Blog Post 4 Social Studies

As this semester closes, it has been rewarding to look back on the positive experiences I have been able to have through the Education Department at Gardner-Webb. Being able to have time in the classroom in both a kindergarten and first grade environment and experience hands-on learning in both of these settings is something that sets Gardner-Webb's program apart from other Education programs. Many elementary education students do not get an extended amount of time in a classroom until they are student teaching. That would be so scary to think about! The experience I have gained from being able to teach full lessons as well as re-teach a lesson has greatly prepared me for the challenges I will conquer in student teaching that are yet to come. Overall I learned the most from the teacher I observed at WES. My teacher demonstrated classroom management skills that blew me away, especially when she was dealing with kids that had behavior management issues, or her blocks where behavioral issues were very, very prevalent. Something I noticed that this teacher put into practice in her classroom was the "Rewards based on a specific performance standard" technique of classroom management. This technique was originally studied by Wiersma in1992. I think this kind of classroom management works better on older grades (3-5). I noticed that when the 5th graders were presented with a goal, for example, having chips as a midday snack, they were motivated to work together to do well as a class on their STARS exam which is a reading exam. They got told they would have 10 minutes extra at recess if everyone completed their morning work on time and every student turned it in to the turn in box. When rewards are presented in a way that does not "bribe" the student, but shows that if they work their hardest, they can be rewarded, instills in them the mindset that hard work equals success. This is easier to explain to older kids because younger kids can get conditioned to the idea that every time they do something correctly, they should earn a "prize." The goal of this research based technique is to increase the amount of intrinsic motivation in a student. 

For this technique to work the best that it can, recognition of students individual success must be highlighted. It is also vital to remind students of the REAL goal, not just earning a reward. I watched this teacher provide concrete, non linguistic reinforcement and recognition for student's effort and successes.






Reflecting on learning about this technique, and observing it firsthand, I will surely be incorporating aspects into my future classroom. In my future classroom, I will be applying this teaching technique to help best motivate and give my students that "push" they sometimes need to get excited to work. 
Regarding NCTCS, I can relate my observations to the standards easily. 

The standards that I think most apply to my WES observations are:
 

1a. Teachers lead in their classroom 

3b. Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty

4c. Teachers use a variety of instruction methods

My clinical teacher was a strong and highly respected leader in her classroom and her school. She set her expectations and standards very high for her 5th graders. She constantly was finding new ways to differentiate learning, keep her students motivated and positive, while also challenging them to the best of their abilities.














I found most of my outside research about the above technique at https://www.education.com/reference/article/methods-teaching-classroom/

also

http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/psy501/intrinsic.pdf