Record of Assignments Name of Student: Christina Quinn
Pre-Adolescence
W: What you want to know (curiosities)
I would like to learn how to deal with a student who may constantly interrupts a teacher while teaching or disrupts activities. I would like to know strategies for dealing with disruptive students and learning why they are behaving this way. While at my observation site, I am curious to see if a boy named Tim still goes to the program. He was a 5th grader last year who was in latchkey and did not like to respect the supervisors in charge. Latchkey is a before and after school program for kids in 1st through 6th grade. I am curious if a supervisor working latchkey now has figured out a method that works to keep Tim from interrupting and not following the rules.
L: What you learned
[Directions: First we will formulate RAR prompts for the four categories listed below (physical cognitive, emotional, and social). These prompts should relate back to your three curiosities listed above. Technologically speaking, add widget anchors here for easier reading, then delete instructions in the brackets]
Physical
Cognitive
Emotional
Social
Observation Site Information
A. Site details:
Name of site: Latchkey Ayer Elementary and Latchkey at Locust Corner Elementary School
Link to site: Old job/ working with YMCA
Contact person: Megan
B. Describe your setting
I am observing a before and after care site at Ayer Elementary. Kids come here 2 1/2 hours before school starts or 2 1/2 hours after school or both while their parents are at work or unable to be with them. I worked at this latchkey program last year and was a supervisor and will be returning to work sometime soon. The kids that go to this program range from 1st grade through 6th grade.
During the 2 1/2 hours that the kids are with us before or after school we will usually organize games to play with them, feel them snacks, and also have homework time. I was a supervisor at this site last year and worked every morning and afternoon with the kids. Spending this much time with them allowed me to get to know the kids behaviors very well. One boy, we will call him Tim, would often interrupt during discussions, argue with supervisors, and be more difficult with following direction. I will be observing the kids behaviors in this program to see how they have changed and pay special attention to Tim's behaviour. I will also talk to another supervisor about his strategies to dealing with interruptions from Tim.
C. Describe what you did at the site (free-write/journal formatting)
1st visit (2 hours):
This visit was interesting because it was with kids who I did not know. It was at a school where I have never worked called Locust Corner Elementary School. Their were a lot less kids at this elementary after school Latchkey program than the one where I worked. There were about 15-20 kids in this program compared to the 30+ at the one I worked at. The lady in charge was named Laura and she was very nice and open to talk about anything.
You could tell the kids had the utmost respect for her because they seemed to not interrupt and pay attention very well when she was speaking. The first thing the kids did was sit down and listen as she made some announcements. Then she would call them one by one to wash their hands and they would get their snack. They ate their snack and one boy came up to Laura and asked for another snack and she let him have another but no one else got a second. After they had their snack the kids did their homework and if they did not have homework they read. The room was quiet and the kids didn't talk. After they finished reading and doing their homework she took them in the gym and played some kickball. She was the pitcher and you could also tell she was the ref in charge of calling all out of bounds or close calls. Parents came to get their kids one by one and the group slowly got smaller. As it was getting smaller the kickball game ended and the kids started to play tag or kick a ball by themselves. As this was happening I could talk more to Laura about her job and such.
This was one of the most interesting parts of the day. She told me she had been working there for a certain number of years. I forget the exact number but I think it was like 20+. She told me about each kids individual story basically. For example one boy who was from China. I didn't even realize it until his mom came in and you could tell spoke little English. She told me how he had trouble learning the new language and often got Chinese and English confused and found it harder than most kids to communicate. This made more sense now why during the kickball game he seemed kind of in his own world. She also would repeat things to him more times than to the other kids. However, I would have never known this unless she told me because when he did speak, although it was less than others, he had no accent and seemed to understand conversation.
Another boy she mentioned was a boy who was in the upper grades possibly 5th grade. I noticed no difference between him and another kid and wouldn't have thought twice until she told me the background to his story. Apparently he had some anger issues and she talked about how she had to deal with him different than other children because he could cause such a scene. He also apparently had ADHD and was on medicine for this. I did not notice any hyperactive behavior at all during the visit so his meds must work pretty well. However, he was a very thin boy and she told me how his medicine affects his appetite and often he doesn't eat and then every once in awhile will be very hungry. And then it made sense why he was the only kid who got an extra snack when he asked. She also mentioned that when he does want to eat more she will always let him because that doesn't happen often. This boy also had issues she discussed with me. She told me he had some anger issues and was often a stubborn kid. One way she dealt with this is talking to the rest of the students before he joined the group. She told the group something like this, she said a new boy is coming and he may be difficult or frustrating to deal with. But we all need to learn to get along and sometimes be more patient with him. However, during my observation I didn't notice any difference in this boy from the others. He also was different from others because of an accident he had when he was little. His dad took him and his brother golfing and while his brother was swinging the golf club the little boy got in the way and it hit his head. He must have had swelling to the inside of the brain because he had to go to the hospital and a plate with screws was in his head. From this accident she told me that he also had some memory loss. She also said the little boy would tell her to feel the screw in his head and she said that always grossed her out. However, as i mentioned before I would have never noticed this if she didn't tell me. He appeared no different than the other kids but had such an interesting background story once she told me.
Another interesting part of the day was how she interacted with two little girls. I didn't even realize that they were sisters until she told me this later during the day. The one little girl who had a long blonde pony tail was constantly causing people to get made. She would grab the kick ball away from people during the game and not give it back. She also would take pieces of someones game as they were trying to play. I believe it was a sorry piece that they were playing. Laura mentioned that this one sister seemed to cause a fuss often. She gave her many warning during the dodgeball game. When she stole the board piece she made her sit out for five minutes. When her mom came to pick the sisters up Laura told the mom that the one little girl had a bad day. She said that she was taking things from the other kids and wasn't treating them the way she would want to be treated. The mom said that they would be having a conversation about her behavior later. I think this was a good idea because parents should be aware of their kids behavior and maybe the mom will further help the little girl not to behave like this again.
