Belief and Management System
“There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.”
---Russian proverb
This Russian proverb articulates my foundational way of thinking about education. Students need the chance to see that learning is not about what they already know, but rather journey of finding out. Questions are not a sign of weakness or ignorance, but of strength and persistence in the quest for learning. I believe that this is especially true with mathematics where many students believe they are “mathematical” or not. When a student articulates not understanding the next step for solving an equation, the response needs to be positive, and not “We covered that yesterday, or last course.” Not understanding and struggling is part of the journey and needs to be recognized as such.
Adolescence is a volatile time in life and learning. Teenage bodies are suddenly pumped full of hormones and begin growing at a rapid rate. At the same time, teenagers are playing with their identity and finding their place in society. The adolescent brain is not fully developed and contains a high presence of “mirror neurons” that are very sensitive to the social environment. These neurons are primed to help teenagers tune into societal norms. Teenagers also have a large ratio of white matter to grey matter. This causes a more emotional brain that craves stimulus. It has been shown that the teen brain has a greater and faster Dopamine release to stimuli. A roller coaster ride, for example, gives a teen a much greater thrill than the adult brain because more dopamine is released. Research has shown that almost all addictions begin in the teenage years because the response is amplified in their brains with regards to pleasure. Teens often respond to a situation by feeling rather than logic (Seigel, 2014.) Because student’s brains are still developing, my teaching can either support growth or impede it. Designing lessons that build a positive classroom culture, taking the time to establish relationships, and allowing students to work collaboratively can help support their brain development as they navigate this sensitive time of life.
My classroom learning environment has a growth mindset focus. Carol Dweck, a leading mindset theorist, describes two basic mindsets, fixed and growth (Boaler, 2013, p.149.) A person with growth mindset believes that people can change their ability by effort and practice. A person with a fixed mindset believes ability is innate and unchangeable. Using this growth mindset, learning is valued in my classroom, including mistakes. By reinforcing effort instead of correct answers, my classroom climate feels like a safe place to take risks in learning. My job is to facilitate in the learning process by not allowing anything to come between the students and their learning, even if it is the students’ themselves. I must engage students in the learning process by creating lessons that have the students interests and skills in mind. My classroom is student centered with a focus on intrinsic motivation. With students in mind, I strive to create an engaging learning community by including group tasks and accountability. I use some of the Kagan structures for cooperative learning like writing round robin, where everyone in a team of four solves a problem in a different way on the same paper. I also use Kagan team builders to teach students how to interact in a positive way . I believe the classroom should be a safe place to take risks, make mistakes, and support each other. New ideas are also important to in my own learning journey because society is constantly changing as well as new evidence on how students learn.
High expectations are a part of my classroom atmosphere in both behavior and content. I believe the best way to accomplish this is to set the tone early in the year by really focusing level of student behavior and group interactions. This can be done through modeling different situations and practicing desired behavior, as well as drawing attention to positive social interactions or on task behavior of students. Students are also held accountable for homework, class work, and participation on a daily basis to create an expected learning environment (Lemov, 2010, p.#27.)
My classroom management approach is primarily preventative. This is based on my progressivism belief that learners want to learn and want to have a well understood routine. I accomplish this by creating a positive atmosphere, clear routines, a safe classroom culture, engaging lesson plans, and having high expectations for our learning environment. A classroom should have a positive rhythm. To create this rhythm, the first days of school need to be focused on creating a positive classroom culture and to practicing routines. These well established and clear routines create a classroom that can run itself while the teacher takes attendance or checks work. A positive atmosphere of learning and a framework with a shared purpose should be emphasized to students through classroom discussions that include student interests and input. Although the majority of my management is based on preventative measures, I also have both supportive and corrective plans which are used on rare necessary occasions. I believe that learners need structure, should be intrinsically motivated and want to follow routines. Therefore, I use the supportive management techniques as needed such as: setting the tone, positive interdependence, understanding, clear signals, and differentiation. Students need to feel like they are part of a team to be willing to take risks and learn from their mistakes (DePorter, Reardon, & Singer-Nourie, 1999, pg#89). While I know corrective management is necessary, my plan is to use it sparingly. For corrective management, I use quick corrections, quiet conversations, phone calls to parents, replacement behavior and problem solving conferences. Anytime I use a corrective management approach, I keep a record. If more intervention is needed a problem solving conference needs to be called with student, parents or counselor. By including the child in the problem solving process, the student is encouraged take ownership of their behavior.
