Ana's Blog

I have been observing my CT to see which type of discipline she utilizes. Based on my observations, my CT uses assertive discipline. According to the Canters, teachers have the right to establish rules and directions on what is acceptable and unacceptable. Teachers also have the right to follow them throughout the school year and to ask assistance from parents and administrators. She has established certain rules that all students must follow at all times. One of the rules involves the use of the restroom. Students are expected to use the restroom when she is not instructing and only one female and male can use the restroom at a time. If one or more students breaks the rule, then she follows up with having them move their stars down on the behavior chart. She consistently uses this corrective action “when a student chooses not to follow a rule” (Canters). She has a few specific set of rules up on the wall, which include that students must have two sharpened pencils before class begins. These rules are “observable” according to the Canters because they are not vague rules, but specific ones. She utilizes supportive feedback by giving out tangible rewards, which are warm fuzzies that the students collect in a plastic bottle. Students then use these fuzzies to purchase materials they have lost such as pencil erasers, crayon boxes, or pencil sharpeners. She rewards the students “right after the observable behavior desired, accompanied by verbal recognition, but given sparingly” (Canters). When students don’t complete their assigned homework, my CT uses corrective action by not allowing them to play during lunch on Fridays.

Photo credit to teachers.net

In my classroom, I want to be able to utilize cooperative discipline rather than assertive discipline. According to Albert’s discipline, the main focus of cooperative discipline is “helping teachers meet student needs so that students will choose to cooperate with the teacher and each other.” I would want the student’s to behave because it’s what they desire. I would have to enforce the three C’s to ensure that the students feel like they belong. The three C’s are capable, connect, and contributions. Cooperative discipline allows students to choose their behavior, which they have to see the need to do so. Albert addresses that students misbehave to “gain attention, gain power, exact revenge, or avoid failure” (Albert). As a teacher, I will also have to work with my students to develop a classroom code of conduct and set of consequences. This will enable students to accept them as fair. I need to encourage good behavior and have students and parents get involved to contribute into cooperative discipline. The cooperative discipline article provides me ways to handle students that misbehave to “gain attention, gain power, exact revenge, or avoid failure” (Albert). For children that seek attention, I should provide recognition when they behave properly, stand by their desk, and use I-messages. I should allow students different options to choose from, give responsibilities, and grant power when appropriate for students that seek power. For students that want revenge, I have to build a caring relationship and teach students how to express their anger in appropriate and acceptable ways. Finally, for students that avoid failure, I need to use concrete materials, computer-based instructions, teach one step at a time, and teach various intelligences. I also have to teach students that making mistakes is okay.

Resources:

Canter, L., & Canter, M. (n.d.). Assertive Discipline.

Albert, L. (n.d.). Cooperative Discipline.

In my opinion, my CT’s authority base is reward/coercive, which is based on “behavioral notions of learning, foster teacher control over student behavior, and are governed by some principles of application” (Levin, 2014). Based on my observations, one of the rewards my CT utilizes is giving out warm fuzzies when students are on time, quiet, on task, and follow directions. Warm fuzzies are small and big fuzzy balls that can be purchased in the arts and crafts section of any store. She has set up specific guidelines of how she distributes the fuzzies to students. She also utilizes the fuzzies as a way of “paying” her for new materials such as erasers. For example, I have a few students that loose or break their eraser tops and thus, they give me one warm fuzzy for a new eraser top. My CT has guidelines for the warm fuzzies such as, they can trade in six small fuzzies for one big fuzzy that can be used for the treasure box. If a student is off task and does not follow directions then she tells them to “pay” her a warm fuzzy, which students dislike.

Photo credit to Steven Depolo on Flickr.

Another reward my CT gives students is play time outside on Fridays only if they have completed their homework for the week. Every Friday we have lunch outside, only if it’s not wet. Students are expected to complete their weekly homework and turn their folder in on Fridays. I check to see how many assignments the student has finished and I jot it down by their name on the assignment sheet. Once the students finish their lunch, my CT checks to see whether they earned to play or not. Those who have not completed their homework sits down without getting to play. Most of them have gotten into the habit of finishing their homework because they know they will get have free time. I had one girl who sat next to me and I asked her why she wasn’t playing with the others. She responded with “I didn’t do my homework because I was playing with my friend.” My CT has accomplished to “be consistent in assigning and withholding rewards and punishments,” the student has “perceived rewards or punishments,” and the students see the “connection between their behavior and the reward or punishment” (Levin, 2014).

