Blog #5

 

What I have learned

One idea that has been strengthened:

Coming into this class, I wasn't a huge fan of rewards. However, I have heard of many teachers who do use a consistent reward system in their classroom and find it to be quite successful. For example, in the interview of the second grade teacher 2A, she shared that she actually relies on them quite frequently. Hearing that other teachers believe in rewards definitely made me question if my lack of classroom experience gave me incorrect views. However, after listening to your lecture on vocabulary such as LifeSkills, I realized that I was correct in thinking too many rewards can become harmful. They can indeed take away from intrinsic motivation and become too relied upon. In "The Risks of Rewards" by Kohn, he emphasized. "When the rewards stop, people usually return to the way they acted before." So, in order to influence students long term, it's important to implement strategies that reinforce intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation. For example, it's beneficial to rely on verbal praise to uplift students when they work hard and continue to be successful rather than physical rewards. Being positive doesn't necessarily mean you have to physically give them something to make them know that you support them. Having this perspective confirmed gave me a lot of confidence to go into my future classroom with this same mindset. 

One idea that has changed:

On the other hand, at the beginning of the quarter I hadn't thought much about management and how rules come about. In fact, I had always grown up in classrooms where the teacher made the rules and we just followed them. From what I had known, I didn't think there was much to it other than that. However, throughout this course I have learned a ton about student centered management. The steps to implementing student voice in rules was clearly shown in the "Creating Rules" article written by Brady. He represented this in a set of steps. First, articulating learning goals. Then, generating rules as a joint effort between the teacher and students. After that, framing the rules into positive language. Last, condensing the list down into 3-5 global rules. This was new to me because the rules were strictly centered around what encompassed that specific group of students needs, wants and values. I quickly realized that I want a classroom where students feel like their voice is respected, their learning is in their control, and their beliefs/ values are shown in the classroom regulations. A great example of this was during the first day of class with Gus when we were able to add to or modify the list of rules he had developed for our class. We worked in groups, wrote down what we liked and added things that we felt should have been included as well. When we decided one rule didn't feel applicable, we got rid of it altogether. It proves that the teacher does not have to be the dictator to remain in charge. In fact, it's quite the opposite. So, once I learned about the "sweet spot" and various ways that allow students to develop rules and expectations of value, I quickly recognized which authority style was most suitable to me. In the the article "Philosophical Approaches to Influencing students", Levin and Nolan defined the basis of referent authority as: "students behaving as the teacher wishes because they enjoy a positive relationship with the teacher and like the teacher as a person." I related to this so heavily because I have always felt a relationship is a huge factor in students success. It made a lot of sense and aligned quite well with my ill feelings towards rewards. While management felt obvious coming into this course, I actually learned a significant amount and encountered some changes in mindset. 

One idea that developed

Although I wasn't expecting to learn about it, I loved looking into classroom layouts and the most effective way to organize our future learning areas. While I did have a general idea of what does and doesn't work in classrooms, I did add some new "wants" to my list. For example, in the remodel video in "10 tips and tricks", I really loved the incorporation of the smart board. It's versatile, with the times, and fun to adventure with. Even in Education 386, I watched a math lesson where the teacher used the smart board to conduct the entire lesson. Students would draw on the board, move manipulatives using it, and change colors whenever they pleased. One thing in particular that caught my eye was how time efficient and interactive it has the potential to be. In addition, I think my mind developed in terms of including word walls and resources but avoiding making the classroom overwhelming. During class, you talked about regulating the cluster of things you put on the walls and instead focusing on things that are currently relevant to your students. This was definitely something that developed for me in realizing that it's important to step back and remember that in some cases less is more. I feel way more confident in designing my classroom now and have a better perspective of what to focus on including. 

One concern that I have

I think my biggest concern is determining which student rules to incorporate if there are lots of differing perspectives in the classroom. It would be hard to make a student feel like their values aren't as important as the person next to them. Not to mention, a long list of rules isn't ideal in a classroom so we can't use them all regardless. I know it's important to combine rules into a global category whenever possible, but it is inevitable that this won't always work out perfectly. I guess it just comes with practice and getting used to making things inclusive in complicated situations. I am sure this will become less intimidating and difficult to regulate with experience.