The students were well behaved because the movie kept them occupied.  Before the movie began the sub let the students know that they would have to turn it in.  The students knew that they would be held accountable, so they did the work.  During the movie they paid attention to the movie to find answers, and they looked at the worksheets for questions.  At the end of the movie all the students turned their papers in.

For this class and one of my other classes, the teacher tried to keep the students occupied so they would have something to do and to control misbehavior.  I want to keep this in mine when I am teaching.  Whether there is a sub or if just me, I want to keep my students on task to control their behavior.  I also want being in my classroom to be pleasurable, so I want to provide work and activities so they won’t be so bored.

The students could have easily been disruptive and ignored the movie.  I think the students made a good choice.  Part of the reason I believe the students behaved well was based on each other actions.  If one student was disruptive others probably would have followed.  Since no one took the leadership role and made the choice to be disruptive, they all did the right thing.

I feel like I am a person who has tried discipline.  Once upon a time I was very strict.  After taking education courses, I have tried remaining calm, staying positive, and talking to children when they misbehave.  It is easier to do discipline.  I guess because it is natural for me.  My parents were strict disciplinarians.  Reading Glasser has made me think of other ways I can be an effective teacher and teach students to make choices.  I am a firm believer that students are in control of themselves whether the are considered normal or disabled.  I want to be a teacher that teaches students that it is their choice and what ever choice they make, they will be held accountable.  This is the part of the reading that stuck out to me and it is a method I will try to use.

This lecture made me think of all the different parents I have had to deal with and all the different types of parents I may run into in the future. We talked about why you want to have a relationship with the parents. Parents are the students support. We want to communicate with the parents so they will be aware of what is going on with their child. We don’t want to only communicate negative things but positive things as well. I had one professor who said the first time you communicate with a parent you don’t want it to be negative. We talked about how to deal with situations with parents and students. Some ways you can communicate is through a packet on the first day of class for students to take home. The packet should inform parents on what to expect for the class. Teachers can do phone calls home and notes home. We even talked about home visits. As a teacher you can also do conferences. You want to invite parents to come and volunteer. There are lots of ways as teachers to get parents involved.

This lecture made me think of what forms of communication I will use with my parents. I definatley want to use positive reinforcers in my class. I want parents to know if their child is doing a good job and I want students to know that they are doing a good job. Hopefully this will help the students and parents respond in a positive way to me as the teacher. I want to builda relationsyhip with my parents so that i can go to them for help and support and if there ever is an issue the parent will accept me and here me. In my class I will use phone calls, notes home, conferences, or anything that will make parents feel welcome.

It was an easy lesson. I did not have to teach a new concept, I just did a review. I did a review on what I have always struggled with, positive and negative numbers. I could never remember how to tell if the answer to a problem would be negative or positive. The students seem to be struggling in this area as well. Their teacher has gone over, I reviewed it, and the teacher came up and reviewed some more, and the students still can’t get it. We did multiplying and dividing positives and negatives. I just went over with the class what a positvie times a positive, a negative times a negative and so on. I wrote it down on the over head, but I forgot to show them examples with actual numbers so they could visualize it. I wanted to write the problem, circle the signs, and explain why it would be a negative or positve. I also wanted to show them how you could ignore the signs and solve the problem and add the signs later. I did end up explaining that concept, but I did not show it. We played a little game where I held up a problem and they had to tell me if the answer was negative or positve and the tell me the actual answer. I started out letting them raise their hands and then I went around the room and gave everyone a chance. I took my notes, but did not take it up front with me, so it did not go as I planned. Even though it did not go the way I planned the students still responded well. I was glad that everyone participated and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The good part was seeing the students put forth an effort.

I remember talking about planning in class and preparing for unexpected things. Even though I forgot a few things I still went on with the lesson and I tried not to let it show. I just need to make sure I always have a plan and use it.

I notice in class that students will sit there and wait for help or they may not even attempt to do the work unless someone is standing over them. Is okay to help students and guide them, but they do have to be taught to work independently.Students will not always have someone to help them do work specially on test and in the real world. I believe working independently is an important skill students should have. Students will be able to think for themselves and they will have confidence in themselves.

As a teacher I don’t want to criple my students, but i want them to be successful in working alone. I will always help my students, but i will make sure that they can do the work on their own.

