The struggle between students and teacher

Assignment paper

Creating a Culture of Peace in the Elementary Classroom

I really enjoyed this article.  Throughout my student teaching I have become terribly aware of the fact that my students do no know how to solve their own problems.  I get so tired of the tattling all day long.  I want to teach my children some problem solving strategies.  The walk away and cool down is something that I feel my students need to be taught immediately.  I want to read the book suggested in this article about teaching compassion through literacy.  Relating to a story seems to be more meaningful than just me lecturing.  In a staff development I recently learned that elementary students k-2 start checking out after 4-5 minutes of teacher lecturing.  I am challenging myself to honor that attention span and speak less!

Case Study Powerpoint

Case Study

Project Reflection

It is hard to come up with a solution to problem behavior.  A plan has been put in place, recurring problems are still happening on a consistent basis.  A conference was held with the parents and three main focuses were laid out.  Knowing boundaries, talking, and time management are the areas that really need the most help.  It is hard when the student has an excuse for Everything.  It is almost to the point that he understands but just doesn’t want to change.

CT’s classroom management

My CT is wonderful and I plan on taking some of her behavior management practices with me into my own classroom.  There is a clear system of what to do when a child is acting out.  First there is a warning, then they have to write their name on the board and then there is a system of checks next to the name and consequences.  I like this because it is nothing that the teacher has to keep up with like stars or items in a jar.  Although it is a lot to swallow, I think that at this age it is good for the students to have to stand up in front of the class and write their name.  I have at times thought it to be too harsh but it certainly deters a lot of the kids.  I want to be sure that there is no vague room left in my behavior management plan and I feel that that is the case in my CT’s classroom.

Disruptive Behavior

The student that I am observing for my project fits the description of disruptive behavior to a t.  Off-task talking is the biggest problem that we deal with multiple times a day.  It is hard to distinguish when positive reinforcement has been given for negative behavior.  As a teacher, I never want to discourage an eager learner.  When kids are really excited about a topic and they shout out, a  piece of me wants to encourage that joy.  Occasionally, I know that that is ok and I feel confident in saying that raising a hand is not always appropriate in the classroom.  Especially with difficult disruptive behaviors, I have a hard time knowing when to reprimand and when to let it go for the greater excitement of learning.  I suppose that this discernment is something that will come with years of experience.

The lack of social skills portion was very interesting to read.  The case in my classroom I know has been taught what is and is not socially acceptable.  I think that this child in particular probably is not able to discern on his own.  I think he is just not self aware.  He has no idea that he is disrupting because he thinks that constant chatter is socially acceptable.  I know completely that no teacher previously was sending him the message that talking during silent work time is or ever was acceptable.

Reflecting on the Project

So far, it has been really helpful to have read the article from Salend and then everyday in the classroom think about what could and what could not work.  There are some days when I think that a group accountability system would really help out my student and then there are other days where I feel like that wouldn’t be beneficial or fair to the rest of the class at all.  I have recently been battling inwardly trying to decide how much time to spend addressing an issue.  At what expense to the rest of the class am I willing to risk to focus on troubling behavior?  I have really been focusing on coming up with some kind of individual plan that has nothing to do with the rest of the class.  I think the problem that all teachers face is when other students come up and say well “why does he get to do ____” or “why can she have that when we can’t?”  I have been searching for the correct phrase to use when broaching this subject.  I want to explain to the class that everyone is getting what they need to help them learn at this exact moment in time and we should only be focused on our own learning.  In other words, mind your own business!  Obviously that would not be the most tactful way nor the appropriate way to approach the class.  Any suggestions????

Inclusive Classrooms

Something that especially stuck out to me in this article was when the author talked about inclusive classes no longer being exceptional.  The phrasing of that really created an emotional response for me.  It is no longer thought about as an miracle story for a child with a disability to be immersed in the school day.

Three things to think about wile promoting an inclusive classroom, according to the author, are belonging, membership, and acceptance.  I feel like after reading that I could have said, well duh!!  Everyone wants to belong and feel accepted whether they have a disability or not.  Just plopping a child in the classroom and calling that inclusion will not suffice.  The child is part of the community.  On the other end of the spectrum, I don’t think that constant special attention really facilitates a healthy inclusive classroom either.  Don’t ignore the child and don’t baby them either.

Dreaming of a New Way for School To Be

“The simple act of closing our doors doesn’t make the inequities of education go away.”

I found this article to be extremely interesting.  If you really knew me, you would know that I love politics and secretly wish that I could be a senator!  There was a lot of jargon that I didn’t understand but I did take away that there were three points that Edmonson told us to focus on as teachers:

1. Follow the money
2. Who are the players? Where did they come from?  What are their values?
3. Who is likely to benefit?

The third point is obviously the most important and long lasting but the first two are a responsibility that I imagine is frequently overlooked.  I am not a classroom teacher yet and I can already tell that the issue of policy will be forever looming over my head.  Sometimes I have thought that I would just like to open up my own school and then I would never have to deal with all of this, dream on.  The point is that this policy doesn’t just develop out of thin air and then plop down to ruin our lives.  Only until we spent time in class at length talking about No Child Left Behind and where it really came from did it all start to make sense to me.  As a teacher, I don’t want to be politically naïve.  I want to be aware and informed and even a source of knowledge for fellow colleagues.

It was very interesting to read about the fact that everyone has an agenda that they think is correct and really it should all be up to classroom teachers and local governments (so true).  Reading that shutting our doors is really an injustice to our students and that all we are really doing is silently supporting a policy made this whole thing come alive to me.  Obviously we aren’t going to be able to fight everything, but I do have a sense of excitement about it all.  I guess I am looking at it through an innocent pair of eyes but I’m glad that I’m not jaded just yet.

Reading and Writing is Power!

I really enjoyed this chapter on intermediate and accomplished readers and writers. Flint said two really important things right at the beginning of the chapter that really stuck with me while I was reading. The first thing was that “students need to be engaged in curriculum that is meaningful in their lives” and the second thing was that the intermediate and accomplished readers and writers need to “consider that reading and writing are for something; that one does not learn to read and write just to “do school.”” The first statement was clearly illustrated in Ms Bell’s story and can easily be applied across subject areas. We talked about how just last week when we were at Haw River, the students did not care about splitting apple pies and solving a word problem but when we made it a candy bar, the students jumped right on the problem. The same applies to reading. Real readers have their own interests and the book that my roommate reads is not necessarily going to be something that I enjoy. Obviously the curriculum cannot always be catered to everyone’s preferences but leaving some wiggle room and making a concerted effort has been proven to go a long way. I get frustrated in my own classroom when someone is trying to pick out a book and I say “well what are you interested in?” and the student responds, “I don’t know.” Sometimes I think that they are bored with their selection!
The second statement is something that we have repeatedly discussed in the school of ed. How can we make classroom learning relevant to real life? I really have grasped onto what we have talked about in literacy methods when we have brainstormed about what we do, what good readers do. Not only do we have to read and write to get by in school but reading and writing is a means of communicating with the rest of the world! Without those tools, I can’t bake a cake because I don’t know the recipe and I can’t go to the doctor because I can’t fill out a form. This comes with the idea that reading and writing is power!