Behavior Management Plan

PART 1
My classroom teacher used the red, yellow and green color chart for behavior management. Funny that this weeks blog is on this because in class one day I was talking about my final assignment for EDNL-331 and how I would need to talk about something I would change. Her words were I hope you would change my behavior management system, it just doesn't work for this class. After my first week or so inside the classroom she had found out that the students were not informing their parents of the true color they had come home on everyday. So she made a slight change and anytime a student was off task, acting out, or was told to move their clip they had to now write it in a notebook and at the end of the day the students that had moved their clip must give the folder to the teacher so she could verify they put the proper color.
She also developed a token system for two of her students that allowed them different chances at staying on task or in their seats. This system was started right before I finished up my experience, but I believe it was made to keep the two students at there desk working instead of wandering the class. I did not see any of the other strategies used in my field experience classroom.

PART 2
After reading these articles I don't see how some teachers are still using the stoplight behavior method. I had issues with this idea with my own children being in school. One of them would always come home telling me that they came home on "insert bad color here" because of something they did early in the day but the teacher forgot there good behavior the rest of the day and they didn't get to move their clip back up. So reading these articles highlights the shame that the students feels but then what if the parents takes the behavior of the child at school and brings more punishment to them. So now the child is in trouble not only in school but also at home. It just doesn't seem fair.

PART 3
I never really thought of some of these behavior management strategies, I had always just thought I would use ClassDojo and then offer rewards or incentives that the students would like. I like the idea of offering rewards that the students would be more excited to earn. I really liked the idea of the mystery reward, and I think I would use that for any of the students that do not respond to the class-wide system. The biggest importance I think is to recognize the positive behavior of the class and students rather than focus on the unwanted behaviors. It is often said that children learn by example, and if we offer rewards for the positive behavior I believe it could help that struggling student to understand that they too can make changes and earn rewards as well.

Motivation in the classroom!

Motivational Ideas!

https://create.piktochart.com/output/26046653-motivational-blog

My Future Classroom!

This is my idea for a future classroom, I would like to think of it as a Kindergarten or 1st grade classroom. It has a writing center, a book nook (reading center), carpet area, SMARTboard, and SMARTtable, the teacher desk is the kidney shaped table which is also used for small group time. 

Classroom Rules

Classroom Rules

• Be Respectful
• Listen when the teacher is talking
• Raise your hand to speak
• Use inside voices
• Use your manners by saying “Please and Thank You”
• Be helpful to your classmates
• Be Ready to Learn
• Work quietly in our seats
• Finish all assignments when told
• Keep your places nice and neat
• Be Safe
• Keep your hands and feet to ourselves
• Use your walking feet
• Stay with you class
• Be Kind
• Treat others the way you want to be treated
• Keep the classroom tidy
• Use positive words
• Be the Best YOU can be
• Give 100% of you
• Keep smiling
• Keep your head up

Classroom Procedures

Morning Arrival Routine:

     1. Unpack your bag

     2. Mark lunch choice

     3. Put homework folder in bin

     4. Have a seat and begin morning work

     5. When announcements come on STOP what you are doing and listen

Bathroom Procedure:

Since I know that bathroom privileges can be taken for granted this poster is what I would have as the procedures.

 

     

Line-Up

                1. Wait till the teacher has dismissed your table

                2. Push your chair in

                3. Walk to the door and stand in line

                4. Voices are off

                5. Facing forward

                6. Hands to yourself

DIBELS and MTSS, oh my!

I tried something completely new to me....

I hope it works out, I created my blog on nearpod and the link is below.

https://share.nearpod.com/vsph/gXIVURzl7G

Learning Styles and the Research...

Do you believe the assessment of learning styles lead to instruction that serves students better? Why or why not?

      This subject was brought up during my summer semester and my views of learning styles have changed because of the research and readings. I always heard and thought of learning styles as an extremely important aspect of the classroom and that it was very important for the teacher to teach to these different styles. However, I now believe that as research shows we don't have learning styles, but we can all learn better if we are interested in what we are learning. I love the statement Heather Wolpert-Gawron makes in her article, it is not about the research but whether or not the teachers do what is necessary to engage all students. 

      I also remember taking a test when I first started back to college in the College Transfer Class and we had to figure out what learning style we were. I was a little bit of all of them when I answered the questions, and I remember the Professor telling me that I was not correct and I needed to reexamine my answers. I thought to myself, how can I not be correct...without even having a assessment of a learning style I already felt wrong. So if we as teachers sit in a classroom all day and tell a student how "they" learn then we are limiting their minds and most likely the creativity they could have. 
      I learn in a variety of different ways, and I know that when I am interested in something I am even better at learning it or understanding it. So I believe that assessing a learning style to each student only serves to limit that student. Instead of focusing on what these styles are we should teach to engage the students to want to learn, as a teacher we learn who a child is and how that child works best but all ways of instruction should be presented. 