While I was observing the students, it made me think of classroom management and controling distractions. Students in any class or at any age level can easily be distracted. One way to cut down on distractions is to use timing. In this particular situation timing deals with the passing out of the candy. Instead of passing the candy out at the begining, it could have been passed out at the end of the period or the day. If materials are needed during the lesson, you pass it out or allow students to gather materials when it is time to use it, that way they can focus and are not distracted. If it is done at the end of the lesson or class, the teacher does not have to gain students attention.

I want to remember to pass materials out when needed that way the students and I won’t be distracted. I won’t have to correct students and students won’t have to be corrected for playing with or destrying materials. I want to help my classroom management as much as possible.

These activities engaged us because they caught our interest first. This is exactly what we want to do when we have to teach students. We want to grab the students interest and build their curiosity. Not only do we want to do something to grab their attention but we also want to use engaging activities to teach valuable information. It will be easier to reach students if we teach through their interest.

I have learned to preassess my students to find out what their interest are. Before I teach I want to make sure my students are engaged. While I teach I want to teach in a way that will keep them engaged. As a teacher I want to show that I am engaged and that I have an interest in the lesson too.

Monday was the day I had been waiting for. The teacher was excited, energetic, and the students were engaged. The students were on task and working while it was required. The teacher had a warm up that the students worked on and then they worked on it as a class. They had a hands on activity where they worked with partners. Students were sorting equations into groups. The teacher walked around and helped each student. I also had the chance to help the students. To my surprise I actually knew the math.

I was glad to get a chance to watch students engaged in the lesson. There was high time on task. When the bell rung, class immediately began. The students helped each other and the students asked for help when they needed it. I believe the class was ran smoothly. It’s just the way the teacher has his room set up and I’m sure that this is the way he has had is set up since day one. He seems to have good rapport with his students which is why they don’t mind asking for help. The teacher laughed and joked with the students. It was a very positive environement.

My goal is to have my students engaged at all times. I want to have high time on task. When the tardy bell rings I want to begin class and have them working until the bell rings. I want there to be a sense of energy in the room. I don’t want my classroom to by dry and dead. It may have to be dead some days, but not all the time. I want to have my classroom set up to where the students feel comfortable enough to come to me. I want them to have a relationship with their peers where they feel comfortable to work with each other. I know I must work on establishing these things on the first day of school.

I am not sure how the teacher will grade their work. When assigning work students need a certain critera that has to be met and they need to be held accountable for meeting it. Students need to know that this is what needs to be done, if you don’t do it I won’t except it or points will be taken off accordingly. Maybe if the students care about being held accountable, they will put forth an effort in their work.

Accountability is something we talked about in class. As a teacher I will hold my students accountable for their work and they will know it. So they will know what is expected of them, I plan to give them written and oral instructions. I don’t want to be a teacher that will except any and everything for a grade. I want to teach my students to do quality work.

Why do the students make good grades. One thing that the teacher does that I like is that she use the vocablulary words constantly. The teacher uses the words over and over again to give the students examples and to help it sink into their minds. Another thing that the teacher does is provide bonus points if the students use a vocabulary word on thier own. The students like this and they are encouraged to use the vocabulary words. The whole class period they use the vocabualary words and they get excieted for themselves and the teacher gets excited for them. There is one more thing that the teacher does that I am not to sure about. The teacher walks around and helps the students. I think it is a little bit more than helping. I think there is a possiblity that she is giving the students answers. As teachers we want our students to succeed. It is hard for us to watch our students struggle. We naturally want students to do good. When I look at the students papers they are blank. The students verbally say that they do not know the words. She tries to reword the sentences for them and give them examples , but it still leads to her giving the students the answer. After she helps a student she says a hundred good job. To me the students make it obvious that they did not learn the words, but isn’t that the point of the quiz? I believe the teacher just has a good heart and she does not want to see her students not do good.

I’m pretty sure when I become a teacher my heart will effect some of the decisions I make. Now when I see students I try to do everything I can to help them. It hurts my heart now when I see students not doing good. Even if I dont want to see my students not succeed ,I have to make sure they apply themselves and do the work. It will not do my students any good if I hand them the grade and not make sure they learn. I don’t want to be a cold teacher, but I want to be sure that I don’t let my kind heart get in the way too much.