Thus far I’ve not been involved, or have seen, classrooms allow this kind of autonomy for their students. I’ll be honest, I’m a little suspicious of its viability. Especially having worked in K-5 settings, 2nd graders can be quite problematic in their conduct and in their responsibilities for a variety of reasons. Regardless, I would love to see examples like the one Kohn shared in practice, because it sounds quite engaging. 

Kohn states, “Each aspect of life in a classroom offers an invitation to think about what decisions might be turned over to students— or negotiated with students— individually and collectively.” (85). By incorporating a big of democracy into the classrooms, students can negotiate how they would like to keep track of hall or bathroom passes, how to share materials, how to complete a class project, etc. Despite this, it’s important to note that, while creating structure in the class, mechanisms of control can still seep into them, i.e. making sure that students are dressed appropriately for the weather vs. making sure that they’re dressed appropriately for different reasons. I hope Kohn delves into this difference more later in the text. 

When people don’t play a role in what is expected of them they are less motivated to achieve their goals. Even when we have learned that certain methods in education are not effective there is still the issue of what is possible with the resources given.  Without a way to measure student’s development how can teachers know what areas need improvement and what areas have been successful. Nevertheless, the way students' development is measured has a great impact on how they are learning. 

I absolutely love this passage and while this meme is sad, I think it shines a light into a big issue in our field. I think as educators we focus so much on helping students become the best learners they can, helping them grow into young adults that will flourish in the world. I think we make a lot of decisions based on what the future is expecting of them. We often forget that they are exactly who they are supposed to be, they are their own person with their own expectations for their own future, and their own rights! 

This really ties into my personal goal as a future teacher, not just to teach my lessons and teach biology, but to help my students become who they want to be. Making your own decisions, mistakes, accomplishments is such a big part of growing up and shaping you into the adults that we are, why take that away from our students. I think this meme represents this idea so well, because we can put a student in all these different spots, if they want to talk and do their own thing, they will. Why not listen to them, and talk to them so decisions can be made by everyone to benefit the class. 

This resonates with me because the transition between my Montessori school in Chile to the sit-in-your-desk and listen here in the states, was very difficult for me. In Chile we had activities all throughout the room, we learned at our own pace and only talked to the teacher if we couldn’t understand the activity. This is where this meme comes into play, something as simple as, I had to go to the bathroom, I went. I will always remember my confusion for getting in trouble for leaving to use the bathroom when I needed to during my first day at an American school. Why was I not trusted to go pee???

This meme highlights one of my biggest concerns as a future biology teacher, there are gonna be a fair amount of labs and hands-on activities that could be potentially dangerous if proper lab etiquette is not followed. How to present this to the students and manage situations where maybe an individual might not listen. Unfortunately this is a situation where I must set rules that need to be followed, for good reason. Discipline and handling difficult situations is my biggest concern besides the safety of everyone. 

I found this meme interesting, and I related it to the Oklahoma teacher's way of teaching who insists that students must obey the teacher's orders or suggestions without questioning anything. These teachers should think about opening spaces for student opinion. I believe that when opinions are taken into account, students will learn better. It is also important to mention the rules that should exist in the classroom, for example, the correct time for students to ask questions and avoid interruptions.

I found this meme interesting, and I related it to the previous quote from chapter 6. In my opinion, I believe that students should obey the classroom rules. However, we as educators should have some flexibility without falling into the "manipulation" of students. Chapter 6 also talks about student participation in decision making, i.e., taking into account the students' opinion is a good strategy for classroom management, and it can keep them engaged with the teacher.

This meme caught my attention because one of my endorsements is mathematics. I believe that future math teachers should pay more attention to students and their learning. Math teachers also need classroom management strategies. Math teachers should not only be limited to showing the concept, but also the application and reflecting on the concept. This meme is interesting because many students do not develop the skills to answer certain questions, but that is where we need to put into practice the classroom management strategies and resources necessary to provide quality education.

When reading this excerpt from Kohn, I think my jaw dropped to the floor! I am very thankful I didn’t have a teacher who did anything like that, but I did have teachers who kind of had an authoritarian approach to learning. What got me in this part was the usage of “Golly” and “Gee” it was as if she was making fun of the student in general and treating them as if they were dumb. For some students writing an essay can be difficult. Especially when you know you have to write a certain amount because there is a lot that goes into a paper. So I think as a teacher you need to be sensitive with that and know that writing can be challenging for students. Also, of course, your class might not be the only class they are taking, so the fact that they want to know the page count and or hesitant you need to be aware also. I chose this meme because I felt like it kind of went with the excess homework part :) When you're like "great"... more work!

 

On page 82, Kohn provides the example of many classroom management programs use the language of chose against students as a kind of weapon: “You choose to misbehave” or even “You choose to be punished.” Further down the page Kohn states that, “the first benefit is that giving them (students) some say will make it more likely that they will do essentially what we want. Choice promotes compliance and minimizes misbehavior.”

 

Not to be completely reductive, but if you treat students with some respect for their rights and autonomy, they will be better stewards of their behavior, instead of total lockdown control.

 

"Studies support this view. Students who are able to participate in making decisions at school are more committed to decision making and democracy in other contexts."

"More important, the hard work of listening, considering others’ points of view, and fashioning new solutions—in short, the guts of democracy."

The above statement hits the nail on the head for me in multiple ways. Using authoratitive discipline practices not only disengage and disenfranchises students, it doesn't provide modeling for students of how to live in a democracy. As teacher leaders we need to model and co-create environments with students which foster and support democratic ideals, like group problem-solving, engaging within community, finding and working towards compromise, agree/disagree.