Chapter 9 & 10

A)

Behavioral View

Before mastery of the lesson, my classroom environment would have to be conducive to learning.  This includes building a positive set of policies, procedures and rules, making the environment warm and inviting and maintaining a positive attitude and rapport with each student.  In this way, we invite students to learn instead of impose (as it sometimes seems to students).

I monitor student progress informally, praising and encouraging when needed, in order to help students along in the process of mastering the content of the lesson.  I ask higher-order thinking questions to challenge students but also to allow them to come to conclusions and answers on their own instead of me telling them a given answer to help progression.  I maintain movement in the classroom to attempt to control student behavior and encourage student engagement and interaction.  I vary lessons, instruction and activities so that each student is engaged in the way that is best for their learning style and academic level.   Mastery of the lesson will look different for each student.  I assure that I include praise and incentives at appropriate times and intervals so that students continue to work and strive for mastery.  This could include small incentives for immediate satisfaction or non-tangible incentives to be used in the future. 

Social Cognitive View

For any lesson, I provide examples and model appropriate pronunciation and completion of lesson.  I make sure that students are aware of lesson objectives and what the end result should look like.  I assess students formally and informally and in a variety of ways, giving them ample opportunity to master the lesson in different ways and at different times.  When explaining lessons and objectives, I allow students to identify what they think they are capable of and challenge them to surpass this goal.  Before we begin each lesson or new material, I link each one to a real-life example, making it useful and applicable for the student.  I often ask students why we are doing something and how they think we could apply it to their personal lives.   I build relationships with students in order to support them both inside and outside the classroom.  With gentle reminders and suggestions for improvement, students will better keep tabs on themselves and their progression in mastery of a particular lesson and school overall. 

B) With a behavioral view, it is imperative that students are reprimanded directly after misbehavior so that the stimulus/response connection is made.  We leave no room for interpretation of action and consequence.   Because the group of seniors have been increasingly disruptive, it would be more beneficial to address immediately instead of not addressing it and adding attention to the students.

With a social cognitive view, students should be encouraged to make more positive choices (and therefore, actions) to maintain a more engaging learning environment for themselves and their classmates.  Because they are seniors on their way to new experiences, it would be important to tie their misbehavior to future goals.  What would it look like if you acted like this in your new job, at your new school, in the military?  I would have students make suggestion about what the learning environment should look like and how they could change for the better.