maureen

__Chapter 11__ __– How Does Craig Seganti Use Positive Teacher Leverage and Realistic Student Accountability to Establish Class Discipline__   I do not really agree with Seganti’s methods. Where I teach and the level I teach at, students need warnings and reminders of how they are supposed to behave. For many of the students I work with, it is their first experience with school so they need to learn what it right and how to behave. I do this by giving warning and stating the behavior that needs to be fixed. This allows the students to change their behavior. If I did not warn them or give reminders they get angry and misbehave more due to the consequence giving on the first sign of misbehavior. I do agree that you need to hold students accountable for their behavior, but I also feel you need to give them the chance to correct behaviors. In reading his methods, they seem like they are for middle years, or secondary education. Being an early elementary teacher, in first grade teacher, I do not feel his approach will help in my management techniques. I disagree with how he says there are only three types of students. Yes, the behaviors he listed for each I can see in my students, but what about students D, E, F and so on? There are so many different types of students because of their culture, religion, home life and other parts of what make the student unique. The best thing I read in this chapter was about parents and them not having a long-term effect on behavior, which is defiantly true in my situation. Just the other day I had to have a meeting with my principal, a mother and grandmother of one of my students. The mother (really it was the grandmother) did not like the relationship we have because she feels I’m not telling her everything about her daughter. I don’t know what more she wants me to tell her, because I talk to her everyday after school about her daughters behaviors and if it was a good or bad day. But when she goes home upset about her daughter misbehaving she will tell her mother. The resulted in the grandmother saying I “call out” her granddaughter in class, (when I am only stating the behavior that needs to be changed) and from now on she wants me to call her whenever her granddaughter does something wrong. Yet, the grandmother says it is my job to discipline the child and it’s not their job to do it at home, for something being done in school.   __Chapter 12 – How Do Top Teachers Establish Personal Influence with Students Who Are Difficult to Manage __  This chapter was very interesting. I totally agree with Dave Hingsburger, when he said, “think about what you do on a daily basis with those within your care.” This statement is so true and I do this everyday. All my students have different situations, it is important for me to understand where they come from and deal with their individual needs, if I don’t show that I care about their situations or feelings, they will no behave appropriately or do the things they are supposed to do. Stephen Covey made another good point, in order to work with troublesome learners you need to understand their views. You can do this by building relationships with one another getting to know your students and their situations. Haim Ginott’s congruent language is another technique I use in my classroom. This is not easy to do and it takes practice, not every day do I follow the congruent language, but I always try my best to make sure I don’t label, or belittle my students in anyway. This will harm our relationship, resulting in students not learning to their fullest potential. Tom Daly has it right you definitely need to relate to your students, if you cannot relate to them this will cause issues in the classroom. Teachers need to understand what their students are all about and need to realize they need to be flexible and willing to change their attitudes in dealing with different students.   __Chapter 13 – How Do Leading Experts Engender Respect and Civility in the Classroom? __<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Civility in the classroom is very important to have. It takes practice and teaching students how to behave and show respect and consideration to others. Last year this was easy for my to obtain in my classroom, the students got it the first time I explained it. This year however, these students just are not getting it they just have not learned what “good manners” are. Daily I have to remind them of how important it is to be kind to one another and respect others. Last year I very rarely had to do it with those students. But everyday, I keep at it reminding them and explaining to them how and why you need to show respect to everyone, each day doing some sort of activity around being respectful. Even if it is as simple as sharing our morning journals, where students get to read what they wrote and everyone must sit up tall with hand folded and then clap for them at the end. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Borba’s developing moral intelligence reminds me of something we do at my school. Every first Friday of the month, the boys and girls from each grade get separated and are taught how to “act like a lady” and how to “act like a gentleman.” The students are split by grades and genders. We teacher and do activities around building character and teaching they have to act in society. I feel that this is extremely helpful to the students. They enjoy doing this activities and look forward to learning how to become young ladies, and young gentlemen. Even in the younger grades, with my students I see them reminding each other of their behavior and if its how a young lady or gentleman is supposed to be acting. I feel that moral intelligence is defiantly so important to teach to our youth. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Restitution in discipline is a great idea, but it takes a lot of work and follow through. The school I work at says that this occurs; yet I know that it is not being done as frequently (or correctly) as it should be done. This takes a lot of help from administration to be done, but it also has to be consistent and everyone needs to be on the same page about it. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> Chapter 7 – How Does Fred Jones Establish Class Discipline by Keeping Students Responsibly Involved When it comes to time management I make sure I keep the time and keep the pace moving within the classroom. If I don’t that is when misbehavior can and will occur. I always have backup plans, in case something goes wrong or if something is not working well. I also give “classroom chores” I call the students managers because it makes them feel important and a true part of the classroom. Every one of my students has a job even if it’s something as simple as pushing in the chairs, or shutting the door. I have an opening routine; where every day the students have a morning journal to complete. This allows me to take attendance, collect pretzel money and anything else that needs to be taken care of that specific morning. The school I am currently has the majority of the day Direct Instruction. Teachers struggle to keep students “actively involved” the program they are requiring us to use, is scripted and must be followed. This is difficult for both the teacher and the student to be truly actively engaged. I would love to make my classroom more actively engaged like it was the majority of last year. This year does not allow me to do so due to the scripted program. Behavior limits are clearly set in my classroom; I constantly use eye contact, physical proximity, and facial expressions. This works extremely well with my students. Chapter 8 – How Does William Glasser Use Choice Theory and Quality Education to Establish Class Discipline It is very important to start from the beginning to establish healthy relationships with your students. There needs to be a safe environment where students are eager to learn. When creating this relationship, it creates a relationship of respect for one another and allows for quality education. If you are providing your best effort everyday and ensuring excellent quality education behaviors will not be an issue. If scholars and involved in the lesson, and if it is interesting and you keep them interested the students will not have the time or the desire to misbehave. In my class my expectations are set high for myself as well as my students. This allows for a hard work ethic which means we are all working together to create the best atmosphere for quality education. My students only produce quality work on their individual level because that is all I allow them to do.

