Chanelle LaCross

Task # 2 - Critical Analysis

How to Keep From Tearing Your Hair Out!

                      Human Relations

                               and Conflict Resolution

                                                   Professor Joseph Sperlazza

Section 1: Integration, Synthesis,

Interpretation and Generalizations

Introduction                                                                                   

Managing a classroom of 20+ hormone-raging adolescents is no easy task at all, but it is what a good teacher does every single day.  It upsets me when I hear people say that teachers have it easy. They think that because we get a couple days off and a summer vacation, we have no right to protest about the problems we face on a daily basis. It is a shame that people don't give educators the prestige that they deserve. For our field is one that requires ongoing active research and is forever evolving. There are many important factors involved in maintaining an environment that is conductive to the learning process. First and foremost, the teacher is responsible for mastering the material in which s/he plans on teaching.

We as teachers are also responsible for understanding and meeting the needs of all our students, creating a structure within our classrooms and effectively dealing with any discipline infractions that may occur. It is absolutely vital to the success of your classroom that you be prepared to address all of these issues before even attempting to convey any academic information. After all, our ultimate goal here is to create socially responsible young adults who will take charge in tomorrow's society.

Understanding and Meeting the Basic Needs of Students

"It is essential for a teacher to know and understand the development of a child. While each child goes through many of the same developmental stages, each child is unique, special, and different in their own way."   -Sarah M. Cooley

          It is important that you have a basic knowledge of human development and learning. As a high school teacher you need to be aware that your students are in a time of major transition. They are desperately trying to find out who they are, ready and willing to test your limits and break all dependent ties. They are confused juvenile youths striving to discover the identity that will carry them through adulthood. We must attempt to empathize with what they are going through and do our best to address their needs in this time as they are becoming aware of themselves.

          We must take into consideration the emotions that our students are dealing with and understand the physiological aspects of those emotions. We as humans are slaves to our amygdalas. The amygdala an 'almond-sized' structure (there is one on each side of our brains near the temple region) which serves as somewhat of an immediate response system, often offering a reaction before the brain has fully processed the information at hand. The amygdala provokes the primitive instincts which are mainly accredited to human evolution. It is also the home of all our emotional memories. Whenever we encounter a stimulus which seems to require an immediate response, our amygdalas send out an instant S.O.S. message to the rest of our brain. You can actually see physical changes that are characteristic with the different emotions that we experience. For example, when a person feels threatened a message of fear is transmitted which evokes the fight-or-flight response. The increase in hormones facilitates immediate physical reactions by triggering increases in heart rate and breathing, constricting blood vessels and tightening muscles. This physiologically prompts our reliance on spontaneous or intuitive behaviors which are often related to combat or escape. For every emotion that we feel, our brain sends out different messages to our bodies which cause us to act in certain ways. We must learn these warning signs and their appropriate responses. Ultimately, we need to teach students to recognize these physical cues and deal with their emotions productively.

          In addition to being aware of the physical body (how it develops and reacts), we must also have an understanding of how people learn. One theory that I strongly agree with is that of multiple intelligences. It basically states that we each possess eight major intelligences that allow us to process given information. Linguistic skill is the capacity to use words effectively. Logical-mathematical is the power to use numbers proficiently. Spatial is the knack to perceive the visual world efficiently. Bodily-kinesthetic is the expertise in using one's whole body to express ideas and feelings. Musical is the competence to identify, discriminate, transform and express musical forms. Interpersonal is the ability to perceive and make distinctions in the moods, intentions, motivations and feelings of other people. Intrapersonal is self-knowledge and the instinct to act adaptively on the basis of that knowledge. Finally, naturalistic is expertise in recognizing and classifying the numerous species of an individual's environment as well as an overall sensitivity to natural phenomenon.

Since each of us develops at diverse rates and possess different strengths and weaknesses among the eight intelligences, we all have singular needs that must be met in order to succeed in the classroom. That is why it is so very important that teachers address these intelligences and use multiple instructional methods in their classrooms. Not every student will be able to grasp understanding through the same means, so we must adapt our instruction to their individual needs. For this very reason, I believe it is important for teachers to 'over-plan' for their daily lessons. It is much better to be prepared for problems rather than fumbling around when they do occur. I also believe that the assessment of student learning should take into consideration the idea of multiple intelligences. I am not saying that standardized tests are no good. I am just saying that they are not the only way to find out if your students are learning. It is a good idea to spice things up with a little project or presentation every once in a while. 

"Teaching is difficult under the best educational conditions and failure to

take into account the needs of students or teachers makes what is already

a hard job almost impossible."                    - William Glasser

Examples of proposed basic psychological needs of students.

Jones & Jones Figure 2.1

          As for personal needs, they may be a little harder to determine. Jones and Jones give us three basic methods. The first is basically just to do your research. Look up the some of the many theories regarding needs and see what results these people have come up with. What things did the students they surveyed find to be most important? Second method is to simply ask your students what they need in order to feel comfortable and able to learn. Given that our goal is to create an environment that facilitates the students' learning, it seems logical that we should go to them for some input. The third route is to perform systematic observations in order to obtain information. This involves carefully monitoring how your students react to the various situations they find themselves in. You can learn an awful lot about your students through pure observation. It is important to keep the needs of your students in mind whenever a disciplinary infraction occurs. Chances are if a student is acting out, it is because their basic needs are not being met.

