Burp

Today, my back was turned to the class as I wrote a few examples of inequalities on the board, some student let out a burp.

I paused for a second, craning my neck so that I could hear the “excuse me” that should have followed but didn’t.

I turned around. I raised an eyebrow and my voice questioning my students as to who decided to be impolite by not apologizing for their ungentlemanly behaviour.  Silence was the only response I received.  I waited.  I stared around the room, the Year 1 boys slowly began to squirm in their chairs. I continued to wait. I really do feel that a simple act of apology would have sufficed, yet, no one owned up to it. I decided that if they could not act as gentlemen, then they would lose the privilege of being dismissed at the end of class and work during recess.

I know that some of my colleagues who think I’m very strict will be laughing as they read this. I also know that my Year 1 students who did not commit the offense may think my repercussion was unfair; however, I do believe that learning the lesson about owning up to one’s behaviour and being respectful to others in the room are good lessons to learn.

I don’t think there will be any burping in my classroom any time soon.