Rules and Discipline

When I become a teacher there are a few rules I plan on having. I plan on having a bulletin board in my room that is bright and colorful and on that bulletin board there will be a bunch of words with those fancy crossed out circles that are red. These words will be the words that will not be used in my classroom such as gay, retarded, swears, vulgar language, etc. Another rule I will have will be respect others when they are talking. Mindless chatter and disrespect of others will be dealt with accordingly. At the moment I have no idea what a good punishment would be, but eventually I will think of them. Lastly, my students will be expected to always be prepared and on time for class. In the real world being punctual is always important,  I am teaching my students for the real world, so they should be on time and ready to begin when the bell goes off. These are some of my rules I plan on having as a teacher. I will address all rules at the beginning of school on our first day. I will also have a poster up with all the rules, so students have no excuse not to follow them.

For my classroom tone I just want my students to feel comfortable and have fun. However, if I start my tone out like this they will think they can walk all over me. From Morgan and Kevin’s lesson I have learned good ways to show students these goals but in a way that makes them not walk all over me. For instance, I will start out a bit intimidating and get more exciting as the school year goes on. I will also need to set the tone by my actions, so when I am mad because students are not paying attention I should have an action that shows students how I am feeling in a good constructive way. These are some of my plans for helping to set the tone in my classroom of being fun and comfortable, but not being a teacher students can take for granted.

Google Earth

At first when I heard of Google Earth, I automatically thought social studies and geography. The idea of using Google Earth in the classroom seemed weird to me at first; however, now I find it to be a great tool to use.  This tool would be a great tool to use in social studies, science, math, and even English. I am going to be an English teacher in the future, and I can see myself using Google Earth. I believe that the Google Lit. Trips are wonderful tools to use in the classroom. It allows students to see where the characters in the book have been. It is also a good tool to use when a book describes a certain place because you can quickly have your students get on and look it up to picture it.  This all allows the readers to connect to the story they are reading as well as the character. It will allow the students to imagine the book in a whole new way. These are just a few of the great reasons why Google Earth is a great tool to use in the classroom. I will use this in my classroom after seeing the amazing things it can do.

Maine Memory Network

           Maine Memory network is a good tool that should be used in the classroom. It is especially great for history and social studies teachers to use in their classroom. It helps to see historical timelines for many different areas around Maine. This would help students get to know their town’s rich history as well as learning Maine’s rich history. Though this is ideal for social studies teachers, other teachers could use this also. Such as math teacher could use it for accurate measures in one of their word problems about Maine buildings. Science could use it to help people see the genetic make up of someone based off their ancestors that can be presented to them on this cite. It is a great tool to use in many different classroom settings. I plan to teach English, and I can certainly see myself using this one day in my classroom. Showing my students some of the pictures could inspire them for free writing activities during a writing unit. It could also be beneficial to give them a paper on Maine history where they would have to pick a topic and use this cite to help them. They would then need to write a paper for my class. If we are looking at writers from a certain time frame or a book of literature from a time frame, my students could use this cite to help them see what things looked like in Maine during that time. Maine Memory Network would be a great tool to use in my class, and these are some ways I could incorporate it into my class.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 10: Going Beyond the Classroom

It is complicated to think of a good way to get the world around you involved in your lesson. It is hard to think of a good way to teach class outside and incorporate it into your lesson. In this book it describes this as well as gives some explanation to help teachers think of possible projects out doors. This is very beneficial to know and figure out because it is important to students.

            In this book it shows how easy it is to do this for science because the world around you is what you are trying to discover. In math it is also easy because you could have students measure an object outside and this would allow them the opportunity to go outside. However, for social studies and English this is much more difficult. You need to think of a way to make the lesson productive while also giving students what they want, which is to go outside once and a while. This book shows that in English, which is my field, that you could find a way to relate the outside work to the book. Such as when Andres discusses how his teacher took him to the town hall to have a mock trial for the book Animal Farm. There is always a way to incorporate fun in learning. For English, it is also possible for you to take the students outside to reenact one of Shakespeare’s plays or to find some of the items for a poem. It is important to use the world as inspiration, so taking kids outside is both fun and educational.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

The part of the book about how to keep teachers from being discouraged seemed to be very helpful. It was all about what students think of new teachers. It also discussed how students deal with new teachers sensing their fear and showing it to the teachers. They like to test the new teacher, and often new teachers get discouraged.

