“The Power of Our Words” article refers to how the responsive classroom approach offers positive strategies that guide elementary teachers. As you respond to this article consider these questions:
Do you think the responsive classroom approach would work for secondary teachers?
What strategies from responsive classroom would benefit the secondary level?
What positive strategies do you use in your own classroom?
Prompted by Adrienne and Kelly
Being direct, having confidence in your students’ abilities, using silence as a tool, and communicating succinctly- these are qualities that would benefit any educator, regardless of grade level. The techniques remain the same, only word choice needs to be adjusted. I would imagine that conveying faith in one’s students should be especially effective in the secondary grades since many adolescents suffer from self esteem and identity issues. By affirming their efforts rather than pointing out their failings, teachers give their students many concrete reasons to believe in themselves and their ability to learn. One strategy that has always served me well when working with fifth through eighth graders is pointing out the harmful effects or distractions that result from negative behaviors. For example, “If we are unable to settle down, more of today’s assignment will have to be completed at home,” can be far more effective than, “Class, it’s time to stop talking and pay attention.”
ReplyDeleteGetting students' attention is the key to teaching a lesson. The tips in this article would work well to get students' attention. Here are some things I do to manage my students:
ReplyDelete1. write and read aloud the agenda--when students know what needs to be accomplished they will help meet the goal
2. use a rubric--before certain activities I go over a rubric to help students understand what is expected of them. I have used this for academic activites such as writing, as well as social activities such as parties or entertaining guest speakers
I think all of these management techniques have positive and respectful communication between teacher and students.
I do see merit in activities such as the Mardi Gras Carnival in schools and agree with John that there are other benefits to events such as this even if no new learning is taking place. It is at activities like the PTO pot luck pizza night before open house (I work in a small school) that I am able to get a sense of students and their families and vice versa in a more relaxed, casual atmosphere. It helps build a rapport with families that makes for a nice foundation when discussing more serious, academic type topics that involve their child.
ReplyDeleteI did think though, that the idea mentioned in the article about making a list of activities that your school does and then putting them into categories was a great idea. I thought that would be a great way to sift through a lot of the things that are done for no real reason other than “we’ve always done that.”
I am fortunate to teach in a small school, but ironically enough, parent support and involvement isn’t all that strong. I am not really sure why or how it became that way, but it seems in the three years that I have been at the school, participation seems to fluctuate. It’s so unfortunate, because with such a small student body a strong school/community relationship would be really valuable for everyone! In thinking about that, I was wondering how long it takes to establish such high levels of participation in schools such as the one discussed in the article. I find that sometimes that it is hard to get families/students to return permission slips, homework, etc. let alone come back at night for an activity or event.
I have taken the Responsive Classroom I and II classes so I am familiar with the philosophy of RC. I use many of the positive strategies from RC in my classroom. Each year my class brainstorms our class rules, do guided discoveries of new materials, do morning meetings and class meetings, and use natural and logical consequences. All of these things help to build community in my class. I am a big fan of the fifth strategy, “Know When to Be Silent” although I call it “wait time”. The first time I used in my classroom, the 3 to 5 seconds was painful but now it feels natural to let all children think about the question before I call on the small handful of ones who always raise their hands first.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure how the positive language strategies would work in a secondary classroom having never taught at that level. However, having my own teenagers, I would assume that any type of positive language must have a positive effect and be successful across all settings. Even adults react to and appreciate being talked to positively, it’s human nature. I think it is very natural for anyone who is being spoken to negatively to immediately go onto defense and that’s certainly not the way we want to run our classrooms. Certainly, the choice of words can be different for older students since they are not concrete thinkers.
We use Responsive Classroom in our K-6 classrooms. I agree with John that some of the underlying principles...having faith in your students abilities and being direct are beneficial for every age group.
ReplyDeleteI think “teacher language” is an extremely important aspect of teaching whether you are talking with Kindergarten students or High School seniors. As teachers, we should always try to lift our students up when we are talking with them. If we can communicate with our students in a positive way most of the time, they will be more willing to take on the challenge of learning.
ReplyDeleteI also think noticing our students’ interests is very important regardless of their age. In the primary grades, we might comment on the little ones’ interests in finger painting and in high school, we might comment on the older students’ interest in a famous painter. In both situations, the students will notice that you pay attention to them and think of them as unique and important individuals. It is very important to make sure that we as teachers are constantly mentioning our students’ strengths to them and to others. We also need to make sure that we listen to their feelings. Primary students might want to talk about being sad because they can’t find their favorite teddy bear. High school students might want to talk about feeling upset because they don’t think they will be accepted to their college of choice. The possibilities are endless, but the bottom line is that we need to be there to listen to our students, whether they are five or nineteen years old!
As I was reading about the five components of Responsive Classroom, I was thinking about how important the concepts are for K-12 teachers and learners. Whether we call it Responsive Classroom or not, I am confident that all of us follow the five components that are outlined in this article.
In conclusion, I don’t think that we would necessarily sit down to have a morning meeting every day with secondary students, but we can definitely still incorporate the main ideas of Responsive Classroom into our high schools.