Chapter 9 – How Does Spencer Kagan Use Structures and Teacher-Student Same-Side Collaboration to Establish Class Discipline I feel Win-Win Discipline would not work well in my school, because not many parents are not in the picture or follow through with requests. I do agree with the ABCD of Disruptive behavior, a child’s misbehavior can be categorized by aggression, breaking rules, confrontation and disengagement. I see this happen on a daily basis. I liked how the chapter listed what the teacher can do as an intervention strategy for different types of misbehavior. However, I feel that this would not work as well in my classroom as a use of primary discipline. In our school, it is difficult to get parents on board. Students can see that parents are not involved, so it is mostly the teacher following up on or following through with the discipline. I believe for this method to work, parent reinforcement at home is necessary.

Chapter 2 – __ How Can I Anticipate My Students’ Behavior and Deal with Factors That Promote Misbehavior __

In reading Chapter 2, and currently being a 1st grade teacher, I agree with how 5 to 8 year olds act in the preoperational stage. When they become 7 years old, they begin to mature at a noticeable rate. I see that daily in my classroom, because students are progressing from 6 to 7. I see big steps in their levels of maturity and it is very interesting to watch them grow. In continuing to read the chapter I found that needs and interests can trigger behaviors and misbehaviors. I have always thought that when a student didn’t get his or her way, they would misbehave. Now actually teaching for a few years, I can relate with this part of the chapter; fulfilling a child’s needs or interests can cause motivated behaviors or misbehaviors. For example: One of my first graders not eating breakfast. They come into the classroom and either put their head down or begin to misbehave. By keeping small snacks, they can eat if they arrive late, allowing them to eat, lets the child know you care about their needs. The student then becomes motivated and partakes in positive behaviors for the remainder of the day. Now if I had not given a small breakfast to the child, it would be undetermined how the child would have behaved for the rest of the day. This chapter allowed me to realize that so many conditions can affect how a child behaves or misbehaves, some of which, I was already aware of and others that I was not. I am eager to see what Chapter 3 has to say about Neurological-based behavior. I am eager to read about that subject because I am currently experiencing difficulty with a student in my classroom that has been diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar disorder.

