• How are your initial thoughts about management already changing or being reinforced?
In short, I often forget the psychology behind classroom management. When you observe your classroom or observe other teacher's classroom (in a pandemic-free everyday classroom setting, I might add), you or the teacher you're observing would often find different ways or have different preferred methods in classroom Management. I think it could be as simple as saying "I'll wait" while the students continue to talk in line before recess time, or something a little more advanced that experienced teacher could easily execute. I'll say, I haven't quite seen the latter.. yet. To be honest, this is an assumption that I'm coming up with off the top of my head. But I can say in the "I'll wait" example, just as with any methods for classroom management I think there's truly a psychological reasonings behind why it works for some students. It's funny to think about how we would use the method, but never truly question why that works. Not to mention, we would work with a minimum of 20+ students in a classroom, each with different sets of personalities and experiences... It's almost as if you could find a "one size fit all" scenario, even though we have learned in general and in education, that's usually not the best case and approach.• How do Charles' three purposes for management (he calls it classroom discipline) complement each other?
It's amazing how those three strategies complement each other. I feel like ultimately, the goal for those three strategies are so that you never have to resort to the "mean" path in discipline. The way I see it, 1st strategy helps prevent the misbehavior from happening. 2nd strategy say, "this student is still behaving inappropriately", so teacher then say, "don't give that any attention. Look for the good parts" and we vocally erupt in happiness when we saw them behaving in the appropriate manner. 3rd strategy say "they're still behaving inappropriately!", so teacher then say, "let's redirect them, let's start from step 1, from the beginning, do some scaffolding, and remind them how to behave appropriately". To me, I read the strategies like "steps to take before you resort to feeling like you're absolutely losing it!"
• Which authority base are you most attracted to? Why that one?
I want to say that I am mostly a referent authority with a dab of legitimate authority. I also see this as an equivalent to being an emotional person with a dab of logical side in it. As a referent authority, I care greatly about another students' feelings and would put in the effort to create a trusting and positive students-teacher relationship. I believe that by doing so, it would helps create an overall positive classroom atmosphere. However, if it became too friendly to the point that students see me more as a friend and cater their personal wants/needs, than I would have to put my foot down and reminds them of the teacher side in me, hence the legitimate authority. I want to be that warm and caring teacher, but I am also a teacher. I can see this as a very friendly and professional students-teacher relationship.
Hi Katherine, I think you reached a really great point at the end of this blog where you touched on seeing students as friends vs. seeing students view you as an obvious authority figure. I think it can be really hard to walk this line. I talked about in my blog, how important it is for students to share their ideas without judgement, I feel they would be more inclined to do this if they viewed me as a friend. However, I don't want to be seen as less than an authority figure, I'll have to find the perfect balance when it comes time! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHi Maris, I feel like it sounds so easy to just find that line between being a student's friend and being their superior. But actually, I think it can be really difficult for new teachers like us. I think just like with my "teacher voice", I'm still trying to establish what type of personality I want to exhibit to my students and in what grades. I know not to let students walk all over me as I would technically be in charge of the classroom, but at the same time, I want them to know that I am there for them to express whatever they need to express to me. It's definitely going to take some practices!
DeleteHi Katherine,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I liked the graphic you used to tie in what you were saying in the first paragraph about how in a classroom we are dealing with at least 20 different people, learning styles, and behaviors. Your graphic shows me a teacher that is catering to each individual’s needs. I also relate to the referent authority base the most. I think everyone has a little bit of all of them in their teaching and authority style. In your second paragraph I liked hearing about how you viewed the three purposes for management as steps to take in dealing with discipline. My question is, how do you think you would handle a situation if you had tried all three purposes (or steps) and the child was still acting inappropriately?
Hi Alli, that's a great thought-provoking question! I read it last night, thought about it, slept on it, woke up, thought about it some more and my answer would be.. Well, to be honest, I'm not even entirely sure! I would definitely establish a communication between the student, their parents, and whoever is involved with the student outside of the classroom but within the school building (so someone like a speech therapist, ESL teacher, etc). I would approach their parents about their behaviors so that they're at least aware of how they act outside of home, communicate to get the sense of how they behave at home, what the methods they would reinforce, and etc. I think just by communication alone, I would be able to better understand at the very least, why the students continue to misbehave, if their parents are aware and if they have done anything about it. It's like I said, there's usually a psychological reasoning behind a child's actions.. Maybe I'll learn a little of that from communication!
DeleteHello Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you brought up how it is a balancing act between the two authority things for you. That is what I was thinking about. Even though it separates them into separate authorities I could see how each of them could happen within a classroom. I feel as if there are somethings that happen within a classroom where it is more appropriate to be referent and others being the expert. I also believe that it is something we as teacher have to know what works best for each student and classroom. Just dealing with my nieces and nephews playing I know that some phrases work on some kids while with others they see it as a challenge to see what you are going to do. For example, if I tell my kid hey do not touch that. It is hot. I could tell one of her cousins that and they look at me with a devilish smile and will continue to try and touch it. I have noticed that competition works great for all them. Or finding something they all can do with their hands. Keep in mind I am talking about kids who are 4 and 3 and sometimes a bit older. Like it said in the reading it mentions hoe referent does not always work with all students. So I would be curious what you would hope to do in that possible situation.
Hi Zhana, I think to me, if I work with younger students in from K-3rd, I would naturally resort to the referent authority anyway. But if need to be, I would put my foot down and become more of an expert authority if I see a kid ready to touch a boiling hot pot! I think it's interesting to point out that it depends on different situations that brings out different authority bases in us, even the one we think we will never use in our teaching career. And I don't know if this is something all or most teachers agree with, but I believe students learn by doing. So if a kid touched a hot pot, they got hurt and learned, oh I should never, ever do that again! Though it's a bit iffy because we don't want to harm the children, so how can we help them learn without getting them hurt?
DeleteHi Katherine! I mostly resonate with your final answer, where you talked about referent and legitimate authority. I too see myself honing in on both of these abilities. I think by meshing the legitimate authority with the referent, you get a serious but loving teacher, which is realistically what we should want in our schools. A teacher who uses both sounds strong and willing to handle anything that comes her way. I also feel as if there are going to be times when we will use all authorities in class depending on the situation, so I liked how you talked about meshing the authorities!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!