Final Seminar Class (Fall 2022).
Mrs. Stallings has her room set up as in the diagram below. Which of the following statements is most applicable to this arrangement?
Accessibility is generally not a problem, but visibility and distractibility may be issues for this teacher.
When a teacher discovers that there is a mismatch between a classroom expectation and a student's cultural norm, which of the following would not be an effective response?
Adhere to the expectation without comment, because the classroom culture supersedes individual backgrounds and experiences.
In the teacher's lounge one day, you overhear an experienced teacher commenting about one of her colleagues who has just begun teaching. She says, "Miss Wertheim is really warm and fuzzy with her students. She hugs them and praises their accomplishments. She's setting herself up for a struggle, because students won't recognize her as the authority figure in the classroom." Which of the following responses to her assertion
Being warm and affirming does not preclude the teacher from establishing legitimate authority with her students.
Effective teachers not only manage the classroom carefully and consistently, but also design interesting lessons, support and motivate students, and demonstrate good communication skills. How do these desirable behaviors relate to each other?
Effective classroom management facilitates the other teacher behaviors.
Which of the following statements is true regarding parent-teacher relationships?
In the same way teachers are intentional about building positive relationships with their students, they should carefully consider how to best facilitate their relationships with their students' parents or guardians.
Mrs. Fredericks, whose students sit at tables that seat four students each, complains to you that her children have what she terms "pencil problems." Either they do not have pencils when they need them, or they are constantly asking to leave their group tables to go to the pencil sharpener, or they are squabbling over which pencil belongs to which group member. Which piece of advice would demonstrate adherence to classroom management principles and be most efficient in eliminating the problems Mrs. Fredericks is encountering?
Place a container of identical sharpened pencils on each group's table, along with a container for pencils in need of sharpening.
Early contact with parents in the school year is very important. Which of the following is the best way to establish early contact with parents before school starts?
Send an introductory "get-to-know-you" letter.
Class meetings can contribute to the development of healthy and supportive classroom relationships. Which of the following is least likely to be an outcome when a teacher establishes a regular class meeting time and format?
Students will be less likely to interact with their peers about class issues or behavioral concerns.
Which of the following is least likely to result when a teacher takes care to establish healthy, supportive classroom relationships?
Students' investment in classroom routines and activities will be lessened because the teacher has not established him- or herself as an authority figure.
Which of the following statements most accurately reflects a caution about boundary concerns in relationship development?
Teachers must be mindful of the nature and scope of the relationships they develop with students.
Which of the following statements regarding room arrangement is most accurate?
The sorts of instructional activities you will undertake with your students should drive your room arrangement.
A substitute teacher folder can contain many things, among them a class roll, a seating chart, a daily schedule, and a list of medical information and medicine to be given. Of the information in the following list, which item would you say is most important to include in such a folder?
a copy of classroom rules and consequences
The physical environment of the classroom is
a key factor in supporting management and instructional goals.
Effective classroom managers ensure that students clearly understand classroom rules and procedures. Teachers should
actively teach, reinforce, and re-teach rules and procedures, being sure to give a rationale for their implementation.
In terms of his or her role in establishing and maintaining a positive classroom climate, a teacher is most like a
benevolent dictator.
A teacher most effectively establishes procedures
by carefully considering everything that needs to happen during a school day.
When placing the teacher's desk or primary instructional vantage point, it is most important to do so in such a way that the teacher
can see all students at all times.
Although it makes sense to put the most planning emphasis on ensuring that students master curricular goals, teachers should also remember that
careful planning can lead students to become invested, interested partners in the learning process.
Higher-influence interpersonal behaviors include
goal-setting, explaining, and leading.
Which teacher behavior is least likely to be a positive influence on student outcomes?
maintaining a professional distance from students as a means of establishing and maintaining authority.
Which of the following would the authors likely recommend with regard to managing public failure?
normalizing mistakes and failure as an integral part of the learning process
Ms. Wise encloses her "reading nook," which is set up in the back of her classroom, with four-foot-tall bookcases on three sides. This arrangement is
not a particularly good idea, because there may be times when she cannot see the children in the nook.
Which of the following statements is a goal?
"Follow directions correctly the first time."
Which of the following statements reflects the most effective use of praise?
"Great work, Mishiko! Your story map contains all the important pieces. Your efforts really paid off."
Mrs. Chastain, who teaches first grade, is frustrated and drops by your classroom to talk. "It is my assistant," she says. "She does not do anything...I thought she would just jump right in and help with the lessons, but she does not. In fact, she does not do much other than deal with materials and roll and lunches. I am going to have to ask the principal to get rid of her and find me someone who shows initiative." You say,
"Have you clearly explained your expectations to her?"
On the first work day of the new year, Miss Kisler plops down in your room and says, "I do not know why those new teachers are spending so much time thinking about a management plan. I think teachers need to be very, very flexible, and that when they get all bent out of shape about good behavior, it shows that they don't care very much about whether students feel good at school or not." Which of the following responses is most in keeping with current thinking about classroom management?
"I am pretty sure they put lots of thought into their management plans because they believe that students feel best when they operate within a predictable structure."
Ms. Tejera has been teaching first-grade for several years. She is known throughout the school as an efficient classroom manager and a dynamic, creative teacher who gives as much responsibility for learning as possible to her students. Which of these statements would she be likely to make about her classroom arrangement?
"I try to establish a physical space that supports my particular instructional goals and preferred methodologies."
Ms. Tewkes plops down in a chair in your classroom at the end of the day, obviously very annoyed. "I am steeling myself to call Lamar's mother. He has been testing the limits quite a bit lately: talking while I am talking, making snide remarks under his breath, and generally displaying a bad attitude. When I talk to his mom, I am going to tell her that she has got to help me get his behavior under control or I am going to flunk him." You think to yourself,
"Uh-oh. This is not the right approach to take."
How is a teacher who is inconsistent in monitoring student work and behavior like a slot machine?
A slot machine "pays off" at random, and so does an inconsistent teacher.
Mrs. Burch wants to provide an incentive to encourage her students to work effectively in their groups as they prepare for Friday's test. Which of the following would be most effective at accomplishing this task?
Any group in which all students make at least an 80 on their test gets a reward.
How can lesson creativity relate to student behavior and achievement?
Creative lessons may lead to increased student engagement, but may call for more careful management of excited students and must be carefully planned so they address all required learning outcomes.
