Module 3 - Chapters 7 & 13
I find each week to be a wealth of information with some more overwhelming than others. This week I was overwhelmed and mainly with Chapter 7 - Behavioral Views of Learning. Chapter 13 - Managing Learning Environments was less overwhelming as I felt it was less technical and intimidating. I think this is because of my past experience with Psychology 101 as a college freshman. I struggled understanding and remembering the different learning styles and theories. This week brought back so many adverse memories where I still remember sitting in my Psych 101 class in Gregory Hall at UIUC with the musty smell. I had to purposely put myself in a different state of mind and a relaxing environment so I could create new associations with these concepts of positive and negative reinforcement, classical conditioning and behavior methods.
The reinforcement schedule on page 270 was helpful. It provided the definition, example, response and reaction for the different schedules. I was able to obtain a better perspective on how the schedule would work and actually think about how I might use or not use it within a class. I think if I create more tables or other graphical organizers for some of the other theories and models, it might be more clear for me. I could visually see the differences between them and better apply them or think about how to apply them in my classroom.
In addition, I thought a lot about how I reinforce or encourage behavior within my own household. In many cases, my husband and I state that there will be no electronics or screen time until their chores are done. During the school year, there are no electronics during the school week and only on the weekends. The problem with that is my sons want to spend all their free weekend time playing video games or watching you tube videos. My husband and I reinforced that behavior with the way we structured the situation. While I understand there are different ways to encourage proper behavior, I realize I still have a lot to learn but I know I can be effective. I previously coached and was able to have each of my athletes obtain success on their terms. I did this by encouraging my athletes appropriately but also teaching them the skills needed to improve. I also have a tendency to think critically and analyze much of what I do and in teaching, I need to trust my instincts more and not think about what theory or model is best to use that day.
Managing classroom environments is dependent upon understanding the different ways students learn. As a future high school and possibly middle school teacher, I will want to be clear in my communication with the students. I want to establish a connection with my students to show I care and can empathize with them but ensure they know we do have rules to follow. Also I want to enable my students to effectively communicate with adults so they can advocate for themselves. This creates a strong culture within the classroom where we can get our point across to each other in a clear and concise manner. In addition, I want to get to know my students so I can detect when they may be having an "off" day. In my teacher interview and offline discussions, I understand that many students deal with anxiety that can come from school or home. By getting to know my students, I can demonstrate that I care about their well-being. I don't want to be an alarmist but I will want to feel comfortable reaching out to the student or in some cases their school counselor or parents. I see what emotional struggles my sons have and with that experience as a parent, my hope is I can do the same for my students in some way.
The reinforcement schedule on page 270 was helpful. It provided the definition, example, response and reaction for the different schedules. I was able to obtain a better perspective on how the schedule would work and actually think about how I might use or not use it within a class. I think if I create more tables or other graphical organizers for some of the other theories and models, it might be more clear for me. I could visually see the differences between them and better apply them or think about how to apply them in my classroom.
In addition, I thought a lot about how I reinforce or encourage behavior within my own household. In many cases, my husband and I state that there will be no electronics or screen time until their chores are done. During the school year, there are no electronics during the school week and only on the weekends. The problem with that is my sons want to spend all their free weekend time playing video games or watching you tube videos. My husband and I reinforced that behavior with the way we structured the situation. While I understand there are different ways to encourage proper behavior, I realize I still have a lot to learn but I know I can be effective. I previously coached and was able to have each of my athletes obtain success on their terms. I did this by encouraging my athletes appropriately but also teaching them the skills needed to improve. I also have a tendency to think critically and analyze much of what I do and in teaching, I need to trust my instincts more and not think about what theory or model is best to use that day.
Managing classroom environments is dependent upon understanding the different ways students learn. As a future high school and possibly middle school teacher, I will want to be clear in my communication with the students. I want to establish a connection with my students to show I care and can empathize with them but ensure they know we do have rules to follow. Also I want to enable my students to effectively communicate with adults so they can advocate for themselves. This creates a strong culture within the classroom where we can get our point across to each other in a clear and concise manner. In addition, I want to get to know my students so I can detect when they may be having an "off" day. In my teacher interview and offline discussions, I understand that many students deal with anxiety that can come from school or home. By getting to know my students, I can demonstrate that I care about their well-being. I don't want to be an alarmist but I will want to feel comfortable reaching out to the student or in some cases their school counselor or parents. I see what emotional struggles my sons have and with that experience as a parent, my hope is I can do the same for my students in some way.
Cindy I totally understand about getting a grasp on proper behavior. My fiancee babysits for her cousin and her little boy is sometimes difficult to develop proper behavior. We have used reinforcements like the use of electronics, but I think we have over used them because many times they are not successful. Many times his behavior would improve until he is done playing with the electronics and his behavior goes back to the way it was. I also know that the strict demanding style that worked for my parents with my brother and I does not work on him. I feel that developing proper behavior in the classroom will be an ongoing challenge.
ReplyDeleteI like and appreciate that you connected what we were reading about (reinforcing and encouraging behavior) to your personal life, with your children and your experience as a coach. I think that will help you transfer those same skills into your classroom! It's so wonderful that you want to build that relationship with your future students; that is on the top of my own list of priorities as a teacher. It's great that you will be an advocate for them and to also teach them to advocate for themselves!
ReplyDeleteCindy,
ReplyDeleteI really like the way that you make sure that your children finish their chores during the week before they are allowed to play on electronics. I believe that it instills a sense of making sure their work is done before they can play, which will take them far in life. One question I have is why are you against them playing games during the school week? I was excellent at managing my time throughout the school day and would have multiple days a week where I would come home with no homework. My friends were usually busy after school so video games/comics were all I had most of the time. Understanding this, my parents used to do the exact opposite and not allow me to play games during the summer/weekends when I could be going out and being active with my friends. Please don't take my question as questioning your parenting style or trying to insinuate that your rules are silly because that is not my intention at all. I have recently been doing my best to understand the rules parents have in their households so that I might better be able to understand a wider variety of my students' parents in the future.
-Casey
I can definitely relate to what you were saying about reinforcing or encouraging behavior. It's funny you mentioned about coming up with ways to balance technology usage in your household. I have the exact same problem. If I let my son do whatever he wants, he will neither eat or sleep to be on his playstation or phone. It is scary. I tried limiting his usage during the week and any chance I get, I use days off of technology as a form of discipline. But I know you know how difficult this is. This problem then rolls over to us as teachers because that's all our students think about! We really have to get creative and find innovative ways to incorporate technology in our lessons to engage this tech savvy generation and properly manage behavior. We have a hard task at hand, but we can definitely do this! As mothers we want the best for our children and as teachers for our students.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. I could connect with some of your situations personally. I try and help my kids at home limit their own screen time, but I learned that you need to be consistent in order for the boundaries to be effective. I am not always consistent and I am trying to work on this because I know that in my own classroom, I need to be consistent right from the start. I realize that classroom management is very important and how we set up out classroom environment, making it a positive and calm one, can be most beneficial to the students we are teaching. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHey Cindy, I loved reading your post. My favorite was how you connected the chapters to your personal life. My parents were like that with my siblings and I no playing outside until the house was clean and your homework is done, we did not have all this technology like the kids today. I like to hear how parents reinforce behavior because it gives me ideas for my own classroom in the future.
ReplyDelete