Isa-Teachers Blog

Classroom management is one (of the many) of the things that I am learning most about during my practicum. We weren’t taught classroom management at UBC, and everyday is a do or die learning experience as I implement it. One of the most profound things that I have learnt in the last week, is that instead of praising students who are doing things wrong/ calling out/ too noisy, I should be praising the students who are doing all of these things right. Going in to practicum I really had no idea about this concept and it is only something that I am picking up on now.

Not only can constantly calling students out for bad behavior make them feel bad about themselves, but they often don’t find it motivating enough to change. Hopefully LOTS of praise for the kids who are doing it right will be motivating for the rest, as well as acknowledging them when they deserve it.

I found it hard to be giving students praise during their work time because I thought the rest of the class wouldn’t hear it when they are all talking. But I am learning of more opportunities to sneak it in when they class will hear it, like after I clap, ring the bell, or count down to get their attention (“Thank you to John, Suzie, Laura, ect. for stopping and listening when I clapped”), or when I use mini white boards with the class (“Wow John has an excellent representation on his white board”). It is harder to do it when the class is not fully quiet because I feel like I am yelling over the noise just so they will hear me praising certain students, but I will still try to do it when ever I get the chance.

This week was a very important week of my practicum.

As a student teacher, there is so much to learn, and you don’t even really realize how much there is to learn until you start teaching.  Even great teachers will always find ways to continuously improve their teaching style. It has been a bit difficult for me because I have focused too much on that fact that I have so much to learn. However, I am taking for granted how far I have already come.

Wednesday was a ground breaking day for me because I had an observation by my principle which I was quiet nervous about, but I am happy to say that is went very well. This week was also really great for me because I talked to a lot of teachers who feel exactly like I do, including the principle. Many experienced teachers feel just like I do, in terms of constantly improving their style and lessons, and also have struggles all the time with behavior management or planning. I heard so many teachers talk about this this week without me even bringing it up. It made me feel at ease.

Ultimately, you cant expect perfection as a teacher because you are hardly ever going to achieve it with a dynamic of 30 crazy kids, endless unexpected situations, and infinite information on teaching methodology. I learned that I have to lighten up, have more fun with my journey, and take on 1 or 2 things to improve on at a time.

It is definitely a challenge to get students to think “deeper” during class discussions. Often many students are so eager to participate in conversations, but they havent really thought about their answers. You can ask them questions like “How do you think the boy felt about that?” and many will answer “Happy”. As students grow older, you want them to think a bit more critically, but getting them to do that is not simple.

I think it is important to pose questions that look for multiple points of answer, and to leave questions open ended. Here are some examples.

• Explain how/why…
• Describe how/why…
• In what ways…
• How do you know that…

Other things to consider are to provide wait time after questioning, and allowing student to think/pair/share before answering questions.

I think I still have a lot to learn about deepening students answers through my questioning as it is still hard for me to answer this myself. It is not straight forward and it frequently very different between subjects.

Personally, I find lesson observations extremely helpful. Sometimes, it is hard to remember all of the questions I have for my SA when we are having discussions, but when she is observing me she sees exactly what I need to work on, and we can talk about it after. I look forward to the feedback that I get from my observations.

Since my class is very chatty, most of my feedback revolves around children calling out during lessons, or the class getting too noisy. In regards to students calling out during my lessons (when I am at the front) it is often hard for me to not answer their questions even when they dont put their hand up. I think it is because I have never talked to people who put their hands up when they have a question (in real life), so this is very un natural. Normally if someone has a question, they just ask it. I find however, that I am getting better at telling students that I will not answer their questions unless their hand is up. The  feedback that I received to disregard questions when students do not put their hand up was very helpful.

However, I have found that some of the classroom management techniques that my SA uses are not working as well for me as they do for her. I am wondering if different methods just work better for different people, but I am not sure why. Although I highly respect my SA and all the feedback she gives me, there are some things that I think I will do differently. I suppose that my practicum time does not have to be 100% exactly how my SA teaches.

An, S. A., Tillman, D. A., Boren, R. & Wang, J. (2014). Fostering Elementary Students’ Mathematics Disposition through Music-Mathematics Integrated Lessons. International Journal for Mathematics Teaching & Learning,  p1-19

Through a controlled study students used mathematics knowledge to answer mathematical tasks constructed from music. Participants in this study had multiple opportunities to experience the applications of mathematics in the real life situations such as using mathematical knowledge to compose music and design musical instruments. Results of this study demonstrated that despite statistically equivalent pretest scores prior to the intervention, after the intervention the music group students had statistically significantly higher positive mathematics dispositions scores than their non-music group peers. These findings prove that there are advantages to teachers utilizing music-themed activities as a context for offering students the opportunity to learn mathematics in a challenging yet enjoyable learning environment.

