EDPSY 310 Learning in Classroom

How do you think stereotypes can effect student performance and teacher expectation? Students rise to expectations, and whatever the teacher expects is generally what comes about. If teachers stereotype students as either lazy, low performers, or intelligent, hard workers, that is what the students will become. We find what we look for.

I personally have a problem with stereotyping eighth graders as rude, obnoxious brats. I am a substitute teacher, and about the only classes that I ever have problems with are eighth grade classes. Early on in my substituting career I had two very hard jobs, both of them eighth grade, and since then, every time I receive an eighth grade assignment I cringe. I know that not all eighth grade classes have to be rude, and obnoxious and so I try very hard to go to the job with better expectations, however, just as soon as any little challenge comes along, I am quick to fall right back into my stereotype and then just have a miserable day. We all have a miserable day.

Do you think there is a bias against boys? Against girls?

I think that there are biases against both boys and girls. I think that it depends on the teacher and the subject being taught. I have had teachers that prefer boys to girls and so they get more positive attention, whereas the girls are ignored or get put down. I have also had teachers that preferred girls to boys and would put down the boys and give the positive attention to girls. I have noticed that textbooks and school curriculums are trying to level out the biases by showing pictures of both men and women in societal roles, but generally girls are still expected to excel in English and Boys excel in Math and Science.

What are some ways to reduce stereotypes?

The most important thing to do is to recognize when we are stereotyping. If we see that we are doing it then we can consciously work to stop it. I tend to stereotype students according to cliques at school, such as athletes, cheerleaders, Goths, skate boarders, nerds etc. I am not comfortable working with those students that dress all in black and are sulky and so I tend to avoid them, unless they specifically ask for help, whereas I’ll offer help to nerds or athletes. But because I recognize what I tend to do, I also try to overcome it and help all of the students.

Another way to reduce stereotyping is to look for the ways that people are alike and promote it. I have been reading an anthology of stories about race relations and it has become very clear to me that most people are all the same, they want to be loved, they want to have friends, and they want to be recognized. Everyone has problems, albeit different variations of problems, but problems nevertheless, and it is only our circumstances or cultures that make us different in the ways that we handle problems or seek to succeed. If students can be made aware of this principle through literature, discussions and experiences, then I think stereotyping could be reduced dramatically.

Any other thoughts…

I have recently had an experience that I am still mulling over and trying to interpret. I visited an organization called ENLACE. It is a support organization for the Latino community in the Four Corners area. I was there for another class and the director of the center is a young lady with many good insights and helpful information. She brought to our attention that too often Latin American girls are not encouraged to reach for anything higher than cosmetology school. They are not made aware of scholarships and opportunities to become teacher, doctors, lawyers or whatever they wish to be.

Not long after that visit I was substituting for a math teacher at a high school. In just about every class, two in particular, there were groups of Latina girls sitting together checking their makeup, fixing their hair, and trying each other’s body spray. They had to be reminded several times to put away the makeup and get back to math. While I was having this experience, I thought back to the woman at ENLACE; I couldn’t help but think that maybe these girls aren’t helped to other careers than cosmetology because that is where they put their time and energy. It is primarily Latina girls that act this way. I know that that is ridiculous to think, but nevertheless I see why it could happen.

I personally don’t have patience with that kind of behavior, my attitudes reflect it, and so then I am not able to build the relationships with the students to be able to help them, to find out what other interests or strengths they may have. So then I am feeding the stereotype. I don’t know yet what I think about this situation and am still working on it.

January 30, 2009

Three best characteristics of your teachers…

1. The teacher was willing to listen; I could express my own ideas and understanding, it didn’t have to be the same as the teacher’s.

2. The teacher knew me and cared about me enough to help me improve. I never quite made it to the “A” standards in her class, but I improved immensely.

3. The teachers knew and loved their subjects, it made those subjects important to me.

Three worst characteristics of your teachers…

1. Very controlling teachers, those who exploded at the drop of a hat, or were very sarcastic.

2. Teachers who didn’t care; they were there for the paycheck.

3. Teachers with low expectations.

Examples of Situations that reflect the above characteristics…

My best teacher was my dad (who was also a public school teacher). He always used questioning to help me figure out what I knew and understood, and why I knew it or understood it. He never told me I should think a certain way only that I should make a reflective and informed decision.

