9/19: Creating a Positive Learning Environment and Addressing Misbehavior

In addition to the textbook, I have found a couple of scholarly articles that offer suggestions for creating a positive learning environment. The first article offers what the author calls a Positive Learning Framework, which the author breaks down into three phases of implementation. The first phase involves preparation for preventing misbehavior. Prevention is a virtue in this model, and methods of prevention range from maintaining high expectations and with-it-ness (something the textbook touches on as well) to acknowledging good behavior and maintaining consistent classroom procedures to give students a sense of structure. Prevention through lesson design and instructional techniques embodies the next step. Preventive measures in this category include fostering academic hunger through motivation (Ormrod offers tips in Chapter 11), implementing frequent checks on student understanding, incorporating authentic activities, and sharing the next phase of the lesson plan so students are not surprised. If the previous two methods of prevention fail, methods for corrective action, the third phase, must be employed. But I will save that for a following paragraph on addressing misbehavior. (Positive Learning Framework: Creating Learning Environments in Which All Children Thrive

McDonald, Tim. Reclaiming Children and Youth19.2 (2010): 16-20.).

            The next article offers a four-phase model that the author refers to as Positive Behavior Support.  PBS operates on the notion that teachers can predict which students are at risk for misbehaving and then implement interventions before misbehavior escalates. The four steps include prediction, prevention (see a trend here?), consistency and assessment of procedures, which may include self and student evaluation. In addition to the physical configuration of the classroom, the author suggests acknowledging good behavior goes a long way in maintaining a positive learning atmosphere. Indeed, acknowledging positive behavior may be as important as acknowledging bad behavior. (Positive Behavior Support in the Classroom: Facilitating Behaviorally Inclusive Learning Environments. Scott, Terrance M.; Park, Kristy Lee; Swain-Bradway, Jessica; Landers, Eric. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy3.2 (2007): 223-235.)

            Of course, the textbook contains invaluable advice on learning environments as well. Without providing an exhaustive list, Ormrod suggests making activities authentic, maintaining high expectations, allowing students to make decisions, acknowledging students can have off days, making sure students are always doing something (especially in transition times), and establishing only a few, important rules at the beginning of the semester (Ormrod Chapter 13). Page 467 in Ormrod’s text offers a convenient chart. As with the previous authors, Ormrod touches on how important the physical arrangement of the classroom is to learning. Establishing efficient traffic patterns, seating misbehaving students close to your desk, and maintaining a view of every student (Panopticism is an interesting topic and one of the major principles of prison architecture) helps create an atmosphere conducive to learning.

            Keeping the major aforementioned themes in mind will be helpful when addressing the CSEL case study. I have the High School case study, where three students disrupt their peers who are productively engaging in the subject matter and refuse to follow the agreed-upon class procedures. Assuming that I have stressed the classroom rules and procedures in a productive way and the students still choose to misbehave and ignore my reprimands, prevention is out of the question. And since the behavior is disruptive and possibly contagious, I cannot ignore it either (Ormrod Chapter 13). An article by Brady et al offers suggestions I would include in my intervention. First I would nonverbally cue to the students that I am aware of their behavior possibly by glancing or staring at them. With the case study in mind, though, cueing along would seem to be ineffective, and since they have already disrupted the class, I would not have to worry about any action on my part being disruptive to the lesson. The misbehavior appears to be what Brady et al refer to as a moderate disruption. To remedy this, I would attempt to identify the students’ motivation. Once they had disregarded the rules, I would engage them verbally in private. This could be done in either a relaxed, non-instructional setting or simply after class or school. Making the meeting private is essential, though, in order for the students to maintain their dignity (Ormrod, Brady et al). I would ask the students to explain their behavior and listen empathetically, occasionally summarizing what I believe to be their points (Ormrod). (Responding to Misbehavior, Brady, Kathryn; Forton, Mary Beth; Porter, Deborah. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review77.7 (March 2012): 25-28.)

If the students kept misbehaving, I would get the parents involved. I would have called, emailed, or met with the parents earlier in the semester to lay the groundwork for a positive relationship. By sharing positive messages with them, they would not feel affronted later on when I shared disciplinary issues. Through some form of communication, I would share my concerns with the parents, engage them in a discussion about possible solutions, and emphatically listen to their questions and concerns. If the solutions hammered out in the parent discussions did not work, I would then implement by own interventions in an effort to help the students behave more productively. Ormrod suggests using a behaviorist approach to help the students. This could include implementing positive and negative reinforcers and positive and negative punishments to condition the students’ behaviors. I must be sure that my punishments are both constructive and logical, however. They must be relevant to the situation, realistic to implement, and respectful to the students (Brady et al). Should the students refuse to alter their behaviors, I would consult the principal and school administration as a last resort. 