Bundick, M. J., Quaglia, R. J., Corso, M. J., & Haywood, D. E. (2014). Promoting Student Engagement in the Classroom. Teachers College Record, 116(4).

This article focuses on the importance of student–teacher relationships, the relevance of the content to the students, and teachers’ pedagogical and curricular competence. The authors suggest that a student is more engaged in school when the students perception of the teacher is supportive, invested, caring, fair, and respectful. Additionally, the more relevant students perceive the content of the class to be, the more likely they are to be engaged by it. Finally, when teachers exhibit competence in both their subject area and craft, they will be more likely to earn the respect of the students.

Heafner, T. (2004). Using technology to motivate students to learn social studies. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 4(1), 42-53.

This article investigates the use of technology in motivating students. The article describes a case study in a grade 9 and 10 social studies class. Students in this study created a PowerPoint. They reported that they enjoyed working on the project with technology because they viewed technology as engaging, entertaining, and easier and fun to do. Students also said that their work was neater , the overall presentation was more professional and were able to find more information about their topics. Finally students reported that they were working with technology gave them opportunity to refine their technology skills. Overall it seems evident that technology offers many benefits to enhance education as well as increase student motivation.

Jones, J. L., Jones, K. A., & Vermette, P. J. (2013) Why Don’t Students Like School? Willingham, Perkins, and a Comprehensive Model of School Reform. Educational forum, 77(2), 199-206.

This resource describes 4 principles to follow for teaching and learning. All of these principles can we used an methods to increase motivation, such as “Principle 1: Intrinsic motivation is essential to getting students to invest their energies in school based work”. This article explains and expands on each principle in a straight forward way, and gives guidance for teachers under each one.

Moberly, D. A., Waddle, J. L., & Duff, R. E. (2005). The Use of Rewards and Punishment in Early Childhood Classrooms. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 25, pp. 359-366.

This article cautions against the overuse of extrinsic motivation, specifically rewards and punishment. The authors argue that when extrinsic motivation is used, we are not helping the children learn and respond to their own needs and learn acceptable prosocial behaviors or participate in social problem solving. The reliance on extrinsic motivation can cause intrinsic motivation to decline. The authors believe that developing a sense of community within the class is important to motivate students.

Unrau, N., Ragusa, G., & Bowers, E. (2015). Teachers focus on motivation for reading: “it’s all about knowing the relationship”. Reading Psychology, 36(2), 105-144.

This article focuses on SEL as a method to building students motivation. Although this article focuses on reading, it has a lengthy section titled “Interpersonal theory in the classroom”. This section highlights the importance of building a positive relationship between student and teacher, and how those bonds build trust, reduce anxiety, and foster growth.

Wu, X., Anderson, R. C., Nguyen-Jahiel, K., Miller, B. (2013). Enhancing Motivation and Engagement Through Collaborative Discussion. Journal of Educational Psychology (105)3, pp. 622-633.

In this article, the authors compared students’ motivation and engagement during a peer- led small group discussion with a conventional teacher-led whole class discussion. The results showed that collaborative discussions produced greater interest and engagement than conventional discussions. The students experienced gratification from peer collaboration, greater self-confidence and a greater sense of personal agency.

For my last post about motivation, I thought it would be beneficial to examine reasons why students are unmotivated at school. First off, about 40% of students are disengaged from school by high school.  The lack of motivation begins early in elementary school when kids are NOT SUCCESSFUL in mastering the basic operations of arithmetic and are NOT fluent readers. Therefore, early intervention during elementary school is key. Elementary school teachers really have the task of paving the way how children will look at learning for the rest of their life (yelp!). Elementary school teachers need to watch out for these key reasons why students may be unmotivated.

1.The student is unmotivated because he or she cannot do the assigned work.