Because I believe that every student is able, and has a right to learn, I take the responsibility of meeting the needs of all students. I do this by differentiating my instruction by content, process, and product. My content has multiple entry points to accommodate students with different backgrounds and abilities. My tasks are deliberately designed to accomplish this. I also differentiate the process of student learning. Although each student is an individual, some examples of strategies I use to differentiate the learning process are: creating sentence frames for students to use, providing graphic organizers for vocabulary or pre-written notes, and allowing students extra time or to work with a partner. Students’ final products also need to be differentiated. I do this by offering choices on how to show student learning. Some examples include: allowing students to show they have mastered a concept by creating a video of themselves teaching the material, answering questions orally, writing out the more difficult problems in the book rather than doing the previous problems they are based on, or creating a portfolio to show evidence of learning. Not only do I differentiate my content, process, and product, but also in supporting students to work towards a growth mindset. This includes extra time, support, and attention to students who have math anxiety and are afraid of failure.
Teaching is a respectable profession and should be treated as such. Teachers have an obligation to increase the respect and honor of the job by acting as professionals. As I teacher I do my best to do this in word, appearance, and action. Teachers are “walking, talking advertisements” for their profession (Wong, 2009, p#51.) It is important to use myself to advertise professionalism to my peers, students, parents, and administration. This is done by dressing professionally, arriving early, being respectful in word and deed. This also models the type of behavior I am modeling for my students to emulate. Tangent to being respectful, I also maintain strict confidentiality and not discuss other students with people not involved in their education. Furthermore, I am sensitive to making the effort to validate and defend students’ cultural and other needs. Using empathy to understand and modify my curriculum to support all students is the base from which respect is built upon.
References
Bafile, C. (2000). Carrots or Sticks? Alfie Kohn on Rewards and Punishment. In Education World. Education World. (Reprinted from Boston Globe, 1987, January 19)
Boaler, J. (2013). Ability and Mathematics: the mindset revolution that is reshaping
education. FORUM, 55(1), 143-152.
This article contains information on how students mindset influences mathematical learning. The article contains several research study results pointing to the benefits of teaching students and teachers to think with a growth mindset. Jo Boaler is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University. She lectures and researches how students learn mathematics. Most recently she taught an online class to teachers all over the US and Britain. She is the author of seven books and many research articles.
Charles, C. M. (2013). Building Classroom Discipline (11th ed.). Allyn & Bacon, Inc.
Chiappetta, E. L., & Koballa, T. R., Jr. (2010). Science Instruction in the Middle and Secondary Schools (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
DePorter, B., Reardon, M., & Singer-Nourie, S. (1999). Quantum Teaching. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Kagan, S. (2009). Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach Like a Champion. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Siegel, Daniel J. (2014). Brainstorm:The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain,Los Angeles, CA, Tarcher Publishing.
Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2009). The First Days of School (4th ed.). Mt.View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.
“There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.”
---Russian proverb
This Russian proverb articulates my foundational way of thinking about education. Students need the chance to see that learning is not about what they already know, but rather journey of finding out. Questions are not a sign of weakness or ignorance, but of strength and persistence in the quest for learning. I believe that this is especially true with mathematics where many students believe they are “mathematical” or not. When a student articulates not understanding the next step for solving an equation, the response needs to be positive, and not “We covered that yesterday, or last course.” Not understanding and struggling is part of the journey and needs to be recognized as such.
Adolescence is a volatile time in life and learning. Teenage bodies are suddenly pumped full of hormones and begin growing at a rapid rate. At the same time, teenagers are playing with their identity and finding their place in society. The adolescent brain is not fully developed and contains a high presence of “mirror neurons” that are very sensitive to the social environment. These neurons are primed to help teenagers tune into societal norms. Teenagers also have a large ratio of white matter to grey matter. This causes a more emotional brain that craves stimulus. It has been shown that the teen brain has a greater and faster Dopamine release to stimuli. A roller coaster ride, for example, gives a teen a much greater thrill than the adult brain because more dopamine is released. Research has shown that almost all addictions begin in the teenage years because the response is amplified in their brains with regards to pleasure. Teens often respond to a situation by feeling rather than logic (Seigel, 2014.) Because student’s brains are still developing, my teaching can either support growth or impede it. Designing lessons that build a positive classroom culture, taking the time to establish relationships, and allowing students to work collaboratively can help support their brain development as they navigate this sensitive time of life.
My classroom learning environment has a growth mindset focus. Carol Dweck, a leading mindset theorist, describes two basic mindsets, fixed and growth (Boaler, 2013, p.149.) A person with growth mindset believes that people can change their ability by effort and practice. A person with a fixed mindset believes ability is innate and unchangeable. Using this growth mindset, learning is valued in my classroom, including mistakes. By reinforcing effort instead of correct answers, my classroom climate feels like a safe place to take risks in learning. My job is to facilitate in the learning process by not allowing anything to come between the students and their learning, even if it is the students’ themselves. I must engage students in the learning process by creating lessons that have the students interests and skills in mind. My classroom is student centered with a focus on intrinsic motivation. With students in mind, I strive to create an engaging learning community by including group tasks and accountability. I use some of the Kagan structures for cooperative learning like writing round robin, where everyone in a team of four solves a problem in a different way on the same paper. I also use Kagan team builders to teach students how to interact in a positive way . I believe the classroom should be a safe place to take risks, make mistakes, and support each other. New ideas are also important to in my own learning journey because society is constantly changing as well as new evidence on how students learn.
