Wow! What a busy semester! When I began teaching, I took full control of the classroom instantly instead of transitioning in slowly. Therefore, I was alone in the classroom and entirely responsible for planning and running the classroom. With that being said, I have not done a good job of keeping my blog updated! For that, group members, I apologize! Although I haven’t been commenting regularly about the progress of my case study, this is something I have really stayed on top of. My class is full of possible candidates for this project, and I immediately saw how important this aspect of teachign was going to be to my success in the classroom this semester.

The student that I chose is the same student I used for my case study project last semester. Academically he flourishes and is among the top of the class. However, socially he struggles and doesn’t yet have the conversation and language skills like those of his typically developing peers. This was and remains to be a huge concern for his mother. She worries constantly about his friendships, and his relationships with his peers. She so wants him to be accepted nad to experience the joys of childhood play and friendship.

I focused my case study last semester primarily on his pragmantic language skills and helping him to become more interactive with the classroom community. At the time, I imagined that this is also what I would focus my BIP on for this part of the project this semester. However, after he returned from Christmas break I understood that my direction for this project would change to a more behavioral concern. After the break, he seemed to have a “melt-down.” He was suddenly a huge disturbance in class. He began singing loudly during quiet times on the carpet, or using an inappropriate volume level during literacy centers. He refused to do writing and would sometimes refuse to even sit at his writing table. He would often run around the room or flutter around the room at length, with no adult being able to calm him or convince him to lower his voice. This became an instant problem that needed to be addressed. I was also concerned because his somewhat outrageous behavior was separating him even further from his peers, so I wanted to think of something to help him with this issue as soon as possible.

I began my case study by doing lots of observatoin. I began keeping a tally of all of the times that Owen disrupted class. I kept a tally for all the number of times his voice volume was too high, the number of time he was talking at an inappropriate time, and the number of “eruptions” throughout the day. I wrote down the time of each disruption as well in hopes of pin pointing the parts of the day that were the hardest for him. I thought that maybe if I knew what times of the day were hardest, I could better understand what was prompting these disruptions. I also made careful notes about the different discipline procedures that my CT, the TA, and I tried to handle this behavior. I wanted to see how he responded to different rewards and consequences in order to try to find which type of strategy would be the most effective.

The  data that I recorded showed that he struggled especially on the carpet, during writing, and during specials. Any time there was high volume or movement (especially related to music), a disturbance usually ensued. Perhaps most significantly, I realized that O alwasy wanted to find out the consequence. He would often stop in the middle of his tantrum and ask, “What will happen if…?” “What will you do after that?” O appeared to be congnizant that he was doing the wrong thing, and almost appeared to be attempting to get “in trouble.” I began to realize that O enjoyed individual adult attention and conversation even if it wasn’t positive attention.

I decided to try to channel this adult attention into a reward. I wanted him to connect the adult attention with positive behavior instead of negative behaviors. After talking with the speech therapist, we agreed that when Owen was a disturbance in class, we would not stop and have a conversation about his behavior. We began removing him from the situation, usually taking him to time-out in a different room without answering any of his questions or engaging in conversation with him at all. I decided to come up with something that Owen and I could do together when he did do the right thing, so that I could reward him with this personal adult attention which he so craved.

It was decided that Owen and I would make a paper airplane together during afternoon recess on days where he went without disrupting the class. This was a reward for Owen because he doesn’t particularly enjoy recess, as he prefers independent play. The planes are also something that he found really interesting and soemthing fun he could look forward to. In order to make it a little “bigger of a deal,” I created “OGB Airlines” (OGB standing for Owen’s Great Behavior!) He really liked having the personal connection to this airline. He knew that if his behavior was not “great” that the airline would not be flying that day. We took a lot of time to decorate each plane with lots of details including a flight number, our OGB airline symbol (a volcano of course – his favorite!), windows, hand drawn passengers inside, and stripes or designs. Each plane would include a good note home, telling him and his parents how proud I was of him for having such a great day.

