QTC Chapter 13.2

(13.2) Consider a student who is disruptively talking to a neighbor while you are teaching.  Develop and list a full continuum of responses for dealing with the unproductive learning behavior.

Unfortunately, there will be many times in which a student or students will disrupt class by talking or any other undesired behavior. This is natural because no student can be perfect, and there will be times when behaviors are not always up to par. However, teachers must be consistent in their responses to these disruptive behaviors in order to decrease the likelihood of these behaviors occurring. The textbook lists a few suggestions on dealing with disruptive behaviors. The first step I would take would be to cue the student. At the first instance of this student chatting to her neighbor, I would not consider stopping the lesson to address this student. I would simply pause for a brief moment and give her a stern look that clearly emphasizes my dislike for her talking during my teaching. Sometimes, a stern look or another brief cue may not work to cease the behaviors. Therefore, if the talking continued even after I gave her a cue, I would catch up to her privately, and discuss the problem with her briefly. I would state that she needed to pay attention, and that her excessive talking is disruptive to her peers' learning. This step might not work, so the next step I would take would be to teach a self-regulation strategy. There are many different strategies that can be used for a student who talks during the teacher's instruction. She can create a tally sheet that marks each time that she speaks while another person is speaking. She would need to mark twice for each time that she speaks when the teacher is speaking, and subsequently interrupts her neighbors from hearing instructions. This would get her to realize what she is doing and how it is negatively impacting her peers. In order to positively reinforce her, every time that she does not speak while someone is talking she can reward herself by adding a tally mark to another list. She and the teacher can work on thinking of activities to plan for her if she reaches a certain ratio on her two sheets (20:5; 20 being the amount of times she does not speak when someone else is speaking and 5 being the times she does). Sometimes this method may not work either, or it may work for only a shortened amount of time. This would be when I would need to go to the next measure and confer with her parents. The first step with this would be to simply call her parents and let them know that she is having problems with staying quiet when others are speaking. If her behavior continued even after doing this, I would have to call her parents in for a conference and discuss preventive measures with them that we all feel would work best in dealing with this problem. Some of the resulting consequences might also need to be reflective at home as well. 

QTC Chapter 13.1

(13.1) List five areas you will attend to as you create a learning environment that is conducive to learning.

The text outlines some important aspects to take into consideration when creating a classroom management plan. The five that I will focus the greatest amount of attention are: building and maintaining teacher-student relationships, creating a sense of community, setting limits, modifying instructional strategies, and taking into consideration the differences between students.  

Building and maintaing teacher-student relationships is one of the most important duties that teachers are given. Teachers who do not care about the well-being of their students or who do not even make an effort to get to know their students will find it very difficult to create a productive learning environment and have a classroom that is well behaved and respectful. Students might feel as if they are not cared for so they will lack motivation and the desire to learn. Also, if they do not feel as if they are respected, they will not respect their teacher in turn. In the beginning of the year it is crucial for teachers to start getting to know their students. They can do so by having activities that allow everyone to get to know each other, or have journals in the classroom where the students can write to her about themselves and discuss any matters that they wish to be addressed. Teachers should also recognize their students when possible. This can easily be done by a simple smile or a morning greeting or a quick catch-up in the hallway. I believe that teachers should take the time to greet every student individually in the morning, whether it even just be a simple, "how was your night" or a "it is very good to see you this morning". Finally, building relationships with students will allow teachers to adjust and plan material accordingly to best suit each students' individual needs. 

In my classroom I wish to establish an environment that has a sense of community. I want to arrange the classroom so that the students are not isolated from each other and do not have the opportunity to collaborate with other students. I would like to arrange the desks in clusters so that at least three or four desks were together to encourage students that it is okay to work together and share ideas. There would be times when I would like to arrange the desks in a circle (it will probably end up looking more like a rectangle) and having discussions with the class where it is not led by me, rather the students are leading the discussion and I just chime in occasionally. I want to establish a sense of comfort, or belongingness, where everyone has the self-esteem to contribute to the classroom and speak out loud without feeling nervous or being afraid to contribute their ideas. Also in a community there are a set of responsibilities that everyone is responsible for to ensure that the community thrives. This will be evident in my classroom as well and the students will be aware of these responsibilities and the importance of them to ensure a successful community. 

It is important to establish limits within the classroom. Even more so, these limits should be established at the beginning of the school year. Students should know what to expect and also know what is expected of them. Teachers should give reasons as to why these limits are established and expected of their students so that they can internalize them and gain understanding. Another key consideration is that limits and expectations should be a low amount as to not overwhelm students and feel like a dictatorship. When there is a lower number of limits and expectations it is also easier for students to remember.

Modifying instructional strategies should be done as regularly as needed. Some believe that once they establish an instructional strategy that it must be consistent throughout the entire school year. However, this is not true. Teachers should take into consideration that over time, things change. This is true for students and their learning styles and behaviors. Instructional strategies should be adjusted in order to optimize students' learning. This is why it is so important to reflect on lessons and throughout the school year to ensure that strategies are being updated with the classroom as it changes. 

Finally, teachers should take into consideration the individual differences of students. Each student is unique and has his or her own unique personality, which also includes learning style. This goes along with the teacher's need to establish relationships with students. Getting to know each individual student will make it obvious as to how and why each student is different.