Miss Jolley is working with a class of fifth-grader students whose abilities range widely. Six students in the class have IEPs or other special learning plans, six students have performances in the average range, and six students are classified as academically gifted. Miss Jolley comes to you, frustrated, because on each assignment she gives, her gifted students finish in mere minutes, but her lower-performing students take a very long time to finish the same assignment. The higher-performing students get restless while they wait for the others to finish, and the average- and lower-performing students are beginning to resent their gifted peers. What advice might you give to Miss Jolley?
Give differentiated assignments: give the high-performing students more complex work, and adapt the lower-performing students' work to suit their ability levels while still meeting your curricular goals.
Miss Raspberry's fifth-grade students do not have much experience working in groups. Many of the teachers in earlier grade levels in her school apparently felt that the noise level and off-task behaviors involved with group activities were so distracting, they chose to have students work individually instead. Consequently, Miss Raspberry finds her students ill-equipped to work effectively in groups. She asks you to recommend a good initial task that she can utilize to begin honing her students' interpersonal, leadership, and explaining skills. What do you recommend?
Have students turn and talk to a partner during a lesson, coming up with a joint answer and then sharing it with the class.
Students who live in poverty, according to some researchers, utilize negative self-talk that can exacerbate their feelings of helplessness. Teachers should encourage positive self-talk by these students. Which of the following is an example of positive self-talk?
I know I can do what my teacher asks me to do.
Mrs. French has taught her lesson, and students are engaged in cooperative group work. As she monitors the class, Mrs. French notices that Tian is chewing gum, which is against school rules. Which action would be best for Mrs. French to take?
Ignore the gum chewing until the next transition, then call Tian over and intervene.
Ms. Griffith has a system whereby her students can earn a class popcorn party for good behavior over time. The class has worked hard to achieve the reward, and tomorrow is supposed to be "party day." There is a fly in the ointment, though. Calvin is having a really bad day, and his outbursts have Ms. Griffith thinking about canceling the party. What advice would you give her in this situation?
Instead of canceling the party, just exclude Calvin from it.
Having a student complete a plan about an event that resulted in misbehavior is part of some of the strategies discussed in Chapter 11 (e.g., five-step intervention, think time). Why is a written exploration of the issue an effective intervention strategy?
It requires the student to think through the situation that occurred, including not only its cause, but how the student could handle the same issue in the future.
Why is it so important to have planned, taught, and implemented rules and procedures?
It saves time and makes the classroom environment more pleasant and consistent.
Mr. Boxner, who teaches in the room next door to you, has begun using the five-step intervention procedure with students. It has worked well, although it is likely inappropriate in which of these situations?
Jada is chewing gum, a violation of a school rule
Ms. Toler meets with Linda to discuss an ongoing problem with Linda's classroom behavior—she is unengaged and often puts her head down on the desk; sometimes she even falls asleep. Ms. Toler uses her best problem-solving skills; she identifies the problem clearly and asks for Linda's ideas for how to solve it. Linda reluctantly helps to develop a plan and agrees to use it. However, Ms. Toler sees no real change in Linda's behavior. It is likely that
Linda was not sincerely committed to changing her behavior, and Ms. Toler needs to either revisit the plan with her or administer a consequence.
If someone asked you about managing cooperative groups, which of the following responses would be most on target?
Managing cooperative groups can be challenging and requires that particular attention be paid to pacing, monitoring, and providing feedback.
Although they have spent years as students themselves, prospective teachers may not recognize classroom management strategies in action because
Many aspects of management are seemingly invisible to students.
Miss McClelland has a policy in her class that students cannot get out of their seats without permission. You are seated at the back of the classroom, behind the long rows of student desks that face front. As you observe, Tina, the student in the back desk on the other side of the classroom, pauses during her work and is apparently rereading what she has written. She also raises her arms, stretching, and as she does so, accidentally drops her pencil. It lands about 2 feet behind her desk. She quietly gets up, picks up her pencil, returns to her seat, and starts writing again. How should Miss McClelland respond to this violation of a class rule?
Miss McClelland should ignore the event.
Lucas enters your third-grade classroom for the first time and says, "Wow! All the desks are in rows!" If you were Lucas, what conclusion might you draw about the nature of instruction in this class?
Most work will be done individually/independently.
Mr. Barbosa is sitting in the teachers' lounge looking dejected. "Ugh," he says. "I just tried to do some group work with my students. It did not go well, and I am not really sure why. I planned my groups carefully and gave them a simple activity to start with. The students got along well enough, and each group produced a product that earned a good grade, but when I began asking individual students questions about the content, I realized that they did not have a clue about some of it. In fact, in each group, it seemed that only one or two students really 'got' the intended information. What did I do wrong?" Your initial impression is that
Mr. Barbosa effectively planned for several aspects of the cooperative activity but failed to include a means to ensure individual accountability.
Mr. Browning regularly utilizes cooperative learning groups. He comes to your classroom after school one day and says, "My groups are doing reasonably well, but I'm stumped about what to do when I'm teaching a mini-lesson to one small group, and students in the others need help. If they get stuck, they either come up to me and interrupt me, or they just sit there, off task, until I can get to them to answer their questions. What should I do?" What recommendation makes the most sense in this situation?
Mr. Browning should establish, teach, and reinforce a procedure for getting help during group work.
Which of the following teacher behaviors is most obviously undertaken as a means of developing positive and supportive classroom relationships?
Mr. Granade tells students about himself and shows them pictures of his family.
Mr. Parker has a reputation in your school for exceptional classroom management. His children are well behaved at virtually all times, even though there is always something interesting going on in their classroom. You are shocked, therefore, to realize that the students who come to your second-grade class from his first-grade class are not very well prepared; they are academically behind their same-age peers. Although you know that such variation can just be attributed to the heterogeneous placements of students in classes, you also wonder if perhaps
Mr. Parker is so focused on his class's behavior that he neglects to address their learning needs fully.
Mr. Sawyer is a relaxed, down-to-earth teacher who asks his fifth-grader students to call him by his first name. He tells his students that he is a learner just like they are, and that they should think of him as another student, a co-learner. He gives them lots of choices in what they do and does not make many demands on them, preferring to let them develop their own motivation for completing the learning tasks set out for them. Mr. Sawyer comes to you, frustrated, because even though the kids seem to like him and want to come to school, they are not getting much done, and they often misbehave, contrary to what Mr. Sawyer would like to see. What do you think is at issue in this situation?
Mr. Sawyer has not presented himself as an authority figure.
