You’re an elementary teacher in a self-contained classroom You’ve got a class of 29 lively sixth gra

You’re an elementary teacher in a self-contained classroom You’ve got a class of 29 lively sixth gra

You’re an elementary teacher in a self-contained classroomYou’ve got a class of 29 lively sixth graders, and you’ve been struggling allyear with classroom management Damien, a larger than average boy, seems toresist your efforts at every turn
You like science and have tried to provide concrete,hands-on science activities whenever you can You’ve been debating whether ornot to do a fun activity on chemical changes where students actually testdifferent “mystery powders” (for example, sugar, salt, and baking soda)with different liquids like water and vinegar You decide to go ahead with itand strategically place Damien up toward the front of the room where you canwatch him In addition, you pair him with Katie, one of your more responsiblefemale students Everything is going well until you go to the back of the roomto answer a question and hear a student shriek, “Damien!” As you rushto the front of the room, you see Katie holding her eye as a mixture of vinegarand baking soda drips down her cheek Damien is sitting there with a guiltylook on his face As you rush the crying Katie to the office, you wonder if youshould have handled the science lab differently
1 To what extent are you responsible for the actions ofstudents like Damien?
2 If this problem developed into a liability suit, whatfactors would the courts consider in judging whether you were negligent?
3 In hindsight, were there some things you could have donedifferently in terms of this science activity?