Module 3: Environmental Influences, The Goal of Classroom Management
Module 3: Environmental Influences, The Goal of Classroom Management, and Rules for Secondary School
Concept 1: Environmental Influences
Summary:
In this section Woolfolk talks about behavior is a simple word for what a person does in a particular situation. We may think of behavior as a set of environmental influences by antecedents and consequences. The events that precede action and events that follow an action (Woolfolk, pg 267).
Reflection:
I would have to agree with Woolfolk on her outlook on behavior and how there are environmental influences that lead up to student behavior issues (Woolfolk, pg 267). Through my experiences as a Teacher's Assistant I have seen many times of students being disruptive in class first thing in the morning. The reason I mention morning is that when I had left that student at the end of the day to go home, their behavior was very good and they were having a great day. It wasn't until I had talked with their case manager and social worker that I started to understand what influences could be playing a factor in the students' behavior. When Woolfolk mentions that we may think of behavior as a set of environmental influences my mind immediately went to the examples I have seen as a T.A. I have worked at two schools districts now while being a T.A. and the first district I never had to worry about my students not having anything to eat before they came to school. It wasn't until now, where I'm a T.A. that this has become a reality for me with students not eating before school because there's nothing at home to eat. Again, another environmental influence that could set a student on a course for the school day that could end up turning bad. When I was giving my teacher interview they said influences at home play a big part in classroom management and a student's attitude for that day. He also said that is where the relationship factor comes into play and developing trust and respect for your students. A relationship as far as understanding where that student comes from, what community they live in, what is their home life about. I won't lie, it took me a little bit of time when starting in the educational field to realize that not every kid had the same life I had growing up. I credit a lot of that realization to my former Head Coach Sean Lucas who gave me an opportunity to get my first coaching job. He helped me understand and see that every student's home life is different, some have it good and others have it a little rough. I believe I look at things now with a more open mind and not jump to conclusions with students but instead, getting to know the student and hearing them out.
Concept 2: The Goal of Classroom Management
Summary:
Woolfolk says the goal of classroom management is to maintain a positive, productive learning environment. But the order for its own sake is an empty goal. However, it is unethical to use classroom management techniques just to keep students docile and quiet (Woolfolk, pg 511).
Reflection:
From my personal experience when talking with teachers one of the most common things that get brought up is classroom management. The teacher that I interviewed also expressed on numerous times the importance of classroom management. Woolfolk said that classroom management is to maintain a positive and productive learning environment, something we didn't see in the video that we had to watch on the angry teacher. Both in my reflection of the video and in my teacher interview it has been expressed that a teacher shouldn't be getting into a shouting match with students, it proves nothing and it shows very poor professionalism. As educators, we are to provide techniques in a classroom that maintains a healthy learning environment that is free of behavior problems (Woolkfolk, pg 511). In my teacher interview one of the questions I asked was "How do you handle a student whose behavior has disrupted the class and is starting to turn confrontational?" He put it into different words but basically what Woolfolk mentioned about a healthy learning environment, free of behavior problems. You should always want to try and work the situation out between you and the student and hopefully the situation deescalates. Again, something that the angry teacher in the video was far from doing and it seemed as though the teacher was going around the classroom and taking shots at every student. It is clear that having classroom management skills is a must in order to have a great learning environment for all students. I look forward to the opportunity to try out my classroom management skills one day but I'm realistic that they will probably change as all things do. Some classroom management strategies will work great while others probably won't but as teachers we have to learn to be adaptable to all situations.
Concept 3: Rules for Secondary School
Summary:
Woolfolk gives five examples of rules for secondary students: Be prompt and prepared, Respect and be polite to all people. listen and stay seated while someone else is speaking, Respect other people's property, and obey all school rules (Woolfolk, pg 516).
Refection:
I thought it was important to put what Woolfolk suggests for rules at the secondary level because that is where I see myself teaching when I am done with the program. I agree with all of Woolfolk's examples and would go into further details when having my own classroom. I say that I will go into further details or might add a few more rules depending on my classes. One of the best examples that I heard was from a teacher/ coach that I work with at the high school. He said that lesson planning, classroom management, and even rules are a lot like planning practice for your sport. You think everything looks great on paper, you have this visualization of how your practice is going to be and your players are going to take so much away from it and then things don't go according to plan. I feel like the same can go for when we become teachers and have our own classrooms. But as I said in the concept above, I feel as teachers we have to be adaptable to understand the strengths and also weaknesses of our students and how to strengthen them.