2nd visit (2 hours):
This visit was at the same before and after care program but it was at Ayer Elementary. So this was a new group of kids different from my other visit. This is also the school where I worked last year. So once I got there I asked the new guy that works their if I could see the attendance sheet to see if I will know the kids and to see if Tim is still in the program. I found out Tim is still in the program however he only comes in the morning which I was visiting in the afternoon. But I did atleast get to talk to the new person that works at this school to see if he had any of the same problems. I asked him if any kids gave him problems or if John gave him trouble. He mentioned other kids in the morning that caused him a lot of trouble but he didn't seem to say much about John. I found it odd that he had no complaints about Tim but I learned later that this may have partially because of his style of maintenance and controlling the kids.
I was still very interested to hear about the problems that were happening with other kids though. He actually mentioned 2 boys who were new to the program. He said that these two boys were actually friends but they got into fights in the morning on a daily occurrence. Since these two boys are friends I wondered if maybe this interaction was rough and tumble play or actual fights. I also learned that one of little boys who was involved actually was diagnosed with autism. It was described as the type of autism where he would have random outbursts. He also struggled with behaving appropriately. He struggles with keeping his hands to himself and also will say things that are inappropriate.
So when the kids got dismissed from school a lot of them were excited to see me again and giving me hugs and such. I also learned that Michael had a much different style of organization and discipline. When I worked there the kids would sit the at the first two tables and eat snack. They needed to sit as they were eating and we did not let them play games. When the kids got dismissed from school they seemed to have no routine anymore. A few of the boys were actually running around the cafeteria playing tag or some sort of running game. A girl named Cora and another boy were trying to do some sort of jump rope game with a long rope she made out of rubber bands. None of the kids were sitting and being quiet as they used to be told to do. I realized that either Michael has a much different style of running the after school program or he was not quite sure yet how to keep the kids calm after they got dismissed from school. After they got their snacks, which had no order at all, they eventually gave the kids the option of going outside to play or staying inside. Michael stayed inside with that group of kids and I went outside with the other girl Emily.
I learned as we were going outside that Emily was also a very soft spoken person. She only worked at this school on tuesday afternoons. She said that whenever she was at Ayer the kids were pretty crazy and there was little control. She mentioned how she worked at different elementary schools and enjoyed working at those school more. When she went outside she brought a book that she had planned on reading outside. This did not make sense to me at all. I thought she should have been paying much more attention to what the kids were doing instead of bringing a book outside to read. Especially since some of the boys could get a little rough when they were playing. However, while they were on the play ground none of the kids seemed to get into any fights. I almost wondered if the kids had learned their own discipline system within just the kids because the adults did not seem to have a good system for them.
3rd visit (1 hour):
This visit I was at Ayer Elementary again. The two people that were working this afternoon were Michael and another girl named Lauren. Before the kids came I learned a little about Lauren. She was an education major who was trying to get a teaching job. She had worked with this program and the summer camp program with the YMCA for quite a few years. When the kids came to the cafeteria today I learned that Lauren did have a good control over the kids and knew how to get them to be quite and they behaved well for her. However, she also had a lot more experience than the others who had worked there. When the kids were dismissed and came into the cafeteria it was clear that the kids listened to Lauren and she had experience working with them. The kids were not running around the cafeteria when they were dismissed. Some kids were sitting, some were playing board games, and some were playing with their band lombs (rubber band braclets). She called the kids up by grades to get their snacks and made them sit at tables while they were eating. It seemed like a much more calm environment this day and you could tell it was because Lauren was there.
Since it was colder this day they decided to let the kids go to the gym or stay in the cafeteria if they wanted. The group of kids that went to the gym to play went with Lauren. When we got to the gym she told the kids they were playing a game that they all seemed to know. She picked 4 kids to be people called "throwers" and the rest of the kids were "runners". This was a new game I had never heard of. There were 4 kids in the middle of the gym floor who got all of the small dodge balls. All the other kids ran in a circle around the gym avoiding being hit by the balls being thrown by the kids in the middle. There were a few mats set up to act as coverage for the runners however they could not stay behind a mat for more than 10 seconds. I enjoyed watching the kids play this game because they were having fun and there were little arguments during it. The only arguments that occurred were did the ball touch a runner or did it not. These issues were solved by Lauren saying what happened if she saw it or rock paper scissors between the two people if she did not see it.
D. Summarize and describe your experience in relation to the concepts in our textbook
Physical
As I am starting to learn more about children who behave badly or are acting out in class I see it is more individual based and situational for each person. So what I am learning is each kid who may act out during class has different reasons than another child. I think I have learned from this book some physical reasons for why a student would behave this way. One reason may be that puberty will often cause children to behave more intensely. The neurons become more responsive to excitatory neurotransmitters which will lead to kids reacting more strongly to a stressful situation (288). So this may be an explanation why a child is reacting so strongly when he gets upset about losing a game or not doing well on homework. Another physical issue that could be responsible for outbursts is the timing that a child goes through puberty. It is shown that it is more accepted for girls who go through puberty later and greater accepted for boys who go through puberty earlier (288). The other side to this is that early maturing girls and late maturing boys may face difficulties with peers or feel uncomfortable because of societies views on this. So explanations for children who are clearly experiencing difficulties with schools or difficulties with peers may be explained by their level of physical maturing compared to the level of their peers maturing.
Cognitive
It is important to note that kids in the grades I will be teaching and also in the program I have worked are going through changes in their developmental learning. For example, as Piagets theory kids go through stages of learning. One of the stages children go through is the concrete operational stage. This ranges but usually occurs from 7-11 years old. It is a change in thought processing where the kids begin to be more logical, flexible, and organized than it was earlier. I could see a child who has not come to this stage yet. when his peers have started this stage, may get frustrated in class and cause disruptions. So I think it is important for a teacher to realize if a student is not starting to think this way and encourage this organized more logical way of thinking. (232)
Emotional
Part of Tim's misbehaving may be part of Erkison's Theory of Industry versus Inferiority. This says children whose previous experiences are positive enter middle childhood prepared to direct their energies towards realistic accomplishment. On one hand this conflict is resolved positively if the child develops a sense of competence and feels useful and successful with tasks. If it is solved with inferiority instead of industry the child made have pessimism and little confidence to do things well. Part of Tim's behavioral issues seemed to be his lack of interest in any sports. He seemed not to try and feel like he had little worth in this area.
