One thing that I heard today that affirmed what I’ve always believed is that anxiety does not have to be real to be true. I have seen many teenagers get very emotional/upset over things that were not very important. However, if the teenager can’t overcome these issues they are going to have a difficult time being productive in class. A teacher needs to be able to recognize when a teenager is having “issues”, and need to be prepared to try and deal with the issue in a productive manner. A second thing that I heard today that was affirmed, was that you only have 30 seconds to make a first impression. If you make a bad first impression, you will need to make 20 good impressions to change that one bad first impression. This is very important as a teacher for helping set the tone for the first day of class. It is also important for teenagers and young adults to remember as they proceed through life. One thing that changed what I believe, I have never thought of leadership in terms of serving others. I have never thought of leadership as making personal sacrifices, for the greater good of a group.
I agree with your thinking. It seems like there are always other reasons that we are not aware of that cause the kids to act out. Reacting to behavior with anger will never work to solve the issue.
It is true that students will be upset or taking things out of context. But we have to be the processors of their emotions let them see that there might be another side of what the other person is saying, texting, posting or snapchating.
I thought I commented akready but here goes again...I believe you have to show kids you care first thing. I do lots of bonding and leadership activities with my Deca kids and that helps us form a great cohesive group. It varies us through the year and the kids really feel connected to each other and to me.
I have always felt that a classroom has to be a safe place for students. Learning involves taking risks and making mistakes. Special Ed students have spent their school career making mistakes and often feel uncomfortable in school. One new thing I learned today was the EXCEL Model. It provides specific, sequential steps to develop a learning environment. High School students are often in a state of high anxiety over issues that to adults appear trivial. Today I was able to reevaluate my perspective when I learned that anxiety does not have to be real to be true!
I wish I could get my students to be more willing to take risks and be wrong. I think having a safe friendly classroom could be a big step in the right direction. I also agree that we as adults need to remember that what often seems very important/emotional to a teenager may not be very important to us.
Everything I heard today affirmed what I have always seen in my Spanish classes. Students must feel safe and not threatened in order to learn a new language. They are so afraid of sounding stupid in front of the class if they make a mistake. So, I tell them right away that we all will make mistakes and that is OK. I use humor to share my own experiences of living in a Spanish speaking country, and that helps them as well. The importance of a positive first impression and how much time it takes to repair a bad one is amazing. We must always be positive in the classroom as role models.
You only have one chance to make a first impression. Starting from day one allows to build a safe learning environment. Bringing in our own experiences allows us to build relationships.
Well said, James!! Our impressions that first day are so important in the days to follow. If our students know we care I feel they will be so much more willing to work in our classrooms.
I agree Miriam. It's important to be a positive role model and it's also important to show them that everyone makes mistakes and thats ok. When I model reading and think alouds in my English classroom it's important for the kids to see that hey I make mistakes too and that's alright because that is how we continue to learn and nobody's perfect.
I agree- Students need to know that we are all human and have good and bad days, make mistakes, etc. They also need to know that each day is a new day and a chance to start with a "clean slate" and have a positive experience.
The entire day affirmed what I believe should happen in all classes at all levels. Relationships are so important at school with their friends and teachers, as well as at home with their families. Everyone needs to feel welcome and comfortable in whatever situation they are in. I agree with the process of having a Social Contract that is decided on by my students in each of my Math classes. The contracts in my classes will probably be almost identical in nature but I feel the importance of their ownership in their individual class. I found the way of dealing with put downs something new for me and I plan on implementing that strategy.
I, too, wondered about the difference in the contracts from class to class, see the importance for each class to have their own. I will be interested to see hiw they look when finished.
I also will benefit from the strategies for dealing with put-downs. I like the physical hand signals for put-downs, time out and student-to-student reminders. Using these techniques it will be much easier to release classroom management to the class.
One thing I thought about regarding the Social contracts for each class is that the students all need to initial their class's contract. So, only having one contract wouldn't work.
I enjoyed the day. It is always good to know that what you have been doing to build relationships is also what the experts are saying. I did feel that it is important to get the students off to a good start in the morning makes for a better day. I did not realize that EXCEL needs to be done sequentially to be effective and I'm not sure that I have been sequential at all times. I always felt that students can blow the little things out of the water and cause anxiety for themselves. It was reaffirmed today about the students creating anxiety where there seems to be no anxiety. I will work harder at seeing this in the future and bring the students back to the business of school
At the workshop today it was affirmed to me that students must have a safe, comfortable, caring learning environment right from the start. In working with high school freshmen, I see daily the anxieties and stressors that they deal with both inside and outside of the classroom. I work hard to establish relationships with my students letting them get to know me personally and wanting to know more about them and their interests. Once you establish these relationships and they see that you believe in them, you develop a trust and they are willing to try new things and achieve the high expectations that you set for them.
