EDUC 308 Blog #1
My thoughts about behavior management within a classroom changed dramatically during 2020, specifically once I began my placement in a Kindergarten classroom. My mentor teacher has a child psychology background and explained the functions of behavior to me: to gain attention, to gain something tangible, to escape a situation/task, or to attend to sensory needs. In short, kids want to gain or escape something. This idea changed my thinking entirely, as it serves as the basis for why students do what they do. To further this, I recently took a position as a behavior technician with children who have autism. This has greatly reshaped my posture towards discipline, as well. Initially, I believed that classroom behavior could be summed up with "... if I respect the students, they'll respect and listen to me." While there may be some truth to this (and we should always respect our students) this leaves out the influence of age, trauma, culture, and many other factors that shape students' behaviors. Through the readings this week, my thoughts towards responsibility for actions changed dramatically, too. I realized that a student who is taught to take responsibility for their actions will be able to acknowledge the improvement and growth that is available.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteYes! 2020 I feel has shifted a lot of our thoughts especially when it comes to behavior management. I love the impact and insight your mentor teacher is providing you. That is so valuable when going through our course and planning for our future classrooms in this new educational world we now live in. Great connection made between Charles and Maslow! It is important the point you made about that if students do not understand the purposes, they may not see any point in adhering to them. This is vital in classroom management that we continue to find ways to reach these students. With you connecting with referent authority, do you think there is a certain aspect of this authority that is needed more now than ever?
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the feedback, Chelsea! In regard to referent authority, I believe this year has taught us how important connecting with our students and families across various cultures is. Specifically, the Black Lives Matter movement sparked a lot of reflection for me as a future teacher. Referent authority requires a teacher to remove biases and assumptions about students and families in order to create this positive connection with each member of your classroom. Research behind this authority base also suggests that minority students may be highly impacted, even more so than students who are not from marginalized groups/cultures.
DeleteWow Emily, I really loved your post, and I know that’s a generic response, but I definitely mean it genuinely in this case. I am going into educational psychology so I really identify with your mentor teacher’s statements. My daughter has autism, and she is definitely a “behaviors to escape” type of child. That is so awesome that you are a behavior tech, we use imagine and have a be our tech in our house 5 days a week from 3:45 to 6:45. This experience will prove invaluable, and I applaud you, placement, demanding job and full time student!!!! That’s amazing and I wish you so much luck! Thanks for such a thoughtful and well written blog post. -Alicen
ReplyDeleteAlicen,
DeleteI genuinely appreciate this feedback, as well! This response is so meaningful to me, especially now knowing that we have shared experiences in regard to behavior services. The job has definitely proved itself to be somewhat demanding, but I am grateful for the incredible experience it provides. I hope to be a better teacher one day because of it! My mentor teacher has also been a huge influence and turning point for how I view children that tend to have more challenging behaviors. Thanks again!