Part of the book mentions what motivation and guilt can causing reactions from kids. Pride is seen in kids when they accomplish something new and guild may prompt them to make amends and strive for self-improvement. (261) I found this interesting because Tim one day did talk to me about his disruptive behavior. He would butt heads often with a girl who worked at this school before I did. I heard from a coworker that Tim behaved badly for her and she ended up leaving the school mostly because of issues she faced with this boy. One day he told me how he felt bad about how he acted towards her. I found this interesting because I think he did feel guilty for his behavior and strived to do better. It seemed although his bad behavior came in spurts of time and then there would be long periods of time when he behaved well.
Social
During middle childhood social comparisions change dramatically. Their social comparisons are their judgement of one's abilities, appearance, and behavior in relation to those of others. They form an ideal self to evaluate their real self. It may be key to connect behaviors of the kids in this program to how they see their ideal self. Another large social aspect to a child's behavior is the type of parenting they have experieneced. The type of parenting the experienced affects their self esteem. For example an authoritative style leads the child to feel good about themselves. They have warm positive parenting that lets the child know they are accepted as competent and worthwhile. They still have firm expectations with explanations why but help them evaluate their behavior. A bad type may be controlling parents. These parents make decisions for their child and make them feel inadequate. A parent who is constantly disapproving is linked to low self-esteem. It can also be a risk factor that these kids rely heavily on peers to affirm their self-worth that can lead to aggression or antisocial behavior if the needs are not met. (259). Part of Tim's behavior could have been linked with the parenting style he has experienced. I do not want to jump to any conclusion about the parenting style he receives but there are hints that lead me to believe this could be a part of the issue of his misbehaving.
W: What you want to know (curiosities)
[Answer your original questions as best as you can, given the course material and your observations. You must make at least 4 references to the text with page numbers.] 1.
One important aspect I did not consider was how the benefits of a peer group may help Tim's behavior. This could have helped him because peer groups develop a set of morals and values and a way to behave (264). Tim seemed to isolate himself and if he did join a peer group with good values this could really help his behavior. I had taken an educated guess that the parenting Tim receives may have been part of the problem. The book mentions how corregulation is an important aspect of parents and children interacting. It is an important form of supervision parents should seek with their children (269). I think the possibility that Tim's needs were not being met and that his dad was doing work instead of corregulating is a good possible prediction. I have mentioned previously that Tim may also behave this way because of the way people talk about him or things they already assume about him. The book supports this by saying "children may adapt to a teachers positive or negative view on them and live up to these"(250). Tim may behave this way since his teachers may already believe he is a bad kid or a misbehaving child. Another part of my question was why students were starting fights. When parents are controlling the child may have adjusting problems and show aggressive or antisocial behavior (259). This could be an explanation to why kids will fight but also may explain Tims antisocial behavior that he seems to exhibit.
Some questions I am still curious about are how will this behavior effect Tim's future? He seems to be a very bright kid who understands his classwork but I wonder how his bad behavior will effect him. I also wonder what types of behavior this might escalade to if it does not stop. I just worry that if he continues to behave this way he find more and more dangerous things to do and find increasing bad things to get involved in. I worry that if his behavior continues than things in high school will just get worse for him. As a future teacher I would like to continue to see cases like this and see how experienced teacher would deal with these types of situations. I feel as though with more experience comes more knowledge about what is best for correcting this behavior.
Article 1
Cihak, D., Kirk, E., & Boon, R. (2009). Effects of Classwide Positive Peer “ Tootling” to Reduce the Disruptive Classroom Behaviors of Elementary Students with and without Disabilities. Journal Of Behavioral Education, 18(4), 267-278.
This article talks about improving positive behavior and three main components to do so. The three components are prevention, theoretically sound and evidence based practice, and system implementation. The main method this article talks about it positive peer behaviors or ways teachers can encourage prosocial behaviors. Teachers want to encourage behaviors of positive actions that benefit others, are promoted by empathy, moral values, and sense of personal responsibility rather than a desire for personal gains. This can be implicated by teachers being aware of day to day behaviors that are like the ones mentioned before and praise them to increase students probability of engaging in these behaviors again. An example may be a student helping another student understand an assignment or worksheet. One method of this prosocial behavior is called tootling. This comes from the word "tattling" however it is talking about when students report good behaviors to the teacher instead of bad. There was an experiment done with this method in a third grade classroom. Students were told what types of scenarios were appropriate for tootling and they would write prosocial behaviors they saw their peers doing on a index card and put it in a tootling box. A certain number of these tootles resulting in a reward like extra recess time. A graduate observed the changes in the behaviors and recorded a significant number of disruptive behaviors being decreased.
Overall, this relates to my inquiry question because I want to learn how to deal with disruptions in a classroom. This method is a type of preventative method and could also be considered a way to teach kids how to be their own reinforces of good peer behaviors. I think this a positive way to also decrease bad behaviors by encouraging the students to recognize good behavior and praise peers when they behave well. It also teaches the students more a personal responsibility for their behavior and their peers behavior. It promotes a more positive environment for the classroom while also helping students learn to behave well.
Article 2
Rappaport, N., & Minahan, J. (2012). Cracking the Behavior Code. Educational Leadership,70(2), 18-25.
This article was written by a child psychiatrist, behavior analyst and special educator that came up with a technique to help teachers with troubling students. Their main target for disruptive students were those that are oppositional, withdrawn, or anxious. They came up with a plan to help teachers with disruptive students and help these students thrive in their classrooms. This method is called the FAIR plan. The F stands for understanding the function of the behavior, A is for accommodations I is for interaction strategies, and R is for responses. Another technique for bad behaviors is the teacher making notes to record the behavior in a special notebook or journal. This can help the teacher contribute a solution and see a pattern in a students behavior. The ABC notes taking for the teacher stand for A the antecedent (what happens immediately before an incident) B is a description of students behavior and C is for consequence.