These times when I got to sit down with Owen and build these planes turned into such amazing and helpful times for the both of us.  I used this time to work with him on his conversational skills such as answering and asking questions,  and making eye contact when talking to someone. We also worked on his motor skills, as we put a lot of artistic detail into each plane. We also formed such a close relationship with one another. I got to know O so well, and he became extremely attached to me. This new relationship served as an added motivation to behave, as he looked forward to spending time with me and making me proud.

I saw immediate results. He REALLY wanted to make these planes, and you could see him always thinking about doing the right thing. He would ask throughout the day, “Does it look like I’m going to get to make a paper airplane today??” The disruptive behavior stopped almost instantly. In fact, there were only 3 days where he did not earn his right to make a paper airplane. Plus, at one point he went 6 weeks in a row getting to make a plane. After I took over full time, we transitioned into a behavior chart. Using this new volcano OGB airlines chart, Owen had to get a “star” 4/5 days of the week to get to make a paper airplane on Friday during recess. He would earn a star by having a great day and not having any disruptions. By this point, the disruptions were not limited soley to our classroom, but also included specials. Using the chart, there was only 1 week that Owen did not get to make a plane on Friday!

I was somewhat concerned about his transition to the chart and only making one plane a week, instead of every day. However, his behavior had calmed so drastically by that point that it was a very smooth transition that did not seem to effect him at all. In fact, he LOVED his chart. He was very proud of his volcano chart and even asked to share it with the class during afternoon meeting which was great language practice! This was also something that his classmates thought was really neat, so it boosted his confidence and gave him a connection with his peers.

Thankfully, this BIP really worked! Owen’s behavior is now close to perfect and his disruptions are extremely rare and much less severe. I am so proud of how far he has come this semester. I am confident that he is going to transition to first grade well, and that he won’t even need the help of OGB airlines.

I chose to read the article on defiance for April, because again this is the aspect of management that I struggle with the most currently. My class has multiple students who struggle with noncompliance their fair share, but I chose this article primarily with Macy in mind. I find myself trying to wrap my mind around this concept because it is so foreign to me. As a child, and even now, I don’t like to be involved in controversy… or at least I don’t like to start it. As a child I couldn’t have fathomed having the audacity to say “NO.” Not to my parents. Not to my grandparents. But ESPECIALLY not to my teacher. Now as the teacher, I have to do lots of investigating into why some children don’t share these feelings. What I realized while reading this article is that the reason children act this way is for two simple reasons: “to acquire or to avoid.”  Thinking back on the day today, specifically about Macy’s school day, I can credit these two things as the reasons for her defiance. During literacy centers, she began to cry and thrash her arms after she did not receive a sticker for great work during literacy centers. She did not receive one because she wondered around the room avoiding her task for the first 15 minutes refusing to do her assigned task. At the beginning of literacy centers, she was trying to AVOID something. At the end of literacy centers, she was trying to ACQUIRE something, in this case a sticker.

I struggled as I read this article because although I believe every single word, it seems to be somewhat idealistic.  I wholeheartedly agree that you should not engage in power struggles and that you should react to positive behavior however I do have some qualms about both of these suggestions. Today, one of my students was playing with her necklace on the carpet to the point that it was distracting her completely and distracting those around her. I gave her a warning by saying, “Jaida can you please put your necklace on. ” I gave her a second warning after she failed to comply saying, “If you aren’t going to wear your necklace then I am going to take it.”  After she again failed to comply, I walked up to her quietly and stuck my hand out signaling that I was taking the necklace. I told her that she could have the necklace back after we leave the carpet. She said, “NO!!” I reached to take the necklace putting my hands on it. She turned away screaming “NOO!!” I understand that power struggles do not send a good message, but I also don’t think it sends a good message to Jaida or to her classmates for me to disengage from the situation and let her “win” because of her tantrum. To me, it seems that I am supporting the negative behavior.  My second qualm about this is the direction not to react to inappropriate behavior. I completely agree that positive behavior should receive a bigger, better reaction, and should be acknowledged more often. I have seen how effective this approach can be. This is one area of behavior management that I think I have really improved upon this semester and find that my management has also improved accordingly. However, there are some inappropriate behaviors that must be acknowleged. For instance, today Macy punched a classmate as hard as she could. I can’t imagine that even after 30 years of teaching, I will say, “Oh Eva, thank you so much for not punching your friends. Oh Diego I love how you’re keeping your hands to yourself. Good job controlling your anger Daniel!” Macy’s behavior needs to be addressed and needs to be addressed then and there. Maybe, that’s just my opinion.