The second characteristic came from my Jr. High P.E. teacher, Miss Lopez. I was an overweight, out of shape student. She expected us all to meet the national standards for physical fitness by the end of the year. I was pretty good at whining about how hard it was, and telling her that it was impossible for me to accomplish the goal. She would just smile at me and then stick to her guns about what was required. She didn’t just sit on the sidelines; she ran with us, played with us and encouraged us. I never met the top standards in the two years that I had her, but I improved more than I ever thought was possible and I still enjoy physical fitness.

I had two teachers that were particularly annoying. One teacher was my Algebra teacher, both Algebra I and II. The other taught Physics. I cannot begin to tell you how afraid I was to be in the Algebra class because we never knew what would set him off and cause him to yell and kick us out of class. It is amazing that I learned anything at all. The other teacher was very sarcastic, I received my first exam back from him and I had not done very well. He had not only marked the problems wrong but he also included snide remarks such as “duh!” “You should remember this from grade school!” and “even ___ answered this one right.” I was not impressed. I girded up my loins and marched up to him and told him that I did not deserve all of his sarcastic comments and that he’d better not do it again.” He was a bit surprised. He continued to be sarcastic in class but never on my tests or papers. Needless to say, I lost all interest in Physics and settled for a C.

Have these experiences influenced your goals?

Yes, to some extent they have. I don’t think that I am of the character to just blow up, or to be sarcastic in the classroom, but I certainly believe in setting high expectations and then providing the tools to reach those expectations. I am also convinced that it is very important to care about every student and to help them learn how to learn and discover truth for themselves. I want to be that kind of teacher.

Reflection #4

Schooling has never come very easy to me; I have always had to work at it. And so to think about one or two examples of achievement is hard. It seems that all of my learning has been an example of achievement. Perhaps the one closest to memory is an honors class that I took at San Juan College.

I had been out of school for sixteen years when I went back to college to get my teaching degree. I signed up for the Western Civilization class and reported the first day. Dr. Bramhall began by taking roll and at first he did not call my name, (it was alphabetical and I wasn’t with the S’s). He turned the page and said “okay now for the honor students…” and he called my name. My first reaction was “what? What does honor student mean? And why am I on that list?” I did not say anything though, I just kept listening. Dr. Bramhall then proceeded to pass out the syllabus for the class and when he reached me I got a huge packet of stuff. I started looking through it and reading the syllabus and realized that I had inadvertently signed up for the honors section, which meant a lot of extra reading and writing. I did not know what to do.

I really did not want to have to go change my schedule, and I did not want to admit to Dr. Bramhall that I did not think I could handle the work, and so I resigned myself to the fact that I was in for a lot of hard work.

And it was a great deal of hard work! There was a paper due every week based on primary sources that were in the packet that he handed out. The reading was so hard that I would literally have to take it a phrase at a time, reading it, looking up words, and rewriting it in my own words until I understood what was being said. I then had to write about it, and quite often when I went back to the reading to find justification for my ideas it wouldn’t be there as I remembered it. It was so hard. This process took me an average of five or six hours per paper, every week!

When I got my first paper back, Dr. Bramhall was kind and didn’t grade me too harshly, but I could tell that it wasn’t up to muster and I had better do better. I stuck with it though and I will tell you that I learned more in that class than I have ever learned in any other class, and so I took the second semester class as an honors class. I struggled just as much the second semester as the first but I have never felt more pleased with myself over a class than I did with that one. I learned that I could do hard things.

Issue #2

Should Struggling Students be retained?

I believe that it depends on the situation. Before I read the articles, I believed that the decision, as to whether or not to retain struggling students, should be based on individual circumstances, case by case, contingent on meetings and discussions with teachers, councilors, and parents, and in the case of older students, the students themselves. After having read the articles, my belief has not changed. According to the articles there does not seem to be sufficient scientific evidence to support one decision over the other. The only thing that I see is that is seems to be less harmful to students to be held back in the primary grades as opposed to secondary grades. I do however think that the articles, especially the one written by Nancy Frey, brings some interesting points to the argument that should be considered when conducting the meetings that will determine whether to retain struggling students or not.

