How can I productively act when students misbehave or act up?

This subject is perhaps the least covered of the four questions so far. We have however talked about methods to deal with misbehaving students which includes humor, a certain “cue”, positive reinforcement, acknowledgement, and name usage. We really covered this in class today with Dr. Grace when the discipline pair was talking. It gave us a lot of good ideas and ways to deal with different misbehaviors as well as covering some not-so-great techniques to deal with students. One concern of mine is if you do have a chronically misbehaving child then what do you do? I know we’ve covered this in class a little bit but I’ve heard from some teachers that you need to send them to the office, and then others say that’s just being lazy. So I was really confused what to do in that situation.

Which strategies are most effective for maintaining order in the classroom?

We’ve covered a wealth of strategies to use to maintain order in the classroom. This includes how you set your room up, your daily routines, how you handle (or mishandle) behavior in the classroom, and how you present yourself to the students. I think all the texts we’ve read between Dr. Theresa and Dr. Grace have really covered this subject well. The classroom management book really covered this material in depth, and the MI chapter dealing with classroom management we recently read in Dr. Grace’s class. I also think the activity we did the other day in class where we wrote down one thing we thought we would all agree on and one thing we would all disagree on gave me some insight to other peoples thought process about classroom management. One major concern of mine about teaching in general is making sure I am effective at managing a classroom. Nobody learns in a classroom full of misbehaving students where there is no order.

How can you effectively integrate technology into your teaching and learning?

I think we’ve learned that to successfully integrate technology into our classroom it must assist with the lesson, not be the lesson itself. Also, I think by incorporating an activity a day involving technology it is effective, because it’s allowing kids use the tools they use best, as well as giving you time to teach “traditionally”. The article covering Type 1 and Type 2 technologies gave a lot of insight about this subject, as well as the team presentations regarding the types of technology. By having these examples in class we saw some great ways of integrating technology. One concern I have about this topic is trying to “force” technology into my lessons. I feel there are just some lessons that don’t require the use of technology, but I’ve felt that Dr. Grace is making us use technology where it doesn’t exactly fit so it makes our lessons seem “clunky”.

Why might it be important for students to learn with technology?

We’ve talked about how students we will be teaching will have already have so much exposure to technology that it would make it easier for use to teach while using it. It’s like a language they already know, plus they love it! I myself love using a computer and technology gives them many creative programs and options they can use. It makes kids more INTERESTED. We’ve discussed this several times in the classroom with both Dr. Theresa and Dr. Grace, and I believe what Dr. Grace said really sunk in, something along the lines of we are preparing them for the conceptual age, and they will be improving and fixing technology that hasn’t even been invented yet. One concern I do have however is that I don’t think everything should be used with technology. Honestly I think it’s good for students to do their math homework with paper and pencils because then they can see their own work instead of relying on a computer. I just don’t want us to become dependant on technology.

How to help someone use a computer

One thing you have to tell yourself when helping someone use a computer is "Their knowledge of the computer is grounded in what they can do and see -- "when I do this, it does that". They need to develop a deeper understanding, but this can only happen slowly -- and not through abstract theory but through the real, concrete situations they encounter in their work". An important rule when it comes to helping someone use a computer is "Explain your thinking. Don't make it mysterious. If something is true, show them how they can see it's true. When you don't know, say "I don't know". When you're guessing, say "let's try ... because ...". Resist the temptation to appear all-knowing. Help them learn to think the problem through".
These two facts directly relate to our presentation about interactive whiteboards because we are still learning about them as well. The first thing we did with it was play around it and see how it works, so that directly links with what we have to tell ourselves when we introduce it. The rule I picked out also relates to our presentation because I'm sure there will be a question we don't know the answer to, and we aren't "all-knowing" when it comes to these machines.
Citation: Agre, Phil. How to help someone use a computer. http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/. Copyright 2006 by Phil Agre.

Type 1 vs Type 2

There are two major differences between Type 1 and Type 2 uses of technology. Type 1 refers to using technology as a tool to help you teach, but it doesn't provide any new ways of learning/teaching, nor does it require the user (mainly the teacher) to be proactive in its use. As for Type 2, the use of technology opens doors to new/imporved ways of teaching a subject, and usually requires the user to be proactive, as they often controls what happens on the screen.

Some examples of Type 1 include electronic flash cards, which you can do without the use of technology anyway, online crossword puzzles, which are the same as the flash cards, and online testing, whose only advantage is rapid return of your results.

Type 2 examples include smartboards, which allows teachers to interact with the board without use of the computer, wikis, which are created by the teacher and the students as a source of information, and power points, which are created and then presented by the teacher as a more interesting way of presenting notes on a subject.

Citation: Johnson, D. LaMont and Cleborne D. Maddux. "Type II Applications of Technology in Education: New and better Ways of Teaching and Learning". Computers in Schools Vol. 22 No. 1/2 2005 pp. 1-5. Copyright 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 10 Quick Response

On page 180 when the book talks about recognizing what students do on their own time and their favorite activities, and that way can steer them in a direction that will connect learning with their favorite subject.
I had a couple teachers in high school applied this method and it really worked. Coming from such a small high school all the teachers know who’s in what club and sports and stuff like that, so they could always give examples in class that would relate to our interests or inform us of activities outside of school we may be interested in.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 9 Quick Response

The section of when teachers feel discouraged (167) really interested me. It describes how in the first couple of years teachers really have trouble showing that they care about the kids but still maintaining an authorative figure.
I think we can all relate to this as new teachers and having our own fears about the kids liking us yet still being able to come across as in charge to them. I personally think I would rather have the authority established first because I believe that is more important than being liked. Plus, after I have established my authority I could then work on becoming open and adjustable with the kids, and having them realize that I’m not that bad.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 8 Quick Response