However, I did benefit a lot from this article. I heard two things that I want to make an effort to work on. The first is that I want to do an even better job (I’m currently working on this) of controlling my body language. I have managed to get my voice under control, but I do not want my body to appear tensed or angry when dealing with defiance. The two don’t compliment each other. Also, I want to try giving my defiant children more choices. This can apply to work assignments, to disciplinary consequences, to rewards, etc. I think I’ll start tomorrow by letting Macy choose between two literacy centers, and by rephrasing some of my directions when dealing with her defiance to phrases such as, “You may go to your writing table or you may put your name in the thinking jar. You make the choice.” Instead of saying, “Okay Macy, you have been warned, please go put your name in the thinking jar.” Tomorrow’s a new day and I have new ideas!

While reading this page, I couldn’t help but giggle at how specific little faces would flash into my mind. I chose to read the sections about Disruptive Behaviors and Defiant Behaviors because those are the two that are the most prevalent in my classroom. I found myself with my nose buried in this article because I was hoping to find the magic answer to meet the needs of the specific examples of these behaviors that I see everyday. I also found myself cringing because although I make a valiant effort each day NOT to do some of the things the article spoke of as the “no-no’s” of dealing with these challenging behaviors, the truth is that every now and then, I do them. The quote from this article that stuck out to me the most came in the introduction and reads,  “we must understand  that children demonstrate problematic behavior  in order to receive the same outcomes that are experieced when they demonstrate prosocial, appropriate behavior.” This didn’t come as necessarily a revelation to me, because I think that in my educational think tank I knew this to be true. But it did come as a healthy reminder of this as I attempt to meet the needs of my students with behavior challenges. This quote jumped out at me as a reminder that APPROPRIATE BEHAVIRO MUST RECEIVE A BIGGER RESPONSE THAN INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR. The example of talking on the carpet especially struck a cord with me because this is where I find it hte hardest to be consistent. It is so hard not to respond to many of the comments called out on the carpet, or not to call on the child who is restless in her seat, grunting, groanign, on the verge of crying, and starting to cause a scene to relieve hte situation even though I have told the class that I will call on those sitting quietly, following the rules of the carpet. On an encouraging note, however, I have found that this is an area that I have greatly improved in this year. It seems that I seem to be more and more consistent and thus more and more in control. There is something to be said for having a calm, peaceful learning environment. Part of making sure that this can happen is to have expectations for student behavior, and part of having these expectations is enforcing them consistently.

