ITP 511 WRR 2 (RESPONSE & REPLIES) by K Kennedy https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20 READ Pinto Chapter 3, “The Classroom Management Spectrum.” REPLY: Select a passage, quote, excerpt, and/or key concept from the readings upon which you would like to reflect. Explain how the assigned chapter(s) and other readings connect to (or do not connect to) your beliefs about teaching and learning and other aspects of your professional practice. Use evidence from the readings (with parenthetical citation) to support your ideas and justify your reasoning. Share your thoughts in response to questions like: What research in the field (from other authors) supports or contradicts the author’s ideas and opinions? What are some other perspectives or research on this issue? How has/might your classroom experience (as a teacher or student) be impacted? RESPONSES: Write a response to posts from at least two colleagues. Consider using the sentence starters listed on page 25 of the syllabus in your response. en-us 2020-08-10 07:02:28 UTC 2022-03-20 20:58:46 UTC hello@padlet.com “[B]e careful about mistaking passive compliance or even ritualistic engagement for true, full engagement” (Pinto, p.50). chel34 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683049184 When I read this quote, two memories immediately came to mind. The first memory I have is a perfect illustration of the quote above. I thought of two elementary age students I tutored in Spain. They attended a private Catholic school and their parents had high expectations of them. I was taken aback by the respect that they displayed towards me. Even after a long seven hour school day and with the whole week behind them (we met on Friday afternoons), they would sit up straight at the table, hands folded in their laps, and with their eyes on me. At first, I thought that they just really wanted to learn English and was thrilled to have such an attentive audience after my workday with rambunctious middle schoolers. Whatever I asked them to do, they would do. However, after a few weeks, I realized that something was missing. Their heart wasn’t in it at all! I changed my strategy and started to incorporate games into my lessons. We would get up, move the furniture around, and do all sorts of activities (carefully avoiding all of the expensive ceramic, of course!). At first, they were unsure how to respond and giggled nervously, but they soon began to participate joyously. Their mom once came in the room to see what was going on with an eyebrow raised, but she trusted me and left us alone after that.My second memory is the flipside of this quote; that perceived lack of compliance does not necessarily mean disengagement. As Kohn states, “the crux of the matter may be who decides, and by what criteria, that a child’s behavior is “misbehavior” in the first place” (p.13). In school, I displayed model behavior in the classroom, but my brother often had phone calls home. I sat still in class, with good posture, kept my eyes on the teacher, and raised my hand to speak. My brother, on the other hand, would fidget in his seat, would not look at the teacher, and would spend the class taking apart and reassembling pens, calculators, and pretty much whatever he could get his hands on. Yet, when teachers would call on him with the intent of embarrassing him in front of the rest of the class for not paying attention, he always knew the answer! Even so, teacher after teacher would consider his behavior as a challenge to their authority and control (p. 50). They fell into “deficit thinking” (p. 43) and made every attempt to get him to abandon what they perceived as disruptive behavior. My brother, consequently, ended up developing a very negative attitude towards school and declared that he would not go to college. However, in his junior year of high school, he finally had a teacher that made an attempt to learn more about and encourage his interests (p. 50). Thanks to the support of that teacher, my brother ended up studying Instrumentation at a technical institute and now has a great job that he enjoys immensely.In conclusion, what I am taking away from this is the reminder that engagement looks different for each student and that “all students can be potential assets in [the] classroom” (p. 50). As educators, we just have to take the time to figure out what those assets are. I would certainly like to learn more about the concept of “reframing” Pinto discusses on page 43 and how to “re-consider students’ actions and reactions through more objective language” (43). In the past, I have taken some student behaviors pretty personally and let my emotions take over when interpreting their behavior. I think practicing re-framing from the start, when an issue first arises, would be a powerful tool to move far away from the tendency to “locate the source of the problem [...] inside the student” (Kohn, p. 13). Please let me know if you have any resources or anecdotes to share! ]]> 2020-08-17 16:02:16 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683049184 “Some say [The Engagement] position is pie-in-the-sky idealistic. Engagement rests on the assumption that if the classroom is inclusive, challenging and engaging in ways that meet the individual needs of students, problems of disruption and off-task behavior will be minimized. Others argue that this is simply unrealistic. While there is no question that achieving the ideal of a fully engaged classroom requires commitment on the teacher’s part and the fact that students may have come through many years of discipline-focused or reward-and-routine-focused classrooms, it