Ms. Jarvis is frustrated. "You know, I just do not get it. I have been trying to use small teacher-led groups with my students, and it has been so difficult! I meet with each group for 20 minutes, during which time the other students are working independently. And that is the problem. When I finish with my group and go to check their work, they have not gotten much done! My group accomplishes its daily goal, of course, but the other students are just not producing the amount of quality work that I am expecting. They were well behaved, but I wish they worked harder. I know they are capable of doing the work, so why don't they?" What issue do you think lies at the heart of Ms. Jarvis's frustrations?
Ms. Jarvis likely needs to increase her monitoring while she is working with the group. If she uses her "active eyes," she should be able to increase student productivity and compliance.
Ms. Jacobs is working with a small group of students when she notices two other students whispering nearby. She continues to monitor them as she works with her group and notices that they are continuing to whisper. Those two students are not looking at Ms. Jacobs, so she cannot use eye contact alone to deal with the problem. Which of the following strategies would you recommend she use?
Say the students' names and redirect them to the task.
Ms. Cain's students have firmly learned her preferred procedures for turning in work, and every student consistently submits required assignments. In recognition of this fact, Ms. Cain says, "I am so happy that you are all so diligent about turning in your work, and I want to reward you. I am going to put a sticker on each paper that is turned in on time." What do you think of Ms. Cain's idea?
She should be careful, because rewarding students for things they are already doing can actually undermine motivation, and now she has created additional work for herself with no real purpose.
Which of the following events would least likely be addressed by the presence of a social-emotional learning program in school?
Spencer fails to turn in his assignments because they're lost in his desk.
Which of the following statements is a teacher in an urban school most likely to say is false?
Teachers in urban areas should share all aspects of their lives with students as a way of demonstrating trust.
Which tier of the SWPBS system is most closely associated with the word "universal"?
Tier I
Miss Ladner is notorious for what her students call "punish work." When students misbehave, they get a warning, and if they misbehave again, they are required to copy several pages out of their class textbook as a penalty. Which of the following unintended consequences is likely to arise in this situation?
When Miss Ladner assigns readings from the book, students may be reluctant, seeing the text assignment as another form of punishment.
You are observing in Ms. Scala's class, and at 9:45 a.m., while she is in the middle of teaching a math lesson, one of her students, Rex, returns from his session with the special education teacher. You notice that he does not join the group lesson but instead sits at his desk drawing until the math lesson ends at 10:15 a.m. It is time for social studies when Ms. Scala invites him back into the group. Ms. Scala's decision not to involve Rex in the math lesson is
a poor one, because he is missing 30 minutes of engaged learning time every day.
Your school has a policy that students who are tardy to school must stop at the office, check in, and get a note admitting them to class. Everett, one of your favorite students, is frequently late to school, and you know it is not his fault. His parents are unmotivated and often drop him off at school late. You are tempted to just tell Everett to come directly to class, bypassing the office, because you know his tardiness upsets and frustrates him. Your idea is
a poor one, because individual teachers put themselves at tremendous risk when they flout established school policies.
In dealing with student misbehavior, effective classroom managers generally recognize the need to
anticipate behaviors that might occur and take steps to prevent them from occurring.
Evan and Elise have been arguing all morning. They have continued to needle each other in spite of the fact that you had a mini-conference with them about the need to comply with your behavioral expectations. Right before lunch, you look over at their table and see that they are going at it again, and this time, they are distracting the other students around them so much that no one is getting much done. You should
apply whatever consequence is appropriate in response to their behavior.
Students with learning disabilities
are likely to have more difficulty in a particular academic area than you would expect, given their overall ability levels.
Mr. Truong is intent on making sure that his cooperative groups function well and contain all elements recommended by experts in the field. He decides, for one project, that each group will investigate a certain topic and share their findings with the rest of the class. Each student will receive a grade for the group's performance. Mr. Truong wants to be sure, though, that in addition to having a group goal, his students also demonstrate individual accountability. He could facilitate this by
assigning each member of each group to do a unique component of the final product and giving each student an additional grade for that piece of the whole.
Teachers must establish themselves as authority figures in classrooms because
authority is key in organizing social and work groups.
Mr. Clooney is teaching a lesson about animal camouflage. He asks if any of the children have ever gone hunting and have worn camouflage gear. He says, "That reminds me of a funny story!" and proceeds to tell students about a time he fell asleep while hunting and almost fell out of his deer stand. Mr. Clooney should
avoid getting himself sidetracked from the purpose of the lesson, as the lost minutes of instructional time can add up quickly.
For lower-achieving students, it is important to break instruction into short segments and to assess student understanding frequently. It is also of critical importance to
be clear and thorough in explanations and instructions.
Mr. Damiano has a class goal of, "We always do our best work." Knowing this, what can you determine about common values Mr. Damiano would like to foster in his class? Mr. Damiano likely expects his students to
be fully engaged, be responsible, and attend to detail.
Some research shows that the use of extrinsic rewards can interfere with
both the process and the quality of learning that takes place.
Teachers who use centers and stations generally find that this format gives students lots of chances to practice and apply new learning. They also find that it
can be difficult to monitor and to manage, especially when used with non-readers.
Classroom management is like the base of a pyramid because
classroom management sets the foundation for all other aspects of the teaching-learning situation.
Mr. and Mrs. Ortiz bring their daughter Elisabeta to your classroom on the morning of the first day of school. After you welcome her, and her parents leave, the best thing to have Elisabeta do would be
complete a simple puzzle at her desk.
A teacher who generally demonstrates high-influence behaviors and low-affect behaviors would most likely act in such a way that students
comply with directives and seek to meet expectations out of a sense of responsibility or fear.
In heterogeneous classes, teachers often modify instruction to address the wide range of abilities. When making assignments for heterogeneous classes, teachers should
consider giving assignments in two parts: a basic part that all students complete and a more difficult second part that only some students complete.
With regard to models of instructional delivery, good teachers
consider their learning outcomes for each lesson and choose the model that will move the most children to those outcomes.
Teachers who are sensitive to the importance of "facework" would likely
consider ways their own behaviors might impact their students' senses of identity.
Christina is one of those ideal students: motivated, polite, responsible, and hard working. You almost never have to correct her behavior, and she participates actively in all class activities. She often offers to help you with classroom tasks and seems to take pride in her work. She does her homework regularly, too. But, one morning, she enters your classroom, obviously upset, and says, "I left my notebook at Mom's house last night, so I do not have it to turn in." You notice that she is near tears because your policy is that students who do not turn homework in get a note home in their planners. You decide that
consistency is important, and although it will undoubtedly be upsetting for Christina, you must write the note home anyway.
Mr. King calls Garnetta over to his desk and says in a neutral tone of voice, "When you are out of your seat while you are supposed to be working, it distracts others and means you do not get your work done. I expect you to remain in your seat unless I have specifically given you permission to be up. If you need permission, raise your hand and wait for my attention." He then smiles and sends Garnetta back to her seat. Mr. King has used
constructive assertiveness.
