Response 3

USETHE FORMAT BELOW TO RSPONSE TO EACH ITEM

Responses to Peer’s Posts

My Responses to My Peer–John Doe (give student’s name)

*Item Four: Discuss the meaning of this statement: “Research + Common Sense = Effective Teaching.”

John said that (paraphrase what John said), and I agree to part of his response when he said….but I wonder if….

 *Item Five: Bandura (1997) identified teachers that have strong teacher efficacy. Explain what he meant by the term teacher efficacy.  Include the definition provided in the text—“…the belief that what a teacher does makes a difference”.

 John said that (paraphrase what John said), ….

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Meghan – Peer’s Name

Peer 1 Discussion  

*Item One: Does punishment work? What are some of the negative effects of punishment? If punishment is ineffective and produces negative side effects, why do so many teachers rely on it so much?

Punishment is known as consequences that weaken behavior. In my opinion, I believe that whether punishment works or does not work, it ultimately depends on the child. It is dependent on their personalities and characteristics. I think most of a child’s behavior forms from experiences within their life and at home that they have to bring with them to school. A lot of times, if you take a moment to find the reason of this behavior, you will understand the reason of the behavior. I believe the negative effects of punishment is losing a child’s respect for you, as a teacher. If you continually punish them, they will never want to succeed for you. I think so many teachers have hopes that if they are punished, the behavior will diminish.

*Item Two: What are some specific ways in which cultural differences influence the ways students approach learning tasks? Are these evident in the classroom? Explain.

 

Being aware of a student’s cultural differences is very vital, as an educator to establish a safe and welcoming environment, as well as integrating culturally effective teaching. Student’s cultural differences will affect how they learn, as well as how they work with others. How one student learns how to interact at home will affect how they interact with others in other outside areas. These differences are evident in the classrooms, that I have experienced.

*Item Three:  Define each of Gardner’s multiple intelligences and then describe a classroom activity (select preschool, elementary, middle, or high school) that addresses
 each of the intelligences.

Gardner’s belief is that intelligence is thought of as a combination of strengths.

1. Logical/mathematical: Able to manipulate numbers and symbols. For this intelligence, I think it would be most effective to do a classroom activity focusing on the understanding of numbers. The one that comes to mind is one–to-one correspondence, where the student must know the numeral one, as well as applying that it also means that many objects.

2. Linguistic: Ability to speak and write well. I think the activity that would benefit this intelligence the best is learning and recognizing basic sight words in various types of print.

3. Existential: Ability to reflect on abstract ideas. I believe that an elementary science lesson would best fit this intelligence. When students are first experiencing science experiments, they have to really wrap their head around how and why things are occurring. To them, anything in this content area is abstract.

4. Intrapersonal: Ability to recognize and apply one’s thoughts, feelings, and interests. The best activity for this intelligence, is any character education lesson that is focused on beginning in preschool. Through these lessons they have to recognize the situation being portrayed and put their self in that situation.

5. Interpersonal: Able to interact well with others. Children interacting together through any group assignment or center works, would be a way that intrapersonal intelligence to be showcased.

6. Naturalistic: Ability to distinguish features in nature. A science lesson where students must determine or label the parts of a tree physically, while outside.

7. Bodily/kinesthetic: Ability to coordinate movement. An organized gross motor activity would be the best way to approach this intelligence.

8. Spatial: Able to manipulate three-dimensional space. Any preschool-middle school lesson that focuses on fine motor skills and various ways to manipulate three dimensional objects.

9. Musical: Ability to apply concepts of rhythm, pitch, melody, and harmony. Any lesson that is utilizing the aspects of music would address this intelligence.

*Item Four: How would you use the behavioral principle of shaping to change the behavior of a student who never participated in classroom discussions?

The term shaping is used in behavioral learning theories to refer to the teaching of new skills or behaviors by reinforcing learners for approaching the desired final behavior. The book explains the teaching of tying shoe laces. When teaching a child, you do not show them all of the steps at once. You must make sure to break down each step and let them see the final goal. In this principle, it is vital to use the strategy of modeling. Model how you want an effective discussion to take place, and give them multiple opportunities to practice this principle.

Peer 2 Discussion

Peers Name – Karla

Total views: 2 (Your views: 1)

*Item One: Does punishment work? What are some of the negative effects of punishment? If punishment is ineffective and produces negative side effects, why do so many teachers rely on it so much?

In my experience punishment in the classroom does not always work. Just as student 1 is different from student 2, so is the effect of a punishment given. Student 1 might quickly adjust their behavior if the teacher is going to punish them by moving their seat, where student 2 may care less. All students are different, so there can not be a general statement made that punishment does or does not work because it depends on the child and the punishment given. For instance, some students may hate a phone call home and that could correct their behavior immediately, but another student doesn’t care because they don’t have parents that are invested in them. In my opinion, punishment only works on some students. For adults, punishment works as a control factor. Students often times have no reaction to a punishment. When attempting to punish by being in control, it will not work. The demand from a teacher to a student of “do this or this will happen”, is not effective. Being demanding by trying to use the figure of being the adult is a negative to punishment. I have found that when I push being in control, students generally do not conform to what I want them to do. The majority of students follow the basic rules given by a teacher or school. Another negative is that punishment simply gives a consequence for a behavior, but does not address the serious need to correct the behavior. Giving a punishment to a student does not give them any skills or resource to adapt their behavior in the future. Students need alternatives other than punishment. Having to use punishment is negative because it takes away from instruction time in the classroom. It also causes a power struggle in the classroom and puts the student and teacher on display in a negative manner in front of the whole class. Punishment is negative because it tears down the relationship between the adult and child. Students seek punishment in this way because the punishment given to them is really a reward to them. An example is sending them to the office or to another teacher’s room. Often times, students want out of the classroom so they push the negative behavior to cause the teacher to push them out of the classroom. Another negative to punishment is that it isolates the student and many students are unable to get back in the learning after the punishment. It impacts their education/learning.

