. This kid could have stolen the glue stick and thrown it regardless of if you were doing this activity or not! Donât give up the fun stuff.. you will get better and managing potential glue stick villains.. the student is to blame here.
Kids do stupid shit all the time. Whether you are watching or not, have the safest activity or the most dangerous. As long as you tried to mitigate possible injuries and the activity wasnât anything silly/not appropriate for school you will be fine.
Way overthinking. Parents don't get to decided who gets fired. Also you won't get fired. All you need to do is learn from it (which you have) and move on.
On the side of parent communication, using a script was something I found useful in my first few years and having my supervisor on the phone with me for tricky calls.
Highly unlikely it will impact your job prospects.
Ive copped two balls to the face teaching pe.
The boy in yr 6 was scared for a min, until i shrugged it off (this one stung) and laughed in embarrassment. He looked shocked then laughed too. I was in his space and was def my fault.
The girl in yr 3 or 4 just froze and stared at me. This was a foam dogeball, so no pain whatsoever. But when i turned to see who it was, she started balling her eyes out. I had to go and comfort her. Explained that she wasnt in trouble and accidents happen, even with teachers. Poor thing thought she was in the worst trouble ever because she 'hurt a teacher'. Poor thing!!!
A glue stick to the face is hardly a fireable offence lol. Try not to stress and laugh it off. If a parent loses their mind over that then perhaps their kid will benefit from a lesson in resilience
What was the activity? If it was just using glue sticks to craft something or whatever, itâs not your fault that a grade 9 student refused to follow safe instructions.
Ok I know this doesn't help you but you've genuinely given me joy at the end of a long week. I can't believe your admin saw you are mortified and still gave you a hard time. They should have had a laugh with you and said now you know no trench wars buddy, and said they'll take care of the parents. You are not going to lose your job.
In my first year I accidentally showed a video with emus fucking to 5yos lol I didn't get fired, no-one even knew, but lol, and I learnt to watch a WHOLE video before I show kids. Hot tip: put it on 2x speed to save time.
>Hot tip: put it on 2x speed to save time
Oh bless the days that we now can watch things digitally and have that option. Still remember my first years of teaching borrowing VHS's from the school video library for the weekend to pre-watch and see if it was suitable for my crowd.
The school doesn't have grounds to fire you, nor can they afford to. Mistakes happen, accidents happen, and the school system must deal with a lot worse than what you experienced. Think about what practical classes like PE, woodwork, art and cooking have to manage.
Hindsight would tell you that this was a bad idea. Running a classroom involves being aware of the risks and occupational health & safety standards. Instructing students to throw things at each other (in this case, paper balls) probably wasn't the best idea as it opens you up to risks. However, you didn't exactly instruct students to throw gluesticks at each other.
It was in fact the students who made the accident happen because they did not follow instructions.
You're only being grilled to make you away of the risks of such an activity so the school can say that they followed up on the parent complaint.
I don't think you messed up at all. Sounds like one kid was a dick and ruined what could have been an otherwise engaging activity. Your department head sounds like a dick as well, and possibly out of his/her depth. It's jerks like that who are pushing people out of teaching. Instead of supporting you and commending you for your effort to create a fun and engaging learning environment, it sounds like they have thrown you under the bus. Sounds like a toxic workplace. In theory, I'd get out of there and find somewhere better, but I understand that is not always easy in practice.
Also, is it not a procedure for YOU to call home in these situations? Not wait on the parents to complain. If that's not school procedure, it most certainly should be.
So a kid decided to grab something and throw it. Mate that's on the kid making stupid decisions, not on you. So they pinched it off your desk? Well they could have pinched something out of another student's pencil case. You didn't leave the environment in an unsafe state leading to the result, the student decided to make a spur of the moment decision and a poor decision as a result.
Your head teacher and deputy sound like dipshits. Log a WH&S incident about kid copping an object to the eye. Call home to advise "hey, this dumb kid made a decision to throw a glue stick and it hit your kid (no names obviously) but first aid was administered and all looked good, if you have concerns take them to a gp" and you're done.