may take time for them to adjust to a different paradigm of learning and interacting” (Pinto, pg 56). brmount https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683154677 I think that, while yes, the engagement position is more work for the teacher, and may take more time for the students to adjust to and for the class to really get in a groove of as far as everyone getting used to this style, these are weak criticism of this method. I imagine the first few months of class will be a feeling out process in a lot or ways, but the second half of the school year would really reap the benefits of that process and make up for the slower pace in the front half of the year. Besides, learning is a process, not a product and that is a way of showing the students that fact. I also think that this criticism goes with the assumption that one would ONLY be using this method. I would assume that there would be some sort of mixture of each method used in this chapter. Every class is different and therefore would call for different levels of each method, but in reality, it’s more unrealistic to use just one method, then it is to achieve what the engagement focus sets out to achieve. There is also the fact that there will be things like preparing for standardized testing that will interrupt this teaching method, so the teacher must be able to balance and be fluid in methods used to manage the classroom at a case by case while maintaining consistency and a routine that the students can rely on. It’s tricky, but I don’t think it’s impossible by any means. I’m definitely planning on leaning heavily into the engagement focused form of classroom management, with a side of reward-and-routine and the discipline focus only when absolutely necessary and as a fall back rare occasions. I’m wondering if anyone has any more legitimate criticisms of the engagement focus. I know Pinto mentions a few others that I didn’t get into but they still don’t seem too high of hurdles to overcome. Are there any concerns or criticisms anyone has with this management method that the book does not mention that maybe we should be aware of?]]> 2020-08-17 16:38:49 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683154677 "Praise puts all power in the judgment of the teacher, and this deters students from learning to form their own judgment about behavior or the worth of what they accomplish," (Pinto, p. 48). rowland51 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683679817 This critique of the reward-and-routine focus style of classroom management really hit me because of how frequently I use praise in the classroom. And not just as a motivator, but just as a reaction to when I see students doing things that I genuinely get excited about. The classroom I was in last year used the praise method to encourage students to sit at their desks - you know the one where you praise students A & B for sitting quietly so as to get students Y & Z to do the same. I used to really enjoy this method because I thought it was effective in getting the students to do what we wanted - which is exactly what the method is supposed to do. I suppose I need to question the idea of why I wanted to be in control of the students’ behavior? It certainly made the environment more peaceful, which is pleasing to me, and it mostly brought the attention of the students to me so as to lead to an easier time transitioning to the next activity.  But Kohn’s idea that this method of the teacher being the sole-decider in what’s allowed every moment in the classroom treats the students like objects instead of engaging with them as subjects (2006). That’s not what I envision my role as an educator, as an all-knowing entity placed there to dole out information and judgment. But I think it’s naive of me to think that if I walk into a classroom I won’t face any problems from the students if I approach teaching with a hands-off approach. How does one cultivate an environment that encourages students to critically evaluate their own work and how the heck do I stop saying ‘good job’ when they do something that I want to support. Would leaving out praise, and it’s implied criticism too, lead to a more impersonal classroom? Would this damage the relationship I had with the students if they believed I didn’t care how well they did? And lastly, is it possible to implement this idea in a world where letter grading is the main way of assessing a student's success?]]> 2020-08-17 19:57:27 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683679817 hquinter https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683921132 2020-08-17 23:18:02 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683921132 The three areas that stood out for me in this chapter were: students’ home cultures understand discipline, extrinsic vs intrinsic, and reward-and routine focus.pp. 39: “The application of the discipline-focused classroom management orientation has definite cultural implications. Teachers must consider how their own students’ home cultures understand discipline.”This passage made me think if the purpose is to create an inviting, accountable, safe, positive and engaged classroom, then is it pertinent to have a discussion with the parents and guardians at the start of the school year to converse about how they maintain their student accountable for their actions regarding discipline and academic. I don’t know if this is a difficult topic to embark on with the parents, but I think that if we (teachers) know what they do it will help us in our classroom. Or, would it better to discard the students’ home understanding of discipline