I think both of these techniques are key for teachers to develop. It is important that the teacher makes a plan for how the discipline of a disruptive student will be dealt with. While this fair plan is implemented it is also good that the teacher understands where the behavior is coming from and make appropriate accommodations, interactions, and responses. I also think teachers should have an ABC journal with these techniques for reporting or keeping track of disruptive behaviors. Overall, it could help diagnose kids with serious problems too. For example, a student who may be bipolar but not tested for this, a teacher could keep track of students outbursts or behavior swings. Then she could report these finding to the parents and give them specific days and times and what happened during the outbursts and the consequences from this outburst. Without jumping to any conclusions, a teacher could suggest that the student may have an underlying serious problem and suggest the parents get further testing and such.
Article 3
Englehart, J. M. (2012). Five Half-Truths about Classroom Management. Clearing House, 85(2), 70-73.
This article was clearly giving advice for helping with classroom management and key tips that the author viewed as important necessities for good teachers. One important key point was being a good manager, or an orderly environment in your classroom. She defined this as having a certain degree of comfort for the students but also predictability in the content of lessons. If the teach is constantly attending to distractions, off-task behavior and more then students will also have trouble learning since the delivery or lesson content is disrupted. Another key point is to accept differences people have and figure out what works best. Each person is unique and will have options that work best for them. It is also import to see how each student is different and will bring something different to the classroom. Two things she mentioned with this is the ability to know what is going on or awareness of what students are doing at all times and also being emotionally neutral when disciplining. The third key point is clear communication and constantly enforcing boundaries. This sounds like what it means, it is important to explain rules, expectations, and consequences from bad behavior to students. The next key was keeping a good relationship with the students. The main point was to get respect but also give respect to the students. Students will be more motivated to work hard, cooperate, and be less defiant when they like their teacher. The next key point was taking about how you cannot change a student after the behavior they are taught from their parents. This section talks about how parents are a child’s first teacher and they teach them values, habits and patterns of behavior. Some students may have different interaction patterns that he or she has been taught at home that are different from the expects ones at school. Sometimes teachers need to help the student understand certain settings call for different behaviors.
This article brought to my attention two interesting relations with my inquiry question. My original question has to do with classroom disruptions and certain boy named John who behaved badly often. I think there were two connections I made that could have been a reason for this struggle. One may have been the constant reputation this boy had in the school. I had heard from the other girl I worked with how someone who worked with these groups of kids switched schools based on this kids disrespectful remarks. Another teacher from this school also told me about struggling with him to behave well. I also would see him constantly interrupting the other person I work with during our activities. So I think the constant reminder about how badly this kid behaves could give a bad relationship with the student from the first problem that arises with him. He probably has an initial bad reputation that could intern give people bad impressions after his first offense. The other connection I made was how he may have had a certain learning style at home that affects his behavior in the classroom. I think it is very possible that this boy may have not learned that being disrespectful and saying certain things in a classroom environment is not acceptable.
Article 4
GARRETT, T. (2013). CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: It's More Than a Bag of Tricks. Education Digest, 78(9), 45-49.
This article starts off talking about how the second most common reason teachers quit teaching is because of the discipline problems and management of classroom problems. It also talks about how in almost every interview for a job, a teacher will be asked how they will manage the classroom. The common answer is often about a bribery or reward system that the students are rewarded for good behavior. The author does not think this is a good method for classroom management. She has key points that she believes you should do. These include having a organized layout of the classroom, having clear rules and routines, having caring relationships with students, engaging instructions, and addressing discipline issues. The author sees her first four points on the list all as ways a teacher can prevent bad behavior.
One thing I do like about this is the method she uses for management. The reason I asked my inquiry question is because I want to be a good teacher who can deal well with misbehavior. I like the method that you should not use bribery for total control over the classroom. However, I do believe using treats or rewards for good behavior every once in a while is a good thing I don’t think it should be a routine thing. The other thing she mentioned was talking about how many of these strategies cannot be learned from reading and you need see or experience them and I also believe that. I think the more things you experience you improve with that situation every time.
Partner Review
I just wanted to say that your inquiry question is really interesting, and I enjoyed reading about your observation. 1) Tim's behavior may be caused by many different things. The book discusses the concern of educational self-fulfilling prophecies It states that "children may adopt teacher's positive or negative views and start to live up to them" (pg 250) Tim might have grown up to always be the "bad" kid and might feel the need to live up to that.
2) Every child in Latchkey has been raised by different parents and the child-rearing practices were different. Childrens parents who are controlling are most likely to "need constant reassurance, and many rely heavily on peers to affirm their self-worth- a risk factor for adjustment difficulties, including aggression and antisocial behavior" (pg 259). This might be an explanation to why the two boys in Latchkey always seemed to be picking up fights.
3) Did Tim have many friends or was he part of a peer group? Having a peer group would have been beneficial to him because "peer group, collectives that generate unique values and standards for behavior and a social structure of leaders and followers" (pg 264). The peer group might have helped him find his morals and what they think is right or wrong which influences his behavior.
4) I am wondering of the supervision Tim had at home. Since he was in Latchkey and you mentioned in class his dad always picked him up might all be causes for his behavior. Tim's dad might have been busy doing work at home or even other things rather than regulating or interacting with Tim. On page 269 it states the importance of corregulation. ("Corregulation is a form of supervision in which parents exercise general oversight while letting children take charge of moment-by- moment decision making") Tim's dad might have not been there to tell or help him learn right from wrong.
5) On page 262-263 the text is about Moral and Social-Conventional understanding which might relate to Tim's behavior. Tim's moral development may be behind or diverted a little. By around age 10 "children can step outside a two-person situation and imagine how the self and other are viewed from the point of view of a third, impartial party" (pg 263). Tim might not be able to completely understand that what he is doing is wrong and it hurts other people feelings or that it is disrespectful. He still might be on level 1 on Selman's Stages of Perspective Thinking.