            Kids will be kids and one aspect of being a kid is testing your limits. Students especially like to see where teachers stand as well as see how easy it is to get a teacher to waver. They are aiming to do little to no work sometimes and they will try to get by the teachers by challenging them. However, it is important for teachers, especially newer teachers to stand their ground and be firm. I am sure that all of us teachers fear the thought of not being liked because it is human nature. What we all must remember is that we must gain students respect by being firm and teaching them what they are there to learn. If we show our students respect and stay firm they are most likely going to show us respect as well. Alexis proves this by saying, “when you let students walk all over you, they’re not learning the essentials of respect, of how to interact properly. We as teachers need to remember to be confident in ourselves and stand firm. As long as we don’t let the students, sense fear they will follow the rules.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 8: Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English

               When dealing with students whose second language is English or who do not speak English as their first language, it is important to build bridges between the two cultures. In order to understand where your students are you must see everything from their perspective.  Relating something from your past to what is going on with your foreign students it will make it easier to think of how to fix their struggles. Most American’s families came here from other places this means our families were all immigrants at one time. We need to think back in our history and think of a way to relate to our students that are dealing with struggles now. This will help us better understand what they are going through as well as show us a way to help them. We need to not only think about them and where they came from, but we must also think about America and explain how things work in America. By showing them the beliefs of our country they may see things that are different and similar to their own culture this will help them connect and better comprehend. When making these students aware we must aware all students of diversity in the classroom and the proper ways to deal with it. It is important to talk to kids about racism and the rules our classroom will have about this subject. We also need to teach our students the wrong and right ways to handle these situations. Probably the most important thing I can do when teaching these students is to better get to know them. I need to know how to sense when they are struggling, their language and some of the words they frequently say, how to work on one with these students, as well as how to get them to explain aspects of the class to other students that are of similar culture with them. Through better understanding my students and showing an appreciation toward them I am showing that I care. This will make them more open to talk to me about questions, struggles, and much more. When dealing with students whose first language is not English we as teachers must incorporate all this into a lesson. This is what is best for them and for us as teachers to better see how they understand and master skills.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 7 Response: Teaching Difficult Academic Material

                   It is always difficult to inspire students to want to read. It is a challenge to bring literature to life for any English teacher who wants to create enthusiasm about the novels being read. As an aspiring English teacher it is important for me to come up with methods to do this for my students.  I need to learn how to motivate my students to want to read the novels or class is required to read. By describing why we are reading a certain novel, it makes it more clearly to the students of the reasons why the novel is being read.  We must clarify our choice in the novel chosen and emphasize it using enthusiasm to get the students excited to read it. If the book turns out to be one many students find boring or difficult to read it is good to listen to what they have to say. As a teacher we should always try to know if a text is difficult for students and take into consideration that it might be easier if we cut the chapters that need to be read for the next class to about half. This gives students more time to look over a smaller section of text so they can read and meditate over what they have just read. This will help them better understand the complex thoughts brought forward by a book. It is also important to take into account that these students are still young and learning so some of the classics maybe too complex for them making them hate a wonderful book simply because they are not at the level they need to be to comprehend the book. We must make sure our books are appropriate for the level we are teaching. We need to listen to what our students are saying and help them with their interpretation of the text. It is also important to relate it to their lives and what is going on around them. This will help them connect to the book on a personal level and better understand. These methods and the many others brought forward in this chapter are important to helping students comprehend what they may be struggling with.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 6: Motivation and Boredom

