1. As a classroom teacher, I would say classroom management is important. However, that does not mean that every student need act the same. In fact, classrooms where all the students act the same would seem boring. Where would you get those individual ideas that make classroom discussions more interesting? Although I do not expect the students to act in the same manner, I do expect them to show respect for others and other ideas. As for the statement “Students at times feel as if teachers are trying to impose American values on them”, I do not necessarily agree. While I want all students to be successful, I do not think by helping them achieve that I am imposing American values. I try to forge relationships with students when possible by learning about them personally. Each student has a unique culture and by learning more about them I think you prevent walls from being built. 2. I have had a few instances where I have had students of different religious cultures that had issues with the dress code at my former school. The school had to be notified of the “violation” and allow those students with the issues to be exempt. Other instant of religious culture I have had an encounter with had to deal with views of government and holidays. In that case the parent was very proactive and brought literature to the school to give the teachers should they have questions regarding their cultural expectations. Education within education is the key to ensuring there is not a lack of communication. I think pedagogy can cause a conflict between a teacher and the students IF the teacher is not flexible and tolerant. I have unfortunately seen this happen. It then can transfer to conflict between staff members when they try to advocate for a student. 3. I liked the section on effective communication. You attitude is defiantly a first step in how you communicate followed closely by assumptions. If you are closed minded before you begin.. its already over. I liked the phrase selective perception. Isn’t it amazing what humans can be selective about? The other section from this chapter I thought was interesting was misconceptions about communication. There were some of those I thought as more fact than a misconception. It makes sense that communication will solve our problems and that communication is a human natural ability. Until you look at cultures and then, each culture has their own type of communication. No wonder we all can’t just get along!! ☺
“The message is clear and provides good reasons, including self-interest, for the child to change his or her behavior. However, if the message is accompanied by angry looks, a loud voice, and gestures such as the adult pointing or jabbing a finger at the child, the good advice may get lost.” This quote reminded me of my former assistant principal. She was a yeller and I think the kids thought that she hated them. I thought that she didn’t like them or her job. The message that she was trying to make definitely got lost among her outburst of yelling. I think this is one of the conflicts in education. There are some people who are excellent at communication and others who are not. I try to be careful when a student gets in trouble in my class, but I know I lose the communication battle at times. 1. As teachers, we value behavior because in order to learn kids need to be on task and focused. We are taught to set expectations for our students, such as respecting self and others. I think all people impose values on others in one way or another. Our values are so wrapped up in our daily lives that it is hard not to model those values. I think I try to force my students to respect each other and school property, to listen to others when they speak, to try even when it gets tough. I don’t necessarily think those are negative things though, I think these skills will help kids to become successful in living the American life. It does all come down to choice though. I can’t force kids to follow those values, most will choose those and some will not. I think it’s possible for kids to feel that teachers are imposing American values on them. Forging relationships could happen through learning about the other cultures and using that knowledge to communicate and teach. I build walls around my culture and I think “this is me, I am right, my values are right”. I shouldn’t be here to hide myself and culture. I should begin taking steps to take down the walls that I have built. Then I could learn about other cultures and others could learn more about me. It’s about being vulnerable. 2. Yes, lack of knowledge about other cultures of my students could cause frustration. I may not intend to hurt someone, but my lack of knowledge could. I need to be on a continual journey of searching for new information about my students. That is how I will remove barriers. Through study and practice, one becomes aware of communication, conflict, and conflict resolution. Pedagogy and communication is intertwined within the classroom. If a teacher cannot communicate effectively, the message will be skewed and the material may not be learned. If a teacher can communicate effectively, it provides a safe atmosphere for students to learn and reach their potential. Pedagogy can be a conflict because just because a teacher obtains the knowledge, doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to communicate the message towards their pupils. 3. “Talking is not just talking; it involves more than words, as is true of all communication.” I need to think about this over the next few weeks and be sure that I am aware of how I am communicating with students who get in trouble in my classroom. 4. Gender roles and communication: “…Men transform aggressive physical behavior into aggressive verbal behavior. For example, American men are careful expressing disagreement with someone they don’t know very well, but they bluntly disagree with and even use sarcasm with a close friend.” Really? I don’t know if it is good to generalize this statement for all American men. My husband is straight forward and doesn’t act in this way as far as I know. He is calm and patient most of the time. It’s possible that this was true of all of the men that participated in the study, but we shouldn’t stereotype for all American men.
