My third “Philosophy for Children” lesson

Today’s lesson did not go very well.
The pupils (7 of them now) were disorganized and it was difficult for me to get them to have a constructive discussion. The following reasons have contributed to that:
A. I have added 5 more pupils. The group now consists of 7 students.
B. I was very, very tired.
C. The pupils were very, very tired.
D. The text we’ve read was awfully written and had to do with the teacher’s authority in class (or lack thereof). The question debated had to do with the limits of the teacher’s (or parent’s) authority. The kids’ responses were centered around their own wants and needs and never became abstract, as I had meant before.
The two pupils that I had in the first and second lessons were present but were extremely tired. The boy did not function at all the girl was extremely hyperactive and actively disturbed the discussion.
Following this session, I have decided to make some changes. Maybe philosophy should be a tool by which the more advanced (and not ungrateful) pupils could advance even more, rather than a tool by which the weaker (and mostly uninterested) students are forced to deal with subjects they don’t care about.
Starting next week I will tell the two students that were too tired to function that they are on probation, and if they don’t contribute to next week’s discussion they will be omitted from the group. Furthermore, one of the pupils who have joined us (following her own request to join), will be asked not to arrive any more for she hasn’t got the minimal English level and has a personality which has proved destructive to our session today. In the future, I will be more picky in choosing my pupils and I will use philosophy for those who are interested in debating it, who are usually advanced pupils and who are mostly slowed down by those whose main purpose in class is to warm their seats.
Following next week’s session, I will write my own Philosophy for Children stories and I will post them on this blog for everyone’s usage, free of charge. Unlike those greedy authors who sell their Philosophy for Children book instead of spreading their knowledge freely.