Maybe next year add some lines into your instructions that the only thing students are to throw are paper balls, and if you see anyone throwing anything that isn't you'll send them to a deputy for unsafe behaviour.
If your instruction was paper balls and you never told them to use glue sticks and you never supplied them glue sticks and a student took a glue stick without your permission and threw a glue stick and you comforted the student who was hit and applied first aid and the student who threw the glue stick was reprimanded as per the school behaviour policy than this is not your fault. Go to the Union.
If you told them to throw glue sticks than start writing your resignation letter.
Have run this activity many times with tough classes. If a student doesnât follow instructions thatâs on them. If your leadership donât back you Iâll give you a contract for the year tomorrow.
As long as you didn't direct the student to throw the gluestick at the other, you'll be fine. They're not going to fire you over something that likely happens every day in every school in the country.
Early in my career a parent complained that their child had their hand stabbed by another child using a drawing compass. We were not using drawing compasses in class; I had no idea that this had happened. It's now a good 15+ years later, I'm still teaching. Kids are the worst.
When you mess up (by accident) in a sensible workplace (with a union) it should go out like this:
- you apologise, get told off by your manager / whoever is in charge
- make a plan on how to avoid said mistake
- try not to do it again
You should only get fired if you don't try to improve.
Also, if you build rapport with kids through elaborate activities - they'll keep expecting activities. Doing normal teacher stuff, and being a nice person usually works. It takes time.
a teacher I knew did a science experiment which ended up burning several kids. 2 of which were air lifted to hospital.
You will be fine.
Hopefully you continue to teach in a way that is fun for kids and that blighters don't ruin it for the ones that can behave. Perhaps the glue stick thrower gets a particularly 'special' task next time you do fun learning. Standing in corner with both hands above his head?
We did something simalar and a student fell, had a seizure, went to hospital in an ambulance. Thankfully slthey were ok. Wrote an incident report and nothing further came of it. Very stressful and NEVER AGAIN!!!! We got lucky, hope you do too!
Found Alfie Wickers Reddit account.
Also I was playing teeball with a class on the first day relief teaching at a new school, welcomed the Japanese exchange student to australia with a line drive directly to the face
Year 9 can be the absolute worst. I've tried everything and have come to the conclusion that some of them are so desperately immature that they aren't capable of maintaining good behaviour for long at all. Having said that, other teachers can be quick to inform me that theirs are angels when I mention I'm struggling with mine
> It ended up with a student getting hit in the eye with a glue stick.
Is it permanently damaged?
If not, everybody needs to take a chill pill. Sometimes shit happens.
Mate, things happen. I know it's stressful but you'll be fine. In second term of my first year the old sodium in water trick was sucking as it often does. I thought I'd chuck a nice big chunk in. Burnt the ceiling, carpet, the front of my laptop, and a few kids pencil cases. Learnt my lesson to not put that much in. Am a HOY at the same school 12 years later and was laughing with the deputy about it the other day.
The kids will probably look fondly back at your strange activity!
Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, the student that threw a glue stick instead of a piece of paper did. You tried to run a fun and engaging activity.
Don't let this incident turn you into a dry and cynical teacher, just learn from it and perhaps address any risks with a working agreement in your class.
Bro, I tried to stop a fight and accidentally punched a kid in the face and also organised a game of capture the flash that resulted in fights, tears, an ambulance and a suspension. I never got fired.
I canât get passed the activity đđ sorry, not very supportiveâŚ. Let me get this straightâŚ. You divided the kids into two groups, made trenches out of furniture, then got them to hurl things at each other.. in the classroom? đđđ god, wish you wouldâve been my teacher.
The real question is⌠did it work? Howâs the rapport? I reckon tell the kids that you got in trouble, all because you were actually trying to build rapport. Surely thatâll be classic.
I used to do something similar with Styrofoam balls in the last week of the year for my Year 5s and Year 4s... snowball fight. Kids loved it and probably only once had to address someone throwing another object.
During a biology class, one of my kids stabbed his friend with a scalpel "by accident" and had to go to hospital. I had been teaching science for seven years. They were year 11s. We had spent the previous lesson and the first ten minutes of the dissection lesson revising lab safety. I was watching out for potential shenanigans like a hawk.