- Overall I think your Wiki looks great! (and sorry again about how late this is since I thought it was due Today not last week). Hope I helped! :)
Name of Student: Christina Quinn
Pre-Adolescence
W: What you want to know (curiosities)
I would like to learn how to deal with a student who may constantly interrupts a teacher while teaching or disrupts activities. I would like to know strategies for dealing with disruptive students and learning why they are behaving this way. While at my observation site, I am curious to see if a boy named Tim still goes to the program. He was a 5th grader last year who was in latchkey and did not like to respect the supervisors in charge. Latchkey is a before and after school program for kids in 1st through 6th grade. I am curious if a supervisor working latchkey now has figured out a method that works to keep Tim from interrupting and not following the rules.L: What you learned
[Directions: First we will formulate RAR prompts for the four categories listed below (physical cognitive, emotional, and social). These prompts should relate back to your three curiosities listed above. Technologically speaking, add widget anchors here for easier reading, then delete instructions in the brackets]Observation Site Information
A. Site details:
B. Describe your setting
I am observing a before and after care site at Ayer Elementary. Kids come here 2 1/2 hours before school starts or 2 1/2 hours after school or both while their parents are at work or unable to be with them. I worked at this latchkey program last year and was a supervisor and will be returning to work sometime soon. The kids that go to this program range from 1st grade through 6th grade.During the 2 1/2 hours that the kids are with us before or after school we will usually organize games to play with them, feel them snacks, and also have homework time. I was a supervisor at this site last year and worked every morning and afternoon with the kids. Spending this much time with them allowed me to get to know the kids behaviors very well. One boy, we will call him Tim, would often interrupt during discussions, argue with supervisors, and be more difficult with following direction. I will be observing the kids behaviors in this program to see how they have changed and pay special attention to Tim's behaviour. I will also talk to another supervisor about his strategies to dealing with interruptions from Tim.
C. Describe what you did at the site (free-write/journal formatting)
1st visit (2 hours):This visit was interesting because it was with kids who I did not know. It was at a school where I have never worked called Locust Corner Elementary School. Their were a lot less kids at this elementary after school Latchkey program than the one where I worked. There were about 15-20 kids in this program compared to the 30+ at the one I worked at. The lady in charge was named Laura and she was very nice and open to talk about anything.
You could tell the kids had the utmost respect for her because they seemed to not interrupt and pay attention very well when she was speaking. The first thing the kids did was sit down and listen as she made some announcements. Then she would call them one by one to wash their hands and they would get their snack. They ate their snack and one boy came up to Laura and asked for another snack and she let him have another but no one else got a second. After they had their snack the kids did their homework and if they did not have homework they read. The room was quiet and the kids didn't talk. After they finished reading and doing their homework she took them in the gym and played some kickball. She was the pitcher and you could also tell she was the ref in charge of calling all out of bounds or close calls. Parents came to get their kids one by one and the group slowly got smaller. As it was getting smaller the kickball game ended and the kids started to play tag or kick a ball by themselves. As this was happening I could talk more to Laura about her job and such.
This was one of the most interesting parts of the day. She told me she had been working there for a certain number of years. I forget the exact number but I think it was like 20+. She told me about each kids individual story basically. For example one boy who was from China. I didn't even realize it until his mom came in and you could tell spoke little English. She told me how he had trouble learning the new language and often got Chinese and English confused and found it harder than most kids to communicate. This made more sense now why during the kickball game he seemed kind of in his own world. She also would repeat things to him more times than to the other kids. However, I would have never known this unless she told me because when he did speak, although it was less than others, he had no accent and seemed to understand conversation.
Another boy she mentioned was a boy who was in the upper grades possibly 5th grade. I noticed no difference between him and another kid and wouldn't have thought twice until she told me the background to his story. Apparently he had some anger issues and she talked about how she had to deal with him different than other children because he could cause such a scene. He also apparently had ADHD and was on medicine for this. I did not notice any hyperactive behavior at all during the visit so his meds must work pretty well. However, he was a very thin boy and she told me how his medicine affects his appetite and often he doesn't eat and then every once in awhile will be very hungry. And then it made sense why he was the only kid who got an extra snack when he asked. She also mentioned that when he does want to eat more she will always let him because that doesn't happen often. This boy also had issues she discussed with me. She told me he had some anger issues and was often a stubborn kid. One way she dealt with this is talking to the rest of the students before he joined the group. She told the group something like this, she said a new boy is coming and he may be difficult or frustrating to deal with. But we all need to learn to get along and sometimes be more patient with him. However, during my observation I didn't notice any difference in this boy from the others. He also was different from others because of an accident he had when he was little. His dad took him and his brother golfing and while his brother was swinging the golf club the little boy got in the way and it hit his head. He must have had swelling to the inside of the brain because he had to go to the hospital and a plate with screws was in his head. From this accident she told me that he also had some memory loss. She also said the little boy would tell her to feel the screw in his head and she said that always grossed her out. However, as i mentioned before I would have never noticed this if she didn't tell me. He appeared no different than the other kids but had such an interesting background story once she told me.
Another interesting part of the day was how she interacted with two little girls. I didn't even realize that they were sisters until she told me this later during the day. The one little girl who had a long blonde pony tail was constantly causing people to get made. She would grab the kick ball away from people during the game and not give it back. She also would take pieces of someones game as they were trying to play. I believe it was a sorry piece that they were playing. Laura mentioned that this one sister seemed to cause a fuss often. She gave her many warning during the dodgeball game. When she stole the board piece she made her sit out for five minutes. When her mom came to pick the sisters up Laura told the mom that the one little girl had a bad day. She said that she was taking things from the other kids and wasn't treating them the way she would want to be treated. The mom said that they would be having a conversation about her behavior later. I think this was a good idea because parents should be aware of their kids behavior and maybe the mom will further help the little girl not to behave like this again.
