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Even though we didn't have management class this week, we still had some very helpful readings that spoke about how teachers can nonverbally stop a negative behavior. I was able to use some of the strategies from the chapter, the chapter described ignoring the behavior to see if the student will self correct, then giving the students the "look" or as we call it "the teacher look". If both of those don't work, the teacher can stand near the student to see if proximity will help the student self correct the behavior. The last resort is to place a hand on the students shoulder or tap the student. (The author spoke about knowing your students because some students do not like being touched and will react negatively or violently.) The useful part was that all of these can be used while the teacher is teaching, the lesson won't be disrupted and attention doesn't have to be drawn to the student. I was able to use these while I was leading or while my CT was teaching, it was effective with students who were just misbehaving because their 8 years old and just needed a little movement or lost focus. This tactics were not effective, however, with students who knew better but chose to misbehave because they were seeking attention. When ever a student acts out, I try my best to apply what we've learned about in my educational psychology class. This week in educational psychology class we spoke about instructional approaches and I found that I struggle with wanting to have a teacher-centered classroom or a student-centered classroom. I want to be a direct instructor but at the same time be able to let my students "swim" at points because letting the students figure things out on their own is what works best. I believe that the younger students (Kindergarden through second grade) might benefit from a teacher-centered classroom rather than a student-centered. It should be a gradual release of responsibility, as the students age they begin to become more accountable for their schooling and how they learn. In seminar, we're doing a book study on Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol. I was the co-facilitator this week with another intern. I discovered that almost nothing gets a teacher fired up more than the legislation passed about education and students not being pushed to their full potential. It always seems to lead back to legislation, the main issues in education, and my classmates an I spend copious amounts of time trying to problem solve the issues that seem to be crippling us. I'm interested in seeing how the last few chapters play out and also how the discussion flows.
And that's all for this week,
Ms. Brookes