Further, I believe that defiance, or noncompliance, goes hand in hand with disruptive behavior. The article says that kids do it to “gain control [of a situation], to escape a task, and/or to get attention..” Again, SO TRUE. I instantly thought of my sweet Macy who’s EBD prevents her from excelling at the academic level she is capable of. Macy’s behavior is comparable to a child several years younger than her. She responds to things she doesn’t like with tantrums, and becomes very emotional very easily. She struggles with processing verbal directions, and also struggles with verbalizing her own feelings. She uses her body when she is angry (which is often) instead of her words to communicate to her classmates how she feels. She has been in and out of the principal’s office, and has the entire PBS team searching for new ways to try to help her be more successful in school. But man, do I ever love this child. In recent weeks (due to effort from both parties),  Macy and I have become so much closer and our relationship has blossomed into something meaningful. However, Macy still CONSISTENTLY has her moments. While their used to be MULTIPLE moments in a school day, she is still extremely non-compliant when it is not exactly what she wants to do. She will say no in an extreme way, usually by throwing a tantrum or screaming in an ugly voice. Just as the article said, she does it so often to avoid or escape a task. Today I assigned her to a literacy center that she did not want to do. She threw a tantrum and refused to begin working for the first 15 minutes of literacy centers. I have found that she is also an attention seeker, so I do my best to ignore her tantrums even when I think it’s going to disrupt the neighbors, to not give her the satisfaction of my acknowledgement. I have found that through this situation and through the continual search to find a better way to teach her and to reach her, I have become increasingly more compliant and know that I don’t have to “win every battle” and that in fact, there is no battle to win. We are both on the same team. I just have to figure out how to motivate Macy to do her part.

This chapter provides clear and concise information about classroom management strategies. I appreciated the specific examples of procedural steps that teachers should take in terms of behavioral issues in your classroom.  The specific steps to explicitly define the behavior and then to observe and record the behavior were especially beneficial. I appreciated the aspect that discussed how the behavior needs to be a clear behavior that is measurable.  It was also helpful to see a variety of ways to record information as opposed to the method I currently use.  Further, it was reassuring to hear about how the behavioral intervention  plan is “supposed” to look like and to see it actually looking just like that in my classroom and in my school.

I payed close attention to the emphasis on collaboration with others. I have seen in my own teaching experience the value of other people in the school. Getting the opinion and the insight of other valuable staff members has been extremely fruitful. As a new teacher next year, I plan to utilize the resources and experience within my building to benefit the students in my classroom.

My CT has excellent classroom management. This year has been a very trying year for her as our class is very high-energy and has several kids who have behavioral needs. She has commented that this year’s class has been the hardest for her to control and consistently discipline. However, despite the circumstances I believe that she has maintained solid classroom management.  Her classroom management includes the following strategies:

• My CT uses a lot of positive behavioral support in the classroom. She consistently makes comments such as “thank you for using your words” or “thank you for sitting quietly” to reward a job well done and remind others to follow the rules, as opposed to correcting poor behavior. She really tries to limit how often she corrects students, and always tries to commend students for good behavior instead.
• My CT is consistent. She gives verbal warnings and literally tells the student, “This is your warning. The next time you ____, your name will go in the thinking jar.” The next time the child breaks the rules, the child is always sent to the thinking jar regardless of who it is.  She consistently enforces the rules and is very good about not letting things slide.
• My CT accommodates individual needs. There are several different behavior plans within the classroom for students who have specific behavior problems. For example, one student who struggles with impulse control must move a cube each time he invades someone’s space. This gives him a visual for how many times he has broken the rules that day and we are able to discuss with him his behavior and establish reasonable goals. Another student is rewarded with getting to make a paper airplane with me at the end of the day, for a day where he keeps his voice in check. He struggles with pragmatic language, voice volume, and social interaction. This has proven to be highly successful also.

My teacher does an excellent job of maintaining control in a difficult classroom. Over the course of the year we have seen great improvement in behavior.

Inclusion  is a subject that I thought I knew a lot about, and I especially thought that I knew I had an opinion about. However, as time has passed my opinion of inclusive classrooms has slowly changed. I remember watching the video “Educating Peter” and being disturbed. I was disturbed at the behavior of Peter, a third grader with down syndrome. I was disturbed at the teacher’s tolerance for the behavior. I was disturbed at how well the children accepted him, and most of all, I was disturbed because the video left me confused and unsure about what I really thought.

Since I have had more time in the classroom, my eyes and my heart have opened to the idea of inclusion. I am currently teaching in a Kindergarten classroom which contains a couple students who show signs of disability.  Working with these children first hand, I have seen the importance of differentiated learning styles, accomodations, and modifications in the classroom. Just as this article described a classroom where rules were modified to meet individual and clss needs, my classroom also has similar circumstances with different students having different behavioral systems in place.