2nd visit (2 hours):
This visit was at the same before and after care program but it was at Ayer Elementary. So this was a new group of kids different from my other visit. This is also the school where I worked last year. So once I got there I asked the new guy that works their if I could see the attendance sheet to see if I will know the kids and to see if Tim is still in the program. I found out Tim is still in the program however he only comes in the morning which I was visiting in the afternoon. But I did atleast get to talk to the new person that works at this school to see if he had any of the same problems. I asked him if any kids gave him problems or if John gave him trouble. He mentioned other kids in the morning that caused him a lot of trouble but he didn't seem to say much about John. I found it odd that he had no complaints about Tim but I learned later that this may have partially because of his style of maintenance and controlling the kids.
I was still very interested to hear about the problems that were happening with other kids though. He actually mentioned 2 boys who were new to the program. He said that these two boys were actually friends but they got into fights in the morning on a daily occurrence. Since these two boys are friends I wondered if maybe this interaction was rough and tumble play or actual fights. I also learned that one of little boys who was involved actually was diagnosed with autism. It was described as the type of autism where he would have random outbursts. He also struggled with behaving appropriately. He struggles with keeping his hands to himself and also will say things that are inappropriate.
So when the kids got dismissed from school a lot of them were excited to see me again and giving me hugs and such. I also learned that Michael had a much different style of organization and discipline. When I worked there the kids would sit the at the first two tables and eat snack. They needed to sit as they were eating and we did not let them play games. When the kids got dismissed from school they seemed to have no routine anymore. A few of the boys were actually running around the cafeteria playing tag or some sort of running game. A girl named Cora and another boy were trying to do some sort of jump rope game with a long rope she made out of rubber bands. None of the kids were sitting and being quiet as they used to be told to do. I realized that either Michael has a much different style of running the after school program or he was not quite sure yet how to keep the kids calm after they got dismissed from school. After they got their snacks, which had no order at all, they eventually gave the kids the option of going outside to play or staying inside. Michael stayed inside with that group of kids and I went outside with the other girl Emily.
I learned as we were going outside that Emily was also a very soft spoken person. She only worked at this school on tuesday afternoons. She said that whenever she was at Ayer the kids were pretty crazy and there was little control. She mentioned how she worked at different elementary schools and enjoyed working at those school more. When she went outside she brought a book that she had planned on reading outside. This did not make sense to me at all. I thought she should have been paying much more attention to what the kids were doing instead of bringing a book outside to read. Especially since some of the boys could get a little rough when they were playing. However, while they were on the play ground none of the kids seemed to get into any fights. I almost wondered if the kids had learned their own discipline system within just the kids because the adults did not seem to have a good system for them.
3rd visit (1 hour):
This visit I was at Ayer Elementary again. The two people that were working this afternoon were Michael and another girl named Lauren. Before the kids came I learned a little about Lauren. She was an education major who was trying to get a teaching job. She had worked with this program and the summer camp program with the YMCA for quite a few years. When the kids came to the cafeteria today I learned that Lauren did have a good control over the kids and knew how to get them to be quite and they behaved well for her. However, she also had a lot more experience than the others who had worked there. When the kids were dismissed and came into the cafeteria it was clear that the kids listened to Lauren and she had experience working with them. The kids were not running around the cafeteria when they were dismissed. Some kids were sitting, some were playing board games, and some were playing with their band lombs (rubber band braclets). She called the kids up by grades to get their snacks and made them sit at tables while they were eating. It seemed like a much more calm environment this day and you could tell it was because Lauren was there.
Since it was colder this day they decided to let the kids go to the gym or stay in the cafeteria if they wanted. The group of kids that went to the gym to play went with Lauren. When we got to the gym she told the kids they were playing a game that they all seemed to know. She picked 4 kids to be people called "throwers" and the rest of the kids were "runners". This was a new game I had never heard of. There were 4 kids in the middle of the gym floor who got all of the small dodge balls. All the other kids ran in a circle around the gym avoiding being hit by the balls being thrown by the kids in the middle. There were a few mats set up to act as coverage for the runners however they could not stay behind a mat for more than 10 seconds. I enjoyed watching the kids play this game because they were having fun and there were little arguments during it. The only arguments that occurred were did the ball touch a runner or did it not. These issues were solved by Lauren saying what happened if she saw it or rock paper scissors between the two people if she did not see it.
D. Summarize and describe your experience in relation to the concepts in our textbook
Physical
As I am starting to learn more about children who behave badly or are acting out in class I see it is more individual based and situational for each person. So what I am learning is each kid who may act out during class has different reasons than another child. I think I have learned from this book some physical reasons for why a student would behave this way. One reason may be that puberty will often cause children to behave more intensely. The neurons become more responsive to excitatory neurotransmitters which will lead to kids reacting more strongly to a stressful situation (288). So this may be an explanation why a child is reacting so strongly when he gets upset about losing a game or not doing well on homework. Another physical issue that could be responsible for outbursts is the timing that a child goes through puberty. It is shown that it is more accepted for girls who go through puberty later and greater accepted for boys who go through puberty earlier (288). The other side to this is that early maturing girls and late maturing boys may face difficulties with peers or feel uncomfortable because of societies views on this. So explanations for children who are clearly experiencing difficulties with schools or difficulties with peers may be explained by their level of physical maturing compared to the level of their peers maturing.Cognitive
It is important to note that kids in the grades I will be teaching and also in the program I have worked are going through changes in their developmental learning. For example, as Piagets theory kids go through stages of learning. One of the stages children go through is the concrete operational stage. This ranges but usually occurs from 7-11 years old. It is a change in thought processing where the kids begin to be more logical, flexible, and organized than it was earlier. I could see a child who has not come to this stage yet. when his peers have started this stage, may get frustrated in class and cause disruptions. So I think it is important for a teacher to realize if a student is not starting to think this way and encourage this organized more logical way of thinking. (232)Emotional
Part of Tim's misbehaving may be part of Erkison's Theory of Industry versus Inferiority. This says children whose previous experiences are positive enter middle childhood prepared to direct their energies towards realistic accomplishment. On one hand this conflict is resolved positively if the child develops a sense of competence and feels useful and successful with tasks. If it is solved with inferiority instead of industry the child made have pessimism and little confidence to do things well. Part of Tim's behavioral issues seemed to be his lack of interest in any sports. He seemed not to try and feel like he had little worth in this area.Part of the book mentions what motivation and guilt can causing reactions from kids. Pride is seen in kids when they accomplish something new and guild may prompt them to make amends and strive for self-improvement. (261) I found this interesting because Tim one day did talk to me about his disruptive behavior. He would butt heads often with a girl who worked at this school before I did. I heard from a coworker that Tim behaved badly for her and she ended up leaving the school mostly because of issues she faced with this boy. One day he told me how he felt bad about how he acted towards her. I found this interesting because I think he did feel guilty for his behavior and strived to do better. It seemed although his bad behavior came in spurts of time and then there would be long periods of time when he behaved well.