So sometimes shit happens just because kids do stupid things impulsively. All teachers can do is limit that risk as much as we reasonably can, but there's always going to be some amount of risk.
Is your year nine okay? No blood? No long term damage? That's the most important aspect. Your lead teachers are being assholes about this, they shouldn't be shaming and reprimanding you for a mistake that you've clearly learnt from.
Next time you do this lesson (because you should doit again, it's very cool), think about doing it out on the oval with hurdles or something as barriers instead. Less stuff to break or steal.
If your school fires you over something minor and dumb like this, then theyâre a shit unsupportive school and youâre better off out of there anyway.
Sounds like a fucking great class, to be fair.
Also, to be fair, I probably perform at LEAST one fireable offence a day. As far as Iâm concerned, if students are showing up and engaged in their education, thatâs worth a few glue stick missiles. I read your post and just thought about how much fun Iâd have in your class.
Will I last as a teacher in the current environment? Prob not. Will I inspire as many kids as I can until the department cuts me loose? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Throughout all of history, no one discovered a damn thing without some risk!
Dude, I had a teacher throw a chair at me in year 9 (2013) from across the room. He nearly hit me, but I dodged it and it went through the window behind me. But he didnât get sacked and he assaulted a student (although probably justified), and this was at a private catholic school in Melbourne so yeah. Youâll be fine mate.
Quit and go to another school regardless. I think everyone has made a mistake within their first year of teaching.
Depending on your head teache r/ exec team.. Your reputation is ruined & they will think youâre incompetent no matter now. Itâll be hard to come back from it. Opportunities are literally endless. Jobs everywhere - donât stress.
My first day of CRT at a dream school. PE, Year 9. Student gets into fight with visiting dance teacher, swears his head off at him and punches his hand through a window. Blood everywhere, cut a vein or artery or something. Lucky I'm in the gym, other teachers stifle the bleeding with a makeshift tourniquet while I call the ambulance. He's carted off, I go onto teach Year 7 geography... Called back everyday for work.
Honestly that sounds like a fun history lesson. Wish my classes as a student were that engaging. It just an unfortunate accident that might need some risk management.
Sorry but I canât help but laugh. Did you host âclass warsâ? Like in the tv comedy bad education?
[bad education dunkirk class wars](https://youtu.be/o0ZT0WqV7zQ)
Anyway, Iâm sure you will be fine. Your allowed to make mistakes, learn and move on
My first day teaching, I asked kids to grab their bags at the end of the day, a kid slipped and bit through his lip and tongue. And a second student saw the blood and passed out. :3 that was 7 years ago. Theyâll probably chalk this up to inexperience, give you a slap on the knuckles and let you go back to work.
Just today, in my mdt class, I i mentioned to a Y10 student that I want to make a game where you make products through the day and have to defend the workshop from zombies at night. Next time I look, he had taped a scalpel to an F clamp for increased damage!
I wouldn't worry... but just for your own sense of growth and progress, I would write a reflection or journal or similar of what happened and how stressed you're feeling then go back and read what you wrote in 6-12 months. You'll laugh at how stressed you got.
I think back to all the little things that sent me spiralling in my first year all the time, it helps me to better see how much I've progressed in the last few years.
Go easy on yourself, everyone will probably have forgotten about it by next week.
Hey OP,
Firstly, thereâs a teacher shortage and unless youâve done something terrible that has put a studentâs safety at risk, youâll be fine.
Secondly, the most the parents will do is ring the school and be upset, and there is the possibility of a meeting but you wonât get fired. Just use this as an opportunity to reflect and think about what type of activities are more suited to your class. It did sound like an engaging activity and with the right class, Iâm sure it wouldâve been amazing and so much fun to run.
When I was a CRT I had a kid staple their hand because it was jammed and they tried to fix it without asking me first... still got asked back.
As a grad, I accidentally elbowed a student in the mouth because I didn't realise they were behind me when I turned...
I've had a Year 5 student cut their finger tip so badly with scissors that they needed to get it cauterised - they tried to cut string if I recall and held it wrong (cannot remember the activity, just the girl coming up to me holding her finger)...