In a classroom management system, the emphasis should be on
cooperation.
The most compelling reason that teachers should give elementary-aged students frequent feedback is that early and ongoing feedback
decreases the time students spend making errors.
Miss VanDevender wants her fourth graders to do research about different states. Each child will select a state and will then investigate its history, geography, primary industries, natural resources, and tourist attractions. She envisions the project extending over a nine-week period, culminating in a student poster session to which she invites families and other members of the school community. With regard to monitoring student progress, she should
define stages in the project, set deadlines for the completion of each stage, check assignments at each stage, and provide feedback.
Mrs. Tatum, the teacher in the room next to yours, says, "I really want to use cooperative grouping in my class, but every time I try, the students get so focused on what they are doing, and they talk so much, that when I try to call for their attention, they do not even hear me. I suppose I should be glad that they are so engaged in the tasks, but sometimes I have to walk around saying the same thing over and over to each group because I cannot get them to stop talking." Mrs. Tatum should consider
developing a few group attention signals, some auditory and some visual.
The classroom environment is complex, and teachers must make many quick decisions throughout the school day. One way to reduce this complexity is by
developing a variety of strategies to protect classroom time, including establishing rules and procedures and giving students as much responsibility as possible for their learning.
Individualized instruction, in principle, is the best way to cope with extreme heterogeneity in classes. In practice, individualized instruction is
difficult to implement.
Students with behavioral and emotional problems generally exhibit
difficulty regulating their behavior and their emotional reactions.
Ms. Rice is preparing to teach a unit on plants to her kindergarteners. She does some informal pre-unit assessment and realizes that Agya, Felipe, and Paula have much less prior knowledge about plants than the other students in the class do—so much so that she is worried that they will not understand the unit. In this case, Ms. Rice should
do some small-group work with these three students to introduce them to material other students already know before she begins teaching the unit.
Mr. Prenetta teaches his students to express their disagreement with peers' ideas by using particular phrases, such as, "What would you think if we tried x instead, because..." or "I am not sure I agree with you. Can you explain your thinking on that?" This practice is
effective, because sometimes students need to be taught the "language" of effective communication.
Ms. Avery is a bit concerned about Alicia, one of her fifth graders. Alicia did not turn in a homework assignment last week, and Ms. Avery spoke with her about it. Alicia promised that she would be more diligent about doing her homework, but today she did not turn in her homework assignment. Ms. Avery decides to call Alicia's parents to talk to them about Alicia's missing work. This intervention is
effective, because teachers should not wait for a pattern of work avoidance to develop before contacting parents.
You have written a referral form and requested that Dominique go to the principal's office because she has been disobedient and defiant in the middle of a lesson. However, she refuses to leave the classroom. In this instance, you should
either call the office or send a student to get an administrator.
Positive interdependence has occurred when
either the group's product or an individual's performance is enhanced by participation in the group.
In a cooperative learning situation, the teacher's role is mostly that of
facilitator.
In a discussion, a teacher's role should be that of
facilitator.
Common causes of misbehavior during transitions do not include which of the following?
failure to utilize a high-participation lesson format
Ms. Garrison has designed a token economy system in her class. She awards points for behavior, effort, assignment completion, positive social interaction, and other behaviors she wants to encourage. She provides students with their points totals at the end of each class period and maintains a wall display showing students' points earnings. Students can choose to "spend" their points at any point during the day, or can "bank" their points for longer periods of time. Each week, Ms. Garrison alternates the incentives that can be attained via the point system, and she generally spends a good bit of her own money to make sure that students have access to a variety of rewards and experiences. Ms. Garrison's system could best be characterized as lacking
feasibility.
To increase learning and improve the behavior of lower-achieving students, teachers should organize activities into short segments, convey instructions and content clearly, and
give ample feedback.
At the beginning of the year, teachers must make sure students clearly understand classroom rules and procedures. The most effective way to do this is by
giving a rationale for, describing, and demonstrating expected behaviors, then rehearsing them and giving the students feedback on their performance.
For long or multiple-part assignments, the practice of checking assignments and providing feedback at each stage is a
good idea because it helps students learn how to manage larger projects and reduces the likelihood that someone will flounder.
It is the beginning of a new school year, and, on the first unstructured teacher work day, Mr. Dennison decides to arrange his classroom instead of planning lessons or writing rules. From a management point of view, this is a
good decision, because Mr. Dennison's room arrangement and organization will be a significant factor in lesson delivery and in meeting students' needs.
A rationale for the team teaching that often occurs in elementary schools is that
grouping students of similar abilities together is the most efficient way to meet their needs.
It is the beginning of the school day on a cool October morning. Students in your first-grade class arrive at the classroom, and, without being reminded, they put their book bags in their cubbies, make their lunch choices, turn in their homework folders, sharpen their pencils, sit down, and begin doing their morning work, which you have placed on their desks. It is clear that your
hard work in teaching morning procedures has paid off.
Mrs. Riley is about to begin teaching third grade and decides, after setting up her classroom, to seek out information about her students. She takes the roster to the office and pulls each student's cumulative folder, examining their test scores and other relevant data. She talks to some of the other teachers, asking for their impressions about the students on her roster. She writes her first few weeks' worth of lesson plans to include several activities that she will assess closely to determine her students' achievement levels and skills. Mrs. Riley
has done a good thing, because the more information she has about her students, and the earlier she has it, the better she can tailor her plans to meet students' needs.
Mr. Hammond wants to make sure that his students understand what they are supposed to do on a particular assignment. He gives out the assignment sheet, on which instructions are clearly written, and he goes over each step in the process. The best thing for him to do next would be to
have a student restate the expectations aloud for the class and then clarify any aspects of their understanding that indicate confusion.
Miss Mills wants to be sure that her students are completing their homework, so each afternoon, she has them copy the assignment instructions into their planners. However, even with this procedure in place, she finds that not all students are getting the homework done. One simple way to try to increase student accountability for homework would be to
have parents initial the students' notebooks after the assignments are completed.
Which of the following is least likely to be an effective method for furthering relationships with the parents and guardians of your students?
having them make copies of upcoming assignments
Students with serious social deficits (including autism spectrum disorder, or ASD) often exhibit
high verbal ability but difficulty in communicating effectively.
Research suggests that positive parent-teacher relationships are most directly related to
higher academic and social growth rates in students.
