Module 3

            Chapter 7, opens with understanding learning which I think is first and foremost something a teacher should be able to do. Woolfolk recognizes right away that most people often think of learning as school and studying. However, on the contrary we learn everyday through our daily lives. We make mistakes and we learn from them. We learn through our experiences, and environmental stimuli influence our behavior. In the text, Elizabeth is about to teach a lesson when her supervisor from college entered the room. Suddenly, Elizabeth became very nervous, her face turned red and while giving her lesson her hands were trembling. This is a good example of how an environmental stimuli (her supervisor walking into the room) changed her behavior. Elizabeth possibly had bad experiences being observed in the past which is why her palms became sweaty and her heart raced at just the though of being observed. I think as humans though just in general when we know we are being watched and critiqued we become very nervous. We as humans don't like to feel we are being judged and I think we all care and want to do a good job, so anytime there is added pressure it will elicit a change in behavior. This could also be considered an example of classical conditioning, it contains a stimulus that evokes an emotional or physiological response. Behavior can also be greatly influenced by consequences. Consequences influence whether or not a particular behavior will be repeated. A Reinforcer is a consequence that strengthens a behavior that follows it. There is positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement and punishment often get confused with one another. Over the course of the week I have continued to tell myself the main difference is that negative reinforcement strengthens behavior where as punishment will weaken the behavior. I think sometimes as teachers we tend to only focus on inappropriate behaviors and by doing so we can be reinforcing those behaviors because we are only calling attention to those negative situations. However, I think that we should remember that when children are behaving in an appropriate manner we should also reinforce that behavior as well. Not to single any one out, because I think the article we read this week showed how that could have a detrimental effect. I think overall we need to focus not only on negatives, but make sure to include the positives.


            Chapter 13, was all about classroom management which was another key focus of this week. Now after watching the video from this week I can't help but think about classroom management and how it was a really good example of what not to do and then turned around and showed a better way to manage the classroom and showed the effects of both ways. If you think about it teachers really do set the tone for how their classroom will run which is classroom management in a nutshell. Being a soon to be teacher I will have to figure out how I will want to manage my classroom. This chapter acknowledged the fact that goals for the classroom needs to be set in order for things to run effectively. These goals include making ample time for learning and improving that time by keeping students engaged. A good example was in the movie from 1947 the teacher used real life examples by asking them to think about if they were to be baking a cake at home but had a recipe for a large cake but needed to make a small cake instead. This made the material more interesting and relatable, and it gave it meaning and purpose. I stated another time this week that often times kids will say "when am I ever going to use this again?" I think as teachers we should always be able to answer that question, and I also think that if we provide real life examples or do a classroom activity that can relate in some way to something else that interests them it will be more successful and engaging. Another goal of the classroom would be making sure participation structures are clear, and consistently signaled. We also must encourage students to be better able to manage themselves and give them responsibility. This chapter discusses how by students simply "following the rules" they won't learn self-control and self-regulation. Think about after high school the training wheels come off and no one is holding anyone's hand and making sure they make it to class and do their homework. By teaching self-control and self-regulation early on gives students the skills to self-mange that they can carry with them when they are "on their own" come college time.