Chapter seven digs into the analysis of behavior in learning. Aristotle said we remember things by three ways when they are together, when they contrast, and when they are contagious. (Woolfolk Pg. 254) And through the Pavilion conditioned and unconditioned variables of testing we can compare the effects of rewards and punishments. The chapter goes into different methods to measure behavior, find the principles that maintain this behavior and measure changes. After reading this chapter I can see how some of my own methods failed as a substitute teacher. I think I often used the praise and ignore approach, which sometimes always didn't work for me. When being with one class all day I can see how delicate and complex managing behavior can be. And that there can be overuse or misuse of discipline and praise. I think I will try to incorporate positive practice into my music classes. This fixes whatever behavioral or academic problems that arise quickly and efficiently. I think also whenever using discipline, whatever a student is misbehaving show them immediately after the right thing to do. This way you are teaching the student the right behavior instead of just ringing the hammer down on them.
Chapter thirteen is all about creating a learning environment and classroom management. This chapter talks about establishing rules and procedures expected in the classroom. What I found interesting is it talks about what kind of consequences you might use if a student breaks one of the rules. (Woolfolk Pg. 496) Again, explaining what a student did was wrong, instead of them breaking a rule and that is why it's wrong. Definitely, the part that spoke to me most in the chapter was creating relationships with students. This is by far my favorite thing. I really enjoy getting to know my student and joking around with them. When you build a rapport with your students and make them feel connected they are less likely to cause problems or get in trouble even outside of class. This benefits their self-esteem. Also, I like how it says to keep your student engaged. For me, this will be a fun and interesting task. With the technology and content available it will be truly excited to find new ways to teach and inspire kids about music.
These readings definitely helped me understand Classroom management on a deeper level.
I love that you are able to use what you're reading and apply it to your previous experiences in the classroom as a sub. I wonder if you having this experience already and being able to apply these concepts to previous failures will be an advantage. Although I currently work with students, the environment is very different than an academic classroom.
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ReplyDeleteRobb, I too have experienced as substitute teaching that sometimes the praise/ignore method just isn’t enough. As you said this method works best when you have a relationship with the student. I’m sure your students will benefit greatly from having a supportive music teacher as a good influence in their life. This will build their self-esteem and make them more self-reliant. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteRobb, I agree I thought a lot about my own practices I have used regarding behavior after reading this chapter. It gave a lot of good insight on the right and wrong ways to handle behavior, and I agree I think letting a child know what they might have done wrong right after the fact will be the most beneficial for the child so that they know this behavior was displeasing, and again like you said instead of just bringing the hammer down and then the child has no idea what they did wrong because then its just after the fact and becomes meaningless.
ReplyDeleteRobb,
ReplyDeleteI think that it is great that you are able to connect the reading to your experiences as a sub. I also was thinking a lot about my own practices about behavior after reading the chapter especially when working with my athletes. I love that you talked about we should let our students know hat they might have done wrong right away, so that they can fix it and learn from that behavior.
Emma
Robb, you did such a good job breaking a part this module. Teachers sometimes forget that they were once students and how it would be when teachers showed their frustrations when student's weren't listening. That only made the students be more disobedient and rebellious. We have to remember that as educators it is important to create meaningful relationships with the students, ones that can embark trust and motivation so that we won't have to use punishment or rewards to get them to do what we need them to do.
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