PLE Post for Chapter 13

1 Based on our readings and class discussion, how will you create a learning environment that is conducive to learning?

My main goal for creating an environment that is conductive to learning is to make my classroom inviting for students. I think that if students feel comfortable and believe that you truly care about them, then they will be more receptive to instruction. Even though I will be teaching elementary school, I would really like to create a classroom climate where students  feel comfortable expressing their opinions and concerns. Instead of always talking to students, I would prefer if we all had a conversation together. In order to create a welcoming climate, I would like to arrange my students' desks in a way that everyone can be involved in discussions. Instead of lining students up in rows, I would prefer to put four or six desks together so students can interact with one another instead of feeling like they are in isolation all day. I would also like to arrange my classroom in a way that I am close enough to interact with all of the students on a daily basis. For example, I can place my main desk near one side of the room and a smaller desk on the other side of the room where I can sit when I am using the projector. I think this is important for my class climate because if I spend the majority of my day at one desk on one side of the room, then the students who are fifteen feet away on the other side of the room are not going to be engaged because they will not feel included. 

 

 One of my biggest concerns when I become a teacher is discipline. From our discussions in class I have learned that the most important thing I can do to maintain an inviting environment that is conductive to learning is to remain calm when I am disciplining my students. I think one of the best ways to do this is to create a short set of rules at the beginning of the year and hold students to them. I think this type of discipline will work well in my class because students will understand exactly what is expected of them and will hopefully be able to see the logical links between certain behaviors and their consequences. I also really like the idea of restorative justice because I think being able to talk about your feelings is a great life lesson for students to learn. I would like to incorporate this approach in my future classroom if discipline or bullying becomes a problem.

 

Now consider your CSEL case study. Develop a full continuum of responses for dealing with the misbehavior of your case.

 

The Elementary CSEL case study is about a third grade student named Lisa who gets angry during group work when she does not get the job that she wants and refuses to do her part of the work. She also frequently interrupts students in her group and does not pay attention when they are trying to prepare for presentations. The first thing I would do to address this problem is, when the students break into their groups, I would make sure to monitor Lisa's group more closely. It is possible that Lisa is not contributing to the group because she knows that if she refuses to do her part of the assignment, her group members will pick up her slack and complete the project without her. If I check in on the group more often and let her know that I am aware of the problem, Lisa may be more motivated to do her portion and avoid getting in trouble.

 

If monitoring does not help, the next thing I would do is speak to Lisa in private so this misbehavior does not keep occurring. I would ask Lisa why she is not contributing to her group, try to discover the root of the problem, and remind her how I expect her to behave in a group setting. I would also warn Lisa of the consequences of her actions in the hopes that she would be more active in her group work.

If a private conference is still not enough to get Lisa to participate, the next step I would take is to enforce even stricter punishment. So, instead of just failing the assignment, Lisa would have to complete the assignment on her own during recess. I think this would be an effective punishment because it would both motivate her to work so she can have recess and help her realize how valuable working in a group and collaborating with others can be. Hopefully, once Lisa learns to appreciate her group members she will be less difficult during projects. If the behavior continues despite stricter punishment, I would schedule a conference with Lisa and her parents to discuss why Lisa is having such a difficult time with group work and how we can work together to solve this problem.

 

 Even though the video I found this week is kind of long, I really liked it because it was made specifically for new teachers like us. It discusses classroom management and gives tips that we can use in our future classrooms. I like this video because if we get overwhelmed, do not have a good support system, or do not have our Ed Psych textbook with us in the classroom during our first year of teaching, we can always link to professional videos like these when we need some extra help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CNeaFhLMXw 

Motivation

Consider the theories of motivation that we discussed in class. Which theories of motivation are most helpful and instructive for you? How can they enhance motivation and affect your students? 

Many of the theories of motivation that we discussed in class were helpful and instructive for me. The first theory we discussed that really resonated with me was humanism. I think that it is really interesting and intuitive that before students are motivated to acquire self-actualization skills such as problem-solving, creativity, and acceptance of facts, they need to have all of their more basic physiological and safety needs met first. This theory will affect my students because I would like to work at a small, rural school in the future, and I know that many of the families in this type of setting struggle to overcome poverty, which would affect the physiological and safety needs of my students. Now that I better understand Maslow's  hierarchy of needs, I will be better prepared to help students who are struggling in my classes by first helping them meet some of their more basic needs, like starting their day off with a healthy breakfast for example. Only by fulfilling most of the basic needs of students, can they be motivated to learn in my classroom. 

 The second theory that I found helpful was the expectancy vs. value theory. For me, it makes sense that students would be more motivated to do something that they expect they can succeed in and that will be valuable for them at some point in the future. This theory will affect my students because, if I am ever struggling with a student who has low motivation, I now have two avenues I can use to increase their interest. To increase expectancy, I can use scaffolding so students succeed at easier tasks in the beginning, feel competent, and are more motivated when they come to the more difficult problems. To increase value, I can make sure to always discuss how topics apply to real life, so students are motivated to learn instead of feeling like they are wasting their time.

Here is a link to an article and a video by edutopia.org about project-based learning. It relates to the expectancy vs. value theory because these teachers believe that the best way to motivate students to learn is by letting them decide what topics are valuable to them and doing intense semester-long projects on them. While the projects in this video seem intense, I think we can use project-based learning on a smaller scale in our classrooms to help students who are not motivated to learn. For example, instead of having students build electric powered cars, they could choose to research electric cars for a project about electricity.   
http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-student-motivation

PLE Post 1: C.Galyon

After the first class, take a moment to reflect on what was discussed. What are your personal objectives for the class? What do you want to explore deeper? What questions or concerns do you have?

For this class, my personal objective is to learn as much information as I can to help me pass my PRAXIS and be a better teacher in my future classroom. A couple of topics I am interested in exploring deeper are classroom management and learning environments. These are topics that we have not discussed in any of my other classes, and I am interested in learning the different ways that I can set up my classroom to help foster my students' learning. While I am excited to learn about learning environments, I am a little concerned about the CSEL Paper. I know we will discuss and prepare for this paper throughout the semester but it is still a little intimidating when I think about completing it now. One project I am excited about is the teaching projects. I think they allow for a lot of creativity, and I am excited to see what activities everyone in our class comes up with. So in summary, after attending the first class I am both anxious and excited about Educational Psychology 401 :)

Here is a link to a sample classroom management plan I found that discusses classroom arrangement, rules, and procedures. I really like how this classroom encourages students to be creative and interact with one another. After reading this, I now have a better understanding of what classroom management is and have ideas that I can use in my future classroom. 

http://people.umass.edu/~afeldman/beingnewteacher/sampleplan.html

First post just to test it out.

My first post. Just making sure I know how to work this.