Antonio, Pixie, Julian, and Esmerelda have been working together on a cooperative group project. Antonio is known for being a bit aggressive and for not always being willing to consider other points of view. As you observe the group's functioning, you notice that he is the driving force in the group, sometimes so much so that the other students, particularly Pixie, are not contributing much. The best way to intervene in this situation would be to
hold a brief conference with the group asking them for ideas on how they could equalize their participation.
As the text authors define it, consistency is
holding the same expectations for all students at all times.
Teachers who use cooperative learning do so because they believe it
increases learning and involvement.
Two fundamental dimensions make up the interpersonal behaviors that are the basis for describing relationships. The words the authors use to describe these dimensions are
influence and affect.
Parent-teacher communication is enhanced when teachers
intentionally plan for continuing contact with parents.
Every teacher occasionally must deal with student misbehavior. In each case, the teacher's goal is to
intervene in the way that stops the behavior, causes the least disruption to learning, and maintains the most positive tone.
Mr. Flitter wants to develop effective rules for his students. A good place to start would be
investigating the school rules, and making sure that his classroom rules are compatible with them.
You are concerned about Richard Whitehead, a student in your class. His behavior is erratic, and he is often oppositional and defiant. You have tried to work with him to reduce the inappropriate behaviors but are having little success. It is the end of the grading period, and you are going to be meeting with Richard's father to discuss his progress. You have met Mr. Whitehead before, and you know he is very defensive of his son and is quick to assume that whatever problem a teacher has is not Richard's fault. When you plan the meeting with Richard's father, you are careful to
invite another teacher or administrator to the meeting.
You are administering a consequence to Butch, a student who you know comes from an impoverished home. When you tell him what the consequence is, he laughs and says, "I do not care about your old consequences. You are not going to get to me." Some researchers say that this behavior
is typical for students from a culture of poverty, because saving face is an important value in that culture.
Learning to manage a classroom is like learning how to drive because
it usually starts with a focus on the basics, building a foundation of "automatic" skills that allows the teacher or driver to focus on more complex tasks.
Questions a teacher plans to ask during a lesson or discussion should be thoughtfully designed ahead of time so the teacher can
keep the discussion productive and develop students' higher-order thinking skills.
Miss Wiltshire is a stickler for neatness and legibility. If a student's work is messy or has too many erasures or strike-throughs, Miss Wiltshire requires the student to re-do the work more neatly before she will grade the content. This practice is
largely ineffective because it ultimately emphasizes form over correctness and because mistakes are part of learning for all children.
Your friend in the licensure program says, "I do not like multitasking, and I am not particularly good at it. I like to do one thing, finish it, and then move on to the next thing." In what area do you most anticipate this prospective teacher struggling?
maintaining appropriate student behavior and engagement while working with an individual or small group
Beverly is a student who is prone to emotional outbursts when she is corrected or redirected. One morning during science class, Mr. Trurow notices that Beverly is, once again, off task. He walks over near her desk without saying anything, to see if his proximity will motivate her to begin working. It doesn't. He catches her eye and gives her a questioning look in hopes of redirecting her. She gives him a blank stare and slumps down in her seat. At that point, Mr. Trurow moves to kneel beside Beverly's desk, puts an arm across the back of her chair, and whispers to her, "I notice you're not working on your assignment." Mr. Trurow's strategy is not likely to do which of the following?
make Beverly feel that her reputation or competence is being called into question
A teacher who has not given a lot of thought to her management system might get frustrated that students begin packing up their belongings long before the school day is officially at an end. If this were your classroom, the best action to take would be to
make clear your expectations for how the day ends, and develop and reinforce procedures accordingly.
Procedures are typically established for all of the following areas, except which one?
managing those behaviors that are dangerous and always unacceptable in the classroom or school
If a teacher is not effective at overlapping, chances are that he or she will struggle most with
managing teacher-led small-group instruction.
Ms. Peters circulates among her students as they work in groups, noting who is producing each part of the final project. She notes the sort of work they are doing, how much effort and engagement each student exhibits, and how effectively they are using their time. She is missing a critical element, though, in her evaluation. The missing element is the
nature and quality of student-to-student interactions.
Mr. Ponder is reading a text selection to his students. He notices that Anita is playing with her shoelace but seems to be paying attention to the text. Anita's behavior can be categorized as a(n)
nonproblem.
In addressing students who exhibit inappropriate behavior, good classroom managers
not only consider how to deal with the behavior itself but also think deeply about what might have caused it.
Mr. Pine teaches science and often requires his students to complete experiments that utilize microscopes and other lab materials. After he demonstrates the process he wants them to follow, he dismisses them to the lab tables at the back of his classroom. He commonly identifies a "materials manager" for each small group; this student is in charge of gathering the materials needed for each day's work. Given this scenario, the best place for Mr. Pine to store his materials is
on shelves or tables near the students' work space.
You are in the computer lab with your students, who are researching their favorite authors. All of a sudden, you hear a commotion in one corner of the lab. When you get there, Eva is looking extremely nervous, and the students are looking around, embarrassed. There on Eva's screen is a totally inappropriate picture. You ask her what happened, and she says she clicked on something and that this picture just opened up. You believe that she did not go looking for the picture. In this case, the best response is to
plan and teach a procedure for what students should do when they encounter inappropriate material on the Internet so you can avoid this type of distraction in the future.
Miss Rabinowitz is finishing a unit in social studies; her next social studies lesson will introduce a new topic, economics, which covers some concepts that may be entirely new to her third-grade students. Miss Rabinowitz plans to start the new unit at the regular social studies time, 1 p.m. As she eats lunch prior to the lesson, she realizes that five students will be out of the room at that time, receiving speech therapy or other special services. The most efficient move for Miss Rabinowitz to make in this situation is to
postpone the lesson until all (or at least most) students are present, and revisit the daily schedule to see if it needs permanent modification.
Miss Livingston's garbage can and pencil sharpener are located near the door to the hallway. This arrangement is likely to be
problematic, because students may spend more time than is desirable either traveling to the area or in the area itself as they look to see who is passing in the hallway.
When giving directions for group work, you should
put students in groups, give them the instructions, ask them to restate the expectations, and then give them their materials.
Which of the following academic activities might be best for Miss Tigerfish to do with her second-grade students on the first day of school?
reading a book to the class, having a discussion about it, and having students do an art project that shows an event from the story
A school-wide positive behavioral support (SWPBS) system
reflects school-wide expectations for behavior and provides multiple levels of intervention.
It is most likely that a teacher will use positive and negative consequences to
reinforce students' compliance with her expectations.