          It is important that a teacher gets to know his/her students. People are simply more likely to interact with others whom they feel comfortable around. If a student walks into a classroom and sees 25-30 unfamiliar faces, s/he is likely to clam right up. Many teachers come full force on the first day of school with intense lesson plans ready to go. Perhaps they are trying to make up for lost time, but what they're really doing is ruining a perfect opportunity to become acquainted with their new class. I believe that taking it slow for the first day or two allows time to create the foundation of this classroom community. Something that is sure to come in handy later on.

Creating a Structure

         In order for classroom management to be effective, you must strive to be fair in all of your actions. The best way to do this is to create a framework within your classroom that works for you and your students. First and foremost, there need to be rules for your students to follow. By setting limits, you are offering choices. The student ultimately chooses the consequence. It is vital that you make this guideline absolutely clear because if they are going to follow the rules, they must first be well aware of what exactly they are.  In the book, Discipline with Dignity, Curwin & Medler discuss the option of creating a social contract with your students. It is basically allowing your students to be involved in the rule-making process. They will also help come up with punitive consequences for when the rules are breached. The whole process gives the students a chance to make their own decisions and it encourages an internal abode of control. As the teacher, you should allow the contract to be modified to meet your class' needs. Somewhat of a 'classroom constitution' that can be amended as time goes on. In order to be successful in limit setting, you must have a certain willingness to be flexible. This goes back to empathizing with what your students are going through, sometimes things happen! There are many other suggested models for integrating social problem solving strategies a part of your classroom. Such as FIG TESPN or The Eight Essential Steps to Conflict Resolution. Regardless of which method you choose, the key is consistency. By enforcing your consequences, you have provided your students with a structure for future learning. There is one thing all of the models have in common. They are strongly geared toward creating partnerships and promoting positive relations within the classroom.

FIG TESPN Framework (Elias & Tobias 4.1):

F - EELINGS cue me to problem solve

I - have a problem

G - OALS give me a guide

T - HINK of things to do

E - NVISION outcomes

P - LAN the procedure, anticipate pitfalls, practice and pursue it

N - OTICE what happened and now what

Eight Essential Steps to Conflict Resolution (Weeks p.70):

1. Create an effective atmosphere

2. Clarify perceptions

3. Focus on individual and shared needs

4. Build shared positive power

5. look to the future, and then learn from the past

6. Generate Options

7. Develop 'doables' - stepping stones to action

8. Make mutual-benefit agreements

Effectively Dealing with Discipline Infractions

"The competent teacher needs to get at the reasons or functions of a given maladaptive behavior to formulate a strategy likely to work"           

- Jones & Jones p. 38

Sometimes a situation calls for negative reinforcers (a stimulus whose removal increases the probability that a behavior will occur). An example of a negative reinforcer is that wonderful 'seat-belt reminder' in your car. It is usually a flashing light or a buzzer, but whatever it is, it is meant to annoy you and the only way for you to make it go away is to buckle up. So, this is when we impose an unwanted stimulus on a student in which they possess the power to remove. Something such as making a student sit next to you because s/he was being disruptive. Here is another area where it is good to know your students, because for some kids, sitting next to the teacher would be a negative reinforcer. But for little Johnny, who is one of eight children and doesn't get much attention at home, this one-on-one time will most likely be perceived as a positive thing. You have to be aware of these things in order to choose your appropriate response. Whenever a negative reinforcer is used, it is imperative that it be in conjunction with a positive one (we'll talk about them just a little later). Similar to extinction, here the negative lets the student know where their mistake was and the positive shows them the proper way to behave.      

    In more extreme cases, punishments are often used to discipline. A punishment is a stimulus that follows a behavior and weakens it or makes it less likely to reoccur. The major difference between a negative reinforcer and a punisher is that at the stage of negative reinforcement, the student still has the control to remove the negative stimulus, here they do not. If you want to implement a punishment successfully then you must do so in a calm manner. You do not want the student to brush it off thinking you are just having a bad day or even worse, provoke the other students to test your limits. Punishment tends to be the least effective of all the other approaches. It must be noted though, that punishments need to have concurrent plans with positive reinforcement in order to be of use.

The one form of discipline that I find to be most encouraging is positive reinforcement (stimulus that is wanted or needed by the learner that follows a behavior, it is likely that the behavior will be strengthened and repeated). A goal of all teachers should be to make it more productive for the students to behave than to misbehave. Getting student involved and interested in the process, will help minimize the occurrence of disturbances in your classroom. There are different types of positive reinforcers. One type is social. Things such as attention, praise and/or smiles. When using these, you first need to decide whether or not it is something wanted or desired by the student. You must clearly specify the behavior being applauded and be sincere.  Try to avoid creating 'praise junkies' or students that rely on your praise, you should always focus the students on their own performance. Other forms of positive reinforcement are privileges and tangibles. Things such as giving free time or stickers. It does not help if you just sit around and wait for good behavior to positively reinforce. You must take a proactive role and again, attempt to 'catch them being good'. Everyone could use a little pat on the back sometimes.

Section 2: My Professional Conclusions

We need to remember that most of all, we are going to serve as models to these children. Whether we realize it or not, they will be analyzing our every move. This is why it is necessary that we be conscious of all our actions and pay attention to things normal people wouldn't. If we do not want students to yell, then we should not yell at them. We don't know how these students live outside of school and so we should give students their 3ft. of personal space and try not to make any gestures that may seem threatening to them. Most of all, we have to to truly care about our students and empathetically listen when they need us to. We need to help them help themselves.