2.  The student is unmotivated because the ‘response effort’ needed to complete the assigned work seems too great.

3. The student is unmotivated because classroom instruction does not engage.

4. The student is unmotivated because he or she fails to see an adequate pay-off to doing the assigned work.

5. The student is unmotivated because of low self efficacy—lack of confidence that he or she can do the assigned work.

6. The student is unmotivated because he or she lacks a positive relationship with the teacher.

(These 6 reasons were taken from http://www.fehb.org/CSE/CCSEConference2012/wright_CCSE_Conference_Breakout_Motiv_Students_15_Mar_2012.pdf  )

Engagement with material is critical for learning. By giving students a sense of autonomy, they will probably be more engaged in the learning if they feel that they have some choice in what they choose to do. It empowers students by giving them control over what they are learning. Providing opportunities for choice stimulates students’ natural curiosity and eagerness to learn. Teachers can give choices to the students whenever possible in order to bring in autonomy. These choices could include what could be the sequence of topics in a unit, what would they like to learn about a particular topic, in what ways can they be evaluated, would the students like to do presentations on the topic, who would volunteer to present, ect. Being involved in some of the planning helps the students feel closely related to the course and enhances their intrinsic motivation to do the things required for the course.

Any classroom teacher that has an EA knows that they are much appreciated. I am truly thankful that the practicum class that I am working in has 2 EA’s! We have several students who need support. 1 child has autism+OCD, another has a chromosome disorder, and another is extremely defiant. It is such a weight off my shoulders knowing that when an outburst happens during one of my lessons I can keep going and an EA just jumps in to handle the situation. There is already SO much going on and I cant imagine our class without the support of our EA’s. Additionally, There are times when the student who needs support is working independently, and the EA is another adult in the classroom who can help other kids.

However, as thankful as I am to have them, there is a small downside. I don’t have a lot of opportunities to diffuse the situation with the autistic boy in our class because the EA is very on top of her job (in a good way). The boy with autism has a hard time listening and respecting any TOC that comes in our classroom or anyone that he isn’t used to. I’m worried that he wont respect me when my long practicum time comes. He is very dismissive to anyone other than my practicum teacher or the EA he is used to. Due to his Autism+OCD, this is just the way he is. It is extremely difficult to get through to him. I feel as though I have the least relationship with him compared to anyone in the classroom, and im sure my practicum teacher feels the same way because the EA takes care of him so well. Im not sure if this is a missed out opportunity to get experience working with children like him, or if I am just better off because he can be very disruptive without his EA.

I hope that I can make small steps to getting to know him better when my full time practicum comes along. I will have more time in the classroom. I am not expecting to make a major breakthrough, but I am just hoping he can respect me.

I think it is easily agreed upon that everybody enjoys music. I was not surprised to find a few articles that verified by hunch that music can be motivating for students during school.

Through a controlled study by An, Tillman, Boren, and Wang (2014) students used mathematics knowledge to answer mathematical tasks constructed from music. Participants in this study had multiple opportunities to experience the applications of mathematics in the real life situations such as using mathematical knowledge to compose music and design musical instruments. Results of this study demonstrated that despite statistically equivalent pretest scores prior to the intervention, after the intervention the music group students had statistically significantly higher positive mathematics dispositions scores than their non-music group peers. These findings prove that there are advantages to teachers utilizing music-themed activities as a context for offering students the opportunity to learn mathematics in a challenging yet enjoyable learning environment.

Additionally, another study proved that playing music in the background during physical education motivated students, and increased their regulation and general liking for the lessons (Digelidis, Karageorghis, Papapavlou, Papaioannou, 2014). Although I do not have any problems with motivation for PE, I am assuming that this would also be significant during other subjects.

I think it would be a good idea to incorporate singing in lessons, as well as play background music. Music is also great for transition times and behavior management to get students attention. I think students would enjoy this and would be more motivated to work.

The other day I taught an impromptu badminton lesson for PE. This lesson was planned literally minutes before. Although I really like badminton, im not sure how the students felt. Many were great at it and many were unable to hit the birdie after continuous attempts during their rally time. Some of these children wanted to give up and were not enjoying the lesson. Others were frustrated that they were playing with someone who didnt play well. The point of my story is, that although the class told me that they had played badminton before, because I did not take small enough steps in to teaching the lesson, many probably felt discouraged to play again in the future. Taking small steps is important because when a student feels overly challenged, they will not enjoy the process and will want to give up. Often students dont understand that practicing something difficult takes time to get better at it, so a slow progression is so important to make them feel capable. This in applicable to all subject areas, and not just sports.

For the future, I feel as though I could let the students practice hitting the racket to get a feel for the technique, then hitting the birdie through a hula hoop to practice aim and power.