Karen- You made a good point when you said that all kids acting the same would be boring. Why do I expect my kids to act the same when I know that there are no two people alike? I don't expect my colleagues to treat me the same. Also when you said "Education within education is the key to ensuring there is not a lack of communication." Well said my friend :)
Becky: Your comment about having a lack of knowledge can hurt people unintentionally really hit home. A person may appear insensitive when in actuality they are ignorant. What is hard is when you do not even realize you are ignorant (speaking for myself and learning the hard way a time or two).
1). As teachers, we value behavior in classroom in many ways. We set expectations for our students and want for them to follow them. These expectations/rules are based off of my values and what I perceive as being desired behavior. When the students follow these expectations, they are seen as good students, but when they don’t they might be perceived as a trouble maker. With me being a special education teacher, I feel that my classroom management skills might be different than some of my regular education colleagues and I might even tolerate more less desirable behaviors because of knowing and understanding their abilities/disabilities. I feel as if we do impose values on our students, but that is what we as a society of teachers are taught to do when learning about classroom management. Good communication is a way to forge a relationship. I have seen teachers that yell all day at their students, and their students are still out of control, where as others, may just raise their voices and their students tend to respond better. We build walls because someone may violate or not be sensitive to what we value. I know when someone offends me, it takes a long time for my guard to come down and for some of our students this also happens. 2). When things aren’t communicated in a good way, it can lead to conflict. Conflict usually has to end with a conflict resolution. It is important to effectively communicate and communicate well so that students understand and know the intended meaning of what is presented. As far as students that have conflicts, they usually get sent to the office and there is some sort of resolution that happens. It may be a restraining order or shadowing the other student that they had a conflict with so that the resolution can be resolved. When a student has something on their mind, teachers tend to think that students need to communicate their problems to them, but not always does a student feel comfortable doing this which can also lead to a conflict between the teacher and the student. I think that pedagogy and communication go hand-in hand in the classroom. A teacher can teach until they are blue in the face, but did the students understand it? A teacher can be the most knowledgeable person about a subject area, but if they can’t communicate in a way that students can understand, then their pedagogy is getting in the way of good communication. 3). In the chapter, when it was talking about gender communication and how sometimes women insinuate things by how they communicate with their significant others or spouses really made me think that I need to be more careful and more aware of how I say things at home. If I want Matt to do something for me, then I need to come right out and ask instead of hinting to him that I would like for him to do something. I also need to remember that when a parent doesn’t look me in the eye during conferences, it is not because they are being rude, it is because of their culture and values and what is important to them.
Becky-- I like when you asked if all men were surveyed in that group. It depends on the day as to how well Matt and I commmunicate, but we are learning. Sometimes he is calm other times he gets a little angry, but I know that part of that is when I am not making eye contact with him or trying to do something else instead of giving him my full attention.
Karin-- I liked how you talked about your student from another country being in violation because I dealt with a similar situation at my old school and for some reason it was really hard for the admin team to accept this child at first and for the teachers to understand that this child would be out of uniform. I personally would think of the little girl and the family and the struggles they would go through on a daily basis trying to make friends and get a job with what our society or culture might see as a "violation".
The biggest behavior I value is respect. I will constantly use the word respect to point out my rules for the classroom. This is a value I try to model myself, keeping me in check when a conflict may arise between me and a student. I’m hoping that no matter what the conflict is, we can keep that positive relationship by obeying that one rule.
I loved how the book talked about the circular model of communication. Besides the verbal and nonverbal actions, the rest of the communication is all about your perception and ideas. I’ve had situations where students are unhappy about something, only to find out the argument has nothing to do with the real conflict. For instance, a student is upset that the teacher is taking 10% off their grade on a late assignment. After the teacher replies about their rules on late work, the student is even more frustrated now. After much discussion, the teacher finds that the student is really upset over how fast the material was covered and did not understand the assignment. Conflicts, such as these, could be averted if we really look at our own perceptions and ideas and not just glance at them. Not knowing is sometimes the worst part of communication. Not knowing other’s views, not knowing certain customs and cultures, and not knowing if you hurt someone’s feelings.
I found the gender styles of communicating to be interesting, but I don’t see as much of that today. I even found myself relating to the paragraph on how adult men are careful of expressing disagreement with someone they don’t know very well, but easily disagree and/or use sarcasm with a close friend. I also found the brutally honest page to be funny, only because I couldn’t stop thinking of that silly movie, “He’s Just Not That Into You.” The whole “brutally honest” seems to be a culture of its own.
Leasa, I agree what you said about pedagogy and communication. I am constantly reflecting before, during, and after lessons on whether or not I was effective. I am continually asking questions to check for understanding for this reason alone.
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ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are following the topics more closely than I was. I was a week ahead of everyone but you chose a great discussion topic last week.
ReplyDeleteNow, on to Chapter 3 this week . . .