The authority base that I want to accomplish is referent. Referent authority is when “students behave as the teacher wishes because they enjoy a positive relationship with the teacher and like the teacher as person” (Levin, 2014). By using this authority, it enables me to learn about each of my student’s background and family background. I will be able to develop a positive relationship with each of them. I know this means that I am not the student’s friend because then I would be “dependent on students to fulfill his personal needs” (Levin, 2014). My goal as a teacher is to create a friendly and positive climate so that students respect me and their peers. I don’t want my student’s to behave because they will receive an award or not. I want them to behave because “it is of their best interest” (Levin, 2014).  The students will view me not only as a teacher, but as a person and will collaborate with me. I want to adopt collaborative theories because the primary goal is that students are able to control their behavior when they become mature adults. This theory enables students to get engages with learning activities and making choices to some degree.

Reference:

Levin, J., & Nolan, J. (2014). Principles of Classroom Management (Seventh ed.). Pennsylvania: Pearson Education.

            This week I began with morning meeting. I have been setting guidelines and they have been following my instructions properly. My first greeting involved having the students turn to each other and saying “Good Morning (insert name).” After, I had them share what they did over the weekend. They all seemed excited to be sharing what they planned on doing. I did the popcorn greeting another morning. I had them all sit down in a circle. This greeting involved each student to jump up and say their names. It gave me an opportunity where the students introduced themselves to the new student in the classroom.

            During centers, I work with a small group on their sight words or the words of the week. I lined up the students for the first time and they followed my instructions. The next day, one student asked whether I could line them up again. My CT let me in charge of lining them up now and walking them to either lunch or specials.

For Emergent Literature, I pulled the same three students that I gave the ERAS to and administered a spelling inventory to help me determine at what spelling stage they are in. I was able to identify two students to be at the early stage of within word pattern. I will be using an activity specifically for this stage that the book provides. The activity is called the Racetrack Game, which was developed by Darrell Morris. The purpose of this activity is for vowel pattern. The materials I will be using is one file folder, construction paper, scissors, glue, tape, and little toy cars or other similar items. The file folder will be used to create an oval racetrack on it. I will then write the spelling words on each square and draw two stars. After, I will create a collection of around 50 cards that share the same patterns. Using some construction paper, I will craft a number spinner, which will be used to move players around the track. When starting the game, each player will receive six cards and the rest will become the deck. The player will spin the spinner and read the word that they land on. They will then look for words in their hands that have the same pattern. If they land on one of the stars, then they get to discard odd words, such as give, or choose their own pattern. The winner is whoever has placed down the most cards and the game ends when there are no more cards to play.

Photo credit to Words Their Way.

According to Managing Diverse Classrooms, “children from collectivistic families are socialized with values that emphasize working together interdependently rather than working alone independently” (Rothstein-Fisch, 2008). I have noticed this in my classroom with my ELLs. One of my ELL students that only speaks Spanish went to help another ELL that speaks English with finding a page number. This showed me that my ELL comes from a collectivistic family in my opinion. His family moved here from Puerto Rico. He tends to help others and likes to receive help rather than work alone.

Resources:

Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2011). Words Their Way (Fifth ed.). Prentice Hall.

Rothstein-Fisch, C., & Trumbull, E. (2008). Managing Diverse Classrooms. MA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

            I began my week by doing morning meeting and having everyone introduce themselves to the new kid in class. There was one day where the students did not follow my instructions. They talked among themselves and they would not be quiet when I told them to. My CT had to interfere and straighten them up. She advised me to set guidelines and to use my teacher voice even if it hurt their feelings. The next day I was a bit firmer and they followed my instructions without any misbehavior.

            On Monday, I read When Autumn Falls to the class. I called on each table to join me on the carpet. I began by reading the title and asking them the definition of autumn. After a student answered that autumn was fall, I asked them between what months it occurred. I began to read the story and stopped at the page that mentioned the word temperature. I decided to stop here and ask them what temperature was because it was a word that they learned in science last week. They were able to tell me that temperature measured whether it was hot or cold outside. I resumed with the reading and made another stop because my students did not know what bobbing was, which I explained that it was a competition of getting the apple by the mouth. The next stop I made was when the book mentioned Jack-O-Lanterns. I asked the class whether they were going to carve pumpkins to make Jack-O-Lanterns, they were able to make connections to the text. I learned by watching my group’s read alouds that I need to establish an attention getter. The attention getter will help me by redirecting their attention back to me after they share stuff. There was one part in the story that talked about rain and I imitated the sound and hand gesture for rain. My students repeated my action. After I finished the read aloud, I asked what they learned about the book. I gave everyone an opportunity to share once about what they learned.

Photo credit to Ana Siu.

            In class, there is one particular male student that I’m concerned about due to behavior. He does not follow directions most of the times and tends to act like a kindergartner. I noticed that he works when you actually sit down with him and take the time to work with him. This student is still in the punishment-obedience stage of Piaget’s moral development. He knows that the punishment for disobeying is moving his star down, but it seems that he does not really mind too much.

Resources:

Levin, J., & Nolan, J. (2014). Principles of Classroom Management (Seventh ed.). Pennsylvania: Pearson Education.