Classroom Reflection

Classroom Reflection: Week 1

Research: 

    For this week, I chose my research to be my Ed Psych binder because there is plenty of information in it that can help me manage my classroom better. I am focusing on Chapter 3 which is "Behavioral Views of Learning". This chapter goes over the different ways we as teachers can help manage the behaviors in our classroom. Mentioned in the next section is what I have been using in the classroom which is from the chapter. Something that I think can help me gather the students and keep them silent when I am speaking is reinforcing them with positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, presentation reinforcement, and removal punishment. There 4 different things that can all come together to obtain a desired behavior. In my case, I can praise the students (Verbally) when they are doing the correct things, use my bell when they are being too loud, take away something that they enjoy (like the PBIS shop for a class period), and take it further to where my CT deals with the situation. After rereading this chapter and the notes, I feel confident I can change the ways I manage the students who continue to misbehave in the classroom. 

In Field: 

    This week was a bit chaotic. I know that since it was my first week teaching in the classroom, it wasn't going to be easy. The students are still gathering that I am new, I am teaching them, and I will set management in the classroom. I didn't take much of it to heart because this is something new and I am learning from the process. I feel like in the classroom to gather my students' attention, I am using a negative reinforcement with the bell. In Ed Pysch, Dr. Dee used the example of hurrying up to put your seatbelt on to make the annoying noise (or the aversive stimulus) go away. I feel like, my negative reinforcement is the bell. The bell is the annoying sound that will start to fade when they become quiet or quiet down. I also think this could be considered a "cue" because it indicates that they need to quiet down so I can speak or they can hear the instructions. I also feel as if the students are getting better and are adapting to my presence as a teacher in the classroom!  

Personal Connection: 

    In middle school, I can remember the countless amount of times teachers used different cues and reinforcement to regather the class and get us back on track. One I can remember so well is the themed claps. These always brought us back into a quiet space where the teachers could talk. Another one was turning the lights on and back on to get our attention. I feel like I was always good at listening to the teacher's instructions and these never applied to me exactly but I wouldn't be surprised if it did (I was a middle schooler, naturally loud lol). 

Future Classroom: 

    In my classroom, I want students to be able to recognize, respect, and understand my rules. I want to have different signals they understand so when I need to get their attention, I do not need to yell over them. I never want to present myself as a scary teacher that screams. I also want to set clear expectations of noise control for the class (which will be a classroom rule). I know sometimes it's hard to not get excited about being able to talk with friends and work on projects, but there still is a limit on how loud they can be inside. I can use the reinforcement mentioned above to give the students a "look for" that they can understand.