I feel that many teachers use punishment because that is how they grew up and maybe it worked to keep them in line. In my school system, it has only been in the last 2-3 years that another approach has been shared. That approach is now restorative discipline. When using this approach, relationships are built and maintained. The student and teacher work together to come up with a solution to an issue instead of relying on rewards or punishment. When the teacher needs a student to adapt to a behavior, he/she teaches that skill, such as, empathy. Most teachers use punishment even though it’s ineffective because it is what is taught. Simply put, it’s a system in place for the teacher and most teachers like a step process.

An alternative to punishment and rewards is to have an active and engaging learning environment. Students should understand the expectations. When my students are actively engaged and thinking critically, I rarely have a behavior problem. When I let my guard down or give them a minute to relax, they begin to exhibit behaviors not appropriate.

*Item Two: What are some specific ways in which cultural differences influence the ways students approach learning tasks? Are these evident in the classroom? Explain.

Students differ culturally, which does effect how they approach learning tasks. Students differ based on their gender, social class, religion, race, region, ethnicity, and disabilities. Based on a student’s family income, education, and place in the social ladder, students think and approach learning in a different manner. Based upon the textbook, socioeconomic status is one of the main reasons for how students achieve in the classroom. The book also talked about low-income families being raised with expectations that are sometimes not consistent with the behaviors given at school. This was compared to those students who came from a middle-class family. One of the major differences is the activities that children participate in between the two working classes. Lower class families do not always get to do dinners out or take vacations, where middle-class families may have more opportunities to experience the world outside of the zip code they live. For example, I’ve had to explain many areas in the United States to my students and show pictures because many of them have never been to areas that are typical to me, such as the beach. When thinking about gender and how students approach learning activities, I can predict the girls will be able to take notes, but that is not an activity the boys do well in. My boys enjoy experiments and labs in my science classroom. They enjoy figuring out a problem and need more hands on activities than the girls. Living in a low-class family often times puts students going to a school that has limited funding, less resources, and teachers who are paid less. This is considered putting them at risk based on the areas they live in. The text talks about students in these situations building resilience, which I see often in the area I teach. By providing a safe, structured, and positive environment in school, students can overcome the odds that are against them based on their cultural differences. Another way cultural differences influence the child is parental involvement. This goes back to behavior and that some students know their parents are involved and know they can get away with being disrespectful. It’s the culture they live in at home in many cases.

Some ways that the textbook mentions to overcome cultural differences are to identify the talents or things students in your classroom do well. Also, the teacher should look at their curriculum and find alternative teaching methods to learning the content. Teachers should also be trained on what research says about the brain.

*Item Three:  Define each of Gardner’s multiple intelligences and then describe a classroom activity (select preschool, elementary, middle, or high school) that addresses
 each of the intelligences.

Visual-Spatial- Students are aware of their own environment. The activities they would enjoy might include puzzles or drawing. They would enjoy looking at models, videos, or learning through pictures. For a middle school activity, my science students were just studying weather maps in 6th grade. We began by looking at a large chart that displayed various weather station symbols. It included temperature, cloud cover, wind speed, direction, air pressure, and precipitation. Students had to look at weather station models and at the end had to draw their own model.

Bodily-kinesthetic– The student would use their body to produce movement or to make something. Their body language would communicate for them. These students learn through hands-on learning, role playing or acting out. An activity for an elementary classroom would be a reader’s theater. Students would read a story then act it out with multiple characters in the classroom. It would be done as if going to watch a play. Students would dress up and have props.

Musical- Students would love music, but could be sensitive to sounds as well. These students would do well in a study environment that music was being played. These students are able to take a lesson concept and make a rap or song out of it to remember the information. In my middle school classroom, we create a song for the moon phases in our classroom. Students work in groups to create lyrics for the moon phases. Many groups do a song, rap, and some add background music.

Interpersonal- Students that learn in this way need interaction. They have many friends and show empathy for others. Their learning can be taught through various methods. These include group work, lecture, or using technology as a tool. An example would be in a high school classroom where the teacher posts a video lecture online through a Edmodo. Students are able to converse among each other after watching online. This uses technology and lecture style learning.

Linguistic- These students are able to use words well. They have extensive auditory skills. They would like to read or make up stories. A simple activity in an elementary classroom is silent reading during a reading instructional block of time. This is often done while centers are going on.

Logical-Mathematical- Students are able to think in an abstract manner and like to explore patterns and solve puzzles. In a middle school classroom, students would be given stations to explore a concept. For my earth and space class, an example set of stations would be exploring the layers of the earth. There are 8 different stations in which students participate in reading, exploring, experimenting, and organizing information.

*Item Four: How would you use the behavioral principle of shaping to change the behavior of a student who never participated in classroom discussions?

In order to change the behavior of the student not participating in class discussions, I would first decide what the expectation is I want my student to know. Do I want them to be able to answer a simple yes no question or to be able to give a detailed explanation to a situation given? To begin the process, I would not expect an elaborate answer from the student. I would then tell the students as a whole class what behaviors are appropriate or not appropriate for a class discussion. Students would have examples given to them, including some role-playing and scenarios to show an example of a discussion. When the student begins to participate, I would give positive praise and tell the student why. I would reinforce the student as quickly as possible after participating.

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