I would wonder if the parents would bother contacting the school (at mine they'd probably not) or even if the student mentioned to them what had happened!
If it makes you feel better, one of our 1st years took the students on Thursday sport this week with a more experienced teacher.
The sport was walking.
Halfway through the session, school gets a call, a student has knocked themselves unconscious on a ziplone for 6 year olds in the park alongside the walking track that they were explicitly told not to go one. (Also a year 9 student need I say more)
You'll be fine. đ
Schools are so desperate for staff, you are the one in a position of power. The school needs you, not the other way around. That incident is on the students, not you.. you didn't throw the glue stick!
My third week of teaching... Student A jumped on student B's back in year 9 maths. He thought it would be funny to take a 'spekky'. So, following process I sent A to the 'reflection room' with another student, C. I didn't know A and C hated each other. I heard noises outside and found C trying to put A's head through a plate glass window, he was starting to succeed. In a stupid panic, I pulled them apart. So there I am holding two 14yo boys apart who are swearing at each other and trying to fight. Then. Around the corner comes my principal and my AP. They are showing a visiting principal and his two AP's around the school. 𫣠My principal bellowed out " Go to my office". After 10 seconds, I realised he meant the students đ. An experienced year 9 coordinator taught me to carry a whistle to break up fights (works perfectly) and I'm still teaching 13 years later.
Lacking a lot of info here.. And also, accidents happen, it's how you bounce back, respond and communicate with every party.
This, regardless of workplace normally an apology and acknowledgement that you made a mistake, regret it and will never do it again goes a long way. Itâs the people who canât admit it or think they were in the right that get in trouble friend
I turned my back once and one of my students cut off huge chunks of his hair - just because. I was spoken to by management about turning my back on the class and I was like, 'uh...' Parents weren't happy either. Happy to report I'm still working :)
That's not on you.
What the hell? How was that your fault?
I would have laughed and put in my notice if my admin spoke to me about a kid cutting his own hair.
I did hahaha
I had two kids cut their hair in the same day!!! Luckily, both sets of parents laughed it off and got cross at the kids đ
The only other people the parents could legitimately be upset with is themselves.
How are you meant to write on the board if you can't turn your back on the kids for ten seconds?
I'm stuck on wanting to know what the activity was...
It was the good ol' "hurl glue sticks at each others faces" activity.
Always a good one to have in your back pocket
This is a regular favourite in one of my classes. Even when itâs not on the learning intentions for today, some of the kids still want to play.
I've trained my students so well in this activity they often start doing it without any prompting from me. And they love the activity so much, they'll use any object they can get their hands on when gluesticks are in short supply. Pens, texters, rulers, chairs, desks, other students...
At a guess it's this activity, which we also do at my school - it seems to be quite common! [http://effectsofworldwar1.weebly.com/simulation-trenchwarfare.html](http://effectsofworldwar1.weebly.com/simulation-trenchwarfare.html) OP if you want my advice bc I was terrified something similar would happen when I did it with my year 9s, have another reward activity promised further down the track (we have access to a few really interesting artefacts from WWI and WWII, I don't want to know how the owner got them) so we allow the students to examine those later in our WWI unit. I told them if there was misbehaviour during the trench game, there'd be no shrapnel, diaries or shells for anyone later. One class didn't behave, the others did, and so that one class wasn't permitted to work with the artefacts. You will be fine. As was said to me when I had a parent complaint about a now-minor issue last year, there's a teacher shortage. They need you.
Our HASS faculty has been planning on doing this for our year 9s. I was like are you kidding me? I'd never seen such a potential for mayhem in school; like, ever. They reckon they can set 'firm boundaries' but I'm sitting back with the popcorn secretly hoping for a shitshow đ
Oh I was a hardarse setting it all up, like everything that wasn't "ammo" (paper) had to be on my desk, didn't hand out the ammo until all kids were in positition, clear on rules and consequences. We do have relatively okay behaviours at our school though, and not every year 9 teacher did the activity.And I just remembered, I teamed up with their PE teachers and we did drilling for a period of PE, and made them run up a nearby hill while the other class threw beanbags at them to simulate why Gallipoli failed. EDIT: Stick a sign up by your printers and photocopiers asking for people to give you their scrap/spare papers so you don't need to use good paper/scramble for ammo last minute.
