Lockdown Drills

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school and kids' behavior is out of control. Many of them do not care when a teacher raises their voice; they dont respect adults, they think they can get away with whatever they want and it's really bad. I actually think the PE teacher had a good point. If there were a true emergency they literally wouldn't know how to be quiet for more than a minute because they don't stop talking even with all the teacher tools and connection and everything else we learn.

Teach your kids to be respectful of adults, to sit in their seats while they eat, to not talk back, to not hit when they're frustrated, to not need a screen to pacify them, to not crumble into pieces when they're remotely bored or have to wait for more than 3 minutes.

Can you tell it's been a bad week? Think about the collective safety of all the kids in the school and not your one kid--what do you think will happen to him with an extra lockdown drill?

I worry the kids will be desensitized to lockdown drills and only associate them with teacher discipline. Again, there is a reason MCPS only lets principals call a lockdown drill.

And I worry that the kids will absolutely get shot if a shooter is in the school and they can't be quiet because they have zero discipline and focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in an elementary school and kids' behavior is out of control. Many of them do not care when a teacher raises their voice; they dont respect adults, they think they can get away with whatever they want and it's really bad. I actually think the PE teacher had a good point. If there were a true emergency they literally wouldn't know how to be quiet for more than a minute because they don't stop talking even with all the teacher tools and connection and everything else we learn.

Teach your kids to be respectful of adults, to sit in their seats while they eat, to not talk back, to not hit when they're frustrated, to not need a screen to pacify them, to not crumble into pieces when they're remotely bored or have to wait for more than 3 minutes.

Can you tell it's been a bad week? Think about the collective safety of all the kids in the school and not your one kid--what do you think will happen to him with an extra lockdown drill?

+1 (middle school teacher)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is new to MCPS but has mentioned a lot of lockdown drills just in PE. Yesterday, she said her class misbehaved so the teacher made them do a lockdown drill. When I emailed the teacher for clarification, he practically bragged about how many lockdown drills he does. He even said:

“Yesterday the classes were having a difficult time following directions and I thought that if there was a fire drill or lockdown at that time they probably wouldn’t do a very good job.   I decided to practice the lockdown drill to see how they would respond.”

Only a principal can call a lockdown, not a teacher. I am livid that this man thinks this is an effective behavior management strategy!

You need to talk to the principal. Lockdown drills can be traumatic and are not a joke or a punishment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is new to MCPS but has mentioned a lot of lockdown drills just in PE. Yesterday, she said her class misbehaved so the teacher made them do a lockdown drill. When I emailed the teacher for clarification, he practically bragged about how many lockdown drills he does. He even said:

“Yesterday the classes were having a difficult time following directions and I thought that if there was a fire drill or lockdown at that time they probably wouldn’t do a very good job.   I decided to practice the lockdown drill to see how they would respond.”

Only a principal can call a lockdown, not a teacher. I am livid that this man thinks this is an effective behavior management strategy!

You need to talk to the principal. Lockdown drills can be traumatic and are not a joke or a punishment

Spoke to the principal yesterday and he seemed confused and displeased that this was happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh give it a rest. Don't you remember your teacher making you get up to practice a fire drill and saying "if this was the real drill, we would file out of the classroom now"?
It sounds like the class was unruly ans he was impressing upon them that when the class is unruly its a danger because they couldn't even get it together in an emergency.
In our day, the unruly kids got to sit in the corner. Somehow we survived.
Teachers have enough to deal with. Your precious darling having to practice a drill isn't cause for you to get your hackles up. You should be glad the teacher is trying.
- a parent

In our day, if we misbehaved we'd get a up-close inspection of the principal's paddle. Not sure I want to go back to "in our day".

DP. No, but we've gone so far the other way that parents are "livid" and want to meet with administration over students going through safety drills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh give it a rest. Don't you remember your teacher making you get up to practice a fire drill and saying "if this was the real drill, we would file out of the classroom now"?
It sounds like the class was unruly ans he was impressing upon them that when the class is unruly its a danger because they couldn't even get it together in an emergency.
In our day, the unruly kids got to sit in the corner. Somehow we survived.
Teachers have enough to deal with. Your precious darling having to practice a drill isn't cause for you to get your hackles up. You should be glad the teacher is trying.
- a parent

In our day, if we misbehaved we'd get a up-close inspection of the principal's paddle. Not sure I want to go back to "in our day".

