Hearing Harmon

          I decided to read the article about rules, praise, ignoring, and reprimands because behavior management is such an important part of the classroom environment. I wanted to learn about any strategies that may help me in the future. The main points of the article were that all four of the elements are important and helpful in the classroom. The article said that classroom rules should be limited to just a few broad ones that say what to do verses what not to do. It also stressed modeling and going over the rules to make sure that they are all clear to the students. The article also said that teachers should give many opportunities for students to earn praise. It also talked about how when you give praise getting close to the student and looking them in the eye at their level can be very helpful. I really agree with this. I think that it is important to talk to kids both praising and reprimanding on their level. It is important to talk “to” the students verses talking “down/at” them. Finally another point the article stressed was in whatever you choose to implement as a behavior management approach it is important to be fair and consistent. I feel that this is an extremely part of behavior management. Kids are very observant at how you react to them as compared to other students. The structure and consistency helps the students to see what behaviors are and aren’t acceptable, and that the rules always apply and should be followed. Overall I really liked this article and felt that it helped me to gain a deeper understanding of how to implement classroom rules.

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          I just began to implement my behavior plan a little over a week ago. The behavior my plan focuses on is “good carpet behavior,” which consists of keeping our hands to ourselves, raising our hand, not playing with things, or talking to people. Before starting the plan I pulled my student aside and we talked about how we should behave on the carpet. She was easily able to tell me what she was supposed to be doing. We also talked about some of the things she was doing on the carpet that she was not suppose to be doing. I told her that we were going to have to work together to help her make better choices on the carpet so that her and the rest of the students would be able to learn. In my plan I have a behavior sticker chart. During every sitting period on the carpet, there are about 6 of these times throughout the day, if my student shows “good carpet behavior” she can earn a sticker. Once she fills up her chart she gets a “treat.” I gave her multiple options and she decided upon her treat being getting to come back to the classroom with me to have lunch. We are still in the beginning steps so she has not filled up her chart yet. I have noticed somewhat of a change in her behavior since a started the plan. I have to remind her sometimes about the plan but once I do she remembers and then she stays focused for a while. I say things like “earn your sticker”, or “that’s not how we earn our sticker” to get her back on track. I think that once she fills up her chart once and gets her “treat” she will become more accustomed and remember about earning her stickers. I am excited to see the effects of the plan on my student’s behavior.

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          I found this reading to be very enlightening. I focused on the behaviors of disruptive behaviors because these really pertained to my case study. It was interesting because as I was reading the typical observable behaviors for disruptive behavior, in my head I was saying yes my student talks off task on the carpet, yes she plays with objects, yes she makes noises, and yes she tends to always be moving around on the carpet. At one point the article discussed the importance of positively reinforcing the wanted behavior. I agree with this but at the same time I feel giving consequences for the negative behaviors sometimes can jumpstart kids as well. The article talks about methods like in-school suspension, or Saturday school; I feel that these are a little extreme. Most kids, including my case study, respond to a negative consequence, like taking away an incentive once in a while. They want to be able to partake the next time so they will no longer do the negative behavior. But I feel that you should more heavily rely on positively reinforcing wanted behavior. When you compliment students on a wanted behavior, ex. thank you for raising your hand, or I’m very proud that you kept your hands to yourself on the carpet, they feel good about themselves and continue the behavior in hopes of being complimented again. I am currently trying to implement using both of these approaches. I try to always compliment my student when I see her doing “good” behaviors. I also sometimes implement giving her a consequence, like moving her color, which is our classroom behavior plan. I feel that this helps her to see that the behavior is not appropriate and that it will not be accepted. She then seems to focus on trying to earn her color back and make good behavior choices, (at least for a while).

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          Between the snow days and my student being absent I have not been able to take as many notes yet as I would like. But from the notes I have been able to take I realize that my student is very intelligent, but she tends to lose focus throughout the day. This is especially a problem when the students are on the carpet. She tends to yell out, and not keep her hands to herself. When I am sitting in the rocking chair reading aloud a book, or talking to the class, she will mess with my shoes or poke my leg. I am trying to determine if this is because she just wants my attention. She also likes to talk on the carpet when she not suppose to. I tried solving this problem by moving the students’ carpet spots but the talking is still an issue. This is the behavior that I am going to focus on for my behavior plan. Also from my notes I am able to see that my student has her good days and her bad days. There are days when the calling out and not keeping her hands to herself are hardly a problem. Then there are other days where I seem to always be redirecting her behavior. I know that her home life is not really consistent at the time and I think that this may play a part in her behavior issues. I feel like I always am, and have to, stay on her case to make sure that she gets her work done, and listens and learns. So to combat this I am also really trying to make an effort to always compliment her on her good behavior, because I don’t want all of our communication to be me just disciplining her.

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          Overall I found this chapter to be very helpful and informative. It discussed many strategies for how to create a classroom management system that reflects the principles and ideas of positive behavior reinforcement. The chapter also went through the process of creating a functional behavioral assessment, which will be extremely helpful as I begin to develop my case study this semester. It talked about how it is important to not only identify the behaviors but also to try and understand the reasoning behind them. When you are able to see why a student is acting a certain way, you can better develop a plan to overcome it.

