u/AngrySalad3231

Y’all I need to know if this is justified. I have an ninth grade class that is constantly damaging school property. Damaged books, broken pencils, highlighter caps thrown across the floor. On the one hand, I really should just stop providing them with supplies. But, that’s also not a battle I want to fight every day. I also don’t want to punish the kids who aren’t doing anything wrong. And I don’t know exactly who is responsible ruining things. So instead, I’m considering a number system.

The books are already numbered 1-25, and every kid has an assigned book based on where they fall in my list alphabetically. I plan to use that number and just number everything I give them. Pencils, pens, highlighters. That way, I know who is responsible for the damage. I’m conflicted because this feels very elementary. But, at the same time, if we’re ripping pages out of books, coloring in books, and breaking pencils in half, the consequence seems to fit the behavior. What are your thoughts here? Does anyone else have a better system for this? My administration has noticed this pattern also and wants a list of kids who are damaging supplies so that they can send invoices home to parents. So I do need a way to know who is doing the damage.

I’m in a unique spot this year. I’m teaching an entire grade level by myself. This also happened in my first year of teaching, but at that point, I was too unsure of myself to make any changes to the curriculum. Going into my third year, I get to teach a grade level by myself again, and I’m a lot more confident this time around. We have a list of books that we can choose from, and so far I’ve taught the same book 4 semesters in a row, largely because it was just what everyone had been doing. I don’t necessarily dislike the book, and at this point, I’m very confident with it, but I’m not sure.

So, I’m curious. how long do you teach the same book before you consider switching things up?