Social
During middle childhood social comparisions change dramatically. Their social comparisons are their judgement of one's abilities, appearance, and behavior in relation to those of others. They form an ideal self to evaluate their real self. It may be key to connect behaviors of the kids in this program to how they see their ideal self. Another large social aspect to a child's behavior is the type of parenting they have experieneced. The type of parenting the experienced affects their self esteem. For example an authoritative style leads the child to feel good about themselves. They have warm positive parenting that lets the child know they are accepted as competent and worthwhile. They still have firm expectations with explanations why but help them evaluate their behavior. A bad type may be controlling parents. These parents make decisions for their child and make them feel inadequate. A parent who is constantly disapproving is linked to low self-esteem. It can also be a risk factor that these kids rely heavily on peers to affirm their self-worth that can lead to aggression or antisocial behavior if the needs are not met. (259). Part of Tim's behavior could have been linked with the parenting style he has experienced. I do not want to jump to any conclusion about the parenting style he receives but there are hints that lead me to believe this could be a part of the issue of his misbehaving.
final poster
Revisiting Your Curiosities
W: What you want to know (curiosities)[Answer your original questions as best as you can, given the course material and your observations. You must make at least 4 references to the text with page numbers.]
1.
One important aspect I did not consider was how the benefits of a peer group may help Tim's behavior. This could have helped him because peer groups develop a set of morals and values and a way to behave (264). Tim seemed to isolate himself and if he did join a peer group with good values this could really help his behavior. I had taken an educated guess that the parenting Tim receives may have been part of the problem. The book mentions how corregulation is an important aspect of parents and children interacting. It is an important form of supervision parents should seek with their children (269). I think the possibility that Tim's needs were not being met and that his dad was doing work instead of corregulating is a good possible prediction. I have mentioned previously that Tim may also behave this way because of the way people talk about him or things they already assume about him. The book supports this by saying "children may adapt to a teachers positive or negative view on them and live up to these"(250). Tim may behave this way since his teachers may already believe he is a bad kid or a misbehaving child. Another part of my question was why students were starting fights. When parents are controlling the child may have adjusting problems and show aggressive or antisocial behavior (259). This could be an explanation to why kids will fight but also may explain Tims antisocial behavior that he seems to exhibit.
Some questions I am still curious about are how will this behavior effect Tim's future? He seems to be a very bright kid who understands his classwork but I wonder how his bad behavior will effect him. I also wonder what types of behavior this might escalade to if it does not stop. I just worry that if he continues to behave this way he find more and more dangerous things to do and find increasing bad things to get involved in. I worry that if his behavior continues than things in high school will just get worse for him. As a future teacher I would like to continue to see cases like this and see how experienced teacher would deal with these types of situations. I feel as though with more experience comes more knowledge about what is best for correcting this behavior.
Article 1
Cihak, D., Kirk, E., & Boon, R. (2009). Effects of Classwide Positive Peer “ Tootling” to Reduce the Disruptive Classroom Behaviors of Elementary Students with and without Disabilities. Journal Of Behavioral Education, 18(4), 267-278.
This article talks about improving positive behavior and three main components to do so. The three components are prevention, theoretically sound and evidence based practice, and system implementation. The main method this article talks about it positive peer behaviors or ways teachers can encourage prosocial behaviors. Teachers want to encourage behaviors of positive actions that benefit others, are promoted by empathy, moral values, and sense of personal responsibility rather than a desire for personal gains. This can be implicated by teachers being aware of day to day behaviors that are like the ones mentioned before and praise them to increase students probability of engaging in these behaviors again. An example may be a student helping another student understand an assignment or worksheet. One method of this prosocial behavior is called tootling. This comes from the word "tattling" however it is talking about when students report good behaviors to the teacher instead of bad. There was an experiment done with this method in a third grade classroom. Students were told what types of scenarios were appropriate for tootling and they would write prosocial behaviors they saw their peers doing on a index card and put it in a tootling box. A certain number of these tootles resulting in a reward like extra recess time. A graduate observed the changes in the behaviors and recorded a significant number of disruptive behaviors being decreased.
Overall, this relates to my inquiry question because I want to learn how to deal with disruptions in a classroom. This method is a type of preventative method and could also be considered a way to teach kids how to be their own reinforces of good peer behaviors. I think this a positive way to also decrease bad behaviors by encouraging the students to recognize good behavior and praise peers when they behave well. It also teaches the students more a personal responsibility for their behavior and their peers behavior. It promotes a more positive environment for the classroom while also helping students learn to behave well.
Article 2
Rappaport, N., & Minahan, J. (2012). Cracking the Behavior Code. Educational Leadership,70(2), 18-25.
This article was written by a child psychiatrist, behavior analyst and special educator that came up with a technique to help teachers with troubling students. Their main target for disruptive students were those that are oppositional, withdrawn, or anxious. They came up with a plan to help teachers with disruptive students and help these students thrive in their classrooms. This method is called the FAIR plan. The F stands for understanding the function of the behavior, A is for accommodations I is for interaction strategies, and R is for responses. Another technique for bad behaviors is the teacher making notes to record the behavior in a special notebook or journal. This can help the teacher contribute a solution and see a pattern in a students behavior. The ABC notes taking for the teacher stand for A the antecedent (what happens immediately before an incident) B is a description of students behavior and C is for consequence.