Concept 1: Environmental Influences
Summary:
In this section Woolfolk talks about behavior is a simple word for what a person does in a particular situation. We may think of behavior as a set of environmental influences by antecedents and consequences. The events that precede action and events that follow an action (Woolfolk, pg 267).
Reflection:
I would have to agree with Woolfolk on her outlook on behavior and how there are environmental influences that lead up to student behavior issues (Woolfolk, pg 267). Through my experiences as a Teacher's Assistant I have seen many times of students being disruptive in class first thing in the morning. The reason I mention morning is that when I had left that student at the end of the day to go home, their behavior was very good and they were having a great day. It wasn't until I had talked with their case manager and social worker that I started to understand what influences could be playing a factor in the students' behavior. When Woolfolk mentions that we may think of behavior as a set of environmental influences my mind immediately went to the examples I have seen as a T.A. I have worked at two schools districts now while being a T.A. and the first district I never had to worry about my students not having anything to eat before they came to school. It wasn't until now, where I'm a T.A. that this has become a reality for me with students not eating before school because there's nothing at home to eat. Again, another environmental influence that could set a student on a course for the school day that could end up turning bad. When I was giving my teacher interview they said influences at home play a big part in classroom management and a student's attitude for that day. He also said that is where the relationship factor comes into play and developing trust and respect for your students. A relationship as far as understanding where that student comes from, what community they live in, what is their home life about. I won't lie, it took me a little bit of time when starting in the educational field to realize that not every kid had the same life I had growing up. I credit a lot of that realization to my former Head Coach Sean Lucas who gave me an opportunity to get my first coaching job. He helped me understand and see that every student's home life is different, some have it good and others have it a little rough. I believe I look at things now with a more open mind and not jump to conclusions with students but instead, getting to know the student and hearing them out.
Concept 2: The Goal of Classroom Management
Summary:
Woolfolk says the goal of classroom management is to maintain a positive, productive learning environment. But the order for its own sake is an empty goal. However, it is unethical to use classroom management techniques just to keep students docile and quiet (Woolfolk, pg 511).
Reflection:
From my personal experience when talking with teachers one of the most common things that get brought up is classroom management. The teacher that I interviewed also expressed on numerous times the importance of classroom management. Woolfolk said that classroom management is to maintain a positive and productive learning environment, something we didn't see in the video that we had to watch on the angry teacher. Both in my reflection of the video and in my teacher interview it has been expressed that a teacher shouldn't be getting into a shouting match with students, it proves nothing and it shows very poor professionalism. As educators, we are to provide techniques in a classroom that maintains a healthy learning environment that is free of behavior problems (Woolkfolk, pg 511). In my teacher interview one of the questions I asked was "How do you handle a student whose behavior has disrupted the class and is starting to turn confrontational?" He put it into different words but basically what Woolfolk mentioned about a healthy learning environment, free of behavior problems. You should always want to try and work the situation out between you and the student and hopefully the situation deescalates. Again, something that the angry teacher in the video was far from doing and it seemed as though the teacher was going around the classroom and taking shots at every student. It is clear that having classroom management skills is a must in order to have a great learning environment for all students. I look forward to the opportunity to try out my classroom management skills one day but I'm realistic that they will probably change as all things do. Some classroom management strategies will work great while others probably won't but as teachers we have to learn to be adaptable to all situations.
Concept 3: Rules for Secondary School
Summary:
Woolfolk gives five examples of rules for secondary students: Be prompt and prepared, Respect and be polite to all people. listen and stay seated while someone else is speaking, Respect other people's property, and obey all school rules (Woolfolk, pg 516).
Refection:
I thought it was important to put what Woolfolk suggests for rules at the secondary level because that is where I see myself teaching when I am done with the program. I agree with all of Woolfolk's examples and would go into further details when having my own classroom. I say that I will go into further details or might add a few more rules depending on my classes. One of the best examples that I heard was from a teacher/ coach that I work with at the high school. He said that lesson planning, classroom management, and even rules are a lot like planning practice for your sport. You think everything looks great on paper, you have this visualization of how your practice is going to be and your players are going to take so much away from it and then things don't go according to plan. I feel like the same can go for when we become teachers and have our own classrooms. But as I said in the concept above, I feel as teachers we have to be adaptable to understand the strengths and also weaknesses of our students and how to strengthen them.
Steve, you make a great point about students' possible behavior being a result of something so basic as not having food to eat before coming to school. You may seen on social media things like "Maslow before Bloom." The idea is that before we can think about the level of thinking our lessons have, we better consider the basic needs that our students have, such as physiological and safety needs. If kids are hungry or sleep deprived, or if they are fearful of being beat up, they are likely not going to concentrate very well on learning math or English.
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