and rules as they relate to discipline and academics and develop with the students our own classroom understanding of discipline.One approach would take into consideration the parents and guardians perspectives and ideas, and the other would be to allow students to feel empowered by facilitating a discussion of how they would like to be accountable.pp. 42: “disciplinary behavioral interventions amount to external or extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic motivation addresses our psychological needs for autonomy and competence, so the effects of extrinsic motivation depend on how it affects perceived self-determination and perceived competence.”This passage made me think that not all of our students are going to like the subject area that we are teaching. If they are not motivated intrinsically, then do we accept them as they are and focus on letting them develop the necessary skills they need in our class to understand, interact and learn what they want to. pp. 46-49 Arguments supporting a Reward-and-Routine Focus and Critiques of the Reward-and-Routine Focus. The arguments in favor and criticizing rewards and routines, were strong argument on both sides. Thus, it left me thinking if the question we should ask are: What type of rewards and routines should we establish, and when should we provide rewards. I think I would want to hear teacher talking about what they have done, when they have done and why. I do think that the rewards and routines will differ depending the grade level and possibly even class subject. hecto https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683959192 2020-08-17 23:59:03 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/683959192 "Praise puts all power in the judgement of the teacher, and this deters students from learning to form their own judgement about behavior or the worth of what they accomplish (Kohn, 1993). Students looking for teacher approval are less likely to engage in difficult tasks or share their ideas with others (Kohn 2006).... Rather than saying "Good job," ask, "What was most difficult about this task or behaving that way? or "If you had to go through this process again, what would you do differently?" or "How did you make the decision to do this thing that way?"(Pinto, p. 48) dnuno2 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/684318127 This section pointed out the balance that it takes to give praise specifically, as well as in a timely way. This made me rethink the over-usage of "Good Job" in the classroom, and how some academic systems approach to classroom management has trained some children to rely on this type of non-specific praise. When thinking critically in an arts classroom its important to ask questions that allow students to derive their own meanings and basis for values, otherwise this type of non-specific and teacher-judged praise can be harmful to the student's authentic creative process. I can think of at least two separate experiences in two very different school environments. The first was in a Portland public school based on PBIS(Positive Behaviors, Interventions and Supports), and the second was a private child-led inquiry based school. What I found was that in the first school students became competitive for praise and developed harmfully perfectionist traits. When I attempted to implement observational praise, it worked for some but not for all. The second and opposite school experience, very little teacher praise was spoken which allowed for students to make judgments for themselves, and in effect creating self-value and empowerment. The fault to the second, just as the first, was that not all students fit into this model, desired ans sought praise and encouragement from the teacher, through sometimes detrimental behaviors(attention seeking devices). I'm finding myself sitting somewhere in between The Reward and Routine Focus and The Engagement Focus because I feel students should find empowerment within themselves, though I know students have been influenced by whatever teacher praise, or lack of, preceded their experience in my classroom. Finding a balance. This section again reminded me of Carol Dweck's book Mindset on the theory of Growth Mindset and specifically praise (link below).]]> 2020-08-18 05:51:30 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/684318127 “When teachers are bound by district rules and barriers, they sometimes go into ‘default’ mode, enforcing rules without critical reflection. Part of good classroom management requires asking ourselves and sometimes our principles or school boards why?” (Pinto, 2013, p. 40). hacooper1 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686113903 This idea definitely matches up with my experience working in the “Behavior Management Office” at Alder Creek Middle School. There is this interesting tendency that has happened several times since I’ve worked there where someone (a teacher, dean, or administrator) realizes that our system of consequences doesn’t seem to be having the desired impact on student behavior (clearly inspired by the behaviorist theory Pinto explains about on p. 38) and decides that changes are in order. For a time we start trying to implement a new system that aims to be more wholistic and maybe a bit more responsive (though the fact that the “system” itself is always still one-size-fits-all limits its potential responsiveness) before inevitably reverting back to the old system when things get difficult. It’s almost as if the practices we have in place have a kind of inertia, where any attempt to change them inevitably snaps back to what they used to be.

