Module 3

Chapter seven is about behavioral views of learning.  It starts off by giving an explanation of what learning is, even though many theorists don’t have the exact definition, they all can agree that learning occurs when experience causes a change in a person’s knowledge or behavior. It then talks about contiguity (association of two events because of repeated pairing) and classical conditioning (association of automatic responses with new stimuli) in page 264-265, and it provides with examples as to what it is (i.e. salivating when you smell your favorite foods). The next main talked about reinforcement and punishment, often these two tend to get confused with each other, reinforcement always involve strengthening behavior while punishment involves decreasing or suppressing behavior.  Overall, what was incredibly helpful for me as a teacher was the topic “putting it all together,” Woolfolk talks about praising students for good behavior, while ignoring misbehavior. This section helped me understand why it can be good and how to effectively use it, it evens provides a “table” on page 274 with guidelines on how when it’s best to use it and what to do in order to be effective. I’ve heard of situations where teachers have told me to make sure to use this strategy with specific students because they benefit from it the most. But, I also had the experience of working with students who always have trouble focusing and paying attention in class, students who tend to always be disruptive and I’ve been encouraged to praise the desired behavior when they show it. One thing that I’ve learned is to be aware of the potential dangers of the overuse or misuse of praise and navigate it accordingly.

Chapter thirteen talks about managing learning environments, it mainly talks about classroom management. The main reason why as teachers we need to learn classroom management is because this will allow us to have more time for learning. Students tend to lose focus very quickly and will get distracted and potentially distract others as well. It’s like a domino effect, one person being distracted will get other peoples attention, and then all of a sudden everyone will be off-task. This is why it is important to know first, what type of classroom management philosophy one has and as well as the school’s philosophy. As mentioned in page 514 it is important to have set rules and routines. This section provides with wide examples and suggestions as what those rules look like in an elementary school and secondary school. As a teacher this is a topic that I want to learn more everyday, I always try to implement new strategies I learn into my classroom. I have attended professional developments where they talk about this. Recently, I attended a convention a catholic teachers in downtown Chicago. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had so far in my teaching career. Get to know more teachers from around the country and learning to become better teachers. Sometimes as a first year teacher I felt that I don’t know how to do things and get frustrated, especially when it comes to classroom management. But, what is sometimes “encouraging” is that not only first year teachers struggle with this, even veteran teachers tend to have this problem. I’ve learned to use the trial and error for every single strategy I use. Not every strategy will work for every classroom, so it’s a learning experience as to know what will work, even in the same school for some groups it will work and for others it won’t. This chapter has given me more insight as to what I need to take in consideration when creating a good environment for learning.