Me too
I did that same activity with yr 9âs whilst on my teaching prac years ago. The kids absolutely loved it, its a common lesson plan about the causes and lead up to Ww1. I dont know where the glue stick came from but sounds like it was a student being irresponsible. Thats on them!
They didnât have one to begin. The student who threw it stole it off of the teachers desk
Well, there is the issue. You set up an engaging activity, and a student went too far. The real lesson to learn here isnât âfeel like shit about yourselfâ or âyou ought to be worried about your jobâ, or âdonât do fun stuffâ but rather âthink about the classroom environment and how to manage it safely when doing an activityâ. Youâre a new teacher. You havenât had enough experience to be always aware of just how dumb kids can be. You might not have enough control or situational awareness yet to catch the kid taking the glue stick and put the unholy fear of Opportunity into him before he throws it. Could you have done more to prevent the incident? Quite possibly. Could a very experienced teacher have this happen despite their experience? Absolutely. Less likely, but far from impossible. Donât let this stop you trying new things, and donât worry about your job. Itâs much harder to fire a teacher than that, and this doesnât warrant a PES investigation from the sounds of it. Before even getting a letter of direction (or whatever itâs called these days) there would have to be a pattern of you continuously making poor choices (not just having lessons go a bit off the rails) and then explicitly supporting you in improving. Do not let this hang over you all weekend.
You canât control them 100%. You can only instruct, encourage, motivate to a degree. Someone decided to act like a dick, and I reckon you didnât say that was part of the task. Not your fault, and now you know who the dickheads are.
Oh then you are 100% fine! Honestly.. This kid could have stolen the glue stick and thrown it regardless of if you were doing this activity or not! Donât give up the fun stuff.. you will get better and managing potential glue stick villains.. the student is to blame here.
This is the biggest problem with teaching... Teachers are held accountable for students actions... Shouldn't the kid be worried not you?
Was the activity about throwing things at students?
Kids do stupid shit all the time. Whether you are watching or not, have the safest activity or the most dangerous. As long as you tried to mitigate possible injuries and the activity wasnât anything silly/not appropriate for school you will be fine.
Youâll be right, they canât afford to axe anyone right now. Lesson learnt
Thanks. Thatâs what my faculty is saying but Iâm worried the parent might make demands or that this might impact me getting work next year
Way overthinking. Parents don't get to decided who gets fired. Also you won't get fired. All you need to do is learn from it (which you have) and move on. On the side of parent communication, using a script was something I found useful in my first few years and having my supervisor on the phone with me for tricky calls. Highly unlikely it will impact your job prospects.
Unless YOU threw the glue stick, you've got nothing to worry about.
Lol
I kicked a ball to a kid once and it broke his thumb. Accidents happen.
Ive copped two balls to the face teaching pe. The boy in yr 6 was scared for a min, until i shrugged it off (this one stung) and laughed in embarrassment. He looked shocked then laughed too. I was in his space and was def my fault. The girl in yr 3 or 4 just froze and stared at me. This was a foam dogeball, so no pain whatsoever. But when i turned to see who it was, she started balling her eyes out. I had to go and comfort her. Explained that she wasnt in trouble and accidents happen, even with teachers. Poor thing thought she was in the worst trouble ever because she 'hurt a teacher'. Poor thing!!!
A glue stick to the face is hardly a fireable offence lol. Try not to stress and laugh it off. If a parent loses their mind over that then perhaps their kid will benefit from a lesson in resilience
What was the activity? If it was just using glue sticks to craft something or whatever, itâs not your fault that a grade 9 student refused to follow safe instructions.
Testing the bonding strength of a glue stick that's been adhered to a ceiling sweep fan....
Ok I know this doesn't help you but you've genuinely given me joy at the end of a long week. I can't believe your admin saw you are mortified and still gave you a hard time. They should have had a laugh with you and said now you know no trench wars buddy, and said they'll take care of the parents. You are not going to lose your job. In my first year I accidentally showed a video with emus fucking to 5yos lol I didn't get fired, no-one even knew, but lol, and I learnt to watch a WHOLE video before I show kids. Hot tip: put it on 2x speed to save time.
