If students are engaged, Classroom management shouldn't be a problem. Yes or No?
Answer: No. Students will still be a problem. However their role may change. My student that is suppose to be "authority/pusher" became the "little school girl." Last class Todd was authoritative, and not the friendliest student. But this week, he squirmed when I put the frog on his arm or asked him to touch the turtle. Allison remained a bully... My hypothesis is that when their blindfolded their identity becomes covered. Though people can recognize voices they can't see movements. So even though Todd spoke with authority, his actions were none of the sort.
As educators, we should recognize the front that students put on. Though they may be the bully or authoritative it may be an act in order to hide their real personality. When dealing with issues in class we need to remember the source of their behavior in order to correct it. Granted this is "role-play" I think it brought out some real issues.
After this Lab I realize that I need to be more clear in my instruction. When constructing it I thought that Right for Reptile, and Left for Amphibian, would be easy to remember but it wasn't. It didn't go as planned, I worked around it but in the future I would have given different directions.
I'm wondering if some of the terms I used were appropriate. I used vision impaired, it seemed fitting for the occasion but if there were a student in my classroom that was visually impaired it wouldn't be appropriate. Also, I called Todd a drama queen. This called Todd out in the class, the students laughed, and though the students laughed, it was at his expensive. Hopefully that would never happen in the real classroom but if it did I would make a point to apologize to him after class and depending on how it affected him, in front of the class.
Every tuesday night before Lab I go through my lesson plan with my husband, and when I did this one a great thing came out of it. After revealing what the animals were he wanted to know if he was right! It was a revelation! I realized that using curiosity(which may be a principle of interest) kept him engaged even after the interest approach was over. He was ready to listen to my lesson to determine if he was right or not.
Overall, I'm happy with my performance, but as always, there is so much room for improvement!!!
Annette, I love your reflections! I think that we will forever be learning how to give better directions. Simplicity is key, but we want to be sure that our directions have enough detail that the students do what we want them to. Don't be worried about calling Todd a drama queen! Sometimes it is ok to joke with students. Take for instance my relationship with Dr. Ewing. Joking around opens up the class some. You'll quickly realize where and how far you can go with this kind of stuff. I'm rather jealous that you have such a resource to bounce lesson ideas off of! You certainly are lucky! Good job, Annette!
ReplyDeleteAnnette, I thought your lab went really well! Your reflection about behavior is interesting.. i felt it was hard to "act out" during your lab because we were blind folded but also because it was so interesting and intriguing. I think these labs are great ways to develop our direction skills, when things don't go exactly right it is a good learning experience that we can use later. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteYour discussion on student's personalities was spot on Annette. I caught myself shaking my head in agreement, and it was eye opening to realize that there are many students out there who fall under that category. I was glad to see you caught some words that you didn't think were correct, I find myself doing that all the time. It is a lot tougher than it seems to change your words to a professional demeanor now that we are going into the profession. I think overall your interest approach was a great idea, and you had a great reflective piece.
ReplyDeleteNice job and good reflection, I really enjoyed watching your video and then reading your blog. I think you did a great job and I like how your interest approach has so many more options. I think it would be cool to actually have the animals to touch them at the end of the unit or even at the beginning. It could be a great review! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteYour interest approach sounds really cool! I'm glad I figured out you had a "Turtle" in your bin rather than a brain! ha! I also agree with your discussion about student personalities as well! I also liked the idea of blind folding your students, not only are you helping them use their other sensory skills, you are also taking away the urge for the students to "act out" or "act up" because they cannot find a visual stimulus to trigger such behavior. Awesome Job!
ReplyDelete