High expectations are a part of my classroom atmosphere in both behavior and content. I believe the best way to accomplish this is to set the tone early in the year by really focusing level of student behavior and group interactions. This can be done through modeling different situations and practicing desired behavior, as well as drawing attention to positive social interactions or on task behavior of students. Students are also held accountable for homework, class work, and participation on a daily basis to create an expected learning environment (Lemov, 2010, p.#27.)
My classroom management approach is primarily preventative. This is based on my progressivism belief that learners want to learn and want to have a well understood routine. I accomplish this by creating a positive atmosphere, clear routines, a safe classroom culture, engaging lesson plans, and having high expectations for our learning environment. A classroom should have a positive rhythm. To create this rhythm, the first days of school need to be focused on creating a positive classroom culture and to practicing routines. These well established and clear routines create a classroom that can run itself while the teacher takes attendance or checks work. A positive atmosphere of learning and a framework with a shared purpose should be emphasized to students through classroom discussions that include student interests and input. Although the majority of my management is based on preventative measures, I also have both supportive and corrective plans which are used on rare necessary occasions. I believe that learners need structure, should be intrinsically motivated and want to follow routines. Therefore, I use the supportive management techniques as needed such as: setting the tone, positive interdependence, understanding, clear signals, and differentiation. Students need to feel like they are part of a team to be willing to take risks and learn from their mistakes (DePorter, Reardon, & Singer-Nourie, 1999, pg#89). While I know corrective management is necessary, my plan is to use it sparingly. For corrective management, I use quick corrections, quiet conversations, phone calls to parents, replacement behavior and problem solving conferences. Anytime I use a corrective management approach, I keep a record. If more intervention is needed a problem solving conference needs to be called with student, parents or counselor. By including the child in the problem solving process, the student is encouraged take ownership of their behavior.
Because I believe that every student is able, and has a right to learn, I take the responsibility of meeting the needs of all students. I do this by differentiating my instruction by content, process, and product. My content has multiple entry points to accommodate students with different backgrounds and abilities. My tasks are deliberately designed to accomplish this. I also differentiate the process of student learning. Although each student is an individual, some examples of strategies I use to differentiate the learning process are: creating sentence frames for students to use, providing graphic organizers for vocabulary or pre-written notes, and allowing students extra time or to work with a partner. Students’ final products also need to be differentiated. I do this by offering choices on how to show student learning. Some examples include: allowing students to show they have mastered a concept by creating a video of themselves teaching the material, answering questions orally, writing out the more difficult problems in the book rather than doing the previous problems they are based on, or creating a portfolio to show evidence of learning. Not only do I differentiate my content, process, and product, but also in supporting students to work towards a growth mindset. This includes extra time, support, and attention to students who have math anxiety and are afraid of failure.
Teaching is a respectable profession and should be treated as such. Teachers have an obligation to increase the respect and honor of the job by acting as professionals. As I teacher I do my best to do this in word, appearance, and action. Teachers are “walking, talking advertisements” for their profession (Wong, 2009, p#51.) It is important to use myself to advertise professionalism to my peers, students, parents, and administration. This is done by dressing professionally, arriving early, being respectful in word and deed. This also models the type of behavior I am modeling for my students to emulate. Tangent to being respectful, I also maintain strict confidentiality and not discuss other students with people not involved in their education. Furthermore, I am sensitive to making the effort to validate and defend students’ cultural and other needs. Using empathy to understand and modify my curriculum to support all students is the base from which respect is built upon.
References
Bafile, C. (2000). Carrots or Sticks? Alfie Kohn on Rewards and Punishment. In Education World. Education World. (Reprinted from Boston Globe, 1987, January 19)
Boaler, J. (2013). Ability and Mathematics: the mindset revolution that is reshaping
education. FORUM, 55(1), 143-152.
This article contains information on how students mindset influences mathematical learning. The article contains several research study results pointing to the benefits of teaching students and teachers to think with a growth mindset. Jo Boaler is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University. She lectures and researches how students learn mathematics. Most recently she taught an online class to teachers all over the US and Britain. She is the author of seven books and many research articles.
Charles, C. M. (2013). Building Classroom Discipline (11th ed.). Allyn & Bacon, Inc.
Chiappetta, E. L., & Koballa, T. R., Jr. (2010). Science Instruction in the Middle and Secondary Schools (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
DePorter, B., Reardon, M., & Singer-Nourie, S. (1999). Quantum Teaching. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Kagan, S. (2009). Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach Like a Champion. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Siegel, Daniel J. (2014). Brainstorm:The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain,Los Angeles, CA, Tarcher Publishing.
Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2009). The First Days of School (4th ed.). Mt.View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.