            I really agree that a key factor in implementing a positive behavior management system is a strong relationship between teacher and student. The teacher needs to show interest in the students not only on an academic level, but also on a personal level. A teacher should try to really get to know his/her students. I also think it is important to really show your students that you care about them; many may not get that feeling at home. Whether it be wishing them a happy birthday, or good luck for their soccer game; showing kids that you see them as not just as a struggling reader, but as an avid sports fan helps to create a stronger relationship between student and teacher.

            Another focus of the chapter was different behavior management strategies: self-management and group oriented. I think that both of these plans can be beneficial, it just depends on the group of students. In my current placement we use a self-management approach. Each of the students determines and is responsible for their own behavior and its consequences. When the students are able to reflect and monitor themselves it sets the foundation for them to begin to realize their behaviors and adjust them without the interference of a teacher or other adult. I feel like this chapter will be very useful both in completing my case study and working with students in the future.

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          In my placement the classroom management is set up in the form of a stoplight system. If after multiple warnings students still aren’t  following directions they are asked to move they color, from green to yellow, and if needed from yellow to red. What I really like about this system is that the students have the chance to move their color back to green if they show positive behavior and make good choices throughout the rest of the day. I feel that this is good because students don’t become discouraged and give up being good, because they know that they can earn their color back.

            Also in my classroom another strategy being used is to point out positive behavior. Throughout the day instead of saying negative comments like for example, stop that, don’t do that etc., we compliment and point out students who are using correct behavior. We say things like “Thanks you John for sitting quietly on the carpet.” When we recognize and compliment behaviors that we want the others kids usually notice and respond by correcting their behavior. I feel that this strategy really is really beneficial because the students want to be complimented so they continue to do the behaviors that their classmates have been recognized for.

            The behavior management systems and strategies being implemented in my placement reflect pointing out positive behaviors while at the same time giving out a consequence for negative behavior. The students in my class seem to respond very well to it, and we don’t have many behavior difficulties.

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          The article, “Classroom Management in Inclusive Settings,” gave strategies for how to create an environment where all students can feel important and safe. This comes through communication and cooperation. In order to create an inclusive classroom there needs to be a strong relationship and open line of communication between teachers, parents, and students. All parties need to feel safe voicing their opinions and thoughts with one another. The classroom environment should promote every student’s experiences and knowledge as a positive, focusing more on working together verses competition. Also parents should feel welcomed into the classroom as well. If there is a trusting relationship, then everyone feels comfortable and safe in the situation.

          The article also focused on praising positive behavior and inclusion verses exclusion policies. In a positive behavior system students are “caught being good,” and praised for it. In exclusion systems, students are instead just punished for the “bad” behaviors. I like the idea of the positive behavior system because I think it is better to point the good instead of the bad. When a student is complimented on a behavior, they will be more likely to remember it and getting praised for it, yielding them to continue doing it. On the other hand when a student is punished the student may feel resentment and continue the behavior or have a low self-esteem.

          I really liked what the article had to say. In my future classroom I want to create an environment where every student can contribute and feel valued. I want my parents and students to feel comfortable sharing any questions and concerns. I also want to focus on praising my students instead of punishing them. In the end it is all about helping the students succeed, and I need to create an inclusive environment in order to do that.

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          I really enjoyed reading these chapters. It was interesting for me to see how the different units were planned out. The first unit was basically a unit on behavior management during reading, and how to find and take care of books. I have never thought of these ideas as being presented as a “unit” of study before. Behavior management is so important to establish in the beginning of the school year to ensure that the classroom runs smoothly. I really liked the idea of the students finding their “reader identities.” Students bringing in their favorite books from home allow the teacher to see what kinds of topics the students are interested in. At the same time it is allowing the students to see and form connections with other students in the class right from the very beginning, building classroom community.

          Collins then builds on the community idea in discussing the importance of conversation between students. She talks about how it is important for students to be able to talk and share their ideas and feelings about something, but at the same time it is just as important to be able to listen to someone else share their thoughts. A lot of times in elementary school, especially in the younger grades, students talk to each other but there is not real conversation. One strategy to combat this is to have students repeat/rephrase what one of their classmates says. Collins gives an example of this: she talks about having students answer a question (ex. what they did over the weekend) with their partner, and then the one student shares what the other student did. The skill of being able to listen is just as important as talking: the two build off each other. 

          All the units ended with a celebration activity. I really like this idea. I think it is important for the students to be able to showcase what they have learned and be proud of their accomplishments. In all four chapters Collins gives great “good readers…” mini lesson ideas which will be a great reference for the future. This book has taught me a lot and has given many ideas and strategies that will help me in my own planning and teaching.

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          I really enjoyed working with the fourth graders doing the flight activities. My partner and I decided to do the paper and ball dropping activity first. We wanted the students to start by seeing and exploring the concept. If we would have just started with the parachutes I feel like the students would have been more focused on making it verses thinking about the science behind it. I felt that the experiments went more smoothly with the fourth graders than with the second graders because it was our second experience so we had a feel for how the process would go.

          The only problem that my partner and I ran into in doing the activities was time. On the second day we did not have enough time to really explore how the changes to the parachute affected its flight. The students got to test their changes but we really didn’t get to talk about them as a group. Ideally it would be nice for this activity to span over several days instead of the short period we had at Cameron Park. If I could repeat the experience over with the same amount of time I would probably shorten the amount of time spent with dropping the balls. We originally gave a lot of examples, but I would cut it short so that we could have more time to focus on the parachutes and how the changes affect the flight.

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