James you really nail it on the head. There are sometimes when a student will take a little piece of information and blow it up big that there has no way but fighting will solve it. With the knowledge that you have learn from this course I think you can make some inroads to those students who have a high level of anxiety so that it will not lead to fighting.
Today was really a great day. Just what I needed to get recharged for the new school year. It reaffirmed that we all come into the classroom with some anxieties and that my job as a teacher is to create an environment that will help relieve those anxieties (based on fear) so that students feel safe and comfortable and as a result will want to participate and learn.
The change for me was the fact that it will take 20 contacts to undo a “bad” or “negative” first impression, so that first day with my students becomes more critical as I must intentionally set the tone for my classroom. We have been given several tools to use for that purpose and I plan to implement them in my classes. I plan to Use the Social Contract. The idea that the students will self monitor using the social contract is new and one I really want to incorporate.
Who would have thought it takes 20 days to undo that stern, angry teacher I was taught to introduce on the first day! No wonder it took us so long to get their trust when the first thing they saw of us was the RULES!
I agree that we need to remember that many of our students come to school with anxieties that need to be lowered. The importance of a first impression had an impact on me also. If the first day of school goes bad, it will take a great deal of work to overcome the bad day.
The students all have anxiety. It is important to remember that we where all there once and we will have to lessen their anxiety so they will have a great start to school. I know that when I student taught I had a lot anxiety even though that was many moon ago I still look back on that and go how did I ever make it through. On the other note I have really bought in to the Boys Town training, so I will have to get on board with the social contact.
I agree with you Kevin-I also had the Boys Town training, but I also see these strategies working with our students. Any time we, as teachers, can help our students with their anxiety I feel they will be more successful.
It was affirmed to me how important it is to have a safe, comfortable, caring learning environment for students. It is essential to building relationships with students. You must share of yourself and let students get to know you to build that comfort level and that trust with them. Then students will begin to open up and contribute to a positive learning environment.
One thing that I heard today that affirmed what I’ve always believed is that anxiety does not have to be real to be true. I have seen many teenagers get very emotional/upset over things that were not very important. However, if the teenager can’t overcome these issues they are going to have a difficult time being productive in class. A teacher needs to be able to recognize when a teenager is having “issues”, and need to be prepared to try and deal with the issue in a productive manner. A second thing that I heard today that was affirmed, was that you only have 30 seconds to make a first impression. If you make a bad first impression, you will need to make 20 good impressions to change that one bad first impression. This is very important as a teacher for helping set the tone for the first day of class. It is also important for teenagers and young adults to remember as they proceed through life.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that changed what I believe, I have never thought of leadership in terms of serving others. I have never thought of leadership as making personal sacrifices, for the greater good of a group.
I agree with your thinking. It seems like there are always other reasons that we are not aware of that cause the kids to act out. Reacting to behavior with anger will never work to solve the issue.
DeleteIt is true that students will be upset or taking things out of context. But we have to be the processors of their emotions let them see that there might be another side of what the other person is saying, texting, posting or snapchating.
DeleteI thought I commented akready but here goes again...I believe you have to show kids you care first thing. I do lots of bonding and leadership activities with my Deca kids and that helps us form a great cohesive group. It varies us through the year and the kids really feel connected to each other and to me.
ReplyDeleteI have always felt that a classroom has to be a safe place for students. Learning involves taking risks and making mistakes. Special Ed students have spent their school career making mistakes and often feel uncomfortable in school. One new thing I learned today was the EXCEL Model. It provides specific, sequential steps to develop a learning environment.
ReplyDeleteHigh School students are often in a state of high anxiety over issues that to adults appear trivial. Today I was able to reevaluate my perspective when I learned that anxiety does not have to be real to be true!
I wish I could get my students to be more willing to take risks and be wrong. I think having a safe friendly classroom could be a big step in the right direction. I also agree that we as adults need to remember that what often seems very important/emotional to a teenager may not be very important to us.
DeleteI also wish I could get the students to take more risks at school. The anxiety students build does seem trivial to me, but is real to them.
DeleteEverything I heard today affirmed what I have always seen in my Spanish classes. Students must feel safe and not threatened in order to learn a new language. They are so afraid of sounding stupid in front of the class if they make a mistake. So, I tell them right away that we all will make mistakes and that is OK. I use humor to share my own experiences of living in a Spanish speaking country, and that helps them as well.
ReplyDeleteThe importance of a positive first impression and how much time it takes to repair a bad one is amazing. We must always be positive in the classroom as role models.