I think both of these techniques are key for teachers to develop. It is important that the teacher makes a plan for how the discipline of a disruptive student will be dealt with. While this fair plan is implemented it is also good that the teacher understands where the behavior is coming from and make appropriate accommodations, interactions, and responses. I also think teachers should have an ABC journal with these techniques for reporting or keeping track of disruptive behaviors. Overall, it could help diagnose kids with serious problems too. For example, a student who may be bipolar but not tested for this, a teacher could keep track of students outbursts or behavior swings. Then she could report these finding to the parents and give them specific days and times and what happened during the outbursts and the consequences from this outburst. Without jumping to any conclusions, a teacher could suggest that the student may have an underlying serious problem and suggest the parents get further testing and such.
Article 3
Englehart, J. M. (2012). Five Half-Truths about Classroom Management. Clearing House, 85(2), 70-73.
This article was clearly giving advice for helping with classroom management and key tips that the author viewed as important necessities for good teachers. One important key point was being a good manager, or an orderly environment in your classroom. She defined this as having a certain degree of comfort for the students but also predictability in the content of lessons. If the teach is constantly attending to distractions, off-task behavior and more then students will also have trouble learning since the delivery or lesson content is disrupted. Another key point is to accept differences people have and figure out what works best. Each person is unique and will have options that work best for them. It is also import to see how each student is different and will bring something different to the classroom. Two things she mentioned with this is the ability to know what is going on or awareness of what students are doing at all times and also being emotionally neutral when disciplining. The third key point is clear communication and constantly enforcing boundaries. This sounds like what it means, it is important to explain rules, expectations, and consequences from bad behavior to students. The next key was keeping a good relationship with the students. The main point was to get respect but also give respect to the students. Students will be more motivated to work hard, cooperate, and be less defiant when they like their teacher. The next key point was taking about how you cannot change a student after the behavior they are taught from their parents. This section talks about how parents are a child’s first teacher and they teach them values, habits and patterns of behavior. Some students may have different interaction patterns that he or she has been taught at home that are different from the expects ones at school. Sometimes teachers need to help the student understand certain settings call for different behaviors.
This article brought to my attention two interesting relations with my inquiry question. My original question has to do with classroom disruptions and certain boy named John who behaved badly often. I think there were two connections I made that could have been a reason for this struggle. One may have been the constant reputation this boy had in the school. I had heard from the other girl I worked with how someone who worked with these groups of kids switched schools based on this kids disrespectful remarks. Another teacher from this school also told me about struggling with him to behave well. I also would see him constantly interrupting the other person I work with during our activities. So I think the constant reminder about how badly this kid behaves could give a bad relationship with the student from the first problem that arises with him. He probably has an initial bad reputation that could intern give people bad impressions after his first offense. The other connection I made was how he may have had a certain learning style at home that affects his behavior in the classroom. I think it is very possible that this boy may have not learned that being disrespectful and saying certain things in a classroom environment is not acceptable.
Article 4
GARRETT, T. (2013). CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: It's More Than a Bag of Tricks. Education Digest, 78(9), 45-49.
This article starts off talking about how the second most common reason teachers quit teaching is because of the discipline problems and management of classroom problems. It also talks about how in almost every interview for a job, a teacher will be asked how they will manage the classroom. The common answer is often about a bribery or reward system that the students are rewarded for good behavior. The author does not think this is a good method for classroom management. She has key points that she believes you should do. These include having a organized layout of the classroom, having clear rules and routines, having caring relationships with students, engaging instructions, and addressing discipline issues. The author sees her first four points on the list all as ways a teacher can prevent bad behavior.
One thing I do like about this is the method she uses for management. The reason I asked my inquiry question is because I want to be a good teacher who can deal well with misbehavior. I like the method that you should not use bribery for total control over the classroom. However, I do believe using treats or rewards for good behavior every once in a while is a good thing I don’t think it should be a routine thing. The other thing she mentioned was talking about how many of these strategies cannot be learned from reading and you need see or experience them and I also believe that. I think the more things you experience you improve with that situation every time.
Partner Review
I just wanted to say that your inquiry question is really interesting, and I enjoyed reading about your observation.1) Tim's behavior may be caused by many different things. The book discusses the concern of educational self-fulfilling prophecies It states that "children may adopt teacher's positive or negative views and start to live up to them" (pg 250) Tim might have grown up to always be the "bad" kid and might feel the need to live up to that.
2) Every child in Latchkey has been raised by different parents and the child-rearing practices were different. Childrens parents who are controlling are most likely to "need constant reassurance, and many rely heavily on peers to affirm their self-worth- a risk factor for adjustment difficulties, including aggression and antisocial behavior" (pg 259). This might be an explanation to why the two boys in Latchkey always seemed to be picking up fights.
3) Did Tim have many friends or was he part of a peer group? Having a peer group would have been beneficial to him because "peer group, collectives that generate unique values and standards for behavior and a social structure of leaders and followers" (pg 264). The peer group might have helped him find his morals and what they think is right or wrong which influences his behavior.
4) I am wondering of the supervision Tim had at home. Since he was in Latchkey and you mentioned in class his dad always picked him up might all be causes for his behavior. Tim's dad might have been busy doing work at home or even other things rather than regulating or interacting with Tim. On page 269 it states the importance of corregulation. ("Corregulation is a form of supervision in which parents exercise general oversight while letting children take charge of moment-by- moment decision making") Tim's dad might have not been there to tell or help him learn right from wrong.
5) On page 262-263 the text is about Moral and Social-Conventional understanding which might relate to Tim's behavior. Tim's moral development may be behind or diverted a little. By around age 10 "children can step outside a two-person situation and imagine how the self and other are viewed from the point of view of a third, impartial party" (pg 263). Tim might not be able to completely understand that what he is doing is wrong and it hurts other people feelings or that it is disrespectful. He still might be on level 1 on Selman's Stages of Perspective Thinking.
- Overall I think your Wiki looks great! (and sorry again about how late this is since I thought it was due Today not last week). Hope I helped! :)