Chapter 3: Classroom Behavior

“My teacher would touch me on the shoulder and ask ‘are you okay?’ If I am, she would say, ‘I can’t have you sleep in my class, so please step outside, rinse your face with cold water, then come back when you’re okay’.” Page 43

The teacher just wanted her students to stay awake in the class and it’s a good idea to have them step outside and just take a quick walk around to wake them up. And when they come back in, they’ll be feeling refreshed and ready to learn. It is also important not to allow your students to fall asleep in class; it is a distraction and the sleeping student isn’t learning either.

I feel that teachers ‘touching’ their students can be kind of weird. As a teacher, you have to be careful that you are not ‘inappropriately’ touching your students because it could be your job on the line. But, looking at it from the other side, if the student was falling asleep, he/she has to be woken up; it’s mean to shout at them or hit the desk. I guess that touching a student on the shoulder is a better alternative, because having a sleeping student is not an option.