For instance, one child has the cube system. This child is one of the brightest children in the class but he struggles keeping his hands to himself. He impulsively invades his classmates’ space. He knows that when he does this he must move a cube from the green bucket into the red bucket. At the end of the day, this gives him a visual for how many times he got in someone else’s face and provides opportunity to set reasonable goals for the next day. This system has worked well for this child who is capable of reasoning and self-reflection.

Another child in the classroom struggles keeping his voice off during quiet times in the classroom. For instance, on the carpet or during work centers, he feels the need to sing or make noises. He began to get in the habit where he would sing and make noises very loudly and disrupt the class at length and refuse to stop. He has difficulty with pragmatic language and social interaction with his peers and craves time spent with his teachers or adults. Thus, he is now being rewarded by getting to make a paper airplane with me during afternoon recess if he can be quiet and follow directions throughout the day. He understands that if he sings or talks loudly without stopping when he is told, that he will not be able to make a plane. This one on one time spent with him is very soothing for him and really seems to boost both his listening skills and his conversational skills.

These are just two examples among many of ways that I have seen different behavioral systems implemented in my classroom. I have seen how effective it is not only for those students receiving it, but for their classmates  as it fosters a more successful learning environment for everyone in the classroom. It has been a fun journey in the past year to self-reflect on my opinoins and beliefs on this issue and slowly become a big supporter of inclusive classrooms.  I look forward to learning new methods of accomodating our unique learners in our classrooms in order to best meet their needs!

“Fourth graders!?!? They’re going to be huge, and smart, and feisty!” These were the types of thoughts that were going through my mind prior to the Cameron Park experience. In a Kindergarten student teaching placement, I have become accustomed to five year olds…and five year old curriculum. Although I was a little intimidated, I was also very excited to see what life was like on the other hall.

I was pleasantly surprised with what I found there. The chidlren were excited and they were still very much children. They were well behaved and fun to be around. It was a breath of fresh air to be exposed to a little more content. I felt much more comfortable teaching science this time around than I did the last time we were at Cameron Park. I felt like the conversations I was having with the students were much more authentic and more stimulating for them. I also thought management improved.

Overall, I thought it was an extremely worthwhile experience and an informative one. It was clear that I still need to work on my conversation strategies with students so that they are more inquiry based and I need to be prepared to ask better more thought provoking questions. However, I believe that just as I improved from one experience to the other, I will continue to improve as a teacher of science.

This chapter explored nonfiction and electronic media and ways to use them in the classroom. One of the most crucial aspects of literacy acquisition during elementary years is learning to read to learn.  These types of texts are excellent ways to utilize inquiry based curriculum. We have discussed inquiry based curriculums in detail in our science room. However, in order for these inquiry based curriculums to be successful integration is key. I love how literacy can be used to teach social studies and science since there isn’t appropriate time allotted for these subjects in the curriculum.  Inquiry based curriculum also allows children to examine the world around them and investigate their own curiosities. I’m a firm believer that this type of curriculum fosters the most authentic type of learning and help children to retain the information they learn for years to come.

There are three phases in which early literacy learning can occur in a classroom.

1. Experimental Reading and Writing

2. Early Reading and Writing

3. Transitional Reading and Writing

It was refreshing to hear information on literacy acquisition. As a Kindergarten ST, I feel like a lot of the information we need gets ignored since our curriculum isn’t rich in content. However, what we do in the early years greatly effects the learner’s success in later years.

I also enjoyed the part about reader and writer workshops. I can envision these happening in my classroom as I believe they could be very useful.  I particularly like the piece on whole class read-alouds. I can imagine this being a great way for the children to learn from other students’ thought processes which can be more effective than receiveing direct instruction from the teacher.

Elementary students cross chairs in the Phillipines to get to class during the current flood. Note to self: Be grateful tomorrow!