DP. No, but we've gone so far the other way that parents are "livid" and want to meet with administration over students going through safety drills.

This was NOT a safety drill. This was a PE teacher making up his own protocols and exploiting a safety drill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Umm yeah I’d be pissed too. Along with them taking away recess as discipline as well. They’re not allowed to but some lunch aides do it anyway.

What would you recommend for kids who throw rocks, hit other kids, put whole rolls of tp in toilet when they come in to use the restroom during recess etc…
I am a para educator at an elementary school and I’ve seen all of this and more during recess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Umm yeah I’d be pissed too. Along with them taking away recess as discipline as well. They’re not allowed to but some lunch aides do it anyway.

What would you recommend for kids who throw rocks, hit other kids, put whole rolls of tp in toilet when they come in to use the restroom during recess etc…
I am a para educator at an elementary school and I’ve seen all of this and more during recess.

Misbehavior is communicating an unmet need. Instead of punishment, these kids needs should be met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Umm yeah I’d be pissed too. Along with them taking away recess as discipline as well. They’re not allowed to but some lunch aides do it anyway.

What would you recommend for kids who throw rocks, hit other kids, put whole rolls of tp in toilet when they come in to use the restroom during recess etc…
I am a para educator at an elementary school and I’ve seen all of this and more during recess.

Misbehavior is communicating an unmet need. Instead of punishment, these kids needs should be met.

Lol my student brought a knife to school and threw it in the cafeteria. What did he need? A psych ward…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know there is something to be said for his logic. If kids are out of control, they could pose a danger to themselves and others. Not saying I agree with his methodology, just his logic.

I also agree with the logic. One of my kids previously attended a school where the kids were so disruptive and disobedient that they couldn’t even hear directions when an intruder entered the school. Luckily, it was a senile neighbor and not an assailant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is new to MCPS but has mentioned a lot of lockdown drills just in PE. Yesterday, she said her class misbehaved so the teacher made them do a lockdown drill. When I emailed the teacher for clarification, he practically bragged about how many lockdown drills he does. He even said:

“Yesterday the classes were having a difficult time following directions and I thought that if there was a fire drill or lockdown at that time they probably wouldn’t do a very good job.   I decided to practice the lockdown drill to see how they would respond.”

Only a principal can call a lockdown, not a teacher. I am livid that this man thinks this is an effective behavior management strategy!

This is crazy and very inappropriate. Is this an elementary school? You need to contact the administrator.
-a MCPS elementary school teacher

+1

It sounds like his classroom management is to make them sit in the hallway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is new to MCPS but has mentioned a lot of lockdown drills just in PE. Yesterday, she said her class misbehaved so the teacher made them do a lockdown drill. When I emailed the teacher for clarification, he practically bragged about how many lockdown drills he does. He even said:

“Yesterday the classes were having a difficult time following directions and I thought that if there was a fire drill or lockdown at that time they probably wouldn’t do a very good job.   I decided to practice the lockdown drill to see how they would respond.”

Only a principal can call a lockdown, not a teacher. I am livid that this man thinks this is an effective behavior management strategy!

You need to talk to the principal. Lockdown drills can be traumatic and are not a joke or a punishment

Spoke to the principal yesterday and he seemed confused and displeased that this was happening.

Good!

[Anonymous]

A lot of schools are moving away from lockdown drills. I’m a teacher and we are now taught to use best judgement: evacuate OR lockdown…barricade door and do not huddle.

We do not practice with kids but we’ve been trained. We don’t practice barricading the door but I know how to do it.

[Anonymous]

I have zero problems with a teacher forcing a class to stop and getting everyone to calm down and get quiet and explain it to them that their behavior is unacceptable and that you cannot continue instruction if they are doing x y and z.

But calling it a lockdown drill is pretty icky to me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Umm yeah I’d be pissed too. Along with them taking away recess as discipline as well. They’re not allowed to but some lunch aides do it anyway.

What would you recommend for kids who throw rocks, hit other kids, put whole rolls of tp in toilet when they come in to use the restroom during recess etc…
I am a para educator at an elementary school and I’ve seen all of this and more during recess.

Misbehavior is communicating an unmet need. Instead of punishment, these kids needs should be met.

Lol my student brought a knife to school and threw it in the cafeteria. What did he need? A psych ward…

Yeah the unmet need here is actual consequences.