In Beyond Discipline, Kohn describes teachers (and administrators) as having “insatiable hunger for new techniques” (2006, p. 7). I think that this hunger derives from the awareness that traditional, discipline-focused methods of classroom management are ineffective in the long-term. However, these methods seem to be quite effective in the short term. I think this might be a potential explanation for the inertia I see at Alder Creek: when new methods become difficult (or are as flawed as the old methods), the older methods feel like a safe method for adults to regain “control” over students. 

If we never question traditional methods, or unquestioningly enforce school-wide procedures, we may find ourselves caught in this trap of discipline-inertia: what we are doing isn’t working, but at least we know how to do it. I think it probably takes a lot of bravery to move towards an engagement-focus, and fear of loss of control is a driving factor in the return to discipline-focused methods. As Pinto says, “the discipline focus is quick and easy. [… It is] highly efficient, and this may be very attractive” (2013, p. 40).

This continual cycle of searching for new techniques, rejecting them in favor of outdated but efficient methods, and then trying new techniques again is very destructive. It is also quite likely disorienting from the perspective of students, who almost certainly would benefit more from consistency. If a school community could get on the same page about engagement-focused classroom management, this cycle could end. I worry that this is unlikely to happen anytime soon considering how many skeptics of this approach exist, and how easy it is to fall back on old habits.
]]> 2020-08-18 22:00:58 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686113903 "Within deficit thinking, underachievement is thought to be caused by problems in students, their families, their culture, or their communities. In other words, teachers perceive failure or behavior as coming from deficiencies in students. When teachers or principals view the problem as something within the student, they do things to “correct” the deficiencies, and those practices have to do with control in a classroom" (Pinto, 2013, p. 43). bflores45 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686362301 This excerpt caught my attention as it was similar to a counterexample in effective, meaningful mentoring strategies for Portland State University's "Mentoring in Higher Education" course. While I co-taught Works of Art for incoming freshmen over the internet, there were a few students I was worried about I noticed they did not submit assignments. Under the discipline focus and deficit thinking strategy, my students' learning experiences would not have improved at all since it places the blame to them without asking why their assignments were missing in the first place. Contrary to disciplining them, the best approach was to contact each student individually through email so I would get a better understanding of their personal circumstances and concerns to reach the source of the issue. Thankfully, I did know more about what worked for them to submit their assignments on time, and I applied their suggestions to the course.

With that, my experience does reference the engagement focus from Pinto (2013, p. 49). It is important for teachers to understand how their teaching strategies and procedures may not always work, and adapting to each student's needs is a decision worth the time and effort. Additionally, we cannot forget that the students we serve and teach are human beings, so connecting their academic performance to who they are as a person only sets the student up for failure, isolation, and frustration. 

