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One of my beginning English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in junior high school was a particularly fun loving, aggressive group. There were two seventh grade boys, an eighth grade boy, and three eighth grade girls, all with Spanish speaking backgrounds, in the class. They seemed to be usually relaxed and comfortable with each other, which often resulted in a good deal of physical contact and verbal noise. It is not uncommon for them to greet each other with a hit on the arm or back, or a push, or by grabbing each other's pencil or paper. They often enter the classroom singing or whistling and appear to be together a lot after school and on weekends.
They are sometimes a little difficult to teach, in as much as they laugh at each others' mistakes--which sometimes leads to a burst of temper and a desire for revenge. This is usually still done in a friendly manner, yet it is still disruptive in the classroom. I finally became fed up with this constant hassle so I determined to really make them understand that this was simply not acceptable behavior in our class or school and that such behavior must immediately stop.
My dialogue went something like this: "I am really tired of all the hassle that goes on with you kids. You are often rude to each other, you are rude to your teachers, and you are rude to the other students in the school as you walk down the halls. You simply must put a stop to this behavior. Do not hassle each other, do not hassle your teachers, and do not hassle the other students in this school. You are not to hassle me anymore. (I then wrote the word "hassle" on the chalkboard) Hassle means to be noisy and uncooperative and I want you to stop this hassling behavior--period!!"
We then went on to further discuss the meaning of the word hassle and all the many things it could be, such as pushing each other, grabbing things, laughing at each other in a derogatory manner, being generally obnoxious, running in the halls as they leave the sight of teachers, whistling in class, making the Anglo's feel uncomfortable by speaking their native language when sitting next to them at lunch, and generally everything in their behavior that might be considered to be a hassle to someone else. I especially stressed not hassling those who were trying to teach them.
The students responded that they often felt hassled themselves because others demanded so much of them. They felt they were also hassled by other students, their parents, their teachers, etc. But they determined that they would all try to improve and not hassle anyone any more. I had a very positive discussion and I felt that we had really communicated well and that some significant growth had taken place. I was proud of them and felt that an excellent lesson had occurred.
The following day, the art teacher complained to me that one of my students had been a little rowdy lately, but this new filthy word phase that had occurred today was the last straw! He would have to call the parents and relate this gross behavior. The teacher asked me to also speak to the boy about it and see what I could do.
I next received a visit from the assistant principal telling me that the eighth grade girls were calling the Anglos names and had provoked them to such anger that there were rumors of a big fight after school. He asked me to look into it and see if I couldn't help to clean up the mouths of the Mexican girls.
A few minute later the counselor came to see me to ask what was going on in the life of one of my seventh graders to make him lash out so at the adult aid in his reading class. Apparently the aide had approached the counselor with a request to be assigned somewhere else because the boy had verbally attacked her with such bad language. I asked what words he was using, and he said he had asked the ad that same question. She had turned bright read and had refused to even repeat what the boy had said.
I found this all to be rather strange, especially in light of our positive discussion on the previous day, so I searched my memory for a clue as to why all of my students had acted up on the same day, in the same way, in all of their classes and in the hall. As I reviewed our discussion in my mind--it suddenly hit me! These students do not pronounce "h" well because it is silent in their language. They had responded to my advice but as they later modeled my language, my word "hassle" had come out, you guessed it, "assle."
The students had learned a new English word and had been including it in their vocabulary. They had used their new word on their teachers, adult aides, and other students. They thought that they were doing what I had asked them to, and were not being a hassle to anyone. They didn't even realize that they had practically started a war!!
I explained all of this to the counselor and saw a light in his eyes as my explanation helped him to make sense out of the confusion he had also noticed in t he situation. The art teacher was reconciled when he found out that the student had not meant what he thought he had meant or said. The reading aide was very relieved. The gang war was averted.
I also was determine to find a better word to express my frustration with the "hassle" I though had been going on in my life.
Mary Lula Welch is Migrant Resource Teacher
Joel J. LaPray is the Federal Programs Director
Both in Idaho Falls School District #91, Idaho Falls, Idaho.