Reflection

= Reflections: = toc Welcome to my page of personal reflections.

Reflection - Classroom Management
Learning how to manage your classroom is one of the most fundamental skills of a teacher's skill set. Youth are naturally curious; and are full of energy and ideas. An effective teacher is able to manage the inherent energy and curiosity of youth and is able to focus it towards a particular learning objective. Classroom management is the most fundamental skill in a teacher's skill set because learning is a journey. Expressed metaphorically; a teacher and their students are on a journey together. However, no journey can begin until the vessel you are using to travel that journey is pointed in the right direction. Classroom management gets all your students on that ship together, and gets the whole class pointed in the right direction.
 * Importance of Classroom Management **

Today in class we discussed one of the first elements of classroom management. The "attention getter". Before any classroom management can even begin, a teacher must get their class' attention. It was not until very recently that I considered the importance of using an "attention getter" in a classroom. However, upon further reflection, the importance of a good "attention getter" became evident. The "attention getter" is the first point of focus for the class. It ends unfocused conversation and directs students attention towards the teacher such that the students can be focused on their next goal in the classroom.

After realizing the importance of a good "attention getter" I began to search the internet for ideas from other educators based on their own experience. Some very good attention getters can be found at: "A to Z Teacher" Page on Attention Grabbers and 25 Ways of Getting Students Attention in a School Setting. Other techniques that I found on various teacher forums were:
 * Attention Getters **


 * "SALAMI!" - an acronym for "stop and look at me!".
 * "Stop, Look and Listen!" - spoken out loud and used in combination with a stop sign.
 * Wind chimes.
 * Chimes.
 * Bells.
 * Rain Stick.

During my internet search for effective attention getters I came across tools available for purchase: "Yacker Tracker" and "Tag the Attention Getter".

Three Criteria of a Good Attention Getter: 1) Does not make use of your voice. 2) Build gradual, or takes 5 seconds from beginning to end. 3) Makes use of a unique sound.


 * Questions! Questions! Questions! **
 * What can social psychology tell us about the effectiveness of certain attention grabbers over others?
 * What elements of group dynamics influence how a classroom responds to an attention grabber?
 * Are we as human beings genetically predisposed to certain attention grabbers, as a result of our evolution? (would a rattle from a rattle snake be more effective than a chime?)

Reflection - Motivation
How do you motivate your students? As a teacher, the answer to this question is quite complex. Motivation depends on the individual in question. Some are motivated by money, some by power, some by prestige, some by challenges, some by competition, and some by pure love of what they are doing. Alfie Kohn - a widely debated critic of the current model of education - argues that motivation by reward or competition is detrimental to our classrooms. Alfie Kohn bases his observations on results from ongoing research conducted by cognitive scientists. I have no doubt that the research to which Alfie Kohn refers is accurate and rigorous - however, one must be careful in applying laboratory results to the classroom and to everyday life in general. Admittedly, I have not read any of Alfie Kohn's publications (I have only seen videos of him speaking) - however I am interested to know the specifics of the research to which he is referring. I am curious to know whether any research has been done in an actual classroom environment. Nevertheless, despite my concerns I do agree with Alfie Kohn's fundamental argument that extrinsic rewards should not be the means through which students are motivated. To me, personally, the goal of a teacher is no motivate students through fun and curiosity. In my philosophy of teaching I make two fundamental assumptions:
 * How do you motivate your students for success? **

1) Students enjoy challenges. 2) Students enjoy challenges so long as they see progress and perceive them as attainable.

I will now address each of these assumptions:

Based on anecdotal evidence of my own, I have observed that people enjoy challenges. Many of the recreational activities we as individuals engage in are; challenging. Fishing is a challenge, learning to fly is a challenge, solving a Sudoku puzzle is a challenge, rock climbing is a challenge, mountain biking is a challenge. Each of the aforementioned actions is very hard, yet many people engage in them on a daily basis out of pure enjoyment. From my perspective, people enjoy challenges. However, the contrary is also true. There are also many people that abhor all of the aforementioned activities. So the question now becomes, what is it that distinguishes the two types of people, those who love these activities, and those who avoid them? My hypothesis is that one of the key factors distinguishing the two groups is their perspective of the attainability of succeeding at the challenge. Whenever we succeed at a challenge, we obtain a cognitive reward - a feeling of euphoria caused by the release of certain neurotransmitters in our brain. This is a reward, albeit an internal one. We feel good about our accomplishment. For those that do not enjoy these challenges perhaps it appears to them, that the work is not worth the reward. In the vernacular of cost-benefit analysis. The costs are not sufficient to justify the benefits that are provided. Perhaps this is the key factor distinguishing the two groups indicated above?
 * 1) Students enjoy challenges **