“Share our goal to excel academically, not just get by” (151). This was a piece of advice given by the book when trying to look past language mistakes.
This really jumped off the page at me because in my mentor teachers classroom we have 4 foreign exchange students, and all but one speaks English well. As she takes notes she writes vocabulary and numbers in her own language on the paper, and my teacher has taken the time to learn a couple of the words to help her in class. He cares that she understands the material and doesn’t just take notes and squeaks by on tests.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 7 Quick Response

On page 133 and 134 the book discusses teaching kids math and science and making sure they understand the material. One of the suggestions was to “try all different ways to see something” (134) and gives afterward gives an example of teaching a math problem with a couple different methods.
SOMETIMES I don’t agree with this method. If I have a ton of different learners in my classroom and I have to try and teach them all the same concept at least three different ways I would never be able to cover all the material. Sometimes you only have time to teach one way and if the kid has trouble they should come see me for help. We’d only make it through a couple chapters a year if we taught every lesson a couple different ways.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 6 Quick Response

Page 103, passionate teachers make a difference. This leapt off the page at me as I was reading. The quote given mentions no matter what you think of the teacher’s subject they still make you want to learn it because the teacher loves their own subject and seem genuinely excited about it.
I think this is absolutely true. If you have a teacher who comes in and talks like their bored and wouldn’t really give a crap if they were there or not isn’t really motivating to kids. But if you have a teacher who comes into class and has a lot of energy and excitement about their subject that will rub off on the kids and really get them into the lesson, even if it is boring.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 5 Quick Response

When the book specifies not expecting uniform work out of all your students I really thought it was important. They give a quote of a student who stressed being fair to all the kids and understand the different learning levels in your classroom (97).
I really connected with this bit of information because I see it everyday in my mentor’s classroom. There are kids of every age and learning type in our classes and he realizes that some have better understandings of the material than others. What makes it difficult for him is that it’s a math class and you cant really say, well he got part of the answer just like this other kid, but this one understands better so he should get more points off because in math the answers are so concrete.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 4 Quick Response

On page 66 when Diana is talking I noticed how she says teachers try to push “good” students more than “not-so-good” students. She mentions how they’ll lecture the straight A students but act like they expected it with the slackers.
This stood out to me more quite a bit because even though I know it is important to try and motivate all kids to learn and push them all equally, it is true about some kids. After about 2 or 3 weeks into the school year your going to know if certain kids are going to pass your class, and if they have just totally written you and your class off and don’t think it’s worth their time then yea I’m actually going to spend my time on a student who cares about their grades.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 3 Quick Response

On page 49 when the student mentioned how teachers sometimes try to keep an entire room quiet was interesting to me. The student said that if the teacher just teachers and doesn’t worry about every kid being absolutely silent then the kids will be quiet on their own. I have really noticed this with my mentor teacher.
This part really jumped out at me because coming out of high school and going into college to become the teacher I was set on the fact that if the whole class was quiet then at least they were paying attention somewhat to what I’m going to be saying. But now as I read this chapter and watch my mentor teacher I realize that if you keep control of the class and don’t let them get totally out of hand with their noise then they will quiet themselves down for you.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 2 Quick Response

Something really jumped out at me on the first page of this chapter. When the student was describing their two high school track coaches I really connected with what they were saying. I had a bunch of coaches in high school and I had coaches like both the student described. I truely appreciated the coach that scheduled 3 hour practices on Saturday mornings compared to the one the gave us Fridays and weekends off because I became really good at the sport.
The quote from this kid really made me think back about my own high school experience and relate to the student. I think this is very important. Being able to relate my own experiences with those of my students will help put me on "the next level" with them and hopefully make them and myself more confident in my classroom.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 1 Quick Response

In the beginning of chapter 1 what really jumped out at me was some of the students' comments. A couple students mentioned how they don't want teachers to be their friend or try to ask anything personal. This was surprising to me because in high school I liked the teachers that did care enough to ask me questions about stuff going on in my life. This made me feel like they cared enough to be interested in all their students lives and this made me like them more which in turn made me want to do better in their class.
Another thing that was interesting was the suggestion of using a questionaire to gain some insight about the students' lives. If these kids don't want you to be their friend then I don't think they will respond positively to a questionaire asking about themselves. They may just make up anwsers or completely ignore it.

Copyright and Fair Use LR

#14) The answer for this one really did surprise me. I also think I disagree with the law about this one. For one, you could argue about the point brought up in #19. What if you’re using a Disney movie to “instruct” that group of children a moral or life-lesson? Then would it be okay? Also, there’s the issue regarding rented movies. What if the school rented the Disney movie and showed it? Is it okay then because they haven’t purchased the rights to it yet? I think this question’s answer is based on a very fine line of the law books.

Copyright and Fair Use SR

#7) This surprised me because I didn’t think you could use any copyrighted material without permission no matter what the circumstance.

#8) This question was worded confusingly I thought. Nowhere in the question did it mention the student file-share downloaded the trailer so I thought it was okay as long as the student gave credit to the source.

#13) I always thought you couldn’t use other peoples work you find online as your own unless you give proper credit, and the question never states whether or not credit was given.

#14) The answer for this one I find really shocking. By the explanation given I can’t invite friends over to watch a movie without the producer’s permission.

#15) I got this one wrong because I thought making a video and showing it and just showing a video were pretty much the same.

#16) This is another shocking one I think. I can’t believe they give teachers that kind of privilege to break copyright laws for the classroom.

#18) I thought it was never okay to copy another persons CD due to copyright laws, I had no idea that length limitations mattered.

#19) This question has a really interesting explanation because there could all of a sudden become a very fine line between whether or not your using certain things for instruction or not.