During the first day of school, Mrs. Chen's class is responding well to her teaching and reinforcement of rules and procedures. Max, however, seems to be having some difficulty controlling his impulse to talk when others are talking. When she corrects Max, Mrs. Chen should
remind him of the rule that he is breaking, and communicate a gentle, but clear, expectation that he follow it.
During one cooperative group activity she is facilitating in her class, Miss Erdur assigns roles to group members. One student, for instance, is the "materials manager" and is responsible for collecting all needed materials for the group. Another role is that of "reporter," who is responsible for sharing the group's findings with the rest of the class. A third student is designated as the "time-keeper," responsible for keeping the group on track and working within time constraints. The fourth student is the "recorder" and is counted on to write down the group's ideas. Miss Erdur really wants Bart to develop his leadership and explaining skills. To which role would you recommend Miss Erdur assign Bart?
reporter
By teaching and reinforcing rules and procedures, and by pressing for full student engagement in all learning activities, teachers can enhance students' belief that
school tasks are meaningful and that they will be successful at school-related work.
The first consideration in planning the classroom space should be
setting up the classroom so that instruction and activities can be done easily and well.
The students in Ms. Andre's fourth-grade class are on task and efficient during their writing seatwork. They access their materials, head their papers consistently, and work steadily until Ms. Andre asks them to put their work away in preparation for the next lesson. As you observe them working, you realize that Ms. Andre
should do a more has likely taught a set of procedures to her students and has reinforced them until all students do them consistently.
You are teaching an integrated science/literacy lesson about magnets. It is going very well, and students are fully engaged, but you look at the clock and realize that your allocated time for the lesson is almost up. Students are not finished with their work, and you hate to disrupt their thought processes. You consider whether or not to "steal" some time from the upcoming mathematics lesson so the children can continue working on science. In general, this practice
should only occur infrequently, because if overused, it may lead to some curricular areas being shortchanged in terms of the time afforded to them.
Miss Vickers recognizes that classrooms are busy, complex places. She knows that utilizing her knowledge about classroom management will allow her to
simplify the complex classroom environment and let students know what is expected of them.
One disadvantage to small teacher-led groups is that
some students may be engaged in long periods of independent seatwork without being adequately monitored.
Generally, the foundation of the planning decisions a teacher makes is the
state and local curriculum guidelines.
Miss Crabb is teaching a lesson about latitude and longitude. After her mini-lesson, she asks students to work in pairs to figure out what locations are found at certain latitudes/longitudes. As the groups begin to work, there is a great deal of restlessness and chatter, and Miss Crabb finds that as she circulates, pairs of students seem to have the same questions, most of which seem to indicate they understood neither the concepts nor the assignment. In this case, she should
stop and re-teach the content, working examples with the students until they seem to get the hang of the assignment.
A teacher's major goal at the beginning of the year is mostly likely to be
strengthening students' beliefs that school tasks are worth doing and that they can be successful.
Supplementary instruction is often delivered via pullout programs, meaning the students leave your classroom and travel to another teacher's room for a specified period of time. The biggest drawback to pullout programs is that
students often are absent from your room while instruction is proceeding.
You and your students have been using cooperative learning activities for a few months, and you are generally pleased with how things have been going. As you are monitoring the class during a group activity, though, you notice that a squabble seems to be starting in one group. Apparently, students in the group differ in their opinions about how best to present the final product. The best action on your part at this point would be to
suggest to the group that they address the issue in a productive way, and help them do this.
Classroom teachers are not encouraged to use which of the following methods for establishing and maintaining home-school relationships?
surveying parents about whether or not they are fully able to meet their child's educational needs.
Pre-teaching vocabulary to students who are deaf or who have hearing impairments can be helpful because
the amount of new content vocabulary introduced during a lesson may overwhelm the student.
It is almost time for a new school year to begin, and you are carefully considering what your first few days with students will be like. You know it is critical to pay extra attention when planning early-in-the-year activities because
the beginning of the school year sets the stage for the remainder of the year.
A teacher who, when correcting a student for being off task, leans over the student and whispers, "You need to get busy. I swear, you're just getting lazier and lazier as the school year progresses!" could be said to be insensitive to facework because
the comment attempts to correct misbehavior by criticizing the student's character.
Mr. Roberts's students love to read, and all of them are proficient at it. Each day after they finish their math lesson, which typically lasts about 45 minutes and involves students in a variety of appropriate but challenging activities, Mr. Roberts's students engage in free reading time. They choose their own reading material and are allowed to move to a comfortable seat in the room to read independently. With regard to the sequence of events, Mr. Roberts has likely decided that
the period of intense focus required by the math lesson is best followed by a lower-effort activity.
You are spending a day observing in Mrs. Fletcher's classroom. For the most part, things go smoothly, except when it is time for students to transition into sustained silent reading. The general practice at this time is that students go to their cubbies, grab their snack, stop at the water fountain if they need to, and pick a book from the bookshelves. The water fountain is located at the center of the back wall of the room, the bookshelf is on the right side of the water fountain, and the cubbies are to the left. You notice that quite a bit of time is lost during this transition: a long line forms for water and students crowd the bookshelves. Two kids start horse-playing at the water fountain, and water is splashed onto a third child who is selecting a book. It becomes obvious to you that
the physical space is, at least in part, contributing to the bumpy transition because of the backlog of students around the water fountain and the bookshelves.
With regard to classroom relationships, the authors assert that
the quality of classroom relationships directly impacts student learning and behavior.
Question content area top Part 1 When a class runs smoothly and with a minimal amount of wasted time, it is likely that
the teacher has carefully planned a set of clear expectations and has taught and reinforced them with the students.
Question content area top Part 1 One problem teachers sometimes encounter when they want children to work independently is that
the teachers have not been clear enough about what the students are to do, so students keep coming back and asking for clarification.
In most cases, the reason teachers use teacher-led small-group instruction is that
they can target instruction to fit students' ability levels more closely.
Many teachers schedule topics they feel are more intensive in nature in the mornings because
they prefer to teach those topics when students' minds are still alert.
The authors suggest that instead of pointing out students who are not meeting expectations, the teacher should call attention to those who are behaving as instructed/expected. The most likely rationale for this recommendation is that
this approach reduces the negativity that would be associated with a correction directed to those who are not meeting the expectation.
To facilitate monitoring of cooperative group activities, student seating should be arranged to allow for
unrestricted teacher movement and as few noise-related distractions as possible.
At meet-the-teacher night, Mr. Carter is pleased to see that almost every child is there with at least one family member. Mr. Carter wants to know which of his students will have home access to a computer. The best way for him to get this information is to
use a written questionnaire that asks about preferred means of contact and about technology availability at home.