9/12: Motivation

Among the theoretical approaches to motivation listed in the book, I resonate with the cognitive approach to studying motivation. This approach considers how mental and emotional factors affect perceptions, which in turn affect student engagement in learning. The book gives the examples of a learner’s sense of self-determination, locus of control and self-worth influencing their behavior. Student autonomy is certainly an important component to consider when constructing activities. For instance, the book mentions how rules can undermine intrinsic motivation and make activities feel more like work than play. If activities seem more like play than work, then students will be more motivated to participate in the activities. Locus of control refers to whether students interpret outcomes as controllable or not. For example, if a student believes she did well or poorly on a test simply because of what the teacher put on the test, her locus of control is external, and she may not be motivated to study. Self-worth is considered a basic human need and involves how capable one believes he or she is. Self-worth is related to other concepts of motivation in the chapter. For instance, if a student doesn’t believe in himself and thinks he isn’t capable, then he has a low self-worth and an internal locus of control.

            Self-worth and locus of control are two factors of motivation I consider to be integral to success in the classroom. As Hsieh et.al put it, students “need to develop a strong belief that they are capable of completing tasks successfully” (Hsieh et. al 2007). The teacher project today on self-wroth really made me reflect on how important one’s sense of capability is to education. My group completed the easy puzzle too quickly, and, as a result, our self worth was not as high as it could have been. The groups with the huge puzzles had little chance of completing the task. Though their long-term self-worth may not have taken a hit, they felt less motivated when they didn’t believe they could complete the task. In my future class, I would like to begin the year with a somewhat similar activity. I would group the students randomly and give them an easy task (say a 25-piece puzzle) to complete in a given time limit. After that, I would give the groups a more difficult task (say a 75-piece puzzle) to complete. After all of the groups completed the more difficult task, I would have them reflect on the exercise. Then I would tell them that despite their past experiences, they were all able to collaborate on and complete a task. I would reveal to them that they have the ability to do well in the class if they maintain the same attitude all year. Hopefully, this would increase their self-worth and motivate them to learn in my class. 

9/3: Assessment Strategies

Formal assessments are the method of testing knowledge with which I am most acquainted. Formal assessments offer a broad range of exercises to be employed and are commonplace in all classrooms. For such an assessment, I would distribute among my students a rough study guide listing the date of the exam, the exam’s format, and what I expect the students to know. For example, if my class had recently finished covering the American Revolution, I may ask my students to list and defend causes of the Revolution.  I would use this as a summative assessment to gauge my student’s knowledge and alter my teaching strategy or pace to facilitate their learning. Informal assessments are trickier. I would observe my students’ behaviors and responses to questions. Though this strategy is somewhat generic, I expect it to be effective nonetheless. For example, if a student mentions Theodore Roosevelt during a section on World War II, I can interpret that perhaps the student may be having some difficulties with chronology.

Traditional assessments are as ubiquitous as formal assessments and operate within a similar vein. To give a traditional assessment, I would administer a mixed format, true/false and multiple-choice exam including causes for and effects of historical events. To make this assessment authentic, I would have students assume the mindset of a particular historical group and have them debate an issue. For example, continuing with the theme of the American Revolution, I could randomly divide students into groups and have them argue for and against going to war with Great Britain in the context of the 1760s and 1770s.

Criterion-reference and norm-reference assessment differ on the technique used to grade the assessment. Though I would not administer norm-referenced tests often in my classroom, I can see the utility of this method. For this assessment, I would present the students with a chronology of items or events and have them place the items in the correct order. By grading the results against the class as a group, the assessment would be norm-referenced. By grading the results based solely on the number of items correct, the assessment would be criterion referenced. I might use the results to encourage the top scores to consider the historical field as a work/college option and discuss with the lowest performers why they think they did not do well.

Though paper-pencil assessments are more commonplace than performance assessments, both have their palace in the classroom. For a simple paper-pencil assessment, I would give the students a list of names and events and have them write on the historical significance of each item listed. An example may include writing on how the American colonists interpreted the Stamp Act as an attack upon their liberties and organized in both formal and informal arenas to protest the duties. For a performance assessment, I would have students assume the identity of a historical figure, Benjamin Franklin for example, and give an oral presentation on that person’s significance within the context of our class discussions. This type of assessment would test the student’s knowledge and help them develop invaluable, practical skills.

I imagine most of my assessments will be teacher-developed since I wish to assess students on what I have been teaching. For a teacher-developed assessment, I would go back over my lesson plan and reflect on what topics I focused on most during class to draft a relatively open-ended, short answer exam. Conversely, if I wished to test the students against what a more formal entity (the state) expected them to know, I would administer a standardized test. To do this, I could give the students an AP practice assessment, Document Based Question, or an assessment developed by a testing company. I would use the results to alter my lesson plan to meet the expectations of the state and improve my students learning.