My Audit Trail by Izzy May

Artifact #1

izzybmarie01 — 2024-03-09 03:40:00 UTC

This course has encouraged and required me to do a lot of self reflection. This particular artifact was taken from module two, when we had to post an artifact on a padlet board discussing our underlying theoretical beliefs. This particular video that I posted has stuck with me, and has caused me to view my interactions with my students differently. You never know what a student's home life is like, so when they choose to share a story with you that is exciting to them, you should listen because you might be the only one who did. I have started to see that every interaction with a student is an opportunity to begin forming a relationship with them. You don’t have to have a full on conversation with them to build a relationship. It could be something as simple as a “good morning i'm glad you’re here today” or a high five every morning. Those acts might seem unimportant to me, but it could mean the world to a student. I used to not greet the students at the door every morning, but I do now, and I definitely will continue to do so in the future.

Artifact #2

izzybmarie01 — 2024-03-09 03:41:15 UTC

This artifact is a blog post from module 3. The question it poses is “Would you like being a student in your own classroom?”. This question blew my mind. I had never put myself in the shoes of my students before. It made me think about how my students might view my actions or tone of voice. As the teacher, I know my reasoning behind why I do what I do, but I realized most of my students might not understand the why behind my actions. They are pretty much kept in the dark and are told to just blindly follow what I say just because they should. I don’t think this is the path that will lead to creating motivated, curious, and self-sufficient citizens. Students deserve to be informed on why they are being instructed to do something so that the next time they can use that understanding to take action themselves without having to be instructed by the adult. I have begun sharing the why with my students and explaining before I start thinking of disciplinary actions.

Artifact #3

izzybmarie01 — 2024-03-09 03:44:48 UTC

I really resonated with this poster from the keynote video with Carla Shalaby. This class has allowed me to look at our habits in schools through a different lens than I normally would. My eyes have been opened to see what is prioritized in our school systems: punishment. Everything is a threat or a bribe, but that is what we’ve been taught. That is what has been used to get students to comply for decades, however, children today are not the same children as they were in school fifty-plus years ago. It is a different world, with different family dynamics, and different societal standards. So, why are we still trying to use the same systems in a different world? Looking back at what my first instinct is when a student is being difficult, it is to assert my power over them and then threaten them into compliance. I have realized two things from that observation, 1. I don’t like it. It makes me feel guilty and sad for my students that that is the environment I am creating for them. And 2. It doesn’t work. All it is doing is placing a band-aid over a wound that needs medical attention. We have been taught to stop thinking of our students as unique individuals who are still children with feelings and to start thinking of them as a mass group with one goal of being academically successful. In the future, I want to start incorporating my students' interests into lessons to promote their interest in school. I want to encourage them to follow their strengths and work on their weaknesses, but I will not tell them they need to fit into a specific mold.

Artifact #4

izzybmarie01 — 2024-03-09 03:46:06 UTC

“The key to managing difficult behaviors of children is to manage our behavior as adults” (Allen,2016)

This quote really brought my role, as the adult in the classroom, into perspective for me. A lot of classroom management strategies are geared towards fixing the student, as if their behavior is the only possible problem in the situation. This quote made me take a look at my own responses and the effect my reactions might have had on the student and the situation. I have come to the realization that I don’t often view my students as equals in my classroom. I have the mindset where I am the teacher and they should listen to me and respect me just because I am an adult. This is not how I want my relationship with my future students to be, so I have been doing some reflecting on what messages I am conveying through my responses. Did it set a good example for the rest of the students for how to respond in an argument? Did it help calm the situation? Did it allow the student an opportunity to voice their feelings? These are some of the questions I have begun to ask myself. I have realized I tend to raise my voice rather quickly, and my end goal is to assert my power over the students, rather than share the power and allow them to feel heard. This course will change how I react to students in the future, and it will affect the standards I set in my classroom for how we treat ourselves and each other. I have already begun implementing using a calmer voice and leveling with my students before I begin to raise my voice, and I have seen a difference in how they respond already!

Artifact #5

izzybmarie01 — 2024-03-09 03:47:47 UTC

This article has shifted the way I initially view a child's behavior or response. Typical classroom practice is to punish a child who is being very reactive or verbally aggressive, however, this website suggests alternative trauma sensitive strategies. I have begun thinking more about the child’s background and any potential trauma they might have experienced. I am now thinking of trauma sensitive ways I can respond to the student first that might de-escalate the situation before disciplinary actions are taken. I have begun listening to my students, like actually trying to hear what they are saying, not only with their words but also with their body language. I am more sensitive to body language showing me when a student is presenting as closed off or defensive.

Artifact #6

izzybmarie01 — 2024-03-09 03:50:58 UTC

This website discussing the negatives of reward systems has changed the way I view classroom management. For decades we have been using reward systems as a quick-fix solution for behavior and management of the classroom. However, in the past year, while I have been subbing, I have felt like the rewards systems based on external rewards that I have been seeing aren’t working. As the article discusses, these reward systems are making children feel excluded and are leading children to prioritize their advancement rather than collaborating with their classmates. It is creating a hostile environment in the classroom and a shift is necessary. I chose this screenshot from the website as my artifact because it shows the first steps that I, as a teacher, can take to create this shift in my classroom. It is providing ways I can create a supportive and educational environment that prioritizes collaboration and peer relationships without the goal of receiving a prize.