You only have one chance to make a first impression. Starting from day one allows to build a safe learning environment. Bringing in our own experiences allows us to build relationships.
DeleteWell said, James!! Our impressions that first day are so important in the days to follow. If our students know we care I feel they will be so much more willing to work in our classrooms.
DeleteI agree Miriam. It's important to be a positive role model and it's also important to show them that everyone makes mistakes and thats ok. When I model reading and think alouds in my English classroom it's important for the kids to see that hey I make mistakes too and that's alright because that is how we continue to learn and nobody's perfect.
DeleteI agree- Students need to know that we are all human and have good and bad days, make mistakes, etc. They also need to know that each day is a new day and a chance to start with a "clean slate" and have a positive experience.
DeleteThe entire day affirmed what I believe should happen in all classes at all levels. Relationships are so important at school with their friends and teachers, as well as at home with their families. Everyone needs to feel welcome and comfortable in whatever situation they are in.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the process of having a Social Contract that is decided on by my students in each of my Math classes. The contracts in my classes will probably be almost identical in nature but I feel the importance of their ownership in their individual class.
I found the way of dealing with put downs something new for me and I plan on implementing that strategy.
I, too, wondered about the difference in the contracts from class to class, see the importance for each class to have their own. I will be interested to see hiw they look when finished.
DeleteI also will benefit from the strategies for dealing with put-downs. I like the physical hand signals for put-downs, time out and student-to-student reminders. Using these techniques it will be much easier to release classroom management to the class.
DeleteOne thing I thought about regarding the Social contracts for each class is that the students all need to initial their class's contract. So, only having one contract wouldn't work.
DeleteThe challenge I see is getting myself out of my old routines. Something new and fresh for classroom management will be a welcome challenge.
DeleteI enjoyed the day. It is always good to know that what you have been doing to build relationships is also what the experts are saying. I did feel that it is important to get the students off to a good start in the morning makes for a better day. I did not realize that EXCEL needs to be done sequentially to be effective and I'm not sure that I have been sequential at all times.
ReplyDeleteI always felt that students can blow the little things out of the water and cause anxiety for themselves. It was reaffirmed today about the students creating anxiety where there seems to be no anxiety. I will work harder at seeing this in the future and bring the students back to the business of school
At the workshop today it was affirmed to me that students must have a safe, comfortable, caring learning environment right from the start. In working with high school freshmen, I see daily the anxieties and stressors that they deal with both inside and outside of the classroom. I work hard to establish relationships with my students letting them get to know me personally and wanting to know more about them and their interests. Once you establish these relationships and they see that you believe in them, you develop a trust and they are willing to try new things and achieve the high expectations that you set for them.
DeleteJames you really nail it on the head. There are sometimes when a student will take a little piece of information and blow it up big that there has no way but fighting will solve it. With the knowledge that you have learn from this course I think you can make some inroads to those students who have a high level of anxiety so that it will not lead to fighting.
DeleteToday was really a great day. Just what I needed to get recharged for the new school year. It reaffirmed that we all come into the classroom with some anxieties and that my job as a teacher is to create an environment that will help relieve those anxieties (based on fear) so that students feel safe and comfortable and as a result will want to participate and learn.
ReplyDeleteThe change for me was the fact that it will take 20 contacts to undo a “bad” or “negative” first impression, so that first day with my students becomes more critical as I must intentionally set the tone for my classroom. We have been given several tools to use for that purpose and I plan to implement them in my classes. I plan to Use the Social Contract. The idea that the students will self monitor using the social contract is new and one I really want to incorporate.
Who would have thought it takes 20 days to undo that stern, angry teacher I was taught to introduce on the first day! No wonder it took us so long to get their trust when the first thing they saw of us was the RULES!
DeleteI agree that we need to remember that many of our students come to school with anxieties that need to be lowered. The importance of a first impression had an impact on me also. If the first day of school goes bad, it will take a great deal of work to overcome the bad day.
DeleteThe students all have anxiety. It is important to remember that we where all there once and we will have to lessen their anxiety so they will have a great start to school. I know that when I student taught I had a lot anxiety even though that was many moon ago I still look back on that and go how did I ever make it through. On the other note I have really bought in to the Boys Town training, so I will have to get on board with the social contact.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Kevin-I also had the Boys Town training, but I also see these strategies working with our students. Any time we, as teachers, can help our students with their anxiety I feel they will be more successful.
DeleteIt was affirmed to me how important it is to have a safe, comfortable, caring learning environment for students. It is essential to building relationships with students. You must share of yourself and let students get to know you to build that comfort level and that trust with them. Then students will begin to open up and contribute to a positive learning environment.
ReplyDelete