Chapter 1 learning from the natural teachers

LEARNING FROM THE “NATURAL” TEACHERS

CHAPTER 1 FROM TOOLS FOR TEACHING. JONES, F. SANTA

CRUZ, CA. 2007.

COURSE FOCUS

• TO MAKE CURRENT RESEARCH MEANINGFUL BY RELATING IT TO APPLICATION

WITHIN A TYPICAL CLASSROOM

• STUDENTS WILL ANALYZE MANAGEMENT AND INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES TO

PROMOTE STUDENT ACADEMIC SUCCESS.

• THIS CHAPTER PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES THAT

THE MOST SKILLED TEACHERS IMPLEMENT THAT MINIMIZE DISRUPTIONS AND

MAXIMIZE STUDENT LEARNING AND CLASSROOM SUCCESS

MANY CONSIDERATIONS!

• THE TEACHER – ATTITUDES AND REALITY

• DO YOU ENJOY BEING IN YOUR CLASSROOM?

• ARE YOU EXHAUSTED AT THE END OF THE DAY?

• THE STUDENTS –

• IS LEARNING EXCITING?

• ARE THE STUDENTS PROGRESSING?

• THE CLASSROOM –

• DOES THE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT SUPPORT POSITIVE INTERACTIONS AND

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT?

WHAT SKILLS DO WE NEED?

• ABILITY TO ENGAGE STUDENTS

• ENGAGE ALL OF THEIR SENSES

• CONSIDER VARIOUS LEARNING STYLES AND MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

• ABILITY TO MINIMIZE PROBLEM BEHAVIORS AND MAXIMIZE ENGAGED BEHAVIORS

• WHAT DO THESE SKILLS LOOK AND SOUND LIKE? HOW DO WE BECOME MORE

SKILLED SO WE DON’T JOIN THE 50% OF THE TEACHERS WHO LEAVE THE

PROFESSION WITHIN 5 YEARS?

ENJOY THE STORIES

• READ THE ANECDOTES ON PP. 3 – 4 IN TOOLS FOR TEACHING

NOTICE ANYTHING? WHICH OF THOSE ANECDOTES DESCRIBES YOUR

CLASSROOM? THE CLASSROOMS YOU ENDURED AS A STUDENT? AS MY SON

TOLD ME MANY YEARS AGO IN HIS FIRST YEAR WITH “TEACH FOR AMERICA” . . .

I KNEW WHEN I HAD GOOD TEACHERS BUT I DID NOT KNOW WHY UNTIL I

HAD MY OWN CLASSROOM

TAKING FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD

• KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF “DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE” PRACTICES ARE

CRUCIAL TO HIGH QUALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

• OVER THE YEARS AND THROUGH MUCH TRAINING RELATED TO ESL (ENGLISH AS

SECOND LANGUAGE) AND STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, I HAVE LEARNED

THAT THE RESEARCH BASED PRACTICES THAT WORK IN ONE AREA ARE

SIMILARLY RESEARCH BASED AND BEST PRACTICE FOR ANY OTHER STUDENTS.

• WITH THAT, REMEMBER THE PYRAMID MODEL AS IT RELATES TO A CHILD’S

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT?

BUILD THOSE RELATIONSHIPS!

• NOTICE THAT THE FOUNDATIONAL PIECE OF THE PYRAMID MODEL IS HAVING

RESPONSIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHILDREN, PARENTS, AND COLLEAGUES.

• THE “RELAXED, EMOTIONALLY WARM” TEACHERS AS DESCRIBED IN YOUR TEXT

ENJOY WORKING WITH THEIR STUDENTS AND HAVE DEVELOPED POSITIVE

RELATIONSHIPS WITH THOSE STUDENTS, WHETHER THEY ARE YOUNG CHILDREN

OR OLDER STUDENTS!

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? SOUND LIKE?

• WHAT DO THOSE SUCCESSFUL CLASSROOMS LOOK LIKE AND SOUND LIKE? GO

TO THE WIKI FOR CHAPTER 1 IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT LINK TO ADD TO WHAT WE

MIGHT OBSERVE IN THE TYPE CLASSROOM IN WHICH STUDENTS ARE ACTIVELY

ENGAGED AND ATTENDING TO WHAT THEY NEED TO BE LEARNING

• HOW CAN WE MINIMIZE THE TEACHER’S WORKLOAD WHILE MAXIMIZING

EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY? HOW CAN WE IDENTIFY AND PRACTICE THE

TEACHER BEHAVIORS THAT GIVE US THE BIGGEST BANG FOR THE LEAST

AMOUNT OF EFFORT?

“AIN’T IT THE TRUTH?” `• DID YOU NOTICE THE BULLETS ON P. 5?

• TEACHERS WORK TWICE AS HARD AS THE GENERAL PUBLIC WILL EVER IMAGINE.

• THE LAST THING IN THE WORLD THAT A TEACHER WILL EVER HAVE IS “EXTRA” TIME.

(JONES, 2007)

WITH WHAT BEHAVIOR PLANS ARE YOU FAMILIAR? PBIS IS USED IN MANY OF OUR

LOCAL SCHOOLS. HOW WELL DOES IT WORK? WHAT IS OUR ULTIMATE GOAL? WE

HAVE TO CONSIDER IF WE ARE SPENDING ALL OF OUR EFFORT TRYING TO GET

CHILDREN TO BEHAVE. INSTEAD, IS OUR ENVIRONMENT ENGAGING ENOUGH

THAT STUDENTS SIMPLY WANT TO BEHAVE AND LOVE LEARNING IN YOUR

CLASSROOM? AGAIN, LET’S WORK TO ANALYZE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND

SOUNDS LIKE IN REAL PRACTICE

PITFALLS

• SQUANDERED TIME – TOO MUCH INSTRUCTIONAL TIME IS WASTED

• TEACHER-CENTERED CLASSROOMS – THE TEACHER DOES ALL THE WORK AND

THE STUDENTS ARE SUPPOSED TO TAKE IN ALL OF THE WISDOM BESTOWED

UPON THEM. HOW DO WE MAKE STUDENTS ACTIVE LEARNERS?

• “GOOFING OFF” – INCLUDES STUDENTS WHO AVOID, TALK, MOVE ABOUT, OR

OTHERWISE MANAGE TO DISRUPT

• NAGGING TEACHERS

PREDICTABLE NEW TEACHER LEARNING CURVE

• NAIVETY –

• WE THINK THAT KIDS WILL BEHAVE, ESPECIALLY IF WE ARE NICE.

• WE LOSE CONTROL!

• TAKE ACTION

• WE CALL THEM OUT

• THEY ACT INNOCENT

• THEY QUICKLY RESUME THE SAME BEHAVIORS

PREDICTABLE NEW TEACHER LEARNING CURVE (CONT.)

• FED UP!

• NAGGING COMMENCES

• FRUSTRATION ENSUES

• ONCE AND FOR ALL!

• TEACHERS “PUT THEIR FOOT DOWN”

• AND THEN IT STARTS ALL OVER

MORE FUNNIES

• READ THE “GETTING NOWHERE” SECTION ON PP. 10 & 11 IN YOUR TEXT.

• WHICH ARE YOU? WHICH HAVE YOU HEARD REGULARLY FROM OTHER

TEACHERS?

• AGAIN, WHAT SKILLS DO WE NEED TO IDENTIFY AND PRACTICE THAT WILL HELP

US AVOID THESE PITFALLS?