             This chapter caught my attention just by reading the title to the chapter. I feel like so many students these days just come to school because it is routine. It seems as if they are always bored. As a goal I set for myself, I decided to tell myself that I must motivate my students and get them intrigued about learning. I focused on the part of this chapter labeled how to motivate children because I feel like this an important aspect to master. As a teacher we need to be passionate about teaching. If we are not passionate about the subjects we are teaching why would we expect students to be. Students can see when their teacher doesn’t care and the emotion soon rubs off on them. When the teacher is bored with the class the student will be as well. We need to makes sure to be excited and passionate about the lesson because this action will better keep students intrigued. Another aspect of keeping students motivated is by keeping the subject related to something the students find interesting. If you relate it to what the student knows and enjoys they are more apt to master the subject being taught. By relating topics to students, you as the teacher are helping them connect to it and better understand it all. The book states that students “want to spend their mental energy on things that matter to them” (Pg. 104). We teachers need to remember this and use it to our advantage. They not only want it to relate to them but also relate to the real world. Students live in the real world so it is only natural that they look to it as an explanation tool to certain concepts they are taught.  By bringing material alive through real life examples students are more open to the material and find it easier to relate to. Lastly with this idea of motivation, it is important to keep students engaged by letting them have a voice in the class. Whether this is through class discussions or asking them for feedback on matters, students like to be heard. By giving them a voice we are encouraging them to pay attention in class and give their input as long as it is appropriate. By using these methods, students will be more apt to be motivated and captivated by what they are learning in class.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 5: Teaching to the Individual, Working with the Group

In this chapter the section about groups felt very beneficial. It is always interesting to hear advice on group work. During my time in school, it always seemed as if I had to deal with those horrible groups. We all have been forced to work with people that we do not like but this is not really a problem with groups. The problem with groups in school is the fact that in groups someone is always doing all the work while others don’t do any. Students find themselves working in groups where some get unequal work and have members of the group who do not work on the project at all. Teachers then grade them all the same when it clearly shouldn’t be how they are graded. It is unfair to give students all the same grade on group work. A better method would be grade them separately on what they are doing as well as keep in mind to supervise group work to make sure the workload is fair. By giving students time in class to work on group work you as the teacher are able to walk around and make sure the students are giving their fellow members equal work as well as see how well they are working together. This will minimize the trouble with group work. It will also most likely take away the dread students get when you assign them group work.

Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 4: Creating a Culture of Success

When reading this chapter, I found it to be very repetitive. When the students discussed their stories of teachers favoring students I was appalled at the teachers behaviors.  Many of the teachers they discussed seemed to push the students they assumed would do well, though they refused to care about those they had no faith in. This is wrong on so many levels. They should be trying their hardest to push all students to do their best. So many students these days give up on themselves because they do not have that teacher pushing them to succeed. By having a teacher pushing them, students tend to have more confidence in themselves. I have seen students while I was out in the field that does not care about their schooling because they feel as though teachers gave up on them, so why should they keep trying when no one believes in them. They seem to be discouraged and this is why it is important to push all students and treat students equally.  So, all students feel special and feel as tough the teacher cares about them. This will help them strive to do their best to show their teachers appreciation for all the teachers did for them. In the end, students want to feel like they are being treated equally and respected by their teachers. As teachers it is our job to push all students to do their best as well as see the best in every student.

Chapter 3 of Fires In The Bathroom: Classroom Behavior

Throughout chapter three of Fires In The Bathroom, they discuss sending students out of the classroom many times. However, I don’t find this to be an effective method. Most students seem to act up in hopes to leave the class and walk around, so by sending them out of the room you are rewarding them for their acting out. It isn’t pleasant to have disruptive students distracting classmates, but I feel by giving them what they want they will be more apt to disrupt class. Instead it is important to come up with alternate means of discipline to help punish this student and keep them from getting what they want. If we make sure their punishment doesn’t help fulfill the goal of their action they will be less apt to act out in class again. In this chapter the students discussed many other means for getting students attention and from keeping them from disrupting the class. Vance suggests catching students attention with “a quick flashy action,” (pg. 51) this is always a good method. Though what would this action be? He then goes on to say how by, “dropping a book and sitting down starring at the students” (pg. 51) you will quickly grab their attention and leave them silent. It is important to show the students you are in charge but not in a scary overpowering way. Show the students that respect is important and while showing them this teach them how to respect you. Once you have gained students respect and showed them respect they are more apt to respect you and your class, which is always positive for the class.