When it came to choosing a career I always had a hard time. Career days in class were always a hassle for me. Since I remember, my top three choices for careers were always teaching, being a doctor, or being a veterenarian. Having to choose one career out of the three was difficult for me. I remember it being such a hard decision. As I grew older my list of options began to get smaller. Once I began to actually look into the careers in depth, I found that being a doctor was not a good option for me. First because I do not like blood, second because I do not like needles, and third because I was leaning towards the career more for the money than for the passion. It has been said that a job doesn’t feel like a job when you love what you are doing, and truthfully, being a doctor was not a real passion of mine. Being a veteranarian was removed from my list when I found out that I would not only be curing dogs, cats, bunnies, etc. But I would also have to look after reptiles and maybe even insects. Another reason is that I am very sentimental and I felt that I would get too attached to the animals if they passed away.

Teaching remained an option almost all my childhood up until now and after looking into more career options, none grabbed my attention the way education did. Having taken this lbs class and the ones prior, getting a degree in education became a bigger goal for me. Seeing the videos in class about the different techniques teachers use and seeing how they decorate their class was very exciting for me. All I could imagine was decorating my own classroom in the future and teaching my students about all the wonderful things knowledge and books have to offer.  Having the opportunity to educate children and help them begin their road to learning is something I yearn to do. I cannot wait to see my future students grown up and doing good in life. I look forward to the day they tell me that I had a good impact in their life. Just the same way my 7^thgrade math teacher helped me get over my struggle with math I want to help students succeed as well. It is my goal. It would be my way of giving back to the community with the little that I can offer. I owe it to all the amazing teachers that taught me and that helped me grow into the person that I am today. 

              Elementary behavioral problems and Highschool behavioral problems are very different. None the less they do have certain similarities. Elementary students with behavior problems normally have trouble concentrating, staying focused, become fuzzy quickly, or simply do not know how to follow instructions. High school behavior issues tend to be a little more serious. In the article titled The Codevelopment of Effortful Control and School Behavioral Problems, behavior is a huge factor which is talked about throughout the paper. The article starts off with a quote from a movie by Mr. Hand. “What is this fascination with truancy? What is it that gets inside of your heads? There are some teachers at this school who look the other way at truants. It’s a little game you both play. They pretend they don’t see you, and you pretend you don’t ditch. Now, in the end, who pays the price? You!” (Atherton, pg. 5) According to the article, the main character, Jeff Spicoli, has the tendency to be late to class, ditch school and go smoke at the beach. The character is then connected to many students in real life. According to the text, although the character seems funny in the movie his actions can lead to substance abuse, unwanted pregnancy, school dropout, etc. The article points out that the characteristics of Jeff should not be allowed in real life. The writers of the article state that in order to improve youth adjustment and development, it is necessary to gain better understanding of the roots of school behaviorial problems. This leads me into my prior point which is how Elementary and High school behavioral problems are similar. They are similar in the sense that all behavior issues start because of something. 

               Observations at schools show that students with behavioral issues most likely have those issues due to problems from home. According to an article by Sue Watson titled, Understanding Inappropiate Behavior: Framing Bad Behavior for Teachers,teachers have always had the tendency to comfront students’ bad behavior. Watson states that some students seem to thrive off of teachers with challenges in authority. She then goes on by stating that it is important for teachers to understand the roots of these kinds of behaviors so as not to perpetuate them. In order for teachers to do so Watson emphasizes the importance of interventions, questioning why these behaviors are occuring, and confronting inappropiate behavior. Questioning the students about why they are behaving the way they are is a good form of intervention because it allows the student to brainstorm about the things he/she has done. This form of intervention also allows the teacher to understand the reasons behind the students behavior and maybe begin forming a better communicational relationship with the student as well. 

               In the article titled Reinforcing, Reminding, and Redirectingby Rachel, language importance in teacher’s was emphasized. The article states that students cannot function the way a teacher wants if the teacher does not correctly communicate his/her expectation. Reinforcing our language as teachers is beneficial in the sense that it gives the students confidence within themselves. Some examples of reinforcement which I thought were very helpful include naming concrete and specific behaviors, de-emphasizing personal approval, avoid holding one student as an example above others, and finding positives to reinforce all students. In regards to reminding, observations at schools show that students get things done when the tasks that they need to get done get brought up frequently. For example, a teacher might say “Students, let’s remember that in order for us to participate in fun Friday we must have all our work for the week completed by Thursday.” This will help the students stay on track in regards to their assignments and it will also allow students to independently figure out whether they are on track or not. Redirecting students is a very good strategy to use as well. In order for students to function the way the teacher wants, the teacher must redirect the students whenever they are going off track. Redirecting bad behavior as soon as it is happening is very important. This strategy will make or break the way students view and respect the teacher. It is important to remember to use the three R’s which are rienforce, remind, and redirect for classroom management behavior. 

               Research based strategies can be very helpful because they explain in detail the ways in which the research was conducted. These next two quantatative research articles demonstrate strategies which can be used in order to maintain classroom behavior management. 