In the class I co-taught, building a community was one of my main priorities. With remote learning, it was a challenge to express myself behind a screen because I was used to teaching in person and responding to students in real time. To get around that, I always posted a weekly announcement with a check-in survey and a personal message from me. It did take a significant amount of time to set up a new survey and message every week, but the students enjoyed them because they were heard, respected, and valued in the classroom. The engagement focus was something I did not realize I was using, and it does have its benefits, such as personalized teaching methods for each students and increased student participation. I can understand how the distribution of power to the students can be intimidating for some educators, and this is something we may never stop wondering about. Nevertheless, if a university department thrives on the engagement focus, can public schools implement that into their curricula?]]> 2020-08-19 02:01:21 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686362301 While they found (consistent with Cipani, 2008) that reward can be effective in controlling behavior, they also decrease intrinsic motivation for interesting activities even when the reward is offered as an indictor of good performance (Pinto, p.47) yok21 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686364417 Reward-Routine focused class management, I witnessed in a elementary school. Teachers were calling students' names who are paying attention to the teacher, like, "Max is paying attention to me, Sarah is now paying attention and not talking to a friend" so forth. All students were within 5 seconds quiet when the teacher did it. I think this is still OK to implement into my class, however, my culture, in Japan doesn't do much Reward approach in class because we know it doesn't work well. A research I read for example, having two group of students, one is with rewarding them "good work" often when they do assignments, and another without "good work" but gave them assignment with a little of challenge. The first group decreased their progress from the points of their assignments and the second group increased the point and gained their self-confident. We believe the way to praise for everything is not good for kids because they think they reached to the point where they don't need to give any effort anymore because they are good already. This is how human being and nothing wrong with it, but create more this type of  mentality in our students, would be not healthy at all. When Bucks system (a rewarding system that students can get the school Bucks for their good behavior from classroom teacher) was created at a Japanese Immersion School,  many Japanese teachers didn't like the system at all because of the research I mentioned and their culture is different. Also, it was not communicated about it with Japanese teachers before establishing the Bucks system and administrators didn't pay attention to their culture and values at all, even the school is Japanese immersion school! I think the discipline focus should be in some level important to keep for example at administrator level of discipline, and teachers are helpers for students that they don't go to the direction that they experience the punishment. There should be someone(Principal) at school, who has the discipline focused style and authority that students recognize it clearly there will be serious consequence. Some occasions that teachers need principals support and if he/she is in your class, all students should became quiet automatically because of the authority and punishment, but the principals are people whose approach is reward focus or engagement focus (unless the principals are working very long period with students with those non punishment focused and still be successful of their approach), then students are most likely don't change their behavior even though the principal is in their class. Then, parents talk about him/her and complain that the principal doesn't know how to discipline students. This is the reality at school. ]]> 2020-08-19 02:03:29 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686364417 jn217 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686441186 The part of the chapter that most resonated with me was table 3.1 on pages 39-41 that explained the critiques of the discipline focus. One of the things that I’ve been most concerned about is using discipline as a part  of classroom management because I do not tend to be harsh or enforce punishments. It did give me some relief that the traditional role of discipline does have some critiques and it may not be what is considered the best practice for classroom management. The first critique is listed on page 40 which states that punishment through a policy such as zero tolerance is ineffective because it can  ignite student hostility and erode a sense of school connectedness that is important for students to have. If a student is consistently getting in trouble school can become a difficult place to be and might lead to a student becoming disengaged because it is not considered a safe environment or very welcoming if they are always afraid that an adult will very easily punish them. This tension that exists can lead to further issues and resentment which is one of the things that I would not like to happen to any student. There is also research that shows that these policies disproportionately affect minority students who are also victimized by the achievement gap. It seems like discipline and achievement are intertwined so I feel better than being a disciplinarian is not something that I should want to become. The second point listed is that the root of the problem is not addressed because discipline only temporarily deals with an issue and does not account for other circumstances. If a student is constantly getting into trouble and being disengaged  it is important to understand why this student is struggling. I’d like to be able to make time to try and understand what each student is experiencing, but am not sure how I could do it because it takes a lot of effort to understand discipline from the students point of view as stated on page 42. Another critique that stood out to me was the emphasis being put on the teacher because it is very authoritative and I would like to give students an opportunity to help decide what should be proper discipline because it is something that I know I will need to continue to work on. Lastly, the notion of the deficit model being utilized by teachers is a part of the discipline that has a negative impact on students. The deficit model can also be seen when understanding the pygmalion effect which essentially confirms the existence of a self fulfilling prophecy where high expectations lead to high achievement and vice versa. The deficit model would be an example of a negative pygmalion effect because students who get labelled as disruptive or uncooperative may become even more so if they suspect that any authority figure in the school thinks poorly of them and are very willing to punish them. I think that a big part of culturally responsive pedagogy is to better understand why there are certain students who are considered more troublesome and work to find ways to fix larger issues that may be the main cause rather than focusing on the individual students actions. ]]> 2020-08-19 03:23:06 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686441186 "Older models of classroom management very much relied on punishment, though throughout the 20th century, teachers have recognized the importance of positive reinforcement, especially in culturally diverse classrooms. Positive reinforcements, while typically associated with a reward-and-routine focus, can be and are incorporated into a discipline-focused classroom." (Pinto, p.39) https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686447485 Punishment was a big threat all through my elementary education classrooms.  