You just sent Lola to another teacher's classroom for acting inappropriately during independent work time. When Lola returns to your room after her time away, you should
welcome Lola back with a smile and get her started on the next activity.
Miss Dawes has a practice in her kindergarten classroom that only the very best papers get posted on the bulletin board in the hallway. This practice is
well intentioned, but lacking, because some students will rarely, if ever, produce a paper that is good enough to be displayed.
Arguably, the most important consideration a teacher needs to make when planning instruction is
which activity or set of activities will best facilitate students' achievement of the desired learning outcomes.
It is the first day of school, and five-year-old Markus is really upset because he does not know which bus to ride. You go to talk to him, and he is clearly feeling threatened and frustrated. You respond to his concerns by saying, "Oh no! I hope you have not missed the bus! That would be a terrible thing to have happened on the first day of school! And your mom will probably be really mad!" It is likely that your response
will make Markus feel even more upset and afraid.
Your students are working on an assignment, and you call Roberto to your desk so you can work with him on a concept he does not yet understand. You start the task with Roberto, and after a few minutes, you notice a commotion in the front of the room. You are not really sure what is going on, but four students are involved; two are out of their seats, gesticulating at the other two. This occurrence is most likely indicative of
your failure to monitor the rest of the class closely enough while you work with Roberto.
You read a news article about a teacher who was dismissed because her principal felt she was not doing an adequate job of addressing her students' individual learning styles. The principal was quoted as saying, "In today's classrooms, every teacher must craft lessons in such a way that they meet every student's preferred learning modalities." Given what you've read in this chapter, you'd most likely think to yourself,
"Although it's good for teachers to consider students' learning styles as they plan, the principal is missing an important idea: students need to learn that they can be successful in all sorts of instructional formats."
Andre comes into the room just as the bell rings and throws himself down in his seat huffily. You note that this is out of character for him, and you decide to try your empathic responding skills. Once the other students are working, you crouch by Andre's desk and say,
"Did something happen to upset you on your way into class?"
The teacher in the classroom next door to yours comes over to you, saying, "I just cannot seem to find enough time to teach everything I need to teach these days! It is crazy...where does the time go? And these kids! They cannot stop touching each other, talking, and playing with stuff. Today, while Ellie was waiting in line to wash her hands, she actually dropped a pencil down Javon's shirt. He got mad and jumped up, accidentally whacking Martin in the knee with his chair. It was chaotic, and I am so frustrated!" Which of these responses would be best for you to make in this circumstance?
"Have you thought about rearranging the room? Changing the traffic flow and eliminating opportunities for kids to be "too close" might reduce the time the kids are wasting."
Mr. Barron comes into your classroom and says, "Wow. I am so happy. My students are really 'getting it.' They are all turning their work in, and it is all accurate. They don't see much point to a lot of it, but they are getting it done." Given what you know about student accountability, you think to yourself,
"Hmmm...the kids aren't really engaged by the work, even though what they submit is accurate. Maybe they need help understanding the purpose of the work."
Ms. Lavender comes into your room at the end of the first day of school. "Hot dog! I taught a lot of procedures, and the kids did so great! My professors were right; students do really need to practice doing things the way I want them done. Today went so well. I bet that tomorrow, the students will be able to meet my expectations almost perfectly." You think to yourself,
"I am glad it went well, but just because students can follow a procedure once doesn't mean that they'll automatically do it consistently forever."
Henri comes to you and says, "Barrow just took the book that I wanted to read...I was just reaching for it, and he grabbed it." Your best recourse in this situation is to say,
"I am glad you know it is not okay to behave that way. See if you can find another book that you are interested in."
All students in Mrs. Leo's class are working quietly on an assignment. After circulating around the room to ensure that each student knows what to do and is working steadily, she goes to sit at her desk. She glances at her "to-do" list and sees that tomorrow is the deadline for students to turn in their field trip permission forms. She calls for the class's attention and reminds the students that if they do not have a signed permission form tomorrow, they will not be able to go on the field trip on Friday. If a good classroom manager saw this event, he or she would most likely think
"If she had waited until the next transition time to announce this, she would have taken less of a chance, management-wise."
Mrs. McReynolds says to you, "I want to do cooperative learning, but my desks are set up in rows, and I am worried about the time that will be lost in moving the furniture around. Do you have any advice?" You say
"If you teach your students procedures for moving their desks efficiently, you can rely on them to move the furniture with a minimum of wasted time."
Mrs. Barnette stops by your classroom after a faculty meeting one day. She says, "I do not know why they keep teaching us all this stuff about working with students who have IEPs or other special needs. After all, it is very unusual for that kind of student to show up in 'regular' classes. They are almost always taught by special education teachers or other specialists." You say,
"In fact, the law requires that these students be educated with their typical peers to the greatest extent possible, so we are all likely to have some special students in our classes."
Ms. Jaquard says, "I've got quite a few students in my class whose cultures differ from mine. It's almost time for parent conferences, and I'm nervous. What if I they don't want the same things for their children that I do? What if they want me to treat their students differently because of their cultural values?" The best advice you can give her is to say,
"It's important to learn about their values and their goals for their children, and to try to understand ways in which cultural differences may be affecting student achievement and behavior. If you communicate an honest desire to do this, your conferences will likely go more smoothly."
Mr. Walls is a third-grade teacher. A couple of weeks before school starts, he comes to you, saying, "I have heard that when teachers let their students make the rules, the students behave better, so I think I'm going to try it. I'm thinking of letting my students make up their own rules. What do you think?" Your response is
"It's not a bad idea to have students involved in rule creation, but in general, the teacher should have an idea of what behaviors must be covered by rules."
Miss Slagle is an effective classroom manager, and has very few problems with her students. She is consistent and fair, and she establishes a positive climate within her classroom. She rarely has to administer a consequence because students have really "bought in" to her teaching, and she recognizes their engagement and good behavior with periodic incentives. However, on Tuesday afternoon, she comes in to see you and says, "Wow. Kids are so strange. Yesterday it was like someone had replaced my students with argumentative, whining children. They were not even fazed by the loss of the time we usually spend doing enrichment activities, which I had to take away as a penalty. They were just out of control and out of sorts all day! But today they were back to their normal, well-behaved selves." What would you say to Miss Slagle?
"Keep an eye on the situation, but do not overreact. No strategy works all of the time, and your students probably just had a bad day."