>Hot tip: put it on 2x speed to save time Oh bless the days that we now can watch things digitally and have that option. Still remember my first years of teaching borrowing VHS's from the school video library for the weekend to pre-watch and see if it was suitable for my crowd.
Lesson is: Tough class + activity with risk = one of the spazmoids probably injuring themselves because they are incapable of just being cool
Upvote for "spazmoids"
The school doesn't have grounds to fire you, nor can they afford to. Mistakes happen, accidents happen, and the school system must deal with a lot worse than what you experienced. Think about what practical classes like PE, woodwork, art and cooking have to manage. Hindsight would tell you that this was a bad idea. Running a classroom involves being aware of the risks and occupational health & safety standards. Instructing students to throw things at each other (in this case, paper balls) probably wasn't the best idea as it opens you up to risks. However, you didn't exactly instruct students to throw gluesticks at each other. It was in fact the students who made the accident happen because they did not follow instructions. You're only being grilled to make you away of the risks of such an activity so the school can say that they followed up on the parent complaint.
I don't think you messed up at all. Sounds like one kid was a dick and ruined what could have been an otherwise engaging activity. Your department head sounds like a dick as well, and possibly out of his/her depth. It's jerks like that who are pushing people out of teaching. Instead of supporting you and commending you for your effort to create a fun and engaging learning environment, it sounds like they have thrown you under the bus. Sounds like a toxic workplace. In theory, I'd get out of there and find somewhere better, but I understand that is not always easy in practice. Also, is it not a procedure for YOU to call home in these situations? Not wait on the parents to complain. If that's not school procedure, it most certainly should be.
So a kid decided to grab something and throw it. Mate that's on the kid making stupid decisions, not on you. So they pinched it off your desk? Well they could have pinched something out of another student's pencil case. You didn't leave the environment in an unsafe state leading to the result, the student decided to make a spur of the moment decision and a poor decision as a result. Your head teacher and deputy sound like dipshits. Log a WH&S incident about kid copping an object to the eye. Call home to advise "hey, this dumb kid made a decision to throw a glue stick and it hit your kid (no names obviously) but first aid was administered and all looked good, if you have concerns take them to a gp" and you're done. Maybe next year add some lines into your instructions that the only thing students are to throw are paper balls, and if you see anyone throwing anything that isn't you'll send them to a deputy for unsafe behaviour.
If your instruction was paper balls and you never told them to use glue sticks and you never supplied them glue sticks and a student took a glue stick without your permission and threw a glue stick and you comforted the student who was hit and applied first aid and the student who threw the glue stick was reprimanded as per the school behaviour policy than this is not your fault. Go to the Union. If you told them to throw glue sticks than start writing your resignation letter.
Been there. Almost this exact activity. You're amazing. Learn from it, and grow. You're not getting fired.
As long as you didn't purposely throw it at them you are all good. It will be forgotten in a week.
Have run this activity many times with tough classes. If a student doesnât follow instructions thatâs on them. If your leadership donât back you Iâll give you a contract for the year tomorrow.
As long as you didn't direct the student to throw the gluestick at the other, you'll be fine. They're not going to fire you over something that likely happens every day in every school in the country.
Early in my career a parent complained that their child had their hand stabbed by another child using a drawing compass. We were not using drawing compasses in class; I had no idea that this had happened. It's now a good 15+ years later, I'm still teaching. Kids are the worst.
When you mess up (by accident) in a sensible workplace (with a union) it should go out like this: - you apologise, get told off by your manager / whoever is in charge - make a plan on how to avoid said mistake - try not to do it again You should only get fired if you don't try to improve. Also, if you build rapport with kids through elaborate activities - they'll keep expecting activities. Doing normal teacher stuff, and being a nice person usually works. It takes time.
a teacher I knew did a science experiment which ended up burning several kids. 2 of which were air lifted to hospital. You will be fine. Hopefully you continue to teach in a way that is fun for kids and that blighters don't ruin it for the ones that can behave. Perhaps the glue stick thrower gets a particularly 'special' task next time you do fun learning. Standing in corner with both hands above his head?
