What would you of done as the teacher?

Today was my 2^nd day in the classroom for my internship class. The morning started out with the receipt of an email from my head teacher stating we were going to have a child in class who does not like to be touched. My immediate thought was okay, I can relate as I do not like being touched either. I did find it a little odd that a kindergartener didn’t want to be touched, because most little kids love hugs and attention.

That was just an inclination as to the unusual situation that unfolded throughout the morning. As I’m in the classroom, watching the other children, a little boy entered about an hour late, ate his breakfast, and then joined in on what the whole class was doing. During the beginning of the lesson, he kept up with the teacher and the class, but as the teacher continued to teach, the little boy got up and took the other children’s math manipulative and threw them on the floor. He then proceeded to grab the crayons, markers, and posters on the table and began throwing and ripping them. During this time, the teacher was trying to calm him down, followed by the principal entering and removing the boy from class. His dad was notified, and I assume the principal, dad, and little boy had a conversation.  When we came back from recess, they were all in the classroom, and the little boy was cleaning up the mess he had made and gave an apology to the class and the teacher.

Subsequently, the end result of this little boy’s actions is what is baffling to me and is weighing heavy on my heart and thoughts. I would love the input of any teachers or other children workers after reading. Instead of letting the child rejoin the class, which is what I would of done being as he is only in kindergarten and to my knowledge, it was only his 2^nd day of class, the administration decided to pull him from our class, and either  sent him into a pull out classroom or he went home. So now, this child is being held back from learning and understanding the structure of a classroom. Obviously there is something deeper going on such as maybe he does not feel safe in the classroom, and the teacher could create a safe zone area for him so when he needs to be alone or a time to calm down, he can go there.  He may have simply become bored with what everyone was doing. I was watching him and his group table and noticed how quickly he was doing the math manipulative with the class, and then he began to half way do the work which is when he started bothering the other students. I have not seen this child’s IEP or know what the faculty has set up for him, but in my opinion, removing him from the classroom was not the best solution. Yes, the little boy needed a chance to calm down, just as we do as adults sometimes, but I believe that once that happened, he could of preceded to have a productive day.