               The first research based article titled Training School Interns to Teach Elementary Students to Respect and Care for Others written by Mary Ann Clark, is based on emotional climate. The research was conducted by getting an intern to come and teach the elementary students a communication skills program. As a result from these emotional classroom climate sessions, interpersonal relationships among students as well as student collaboration improved. The findings were significant because it showed effective results and prevented students from crossing boundaries with each other.

               The second research based article titled The Effects of a Social-Emotional Learning Program on Elementary School Children: The Role of Pupils’ Characteristics was about the program (SEL) Social-Emotional Learning. In this program the people running the study incorporated SEL for over a year to see if the results could lead to gains in social–emotional competencies and in a reduction of internalizing and externalizing problems. As a result, the study came out with positive results. The article stated that there were significant intervention gains in some social-emotional comptetencies like for example peer relations and social competence, but no gains were found in internalizing and externalizing problems. According to the article, they plan to continue the assessments to make sure nothing changes and they can still benefit from these interventions.

               These two research based articles provide helpful strategies for classroom behavior management. The implementaion of a communication skills program and a social-emotional learning program can be beneficial in order to help reduce classroom behavior issues.

               Research findings from the article titled The Role of Classroom-Level Child Behavior Problems in Predicting Preschool Teacher Stress and Classroom Emotional Climate,focus on how characteristics of children enrolled in a classroom influence classroom quality. The article also considers teachers stress as a mediator of the relationship between child behavioral problems and classroom emotional climate. This article piggy backs off of the first research based article mentioned above. Both articles focus on emotional climate in the classroom and how that triggers childrens behavioral problems. Basically, emotional climate can either be beneficial if it is a good emotional climate or it can be negative if the emotional climate is bad. The only difference between both articles is that this one also focuses on teacher stress and how that can be a cause for behavioral problems in the classroom as well. 

               Parents play a huge role in their childrens academic and overall school life. Parent involvement is very important. The article titledRemote Intervention of Childrens Disruptive Behavior Yielded Effective Resultsemphasized the importance of parent involvement. This qualitative research article explains in detail how they did a intervention training for parents over the telephone to show that parent involvement was very important when it came to a child’s behavior. The article proved that the  parents involvement strengthened the children’s ability to have empathy over their other classmates. This study also helped the parents redirect behavior problems that they were already having at home, so it was a win-win situation.

               According to the research article titled Teachers Reported Knowledge and Implementation of Research-Based Classroom and Management Strategies, many teachers are not familiarized with classroom and behavior management strategies. This research article demonstrates the way in which a survey is conducted to gather information on teachers knowledge in regards to classroom and behavior management. In this study a total of 160 elementary school teachers completed the research. Once having concluded the research, studies showed that on average the teachers appeared to be knowledgeable in prevention practices but less knowledgeable in individualized behavior intervention strategies. While conducting this study they realized that not all teachers were as well informed as they thought. As a result this survey comes to show that many teachers need to be trained in classroom and behavior management. 

               The classroom behavior management strategies and implementations that have been discussed throughout the paper are ones that can be used in order to maintain good classroom management overall. Gaining better understanding of the roots of students behavioral issues and questioning why these behaviors are occurring are great forms of intervention which can in the future help behavior problems be less of an issue. Reinforcing, reminding, and redirecting students once behavior issues begin are also great strategies to help get rid of behavior issues in the classroom. As a future educator, being able to manage behavior in the classroom is an essential part of being a well rounded teacher. Without classroom behavior management students would not be able to receive the academic knowledge they deserve. 

 

 References

Atherton, Olivia E, et al. The Codevelopment of Effortful Control and School Behavioral Problems, vol. 117, 2019, pp. 659–673.          

Clark, Mary Ann. "Training School Interns To Teach Elementary Students To Respect and Care for Others." Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development 42.1 (2003): 91-106. Web.

Friedman-Krauss, Allison H, et al. “The Role of Classroom-Level Child Behavior Problems in Predicting Preschool Teacher Stress and Classroom Emotional Climate.” Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, LLC, 2014, pp. 530–552., doi:10.1080/10409289.2013.817030.

Moore, Tara C., et al. “Teachers’ Reported Knowledge and Implementation of Research-Based Classroom and Behavior Management Strategies.” Remedial and Special Education, vol. 38, no. 4, 2016, pp. 222–232., doi:10.1177/0741932516683631.

Rachel, et al. “Reinforcing, Reminding, and Redirecting.” Responsive Classroom, 15 July 2016, www.responsiveclassroom.org/reinforcing-reminding-and-redirecting/.

Raimundo, R., Marques‐Pinto, A., & Lima, M. L. (2012, December 11). THE EFFECTS OF A SOCIAL–EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM ON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN: THE ROLE OF PUPILS' CHARACTERISTICS. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pits.21667.

Watson, Sue. “Understanding Inappropriate Behavior: Framing Bad Behavior for Teachers.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 18 Mar. 2017, www.thoughtco.com/understanding-inappropriate-behavior-3110688.

Academy of Finland. (2016, March 17). Remote intervention of children's disruptive behavior yielded effective results. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 3, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160317095009.htm

            Many adults struggle with math because they do not understand math, this simply remember an algorithm, but that isnt enough. If we can teach our students to understand math and math basics, they will fully be able to grasp algebra,  geometry, trigonometry, precalculus, and calculus much easier because they will actually understand what the problem is trying to accomplish.