So, what do you think? Are teachers doing a disservice to the profession when they use strategies that aren't research based? Where does research fit into the day-to-day lives of teachers? Should teachers care about research? In your experience, do they care about research?

      Research, where we would be without it?  I don't think teachers are doing a disservice for using a strategy that is not research based, but the expectations of the strategy might be under the microscope a little more than a researched strategy. Teachers should us a variation of strategies so that they can best conform to the classroom. Research has been done to better the learning environment, the classroom set-up, and much more, so even if a teacher says they don't listen to research, they probably do. The standards and expectations of a given teacher and classroom are based on research, so teachers should care about research, they don't always have to agree on it but research is a way of life and if the teacher doesn't have the right classroom standards they could lose their job. In my experience some teachers care about it, I would say more teachers care than what most people think, the research is what has gotten us to evolve our ways of teaching and understanding. Teachers don't explain things in the terms of..."well research shows that so and so works if we do this....so that is what we are doing" they read and absorb what they think will work for them in the setting they are currently faced with and make modifications based on what they know. 

Do you agree or disagree with the following excerpt from the Landrum & McDuffie (2010) article, “It is wise to individualize instruction. Differentiation provides one framework for individualizing in the context of a heterogeneous classroom. Focusing on students’ learning styles adds little, if anything, of educational benefit to this process.” 

 I do agree, having a child that is AIG, and then having a child that has LD with speech I can see the importance of differentiation within the classroom. If we focus a learning style on a child and ask them to only present information to us in the way that we believe he or she works best we are limiting that child to only that style. I enjoyed watching this video on differentiation, and I believe that this is very important in the classroom. By varying instruction we are meeting the individual needs of all students, according to Tomlinson.

Learning Disabilities and the Classroom Blog #2

I have decided to create a Prezi presentation for this weeks blog. We had a lot of information to cover this week and I truly didn't see the effect of words inside the classroom until watching the F.A.T. city video.
http://prezi.com/95108frzkrai/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Blogging Response #1 PFL vs. IFL

                                               

 How did you do on the person-first self-assessment? What was your level of expertise? Is there room for improvement?

~For the self-assessment I scored a 55, which means "I'm a conscientious user", I never thought I was using terms incorrectly until I read these articles. Thinking of the handicapped parking or bathroom, I realize now that I am not properly using the terminology myself or with my own children. They often have questions about the parking spots, just the other day my eleven year old asked me the difference with the words "van accessible" on on sign and not on the other. I explained the difference with the white stripes and the amount of room that was on either side of the vehicle and the need for the extra space if the person was in a wheel chair. While I thought I was properly using the terminology, I have come to now understand that I was incorrect, so I can easily admit that I have room for improvement. 

Do you prefer person-first or identity-first language? Do you think one is better than the other?

~I personally feel that the preference of this choice actually depends on the matters at hand. For instance, if I am explaining someone to another person I would tend to say, "the child has a developmental delay" but in the same instance I could easily say that another person is a "disabled person."  I would tend to think that I would probably fall more on the person-first language (PFL) but both can be used. I also feel that having the understanding that using identity-first language (IFL) cannot be used within the terms of a medical condition is a big factor, but having the proper knowledge is key when using either of these languages. I don't believe either language is better than another, I believe that the situations can vary and recognizing the language of the person or persons you are speaking with could be more beneficial for all.

Did the articles change your thinking about how to address persons with disabilities?

~I don't think it necessarily changed my way of thinking how to address a person but rather broaden my horizon on the differences of the languages and allowed me to see that there truly are two sides to everything. I know that persons with disabilities have fought a long hard battle in changing the terminology coined to them, and knowing that some would prefer PFL and others IFL means that we have to work a little harder to understand whom we are speaking with.

How does this information impact you as a future elementary general education teacher?

~By gaining this knowledge of a difference in language I will be able to better share with not only my future classroom but also my own children. Special Education has a place in my heart and is truly what I would prefer to do my degree in, ever since working with children as a SPED AIDE. Educating the youth on the ways of the world is going to be our job and having this to share as an understanding of the use of words and how it can hurt a persons feeling is monumental. I never thought of the explanation of words when introducing someone with or without a disability. We don't say "hi I have no disability and my name is Tracie", we say "Hi, my name is Tracie."