If the teacher was not inclined to do the punishment themselves, the offending student was marched to the principal's office.  I was not in a culturally diverse environment, but the positive reinforcement management approach was also used.  Overall it was the carrot and stick approach to motivating the student.  Some teachers were balanced in their approach while others relied more on either punishment or positive reinforcement .  The punishment  (fear-based) approach may have been expedient for keeping order in the classroom, but the reward based approach inspired curiosity and desire to learn.  ]]> 2020-08-19 03:29:42 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686447485 "That means we need to involve students in determining what will engage them." (Pinto, p. 52) kj251 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686456633 This reading was really interesting to me because I can think of instances when I have used or been part of a system that operated with all three of these types of classroom management. I find that I would like to make my classroom one that operates using engagement, but it is challenging sometimes. The quote I highlighted above relates to allowing students to be co-creators of knowledge in a room. I really do see the value in this approach for learning, but I find it very difficult to implement in a math classroom. It is challenging to create authentic exploratory opportunities that still address key competencies. I do agree with, and implement other areas of the engagement strategy often, but this one always seems to evade me. I worry that it undermines my efforts. In general I put in a large effort to get to know my students, be able to converse with them freely, understand what will and won't interest them in the room, what areas they may struggle in. I volunteer outside my classroom for clubs and events often, to build relationships. I find this does play a part in understanding and crafting lessons for my students, but it is not always the type of lesson where students are the creators of knowledge. This is something I would like to develop further in the future, in an effort to put culturally sustaining pedagogy in the forefront of my work. ]]> 2020-08-19 03:39:45 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686456633 “Punishment, of course, can come in many and less violent forms, from extra duties like detentions to revocation of privilege such as losing recess to being sent to the office.” and “Punishment is retribution for an offense, an exclusionary act by which students are removed from the opportunity to learn.” and “Here’s an alarming coincidence: U.S. achievement gap is a mirror image to the punishment gap.” (Pinto, p.38-41) zhanjun https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686503157 As Milner (2019) mentions in the book, These Kids Are Out of Control, "the way in which students are punished needs radical shifting, as the practices are not helping but hurting students." 
The practice of punishment resonates with me a lot. I was not the one in favor of punishment practice, but I was, working as an educator, involved in the school climate of punishment.
Sending misbehaving students to the office or letting them stand outside the classroom is a common method to deal with unexpected problems arising during instruction in my country of origin as well. The reasons are complicated. The primary one is that each class period's time is limited, while the designated amount of knowledge is vast. It seems "sensible" that educators in China must take advantage of every second toward teaching textbook knowledge rather than waste time on negotiation or discussion with related students. On the surficial level, the practice of punishment seems to be effective in the short-term. However, the potentially negative impact on so-called misbehavior students is substantial and cannot be ignored. 
Educators who use the punishment referrals are not just keeping students in another space but denying their access to experience learning. As Milner(2019) concludes, "Clearly, when students are not in the classroom because of practices that push them out of the classroom, such as in-school suspension, outside-of-school suspension, and expulsion, students suffer academically."
Besides, is punishment an effective way to deal with misbehavior, either in the long run or the short term? There is an instance noted in the book, Practical Classroom management, that "a child who hears 'I don't want to catch you doing that again … or else!' may quite reasonably reply (if only to herself), 'Fine. Next time you won't catch me'" (Kohn, 2006). Therefore, by punishment, it is not possible for students to correct their behaviors rather than strive to repeat it in the disguise of being good. If it works, why do teachers keep encountering problematic situations?
]]> 2020-08-19 04:26:49 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686503157 "... classroom conditions are unusual social situations that never occur in nonschool settings (crowding 30 people in to on small room, creating stressful social conditions). Then, requiring those people to sit quietly for an hour or more reading, writing, or answering a teacher's questions is highly abnormal social behavior." (Pinto, p. 41) tifs https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686524093 This sentence can be found in the critical response to the argument that discipline focused classroom management helps prepare students for "the real world" and I found myself pondering over it for a while. The reason being, probably, is that right before I graduated with a bachelor's degree in molecular biology, I realized I had no idea how to go about getting an actual paying job "doing science". When I went in to see one of my favorite professors to ask him what I should do to make the leap from school to work in my desired field, he recommended I attend Portland Community College to attain some sort of lab credential because their courses and programs are more "applied". I just sat there frozen because I could not believe what I was hearing. I could not believe that after 4 years of hard work, I had nothing absolutely no "real world" skills that I could count on to land me a job. Ultimately, I ended up volunteering in a friend's lab to gain experience and finally landed a job six months later. Here I am anecdoting, but this situation is real and it is a problem for many, many students. The fact that nothing about school mirrors the real world, yet there are so many teachers and parents that assert a certain sort of discipline in school will prepare them for the real world and there are a great many students who trust in this (and also many who don't).                    This quote, along with my lived experience, really prompted me to take some moments to ponder what actions I can take to ensure that the way I orchestrate my classroom resembles some relevant aspects of the "real world"  and that the lessons I teach/facilitate impart some practical experience that will be generalizable (is this not a word?) to students' lives outside their biology class and, ideally, outside of school. The short version of what I came up with is that committing to the culturally responsive maneuver of investing time in students to discern their strengths and working to build on those (Pinto, p. 53) and also committing to embed critical literacy bolstering exercises into lessons everyday learning may be the way to go. I think its really important that educators ask themselves daily, actually, "how does this work translate to 'real world' value for my students?" 

