Chapter 7 and 13

Chapter 7, was all about the behavior learning. Behavioral psychologists focus on the behavior that learning can take place even if they don't always act on it but the potential for the behavior change is there even if it happens after the situation or motivation ends (Woolfolk, 262). Behavior change also makes it clear to have ethical understandings which include creating goals that are not only obtainable but also support learning, not only to create structure and compliance. This also gives way for there to be strategies that should be considered for each individual student. With all that being said there were the early understanding of learning through contiguity and classical conditioning and then latter operant conditioning (Woolfolk, 264). For example, my students are classically conditioned to rotate their small groups when they hear the timer go off. So, when a behavior timer goes off the students will rotate and we needed to purchase a new behavior timer that had a different type of beeping so that the students would not rotate until the correct timer went off and the behavior student didn't think their time was up on an activity because the sounds were conditioned to create a reaction. Further, I found it even more important as the chapter seven went on to discuss reinforcers. The text covered punishment and both positive and negative reinforcements of a behavior. It was especially interesting to further understand how to appropriately use negative reinforcement which is different from punishment. The negative reinforcement is the removal of something adverse to increase or strengthen the behavior while the punishment is a reactive response to an undesired behavior which is decreasing or suppressing the behavior (Woolfolk, 268). In my personal experience with behavior students we use the fixed interval schedules (Woolfolk, 270) to create structure and alter an undesired behavior. This means that we set a specific timer for a set time and then every time we do not see an undesired behavior we give the student a star. Once all the stars are obtained the student then gets their preferred object or activity for a set amount of time. Then slowly the time is moved up and the preferred object time moved down till they become irrelevant. As with all theories of psychology there are always critics especially concerning the behavioral approach. The one that stood out most was how reinforcements could potentially decrease the students desire to learn, through their own motivation (Woolfolk, 291).

Chapter 13, on the other hand was all about the management of the learning environment. First it is all about the routines. this gives the student the clear understanding of the how things are done. For example, my students know that when they come into the classroom they are expected to remove their outerwear, put their snacks on their placemats, place their folders in their cubbies, and check into circle time. Second step in the classroom management structure is to create the physical space. It caught my attention that it is important to also change up the space to evaluate if something else may work better or worse (Woolfolk, 519). Again, I see this in my own class because students are often moved to a new type of seating and even seating placement to see if it will create a more desired atmosphere for everyone in the room. Third, is to keep the students engaged in the learning process. The thing that stuck out the most to me here was that "Withitness" teachers are often described as having eyes in the back of their heads because they are aware of everything happening around them (Woolfolk, 523). This is especially important in the classroom management strategies because it keeps students on task and track without confusion. Fourth, is to create caring relationships with the students. This management process allows for there to be a two way relationship that is positive for both the student and teacher. This is vital for the students because research shows that students who are connected with their school are more likely to be interested in their school work (Woolfolk, 256). I have had the privilege of taking the preschool bus riders to the bus and buckling them in. I call this a privilege because it allows me to interact with students from other classrooms and build healthy safe relationships with them. This allows the students to understand that not only are their teachers caring for them but everyone in the building does too. Finally, the last of the managing classroom learning environment is handling the behaviors. This is through, as chapter seven expressed, how to get the desired behavior from the students and eliminating the explosive situations. The figure 13.5, on page 531 of the Woolfolk text, shows how teachers can simply change the wording slightly and the methods used to enforce them. Our school is all about building a student up rather than punishing them for the bad. For example, in a situation where a student throughs a tantrum that goes full on harmful to themselves and others we quickly clear the room. When we do this we tell the students we are going to have a special activity so they are not subjected to the harm and do not hear that the other student is doing anything. The reason there is no explanation given is so that the students don't build their ideas about the other student, teacher, or behavior in a specific way. Plainly not learning a bad behavior. The student who is explosive is given limited face time and often all stimuli are removed so sound diminished and lights turned down. When the student is spoken to, just as the text implies, words are short and to the point or even visually given (Woolfolk, 537).