How many times have you played a sport and really enjoyed the game even though you lost? How many other times has the competition been extremely good and you felt horrible during the whole time. I believe the key is the (perceptions of) attainability of completion. One of the most demotivating exercises an individual can experience is to try to accomplish something only to be defeated at it over and over again. When progress appears hopeless then motivation quickly evaporates.
 * 2) Students enjoy challenges that they perceive they can accomplish **

Another author who has popularized motivation research is Dan Pink. One of the best summaries of Dan Pink's work can be found as a dynamic cognitive map commissioned by the Royal Society of the Arts. What I like about Dan Pink's writing is that he distinguishes all work into to major groups:
 * Dan Pink on Motivation **
 * 1) mechanical work that can be motivated by external motivation.
 * 2) cognitive work and problem solving that cannot be motivated by external motivation, but that is best motivated by internal motivators.

media type="youtube" key="u6XAPnuFjJc?fs=1" height="405" width="660" Dan Pink - Dynamic cognitive map commissioned by the Royal Society of the Arts.


 * Questions! Questions! Questions! **
 * Can laboratory results be applied to classroom settings?
 * Will it be possible to develop a sense of internal motivation in all students? Perhaps some students just don't care about school at all?

Reflection - Punishment
Intuitively I believe that punishment is not an effective classroom management strategy. This opinion is based entirely based on my faith in the research supporting the Tribes Learning Communities. I am a huge Tribes believer, and I believe that for learning to happen students have to be physically and emotionally safe. Punishment jeopardizes students emotional safety.
 * Is punishment an effective classroom management strategy? **

For me personally, management strategy should be proactive and my goal as a teacher should be to develop an intrinsic desire to co-operate in class. I believe that this is best accomplished through the following:
 * Establishing an environment of mutual respect.
 * Working with students to direct their learning.
 * Allowing for peer mediation in class when disputes arise.
 * Understanding my students and their lives beyond the classroom.


 * Questions! Questions! Questions! **
 * Has neuroscience research been performed that can be applied to classroom management? It appears to me that a lot of classroom management advice is unfounded and just based on personal preference and opinion and not on facts.

Reflection - Do Schools Kill Creativity?
One of my favorite speeches is given by Sir Ken Robinson. Sir Ken Robinson was tasked by the U.K. Government with reforming the U.K's education system. In the TED video below he shares a lot of his own personal revelations on the deficiencies of schools historically:

media type="youtube" key="iG9CE55wbtY?fs=1" height="405" width="500" Sir Ken Robinson - Schools Kill Creativity

I think Sir Ken Robinson has an excellent point. I agree, in an ideal world each child should be encouraged to pursue their passions and interests. However, we have to face the practical realities of the world. If everyone in the world just did what they wanted, would society collapse? If everyone did what they wanted to would society continue to function? As human beings, we all need a roof over our heads, and food on our plates. These things must be paid for with money, and money is quite often accumulated by doing some form of work. So now, we must consider; if everyone merely did what they wanted to - would we have a productive society? Would we be able to feed ourselves? Would we be able to build houses in which to live? Would electricity be produced? The stark reality is that certain skills are required for the operation of society. We need mathematicians, engineers, architects, scientists. Without these people the basic infrastructure of society will collapse. It takes work to run a society - and often this work may not be work that we enjoy that it must be done if we are to feed and house ourselves.

I will have to give this further thought.

Reflection - Stories
Today in class we learned about the use of stories in math instruction. I decided to research the concept further and came across some interesting articles on the subject. They can be found below:
 * Stories? **

"Why great teachers are story tellers." - Daniel T. Willingham "The privileged status of stories." - Daniel T. Willingham "Why don't students like school?" - Daniel T. Willingham