]]> 2020-08-19 04:51:46 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686524093 ckonstin https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686526669 Pinto pp. 45 “For younger students, routines may be more detailed and include processes for entering class, putting away coats, and shoes, lining up to leave the class, and so forth. In high school, routines may reflect a pattern of learning, with specific types of activities… that take place each class. Many successful teachers also prepare the room to minimize disruptions, plan lessons to flow smoothly, and design routines to maintain momentum.”

Elegance and Etiquette make a lot of sense in a daily routine especially when it comes to sports. Having the right gear, tons of fluids, nutritional needs post training, and certain stretching to be less prone to cramps or muscle injuries. This is the way I’ve been taught my entire existence. The Usonian way! In a school setting I find it to be different. Not a lot of kids want to be in school because they don’t love it. When you love something you do or play you want to be the best you can be at it. It’s very hard to understand for any student at a young age and I can see why using routines or rituals would be better in an elementary or middle school setting but not not so much in a high school environment.How come? Students in elementary middle school I feel are harder to deal with so discipline has to be tighter in order to reinforce the classroom setting. High school students are already exhausted from the previous 8 years and should have already learned at least a bit of dignity and humility within their learning processes (never was the case for me because high school was a nightmare). I’ll be frank, high school didn’t shape me up as well as it could have, especially since I fell in the 20 percent of the students

Curwin pp. 32  “who break rules on a somewhat regular basis. They do not blindly accept the classroom principles, and they fight the restrictions. Their motivation ranges from completely on to completely off, depending on what happened at home that morning or how they perceive the daily classroom activities. Their achievement can range from high to low, depending on the teacher, the class, or their expectations for success. These students need a clear set of expectations, and teachers must follow through with consequences” (Book: Discipline with dignity - new challenges, new solutions).


I mean the fact I left the country multiple times during high school tells you right there how much I needed a break from the crap they were spewing at me all the time. I will say there was one teacher I will never forget having though. He was honestly the teacher I hope to become one day. It was like his classes were never planned beforehand. He always came up with stuff on the fly. He challenged us beyond our thinking capabilities and introduced us to things that I think every kid should be exposed to at a young age. The real realities of the world. The true nature of man. Never in our comfort zones. Every class I walked to, I was excited to get ready for what was new in store and all the students looked up to the professor because we just got lost in everything he was doing. The games, the stories, the lessons, the teachings.It was like watching a ballet with heavy metal music playing as the orchestra. Unpredictable like nothing I’ve ever seen. This type of learning I think should be revolutionized in every school. The reasonings of the world we actually live in, not what society expects us to be. Instead, we should be rebellious believers to what we want, what we feel, and what we strive to become. 
“In all chaos there is the cosmos, in all disorder the secret order" Carl Jung. 
If you don’t understand this quote I’ll put it in layman terms. Chaos is the cosmos of where we live and who we are. Chaotic Beings who are all disordered in our unique way which leads us to discover ourselves, the one true self, me, I and why we are here. To simplify this ever further, the secret order is how chaos lives our lives. We never know what’s going to happen and this is how it should be lived. Don’t force life. If it’s meant to be it’s meant to be, if it's not it's not. Straightforward enough?

]]> 2020-08-19 04:55:07 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686526669 mwelton2 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686567397 "Discipline prepares kids for the “real world”. Requiring those people to sit quietly for an hour or more reading, writing, or answering a teacher’s questions is highly abnormal social behavior. Am I concerned with teaching students to understand and comply with existing school practices (conformity), or am I concerned with helping them recognize opportunities to make learning better (transformation)?"(Pinto, p.41)         
 
This particular passage made me re consider how discipline should be considered in a classroom. Personally, I’ve heard the same argument about preparing students for the “real world” However my favorite part was when the author questioned herself about the purpose of disciplining. I don’t think discipline prepare our students for real life situations. As a future teacher, I would like to prepare my students to question what they think it is not right. Not conformity helps us grow emotionally and physically. Also, we will have students with different personalities that can be our allies to make the learning process better.        
 
 "Rewards destroy intrinsic motivation. Using praise and rewards is meant to give students positive feedback for doing something well and encourage that good behavior" (Pinto, pg.47).   
  
Not only the more incentives students receive, the more they tend to view tasks negatively (Kohn, 1996) but also, rewards in my opinion helps fixing the indiscipline momentarily and not in a long run. What happens when students know that they won’t be rewarded? This type of focus is helpful in a classroom setup but not for real life situations which is also something that we are aiming for as educators.
]]> 2020-08-19 05:45:50 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/686567397 jehle3 https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/688448735 2020-08-19 23:51:16 UTC https://padlet.com/mathgeek_karen/itp511_wrr2_su20/wish/688448735