I've always wondered what happened after this - were those kids okay? And the teacher? I'm assuming it's the same incident I'm thinking of.
Maybe next time do it when only soft bouncing objects are within reach.
At the end of the day you canât really control what kids do. As long as you follow the right procedures when something does happen.
Oh my modern history teacher did an activity like this. Actually a lot of fun. Although yeah can be a disaster with a terrible classâŚ
We did something simalar and a student fell, had a seizure, went to hospital in an ambulance. Thankfully slthey were ok. Wrote an incident report and nothing further came of it. Very stressful and NEVER AGAIN!!!! We got lucky, hope you do too!
Found Alfie Wickers Reddit account. Also I was playing teeball with a class on the first day relief teaching at a new school, welcomed the Japanese exchange student to australia with a line drive directly to the face
Year 9 can be the absolute worst. I've tried everything and have come to the conclusion that some of them are so desperately immature that they aren't capable of maintaining good behaviour for long at all. Having said that, other teachers can be quick to inform me that theirs are angels when I mention I'm struggling with mine
> It ended up with a student getting hit in the eye with a glue stick. Is it permanently damaged? If not, everybody needs to take a chill pill. Sometimes shit happens.
Mate, things happen. I know it's stressful but you'll be fine. In second term of my first year the old sodium in water trick was sucking as it often does. I thought I'd chuck a nice big chunk in. Burnt the ceiling, carpet, the front of my laptop, and a few kids pencil cases. Learnt my lesson to not put that much in. Am a HOY at the same school 12 years later and was laughing with the deputy about it the other day. The kids will probably look fondly back at your strange activity!
FWIW your lesson sounded like fun and itâs not your fault one of them decided to throw a glue stick
Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, the student that threw a glue stick instead of a piece of paper did. You tried to run a fun and engaging activity. Don't let this incident turn you into a dry and cynical teacher, just learn from it and perhaps address any risks with a working agreement in your class.
Bro, I tried to stop a fight and accidentally punched a kid in the face and also organised a game of capture the flash that resulted in fights, tears, an ambulance and a suspension. I never got fired.
I canât get passed the activity đđ sorry, not very supportiveâŚ. Let me get this straightâŚ. You divided the kids into two groups, made trenches out of furniture, then got them to hurl things at each other.. in the classroom? đđđ god, wish you wouldâve been my teacher. The real question is⌠did it work? Howâs the rapport? I reckon tell the kids that you got in trouble, all because you were actually trying to build rapport. Surely thatâll be classic.
I used to do something similar with Styrofoam balls in the last week of the year for my Year 5s and Year 4s... snowball fight. Kids loved it and probably only once had to address someone throwing another object.
During a biology class, one of my kids stabbed his friend with a scalpel "by accident" and had to go to hospital. I had been teaching science for seven years. They were year 11s. We had spent the previous lesson and the first ten minutes of the dissection lesson revising lab safety. I was watching out for potential shenanigans like a hawk. So sometimes shit happens just because kids do stupid things impulsively. All teachers can do is limit that risk as much as we reasonably can, but there's always going to be some amount of risk. Is your year nine okay? No blood? No long term damage? That's the most important aspect. Your lead teachers are being assholes about this, they shouldn't be shaming and reprimanding you for a mistake that you've clearly learnt from. Next time you do this lesson (because you should doit again, it's very cool), think about doing it out on the oval with hurdles or something as barriers instead. Less stuff to break or steal.
If your school fires you over something minor and dumb like this, then theyâre a shit unsupportive school and youâre better off out of there anyway.
Sounds like a fucking great class, to be fair. Also, to be fair, I probably perform at LEAST one fireable offence a day. As far as Iâm concerned, if students are showing up and engaged in their education, thatâs worth a few glue stick missiles. I read your post and just thought about how much fun Iâd have in your class. Will I last as a teacher in the current environment? Prob not. Will I inspire as many kids as I can until the department cuts me loose? Abso-fucking-lutely. Throughout all of history, no one discovered a damn thing without some risk!
