Teacher Interview

After interviewing a teacher for this assignment on behaviors I quickly learned the importance of such an activity. Although I go every day with my teacher helping special needs students learn appropriate behaviors, I never realized all that goes into changing a students behaviors. The teacher I chose to interview is Katie Jones who is the functional preschool teacher at Palos West Elementary School. She has been a teacher for 9 years and 7 of the years have been in functional education, all of which have been at the elementary level until last year when she took on functional preschool. Her specialty is in special needs and behaviors which is why she was a perfect candidate. Then, because she is always so positive and used for advise by many of the staff, she solidified my choice to interview her.
To begin with I started the interview with her quick introduction that lead into the first question; how long do you observe a student before determining if they have behaviors that need more than a simple reminder to change? Jones explained that it depends on the behavior being observed along with what is happening before and after the behavior. It was interesting to hear that the before and after are just as important in determining what actions if any need to be taken to adjust a behavior. Just as the Woolfolk text explained on page 271, antecedents are the proceeding behaviors which are important to collecting information on what will lead to either positive or negative consequences. Also, the length of time the behavior is taking place rather than just the amount of times the behavior is seen were also new ideas for me. As a future educator I can see myself stopping and slowing down to observe the behaviors before reacting. This is very different from my natural way of doing things because I am very reactive but can see how this would disservice the student.
Next, the second question was, how long do you use a method before determining if it works or not? Jones' simple answer is that an intervention can take 6 to 8 weeks unless it is a safety concern which needs to be quicker so can take 3 to 4 weeks. I have learned through my time as a para that just because it does not work the first or even the twelfth time does not mean the intervention did not work. Instead its all about taking the time to make it work but after the 6 weeks and it still is not working, then its time to try something new. Even the Woolfolk text explained on page 283 that according to ABA guidelines the rules seems to be in twos. Two weeks for introduction on the intervention and then two weeks to withdrawal the intervention, finally two weeks to return to the groups consequences.
Additionally, I asked how do you stop and correct a behavior without disrupting the entire class? The biggest eye opener to me here is that visuals are the first step because it eliminates stimulus but also removes further disruption from the class because then the other students are not hearing multiple directions because the teacher can continue the lesson without actually drawing more attention to the negative behavior. If that does not work there is also a need for a defined space. This is when the student is so explosive that a divider is pulled in front of the student to remove them from the rest of the class without actually physically removing anyone. I understand that this approach may not work in all classroom settings but it gives an alternative way to reduce the negative behavior. Not to mention that no where in Jones' response did she mention punishment because it doesn't have a place in her classroom because she has executed a positive and proper management of her classroom. As clearly stated on page 263 of the Woolfolk textbook, "Punishment is unnecessary and even unethical use of the techniques."
Further, I asked her how do you approach students who are disruptive to other students' learning? This question really displayed how Jones' classroom management starts as soon as the first day of school begins. Woolfolk described how important the first week of school is for a classroom to set their management style on page 519. It was written that students who were taught the rules and procedures like any other subject had more successful classrooms. She emphasized how she sets in place the "red and green choice" model. She floods them with this response to everything they do without any motivation or discipline of the behaviors to get them to understand her classrooms expectations. Again, I know this does not work for all classrooms but every teacher can see the importance of setting the tone and rules from the beginning. This idea was also stressed in both the Woolfolk textbooks chapter 13 on managing learning environments and the older behavioral video on classroom management that good teachers set clear directions and expectations for everyday classroom behaviors. This then empowers fellow students to continue the proper classroom behaviors when the teacher is not around by giving directions to one another. Jones explained that her students tell each other or find the teacher to tell them that someone is making a red choice or expresses that they do not like the behavior of their fellow classmate.
Moreover, I asked her what types of methods do you use to redirect students to positive behaviors so they are getting their full learning experience? Jones explained that she does do the typical rewarding of positive behaviors but more important in her response is that she also uses first then boards and internal rewarding. Just as critics of behavioral psychology suggest on page 292, teachers want to avoid Jones also believes that students need to develop their own internal motivation so she'll ask them how does that make them feel and even uses a mirror in her room so they can see their own facial expression. I know I will be using Jones direction in my own classroom management because the first then board sets the clear direction of the expectation for the student in a visual representation. I also really like the idea of asking a student how something makes them feel to build up their own internal motivation. If the behavior is all positive it will build them up to understand and wanting to feel more of the happy feeling and if the behavior was negative with sad feelings it will help them to avoid that behavior to avoid the feelings again.
Finally, I asked what are 3 rules/guidelines that you find are important for maintaining a positive learning experience? Jones said that the most important one is that the learning experience is always fun because you never want the learning environment to be one that the student doesn't want to come back to because they are dreading going to school. Moreover, its important for the teacher to show her students through her own actions what she expects of them. I especially loved her example of I do not sit on my desk so my students know they can not sit on their desks. Her final guideline for her classroom management is to involve the students. This really resonates with me because I truly believe that when people take part in creating an environment they are more likely to want to maintain that environment. It's just the real life practice described by Woolfolk on page 514 that Jones even furthered her response to why do you think it is important to establish effective rules for the classroom management, with this model. She explained that when everyone takes ownership in the classroom management you create a more positive atmosphere where students want to come to school and want to act appropriately. Mainly pushing a sense of self belonging because without the students there is no classroom. This reminded me of the reading in Woolfolk on page 510, "The basic management task for the teacher is to achieve order and harmony by gaining and maintaining student cooperation in class activities (Doyle, 2006)." Since it stresses the number one goal of a school being a place optimal for learning. 
Overall, I learned so much from asking even just these simple questions to further confirm my interest in being a teacher. It is teachers like Katie Jones, who inspire me to be an exceptional teacher. It's so very important to ensure classroom management is setting the right tone to get the most out of students and create a better environment to eliminate negative behaviors. Personally, I think I will absolutely be using some of the techniques Jones uses to create a positive learning environment that inspires students to learn and want to come back because as the Woolfolk text expressed on page 283, teachers are successful when they ask why rather than what. 

https://youtu.be/UAwQxMwz5tc