Keeping the Students' Needs First

Chapter 7 in Levin and Nolan focused a great deal on motivation, and strategies for keeping our students engaged in learning. One major factor that influences our student’s attitude towards learning is positive teacher-student relationships. Weinstein says we should make ourselves seem like “real people” by sharing our own experiences when applicable to our lessons. I often see this demonstrated in my classroom by my CT, and I have adopted this practice as well. I now always connect lessons to her own life experiences (when applicable), and the students love it. Levin & Nolan and Weinstein all agree we should promote a respectful, caring environment by modeling those behaviors ourselves. Weinstein calls this referent power. Weinsten says good teachers promote autonomy in the classroom by allowing the students to share responsibility in decision making, planning and goal-setting.

Levin & Nolan talk further about students’ internal/external value structure. The students demonstrate internal value structure when they express their own interest in good grades and success. However, students who only want good grades to make their parents happy demonstrate external value structure. Weinstein says students who are intrinsically motivated put forth higher effort. I constantly motivate my students, and encourage them to perform to their potential. In my own classroom I will continue to do this. When we set the bar high for our students, and show them we believe in them, they start to believe it themselves. Levin & Nolan explain the concept of “redefining success,” which means to grade students based on their effort and growth throughout their path to success, rather than end result alone. This practice not only recognizes the hard work the students put forth, but also increases their self-efficacy and motivation. I agre with teachers who recognize their students efforts, aside from test grades alone. At the end of my own lessons, I give the students exit tickets so I can gauge what they learned. This is a good way for me to determine whether the students understand the content, even if they are not goof "test-takers."

Clayton chapters 1 and 2, focus on designing our classroom with our students in mind (based on their needs). The goal is to fit the range of physical sizes, accommodate special needs, as well as developmental (emotional, social, cognitive, and physical). The desks and chairs should fit the children’s bodies (not too big or too small). In my internship class, we have a couple of students who are very small compared to the rest of the class. We were able to find them chairs that are larger, so that they can fit into the desks more comfortably. Furniture should be arranged in a way that allows space for gatherings and group activities. The displays and bulletin board should be at eye level with the students. I always remember this when I display the students' work outside the class. I try to keep their work at eye level as best as I can. There should also be passageways to move around comfortably, which include additional space for children with special needs (i.e. wheelchairs). Each age level has specific developmental requirements. When planning the design of our classroom, we should first perform a birthday cluster and analyze the age ranges of our students, in order to accommodate their needs.

Levin, J., & Nolan, J. F. (2010). Principles of classroom management: A professional decision-making model, (6th Ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Weinstein, C. S., Romano, M. E., & Mignano, A. J. (2011). Elementary classroom management: Lessons from research and practice, (5th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

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