This week I observed one of the teachers of S120 using positive reinforcement to encourage two students to complete their missing assignments. Sam told the students that they could return to the Torch room and go hang out with their friends only after they completed their work. This pushed the students to complete their assignments in a short amount of time. Because Sam kept her word to the students, next time the students will be more likely to start their work as soon as they come into S120, so they can return to Torch and enjoy their time with their friends.

Another example of positive reinforcement that I have observed in the classroom is when the teacher praises the students for working or finishing their missing assignments. For example, Sam would tell a student who shared with her that she had completed her work words such as  “good job”, “wow, that is such a cool project”, and “awesome”. These words encourage the students to complete and share their work with them in the future.

I am surprised that I have not witnessed any form of punishment in the past few weeks. When students are off task, the teachers in the room try to redirect them with little success. I would imagine some forms of punishment would include taking away the students’ phones or Ipads but I don’t think it would work at this point. One of the reasons is because there is already an established culture in the classroom. When students walk in, they are free to do what they want. It is up to them as individuals to decide if they want to spend the period doing their work or being on their phones or talking to their peers.

When it comes to student learning, I would consider myself a cognitivist. I think that both the student’s behavior and thinking should be noted and analyzed by teachers, but I think that understanding how a student is thinking and processing new information is more vital to effectively help students through their learning.

An example of a cognitive approach to learning that I have observed in S120 is when the teachers in the room sit next to the students and ask them to share with them an overview of their work, what they have done so far, and how they came to that answer. The specific example I am thinking about is when the teacher asked the student to break down a poem, fill out a chart (verbs, adverbs, nouns, and adjectives), and share what was the importance of the author’s choice of words. It is hard for the students to understand poetry so when the student explains their thinking process out loud, it helps the teacher clarify the gaps in the student’s understanding.

Additional Comments

This week I noticed a group of students who did not want to do their work during 7th period. The teacher in the room went to talk to them a couple of times with little impact. The teacher approached the students with a light tone and the students started to joke with them saying, “Why can’t you do my homework for me?” and the teacher responded, “I already finished my schooling, I don’t need to do your work. It would also not be fair for the other students”. I could tell the teacher did not have a specific approach in mind when she went to the group of students. I wonder what would have been a better, more effective approach. At the same time, is it too late to create new rules or punishments for the students? In the end, the students decided not to do their work.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Tonja Clay.