Chapter 3 – __ How Do I recognize and Deal with Atypical Behavior That Is Neurological-Based __

After reading Scenario 1, I found that I could relate to it extremely well. I teach a student who displays these same behaviors on a daily basis, He has been diagnosed ADHD and bipolar. This specific child is receiving special services. He has a STW (Therapeutic Service Worker), from the STS program. This service however, is not working for this specific child. The worker has already been changed 3 times, this year. He is also on the school’s evaluation list to be tested. It is difficult to test this child for various reasons. On occasion, this child is completely out of control, and the worker or I cannot redirect him. This is a very difficult situation, and causes the other students to react poorly, due to his episodes. After reading about Oppositional Defiant Disorder, this is making reevaluate this child. He is constantly arguing with adults, he refuses to do things or follows rules. He often blames others for his mistakes. It was interesting that the chapter recommended, when giving praise about the child, say what you mean and only say it once. I will be incorporating this recommendation when dealing with this student. I had a basic understanding of the Bipolar disorder, but I thought it only included mood adjustments from happy to sad. I didn’t know it could include acting silly or very angry, as well as other emotions. It is coincidental, because just recently, I told the student not to jump down a flight of steps. I warned the student that it was dangerous and he said, “I never get hurt.” I didn’t realize, thinking you have super human beliefs, was a behavior of Bipolar Disorder. The Rage Cycle was also interesting to read about, I am actually going to share this with my co-worker regarding this student. I found that I could relate to many of the scenarios. As far as dealing with medication, I know this specific child is prescribed medicine, but I am not certain if the dispersing of it is consistent. I believe there are irregularities in the medication consumption, due to the displays of behavior from this child. After reading this chapter, I question the official diagnosis of this child versus the actually condition which afflicts this child.

Chapter 4 – __ What Are the Foundations That Underlie Today’s Best Systems of Discipline __

In this chapter, the group dynamics that are discussed by Redl and Wattenberg made me think back to my last year of teaching. During that year, I was able to see how students interacted with one another, or acted differently around different students. This year I have not had the benefit of seeing this because my school has to do “direct instruction”. I have found that “direct instruction”, leaves no “group work” time. This is very disappointing to me. In my classroom, I use Ginott’s I-messages. I teach my students how to express their feelings, and allow them time to work out their problems together with my guidance. I never thought of myself as an assertive teacher, but I have been told by my peers that I am. They explain that because I am consistent, clear and speak confidently, both in and outside of my classroom, I exhibit some of the traits that the Canters explained. I feel though a mixture of all these foundations discovered by different people, help to make teachers, who they are today. I feel that you need to be a multifaceted teacher but also consistent in your views.

Chapter 5 – Group Presentation

Chapter 6 – __ How Do Harry and Rosemary Wong Use Responsibilities and Procedures to Establish Class Discipline __

After reading this chapter, I feel that my classroom, is set up the way that the Wong’s discussed in this chapter. I have clear procedures for everything. I have procedures that encompass from the time we arrive, to the way pencils are used, the way we line up, distribute papers or where to locate things in the classroom. The procedures were set up the 1st day of school. My students and I discussed the rules and posted them along with the consequences and rewards system for our classroom. Expectations and procedures were discussed the very first day of school. By following our routine and practicing it for a month, my class is now able to run itself. Teaching 1st grade is difficult, they often need reminders, but having those procedures and routines in place, allows for just about any teacher to be able to come in my room. If a different teacher enters, the students would be able to tell them where things are, or what and how things are to be done. My students know in the morning to walk in, take out their homework book, leave them on their desk, take out their morning journal and begin their journal entry from the board, that day. I really believe that the Wong’s are correct about having procedures and policies in place. It makes teaching so much easier if you take the time in the beginning of the year to set these policies and procedures. I truly believe that what happens on the first day of school determines the tone for the rest of the year.