Behavior management: A pre-service teacher’s fear
By Melissa Pfeffer
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009
I felt today’s class was an important one because I learned I have a strong connection to many of my classmates. Each of us got a chance to air out our fears about teaching in the classroom. Personally, I have wondered how I will be able to do this every day straight out of school. Will I be able to handle the classroom and the children in it? Do I have what it takes to earn the respect of the staff, the parents, and most importantly the children who I will be teaching? I feel that I will ultimately be fine, but it is still scary to think about until you are actually doing it in real life.
My observations have already begun to make the transition easier for me to manage. They have allowed me to learn many of the standard teaching procedures that all first year teachers have to learn on their own. I feel that my experiences will serve as a guide when I begin to teach children. For instance, there is a set homework sheet that all of the first grade must follow. This has advantages, namely that teachers do not have to create new homework assignments everyday. However, I feel it takes some of the creativity away from the classroom.
Seeing all the statements given to each student really allowed me to see how people view behavior management and how each person will handle the classroom and situations at hand. I believe that the way each person responded to the statement allowed their true demeanor and personality type to shine through. It is hard to teach in front of an entire classroom and not give a slight glimpse into your personality.
Overall, I have to say I was fairly shocked as I watched the video of the teacher handling her class. You could really tell that she had no handle on the student’s behavior judging from how they were acting up. She set the tone wrong from the start by sitting on a desk instead of on a chair. Do some teachers really do this? Apparently, they do. Her lack of respect for the classroom and the students completely fed into how the students behaved in return. This calls for a famous quote. “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.” How could a teacher ever expect respect from her students when she disrespects the sanctity of the classroom just the same? The student that picked the chair up over his head clearly felt comfortable doing this in light of the teacher sitting on the desk. I am not solely blaming the teacher, but it is hard not to place a certain level of responsibility on the teacher when it is his or her responsibility to lead a group of impressionable young adults. That child picking up the chair could have led to a disastrous incident in which the teacher would have been held accountable for the actions that occurred in her classroom.
My favorite part of the class was the acting portion where people got the opportunity to let their creativity flow. It felt good to let out creative energy. Watching the class act out many of the different experiences you will find in a classroom allowed me to learn and grow as an amateur professional. I feel I will be more ready now when I face some of these challenges on my own. I liked channeling the way I used to act in H.S. and J.S.H. during our skit of being disrespectful students. It was nice to see everyone having a good time and seeing the shock people had for some of the things Joe and I had to act out during the skit. This type of group exercise represented many of the things that I have really come to enjoy about being in this class and this program.
I hope that my other classes continue to be on the same wave length and keep things fun and interesting instead of just a 2 hour lecture.
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009
I felt today’s class was an important one because I learned I have a strong connection to many of my classmates. Each of us got a chance to air out our fears about teaching in the classroom. Personally, I have wondered how I will be able to do this every day straight out of school. Will I be able to handle the classroom and the children in it? Do I have what it takes to earn the respect of the staff, the parents, and most importantly the children who I will be teaching? I feel that I will ultimately be fine, but it is still scary to think about until you are actually doing it in real life.
My observations have already begun to make the transition easier for me to manage. They have allowed me to learn many of the standard teaching procedures that all first year teachers have to learn on their own. I feel that my experiences will serve as a guide when I begin to teach children. For instance, there is a set homework sheet that all of the first grade must follow. This has advantages, namely that teachers do not have to create new homework assignments everyday. However, I feel it takes some of the creativity away from the classroom.
Seeing all the statements given to each student really allowed me to see how people view behavior management and how each person will handle the classroom and situations at hand. I believe that the way each person responded to the statement allowed their true demeanor and personality type to shine through. It is hard to teach in front of an entire classroom and not give a slight glimpse into your personality.
Overall, I have to say I was fairly shocked as I watched the video of the teacher handling her class. You could really tell that she had no handle on the student’s behavior judging from how they were acting up. She set the tone wrong from the start by sitting on a desk instead of on a chair. Do some teachers really do this? Apparently, they do. Her lack of respect for the classroom and the students completely fed into how the students behaved in return. This calls for a famous quote. “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.” How could a teacher ever expect respect from her students when she disrespects the sanctity of the classroom just the same? The student that picked the chair up over his head clearly felt comfortable doing this in light of the teacher sitting on the desk. I am not solely blaming the teacher, but it is hard not to place a certain level of responsibility on the teacher when it is his or her responsibility to lead a group of impressionable young adults. That child picking up the chair could have led to a disastrous incident in which the teacher would have been held accountable for the actions that occurred in her classroom.
My favorite part of the class was the acting portion where people got the opportunity to let their creativity flow. It felt good to let out creative energy. Watching the class act out many of the different experiences you will find in a classroom allowed me to learn and grow as an amateur professional. I feel I will be more ready now when I face some of these challenges on my own. I liked channeling the way I used to act in H.S. and J.S.H. during our skit of being disrespectful students. It was nice to see everyone having a good time and seeing the shock people had for some of the things Joe and I had to act out during the skit. This type of group exercise represented many of the things that I have really come to enjoy about being in this class and this program.
I hope that my other classes continue to be on the same wave length and keep things fun and interesting instead of just a 2 hour lecture.
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