I finished reading the book, “Thirteen Reasons Why” and I
want to share that this was the first book I’ve ever read on my iPad. I’ve been interested in looking into
how to find books online so I figured this was the perfect opportunity. I can’t say that I enjoyed it more on
the iPad but it wasn’t bad. My
battery died on me once while reading and I couldn’t continue until later,
which was a pain. I did like
having the book with me though since I carry my iPad with me often. I tend to leave books laying around the
house or school. One thing that
was hard to get adjusted to was not knowing how far along I was in the
book. I could just tap the bottom
of the screen and the percentage done would come up, but there is something to
be said for holding a text in your hand and seeing/feeling how far along I
am. Overall, not terrible. Next I’m looking into how to download
free books from my local library.
As some other people have previously mentioned, I had
difficulty understanding exactly how this book correlated to our class content.
What I took away from this story was the impact that people have on each
other’s lives. I want to be able
to take this learning and apply it in a way that makes sense for me, but also
for my teaching and learning.
While reading I found myself thinking about a classroom in my school
that I do some co-teaching in (elementary) and a group of students that have
been having some issues. Not the
kind of issues where it seems as though anyone is feeling how Hannah feels, but
the kind of issues where the student’s actions are affecting others, and then
it snowballs. These students have
not caused major issues or problems in the classroom, but we are aware of it. The classroom teacher does not have
much teaching experience and is unsure of how to address the issues. We’ve been discussing it and we decided
to go to the principal and ask for support. We just had a behavior team meeting with other teachers in
the school to discuss and come up with possible solutions. The highlights from this meeting are
that we are going to be pairing some students up with an older student mentor,
and some as a mentor for younger students in the school. Also we will be providing social work
counseling support for two of the students that appear to need more support
than just the regular education environment.
I also tried to consider how I can relate this learning and
classroom experience in my school to the CCSS and to technology. I began looking online for ideas and
came across the PBIS (Positive Behavior Interevention Support) website. We are a PBIS school and had not known
there was a website with extra support so I was glad to find and be able to
look through that for ideas. Also
I found a video that is about giving parents tips about how “play” can teach
kids appropriate behaviors and other tools to be successful in school. http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/behavior-discipline/4241-how-playing-games-teaches-good-behavior-video.gs (designed for younger elementary). I shared it with the teacher at our
school who runs our website as something that might be fun to post in the
parent section. It’s only a short
video but I thought it was appropriate.
I think switched over to YouTube and began looking for
videos on teaching behaviors to students.
We used to use a behavior program called Second Step which I lke certain
pieces of. It came with photos
depicting some sort of problem which would lead to a discussion on the
behaviors, which I liked. I was
able to find a couple of videos that could be used in the same way. I need to spend more time going through
them and be careful with my choices but I think this would be a way to make
conversations with students about behavior more engaging and meaningful to
them.
2 comments:
Emily, You bring up a very good point in your post. In my environment the emotional needs of the students often need to be dealt with first before any learning can happen. We spend probably about an equal amount of time discussing students behaviors and their possible motivations as we do their academic progress. I think the greatest piece of 21st century skills that speaks to this is the empowerment of students. Working in a constructive environment where the teacher is a team member and guide will hopefully help extend our connections with students on an emotional level, where they feel more connected with us.
Thanks for the resources! We also are a PBIS school and have been trying to think of other ideas to offer our students as rewards.
Yes, behaviors can often get in the way of instruction especially because they can take so much time to discuss with the student. We teachers are encouraged to process with students when their behavior affects their participation in the lesson. Just after midterms, I spoke with my students about behaviors that were/weren't appropriate in class. The students identified five target behaviors that needed addressing. Students are now more likely to let another student know if a behavior isn't okay for class. Previously, they saw it as 'snitching' and felt theer would be some sort of 'revenge', but now they see it as a way to ensure others get their points. Students who struggle with inappropriate behavior have started to self-monitor more. I like the way it has promoted social responsibilty in my classes. I think if some of the 13 on Hannah's tape had practiced that more before her suicide, she might have felt that people cared.
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