The whole child should be considered when making any decisions that affect his education. I think that it is wrong to lump all children into one pile and make decisions based on the average medium student, or strictly on standardized tests. Some students learn to read in kindergarten, others not until second grade, but the point is that they learn to read. One of the major factors to consider when deciding to retain students is not only their academic success, but also their emotional success. Both articles address the issue of the emotional stigmatism attached to failing a grade. It is hard on the student. Therefore it is important to consider this with each child. It seems to be especially important in the secondary grades, when adolescents are very aware of what others may think about them.

I found Frey’s topic of delayed entry into kindergarten an interesting factor. I think that the fact that more and more parents are holding their children back before beginning kindergarten speaks to the stigmatism that retention carries with it. It seems that the parents want to make sure that their students are prepared physically and emotionally to compete and be successful in school. They do not want to take the chance that their child may be held back. But by choosing to hold their children back, they are creating a situation in which the standards and expectations of kindergarten children are higher than perhaps they should be; this puts greater strain on those children who are not kept back for economic or other reasons, which in turn may further put already disadvantaged children at a more disadvantage.

Until more studies can be performed I think that each case must be considered individually. Each child is an individual and for some retention may be the best solution and for another it may not be the best answer.

Rebekah Schofield

Issue #9

Does reinforcement facilitate learning? Yes, I believe it can. First you should look to see what the real cause of the problem is, what the child needs to learn, and then depending on what your find, you may need to use reinforcers. Both articles I read, Reinforcement in Developmentally Appropriate Early childhood Classrooms by Tashawna K.Duncan, Kristen M. Kemple, and Tina M. Smith, and Another View on “Reinforcement in Developmentally Appropriate Early Childhood Classrooms” by Charles H. Wolfgang, make excellent points, and after having read them, I conclude that as a teacher I need to pay attention to the children’s behavior, take into account their developmental needs and then act appropriately, which may include reinforcers.

I agree with Wolfgang that when there is unacceptable behavior present that the teacher should step back and try “to understand [the student’s] developmental needs—specifically, what may be causing such behaviors in the first place.” Many times in raising my children I have taken this approach. When my children begin to behave differently or in ways that concern me I try to step back and think whether the behavior is just a stage of life, or if there really is a concern that I need to address. If I recognize it as a stage of development, I tend to relax and be able to help them pass through it, learning what they need to learn. If however, it is not a stage of development then I have to look for natural or logical consequences to help the child change their behavior.

Duncan et al., presents three types of reinforcers, social reinforcers, activity reinforcers and tangible reinforcers. Of the three, social reinforcers “are the least intrusive in that they mimic the natural consequences of positive, prosocial behavior.” In raising my children I have taken this approach and find it to be effective. I believe that when teaching children and in disciplining children that you should consider natural and logical consequences to actions, this is most likely to instill intrinsic, positiv behavior in children that will serve them well in adulthood.

As we look at misbehavior we must be cautious that we are not creating the problem. Duncan et al., writes, “in an effort to keep children ‘on task,’ [the teacher] substitutes a control tactic for a meaningful and engaging curriculum.” I think that that is perhaps the first place that we should look when presented with inappropriate student behaviors. We should ask ourselves if the curriculum is interesting and challenging enough for the students. Are they acting out because they are bored, or is there something else going on? If the answer is that they are not interested or being challenged then reinforcers will not be an effective tool over the long term; it will only solve the problem temporarily, if at all. Children need and want to be fed. By that I mean that they want to learn and be challenged, and if the teacher is not feeding them they will leave, physically or mentally. I once heard a talk about “fried froth,” if a teacher is only there to entertain or buy the students good behavior, then you are feeding them fried froth, which is not nourishing, nor long lasting, and the students will leave or die (metaphorically of course).

After reading these articles I have concluded that it is primarily important to step back, observe and think about why the child is misbehaving, “are the environment, procedures, rules, and daily activities developmentally appropriate for this child?” And then if they are, then use first social reinforcers, or logical and natural consequences to change behavior, and use activity and tangible reinforcers only as a last resort, when the other methods have failed.