1. As a classroom teacher, I would say classroom management is important. However, that does not mean that every student need act the same. In fact, classrooms where all the students act the same would seem boring. Where would you get those individual ideas that make classroom discussions more interesting? Although I do not expect the students to act in the same manner, I do expect them to show respect for others and other ideas. As for the statement “Students at times feel as if teachers are trying to impose American values on them”, I do not necessarily agree. While I want all students to be successful, I do not think by helping them achieve that I am imposing American values. I try to forge relationships with students when possible by learning about them personally. Each student has a unique culture and by learning more about them I think you prevent walls from being built.
ReplyDelete2. I have had a few instances where I have had students of different religious cultures that had issues with the dress code at my former school. The school had to be notified of the “violation” and allow those students with the issues to be exempt. Other instant of religious culture I have had an encounter with had to deal with views of government and holidays. In that case the parent was very proactive and brought literature to the school to give the teachers should they have questions regarding their cultural expectations. Education within education is the key to ensuring there is not a lack of communication. I think pedagogy can cause a conflict between a teacher and the students IF the teacher is not flexible and tolerant. I have unfortunately seen this happen. It then can transfer to conflict between staff members when they try to advocate for a student.
3. I liked the section on effective communication. You attitude is defiantly a first step in how you communicate followed closely by assumptions. If you are closed minded before you begin.. its already over. I liked the phrase selective perception. Isn’t it amazing what humans can be selective about?
The other section from this chapter I thought was interesting was misconceptions about communication. There were some of those I thought as more fact than a misconception. It makes sense that communication will solve our problems and that communication is a human natural ability. Until you look at cultures and then, each culture has their own type of communication. No wonder we all can’t just get along!! ☺
“The message is clear and provides good reasons, including self-interest, for the child to change his or her behavior. However, if the message is accompanied by angry looks, a loud voice, and gestures such as the adult pointing or jabbing a finger at the child, the good advice may get lost.” This quote reminded me of my former assistant principal. She was a yeller and I think the kids thought that she hated them. I thought that she didn’t like them or her job. The message that she was trying to make definitely got lost among her outburst of yelling. I think this is one of the conflicts in education. There are some people who are excellent at communication and others who are not. I try to be careful when a student gets in trouble in my class, but I know I lose the communication battle at times.
ReplyDelete1. As teachers, we value behavior because in order to learn kids need to be on task and focused. We are taught to set expectations for our students, such as respecting self and others. I think all people impose values on others in one way or another. Our values are so wrapped up in our daily lives that it is hard not to model those values. I think I try to force my students to respect each other and school property, to listen to others when they speak, to try even when it gets tough. I don’t necessarily think those are negative things though, I think these skills will help kids to become successful in living the American life. It does all come down to choice though. I can’t force kids to follow those values, most will choose those and some will not. I think it’s possible for kids to feel that teachers are imposing American values on them. Forging relationships could happen through learning about the other cultures and using that knowledge to communicate and teach. I build walls around my culture and I think “this is me, I am right, my values are right”. I shouldn’t be here to hide myself and culture. I should begin taking steps to take down the walls that I have built. Then I could learn about other cultures and others could learn more about me. It’s about being vulnerable.
2. Yes, lack of knowledge about other cultures of my students could cause frustration. I may not intend to hurt someone, but my lack of knowledge could. I need to be on a continual journey of searching for new information about my students. That is how I will remove barriers. Through study and practice, one becomes aware of communication, conflict, and conflict resolution. Pedagogy and communication is intertwined within the classroom. If a teacher cannot communicate effectively, the message will be skewed and the material may not be learned. If a teacher can communicate effectively, it provides a safe atmosphere for students to learn and reach their potential. Pedagogy can be a conflict because just because a teacher obtains the knowledge, doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to communicate the message towards their pupils.
3. “Talking is not just talking; it involves more than words, as is true of all communication.” I need to think about this over the next few weeks and be sure that I am aware of how I am communicating with students who get in trouble in my classroom.
4. Gender roles and communication: “…Men transform aggressive physical behavior into aggressive verbal behavior. For example, American men are careful expressing disagreement with someone they don’t know very well, but they bluntly disagree with and even use sarcasm with a close friend.” Really? I don’t know if it is good to generalize this statement for all American men. My husband is straight forward and doesn’t act in this way as far as I know. He is calm and patient most of the time. It’s possible that this was true of all of the men that participated in the study, but we shouldn’t stereotype for all American men.
Karen- You made a good point when you said that all kids acting the same would be boring. Why do I expect my kids to act the same when I know that there are no two people alike? I don't expect my colleagues to treat me the same.
