![]() Everyday in the classroom with first graders is anything but dull. I honestly cannot predict what will happen or what story a child would have to tell me since there is always something interesting happening in the life of a six year old. Although I am not a rookie in the area of discipline in a classroom setting, today I had my first experience of utilizing my CT's behavioral system. First let me give you a quick overview of her behavioral system. Everyone starts on the color green at the beginning of the day with the opportunities to move up or the possibility of moving down. When a student answers a challenging question or is seen doing something generous for one of their peers, my CT will move their clip up on the chart. On the other hand if they have been spoken to numerous times throughout the day for not staying on task, excessive talking or not being kind, their clip is lowered. After a few weeks of being in the classroom, my CT decided to modify her system and rather than moving clips down, she removes them from the chart hanging on the closet door and places it on her key chain that is around her neck. I believe this is more effective and less harsh because students are constantly reminded since they can see their name clips clearly and if she does not have to say their names anymore she will place it back on green. So there was a student who wanted to complete a worksheet during centers but they were none left. I am fully aware that the teacher does not enjoy being interrupted while she is working in guided reading groups so I instructed him to continue playing the game with his peers until I found a solution. Surprisingly, he told me, "No." After advising him that it would be best to resume the game instead of not doing anything, he still rejected my suggestion and decided to sit on the table. I felt as though I had to show him how important it is to follow instructions given by adults by removing his clip from the chart and giving it to my CT. At a later time I conversed with her to ensure that I had not crossed any boundaries and whether she felt that my reason was valid. She did not find a problem with me doing what I did and encouraged me to do what I felt was necessary. Although discipline is not on the list of Task Performances, I think it could be tied into #18: Help students resolve a conflict. I have witnessed my CT give students the chance to solve their own problems before she stepped in, whether it was personal or between another peer. She exemplifies patience and that is what I mirrored when faced with this particular student. As I look back on the situation, I feel as though I handled it pretty well rather than becoming angered quickly and raising my voice. In future instances I believe that patience and trying to reach a mutual understanding between the students and teacher is very effective. During center time, I was given four students, that included my focus student, to work with rather than my usual routine of walking around the classroom, monitoring the students to ensure that they were on task. The activity included a worksheet that was titled, "4 In A Row". It was a game similar to Bingo but the catch was rather than hoping that your number would be called, the student had the luxury of choosing the word of their choice but in order to mark that word they had to use it in a sentence correctly. They all were more than excited to play and could hardly wait until it was their turn to tell me the sentence. After a few rounds of the game, I began to make it more challenging by giving them limits such as:
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April 2017
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