Classroom Solutions

My plan for my first year of teaching is to laminate the list of interventions in this chapter. :) This is a great tool for teachers because it's so easy to get frustated and deal with misbehaviors in the wrong way. A great quote from this chapter is "No technique can be effective if it is not delivered with genuine passion." I believe that if the student can feel your passion, they will stick with you and change their behavior. I particularly like the order the strategies were in, working their way to more serious interventions. I've noticed that enforceable statements have worked the best for me. I would've liked to have tried the "giving an appointment" strategy in student teaching. I think that would make the student really take ownership to the behavior. Overall, I thought this was a great book and I would definitely recommend reading it before student teaching.

Chapter Fifteen

My favorite part of this whole book is that there are so many examples. And this chapter was an example in itself showing how a school implemented the love and logic belief system. One piece of advice that stood out to me was "Use thinking words instead of fighting words." If you can make this an automatic reaction, I think it would make a huge difference. Some kids come to school just waiting to argue and fight with the teacher or other students. If those students don't get the same "fighting back" response, they will most likely change their behavior. And you're not just ignoring the problem, you're giving them the power to change their behavior instead of being forced.

The "time-out room" surprised me. My first thought was who was going to be in the room supervising all day every day? I understand that students need a cool down period, but if a student is angry they probably won't be heading straight for the time-out room. I'm sure they'll be slowly making pit stops along the way. Also, I don't think they specified how long the students were supposed to stay in the time-out room. In the previous chapter, the authors discussed the negative sides of detention and I don't see this as very different from detention.

Chapter Fourteen

I really enjoyed this chapter because even though I knew that the systems approach was less effective, I thought they did a great job of explaining why. This chapter also went back and touched on the key concepts of the love and logic method. "The Tale of Two Teachers" gave a great example of love and logic. When the studnets in my class forgot their homework, they had to stay in at recess to finish it. This meant that the teacher had to make another copy and I think the students took it as more time to procrastinate. If they were playing and having fun at home, they knew they could always do it the next day at school. It was so frustrating because I would have at least 5 students forget or just not do their homework each week. I wish I would have used this method instead of going through the trouble of always making more copies. I think it would make the students more responsible if they knew they would just get a zero. But it is so important to use empathy during this stage because I could see a couple of my students not turning in homework just because they got a zero last time and they think the teacher dislikes them.

Chapter Thirteen

Going into my first job, I am going to be very nervous about what my legal liabilities are. Hopefully, I will be informed of these prior to getting my own classroom, but after reading this chapter, it sounds like most teachers aren't. Even during student teaching I was shocked when I thought I was doing what was best for the student only to find the parent storming into the school for an argument over what happened. My cooperating teacher made sure to tell me to document every problem situation with this student, but I realized that in the craziness of the day, it can be hard to remember to do that sometimes.

I really liked his analogy with the huge amount of detentions being related to a doctor continuing to give a pill because it's the one he knows the most about and it had worked for some patients in the past. As a teacher, it is important to know when a new method is needed.

This chapter was very informative. A lot of these things may seem like common sense, but it is amazing how many situations can catch you off guard!

Chapter Twelve

I have to say I agree with his three styles of teaching. Unfortunately, I must admit that I am working my way out of the helicopter stage and hopefully into a consultant teaching style. :) Looking back, it was not because I didn't know about the ways of being a "consultant" teacher. I've always wanted to have those traits, but student teaching came as such a shock, this is ultimately how I dealt with it. I definitely wish I could start over again, but now I can just work hard to start my first job using all of these traits.

The story about the cognitively impaired student who spilled her food showed a very strong point. It is so frustrating when students mess up, but the only way they will learn is to experience dealing with it. This chapter also gave me several ideas for how to give students choices. I'm always looking for ways to do this, but I need to be particularly careful with what choices I give because I have a class full of students looking for the easiest and fastest way out of every assignment!

Chapter Eleven

A part that stood out to me in this chapter was when he discussed how we process questions. During our meeting with the state department, he told us that the biggest mistake most teachers make is not giving enough time for students to really process a question. Maybe this is why teachers tend to ask easier questions. They want quick answers so they can keep on moving, but it would be more beneficial to the students to have time to think through a complex question.

I especially liked the last little paragraph in this chapter telling us to share with our students that we are learning to teach through questions. It says to encourage students to help develop a plan for learning. I always think that the more the students get involved the more they will learn and get excited about learning!

Chapter Ten

I was a little scared to continue reading chapter ten when it stated that pain must come before change can occur. But I learned that this really is the best way to learn from a situation. I learned this from a speeding ticket as well. After receiving the ticket, I felt sick to my stomach and full of regrets. Needless to say, I have been cautious about my speed ever since.

I like how they broke it up into four components (There is a problem, identify the problem, show empathy, and offer a positive relationship message). This makes sense to me. It seems simple and effective. Also, it really clicked when they stated the difference between a consequence and a punishment. I like the idea of getting the student involved in the consequence, but often it seems like they would suggest a punishment instead of a related consequence because that's what they're used to. That just seems to be easier to think of.