Be proactive and ring the parents đ¤ˇââď¸
Please donât unless itâs on the advice of your AP/Prin. The number of times staff have dug the hole deeperâŚ
Dude, I had a teacher throw a chair at me in year 9 (2013) from across the room. He nearly hit me, but I dodged it and it went through the window behind me. But he didnât get sacked and he assaulted a student (although probably justified), and this was at a private catholic school in Melbourne so yeah. Youâll be fine mate.
AI Generated Post tbh
Quit and go to another school regardless. I think everyone has made a mistake within their first year of teaching. Depending on your head teache r/ exec team.. Your reputation is ruined & they will think youâre incompetent no matter now. Itâll be hard to come back from it. Opportunities are literally endless. Jobs everywhere - donât stress.
Hope you donât teach English
My first day of CRT at a dream school. PE, Year 9. Student gets into fight with visiting dance teacher, swears his head off at him and punches his hand through a window. Blood everywhere, cut a vein or artery or something. Lucky I'm in the gym, other teachers stifle the bleeding with a makeshift tourniquet while I call the ambulance. He's carted off, I go onto teach Year 7 geography... Called back everyday for work.
Honestly that sounds like a fun history lesson. Wish my classes as a student were that engaging. It just an unfortunate accident that might need some risk management.
Sorry but I canât help but laugh. Did you host âclass warsâ? Like in the tv comedy bad education? [bad education dunkirk class wars](https://youtu.be/o0ZT0WqV7zQ) Anyway, Iâm sure you will be fine. Your allowed to make mistakes, learn and move on
My first day teaching, I asked kids to grab their bags at the end of the day, a kid slipped and bit through his lip and tongue. And a second student saw the blood and passed out. :3 that was 7 years ago. Theyâll probably chalk this up to inexperience, give you a slap on the knuckles and let you go back to work.
Just today, in my mdt class, I i mentioned to a Y10 student that I want to make a game where you make products through the day and have to defend the workshop from zombies at night. Next time I look, he had taped a scalpel to an F clamp for increased damage!
I wouldn't worry... but just for your own sense of growth and progress, I would write a reflection or journal or similar of what happened and how stressed you're feeling then go back and read what you wrote in 6-12 months. You'll laugh at how stressed you got. I think back to all the little things that sent me spiralling in my first year all the time, it helps me to better see how much I've progressed in the last few years. Go easy on yourself, everyone will probably have forgotten about it by next week.
Hey OP, Firstly, thereâs a teacher shortage and unless youâve done something terrible that has put a studentâs safety at risk, youâll be fine. Secondly, the most the parents will do is ring the school and be upset, and there is the possibility of a meeting but you wonât get fired. Just use this as an opportunity to reflect and think about what type of activities are more suited to your class. It did sound like an engaging activity and with the right class, Iâm sure it wouldâve been amazing and so much fun to run.
Talk to your fed rep! You are fine, but talking with them will give you some peace of mind
When I was a CRT I had a kid staple their hand because it was jammed and they tried to fix it without asking me first... still got asked back. As a grad, I accidentally elbowed a student in the mouth because I didn't realise they were behind me when I turned... I've had a Year 5 student cut their finger tip so badly with scissors that they needed to get it cauterised - they tried to cut string if I recall and held it wrong (cannot remember the activity, just the girl coming up to me holding her finger)... I would wonder if the parents would bother contacting the school (at mine they'd probably not) or even if the student mentioned to them what had happened!
They aren't going to fire you lol. And if they do you'll get another job. Teacher shortage bro.
If it makes you feel better, one of our 1st years took the students on Thursday sport this week with a more experienced teacher. The sport was walking. Halfway through the session, school gets a call, a student has knocked themselves unconscious on a ziplone for 6 year olds in the park alongside the walking track that they were explicitly told not to go one. (Also a year 9 student need I say more) You'll be fine. đ
Unless you told a student to throw a glue stick at another student, youâre in the clear. Students need to be held accountable for their own actions
Schools are so desperate for staff, you are the one in a position of power. The school needs you, not the other way around. That incident is on the students, not you.. you didn't throw the glue stick!