Hi Guys! It’s our last week, can you
believe it?!
I was really intrigued by the reading
this week. Although, I found it to be difficult to complete all of it on time
while trying to do my test analysis! One of the concepts in this week’s reading
that interested me was figure 12.1 on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in chapter 12
(Woolfolk, 2019, p. 466). I have always been interested by this topic, so I was
excited that it was in our reading this week. It always annoyed me when
teachers would get frustrated with certain students in class, not knowing that
they had outside factors that affected them so much and caused them to not be
able to focus in class. Their physiological needs or even safety needs are not
being met. It is impossible for a student to focus on geometry if they haven’t
eaten all day or if they are worrying where they are going to sleep that night.
That is why it is incredibly important for teachers to know background
information on their students and understand their struggles.
Another thing I found very
important in this week’s reading was the discussion about reflective teachers.
Woolfolk defines them as “Thoughtful and inventive. Reflective teachers think
back over situations to analyze what they did and why, and to consider how they
might improve learning for their students” (Woolfolk, 2019, p. 553). It has a
huge effect on students when their teacher is a reflective teacher. If a
teacher realizes something they do in their classroom is not working or helping
their students, and they choose not to change it, they are doing a huge
disservice to their students. We are supposed to educate them to the best of
our ability and always encourage them to strive for success. If we do not give
them to tools to do that, we are failing them.
Throughout this entire week’s
reading, I think my favorite part was figure 14.9 in chapter 14. It is all
about “Teacher Expectations and Instruction” (Woolfolk, 2019, p. 583). It
explains what a classroom with low expectations looks like and what a classroom
with high expectations looks like. Then it describes the relationships and
interactions that occur in each type of class. The classroom with high
expectations has more time for questions to be asked and answered, more teacher
praise, and more warmth from the teacher. This has a HUGE effect on students. I’m
sure you all have been in both of these types of classes at some point in your
lives, and we can probably all attest to the fact that high expectation classes
are much more enjoyable to be part of. Nobody wants to be part of a class where
the teacher never smiles, and it feels as if there is just not enough time. In
my future classroom, I will definitely have high expectations, in hopes that it
will create a more enjoyable environment for my students.
It has been a pleasure being in class with all of you!
Steph
Hello Steph, Happy last day of the semester!
ReplyDeleteI do have to agree with you, I do believe that high expectations in classroom will make a great of a difference with the student. Some teachers do seem to forget that the students have outside problems. A teacher I work with was a 4th grade teacher for a short while. One of the students took care of his baby sibling at night while his mother worked. His grandmother lived with them but she was older. The boy would come late from time to time and hungry. He would miss breakfast at school, so the teacher would bring granola bars and other quick meals, she would ask questions and treat them with the food. She always made sure to call on the boy. I do agree that if a child is hungry, sleepy, emotionally distressed, learning will practically nonexistent
Hi Steph,
ReplyDeleteYes how exciting to have finally reached the end our semester and last week!
Thank you for sharing your thoughtful response for this week. I totally agree with you that teachers need to be more considerate and understand the students' home life outside of school. There is a student in my class who's parents are extremely busy and the student is being rushed to the door and rushed out of school. Sadly, the student's lunches are not as nutritional as they should because they mostly contain food items with high amounts of sugar. Upon observing this student throughout the day, the student begins the day very slow and sluggish, towards the middle of the day before and after lunch the student is extremely silly and unfocused, and then at the end of the day the student returns to very slow movements and has a hard time concentrating on his work. We, the teacher and I, just accept the student and understand that his home life is rather busy and chaotic that we just try to encourage and support the student to focus and complete assignments. It is important to set high expectations for students so they know you care about them and their learning, and these high expectations will encourage them to work hard to achieve their educational goals.