ReplyDeleteAlso when you said "Education within education is the key to ensuring there is not a lack of communication." Well said my friend :)
Becky: Your comment about having a lack of knowledge can hurt people unintentionally really hit home. A person may appear insensitive when in actuality they are ignorant. What is hard is when you do not even realize you are ignorant (speaking for myself and learning the hard way a time or two).
ReplyDelete1). As teachers, we value behavior in classroom in many ways. We set expectations for our students and want for them to follow them. These expectations/rules are based off of my values and what I perceive as being desired behavior. When the students follow these expectations, they are seen as good students, but when they don’t they might be perceived as a trouble maker. With me being a special education teacher, I feel that my classroom management skills might be different than some of my regular education colleagues and I might even tolerate more less desirable behaviors because of knowing and understanding their abilities/disabilities. I feel as if we do impose values on our students, but that is what we as a society of teachers are taught to do when learning about classroom management.
ReplyDeleteGood communication is a way to forge a relationship. I have seen teachers that yell all day at their students, and their students are still out of control, where as others, may just raise their voices and their students tend to respond better. We build walls because someone may violate or not be sensitive to what we value. I know when someone offends me, it takes a long time for my guard to come down and for some of our students this also happens.
2). When things aren’t communicated in a good way, it can lead to conflict. Conflict usually has to end with a conflict resolution. It is important to effectively communicate and communicate well so that students understand and know the intended meaning of what is presented. As far as students that have conflicts, they usually get sent to the office and there is some sort of resolution that happens. It may be a restraining order or shadowing the other student that they had a conflict with so that the resolution can be resolved. When a student has something on their mind, teachers tend to think that students need to communicate their problems to them, but not always does a student feel comfortable doing this which can also lead to a conflict between the teacher and the student.
I think that pedagogy and communication go hand-in hand in the classroom. A teacher can teach until they are blue in the face, but did the students understand it? A teacher can be the most knowledgeable person about a subject area, but if they can’t communicate in a way that students can understand, then their pedagogy is getting in the way of good communication.
3). In the chapter, when it was talking about gender communication and how sometimes women insinuate things by how they communicate with their significant others or spouses really made me think that I need to be more careful and more aware of how I say things at home. If I want Matt to do something for me, then I need to come right out and ask instead of hinting to him that I would like for him to do something.
I also need to remember that when a parent doesn’t look me in the eye during conferences, it is not because they are being rude, it is because of their culture and values and what is important to them.
Becky-- I like when you asked if all men were surveyed in that group. It depends on the day as to how well Matt and I commmunicate, but we are learning. Sometimes he is calm other times he gets a little angry, but I know that part of that is when I am not making eye contact with him or trying to do something else instead of giving him my full attention.
ReplyDeleteKarin-- I liked how you talked about your student from another country being in violation because I dealt with a similar situation at my old school and for some reason it was really hard for the admin team to accept this child at first and for the teachers to understand that this child would be out of uniform. I personally would think of the little girl and the family and the struggles they would go through on a daily basis trying to make friends and get a job with what our society or culture might see as a "violation".
The biggest behavior I value is respect. I will constantly use the word respect to point out my rules for the classroom. This is a value I try to model myself, keeping me in check when a conflict may arise between me and a student. I’m hoping that no matter what the conflict is, we can keep that positive relationship by obeying that one rule.
ReplyDeleteI loved how the book talked about the circular model of communication. Besides the verbal and nonverbal actions, the rest of the communication is all about your perception and ideas. I’ve had situations where students are unhappy about something, only to find out the argument has nothing to do with the real conflict. For instance, a student is upset that the teacher is taking 10% off their grade on a late assignment. After the teacher replies about their rules on late work, the student is even more frustrated now. After much discussion, the teacher finds that the student is really upset over how fast the material was covered and did not understand the assignment. Conflicts, such as these, could be averted if we really look at our own perceptions and ideas and not just glance at them. Not knowing is sometimes the worst part of communication. Not knowing other’s views, not knowing certain customs and cultures, and not knowing if you hurt someone’s feelings.
I found the gender styles of communicating to be interesting, but I don’t see as much of that today. I even found myself relating to the paragraph on how adult men are careful of expressing disagreement with someone they don’t know very well, but easily disagree and/or use sarcasm with a close friend. I also found the brutally honest page to be funny, only because I couldn’t stop thinking of that silly movie, “He’s Just Not That Into You.” The whole “brutally honest” seems to be a culture of its own.
Leasa, I agree what you said about pedagogy and communication. I am constantly reflecting before, during, and after lessons on whether or not I was effective. I am continually asking questions to check for understanding for this reason alone.
ReplyDelete