Mr. Bryson is telling you about his first day of school, and he says, "On Day One, I'm all about establishing myself as an authority figure and making sure that students understand my behavioral expectations. I don't particularly concern myself with their feelings or their attitudes." Which of the following responses would the text authors be most likely to give to Mr. Bryson?
"Making sure students behave appropriately doesn't mean that teachers can't also consider student feelings and attitudes."
Miss Michaels comes to your room and says, "I have decided that Ivana knows a lot more English than she lets on. I watched her at lunch, and she was chattering away in English with her friends. I even heard them talking about their favorite television shows. Up until now, I have not expected much participation from her, because I did not think she could speak English. Now that I am onto her, I am going to require a lot more from her in class, and I am going to recommend that she stop going to her ESL class." You say,
"Non-native English speakers often learn conversational language quickly, but their skill in this area can mislead teachers into thinking that they understand more than they do."
Miss Kranfel drops by your room one afternoon after school, saying, "Wow—I am so impressed with my students! Their behavior is really good. They are compliant and generally follow all my rules and procedures, and, wonder of wonders, they are engaged and involved in each learning activity we do." You suspect, however, that there is more to the story. Which of the following responses would likely be paired with Miss Kranfel's initial claims?
"Of course, it helps that I monitor like crazy. I make sure students are recognized for their efforts, I always intervene in cases of inappropriate behavior, and I do not allow them to 'tune out' or become disengaged."
Mrs. Lampkin teaches fifth grade at your school and is complaining about her students' seeming lack of motivation to complete their assignments. "I tell them exactly what they need to do, and I am even flexible about when assignments are due! As long as students get them in sometime during the grading period, I am okay with it. But even though I am as flexible as can be, they do not get the assignments turned in. I declare, students today just do not care about their work!" In reviewing the conversation, you think to yourself,
"Sometimes teachers can be too flexible. Establishing firm due dates and making only occasional exceptions is a good accountability practice."
A teacher has the rule, "Do not talk during class." Which of the following restatements would be more effective?
"Speak at appropriate times in an appropriate voice."
You have decided to have a conversation with Jeanne about the fact that she continuously is distracting the students around her. You have administered several consequences in response to her behavior, but she is still chatting, humming, and generally bothering the other students. When you begin the conversation with her, you say, "Even though we have discussed it before, you still seem to have a hard time not distracting your peers. That means they cannot get their work done." Jeanne launches into a tirade about how the other students are really the problem and that they are distracting her. She says you should talk to them about their behavior. You consider her view but have seen no evidence that the other students are complicit in the misbehavior. The most appropriate response in this case is to say
"The fact remains that you are engaging in behavior that is distracting, and right now, I want to talk about how we can reshape your behavior."
Miss Martin is a teacher in your school. At lunch one day, she says, "Oh, I did the greatest cooperative group activity today! I put my students into groups, and then had them help each other as they worked some math problems. It was easy to do, they had a great time, and each person got the whole assignment done." You think to yourself,
"There is a difference between group work and true cooperative learning; Miss Martin used the former rather than the latter."
Which of the following is the best example of group alerting during a lesson?
"Who can tell me how Wilbur was feeling at this point in the story?" (Teacher pauses for a few seconds, scanning the room.) "Yvette? Would you like to tell us what you think?"
Ms. Abrams visits you and says, "I have been trying to be really deliberate about letting my students know why I am asking them to do each assignment or activity. We now have a 'Why Am I Learning This?' moment before each lesson." You think to yourself,
"Wow. She's doing a good job helping students understand not only what to do, but also why she is asking them to do it. I bet that helps them focus on how useful each activity is."
According to the text, which of the following teacher responses is most likely to facilitate productive teacher-student relationships?
"Wow. Your hard work on this project really shows. You put in a lot of time, and you earned a really good grade."
Ms. Fluke's first-grade students often do their work, but for some reason, they fail to turn it in. When she is grading papers, Ms. Fluke finds herself rummaging through their desks and folders, often finding complete (but crumpled) papers that she ultimately takes, grades, and returns. A principal might suggest several things to help Ms. Fluke with this issue. Which of the following is most in keeping with strong classroom management practices?
"You should develop a system for how papers are to be turned in, then teach, practice, and reinforce student compliance."
As she circulates among groups, Mrs. Warren carries a clipboard with student names on it. She makes brief notes about what each student is doing and contributing. This strategy is
effective, because it is a way to assess individual accountability.
It is the first week of school, and you want to begin doing some simple cooperative group activities. Instead of assigning students to groups, you decide to let your students group themselves. This idea is
effective, because it is still early in the year, and you do not know students well.
Before the school year starts, Mr. Duncan mails a letter to his students and their families. In the letter, he writes about himself and his interests; he also previews some of the things the students will be doing during the upcoming year. He includes a list of needed supplies and invites parents to volunteer their time in different ways on behalf of their children. His practice is
effective, because it may reduce some of the anxiety the students feel about coming to Meet-Your-Teacher night or to the class on the first day.
Miss Temple gives her students a "bubble gum ball" assignment sheet. The sheet shows the outline of a bubble gum machine filled with small circles. Each time a student completes and submits an assignment, he or she gets to color one of the gumballs and put the score in the center. When a child's gumball machine has the required number of colored circles, the child is given 20 minutes of time on the computer. This procedure is
effective, because it provides feedback to students, involves them in self-monitoring, and motivates them to complete assignments on time.
Mrs. Davis gives her students a stamp in their assignment notebooks when they demonstrate good behavior. As she is giving the stamp, which can later be traded for rewards, she likes to tell the student why the behavior they exhibited is positive. Mrs. Davis's actions are
effective; Mrs. Davis is pairing the use of a verbal reward (social reinforcement) with material reinforcement. This will eventually allow her gradually to replace the latter and motivate the students with the use of the social reinforcement.
"Empathic responding is particularly effective because one effective exchange can generally be relied on to resolve the issue at hand." This statement is
false, because although empathic responding can reduce negative emotions and lead to positive conversation, it is not a miracle cure.
"Typically, students in cooperative groups are naturally good at explaining things in a way that their peers understand it, and are, for the most part, equally good at asking for explanations or help from the other group members." This statement is
false, because many students need to learn when and how to ask for help from peers, and when and how to provide help to others.
"Unlike students with social deficits, students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) generally function better in classrooms that are less structured and more free-flowing in style." This statement is
false, because students with ADHD tend to benefit greatly from structure, because it gives them parameters within which to function.
"Using empathic responding, constructive assertiveness, and problem-solving skills will make things in the classroom go more smoothly, but these techniques are likely to have little effect in other situations." This statement is
false, because these skills, once learned, can be utilized in your interactions with all members of the school community.
Miss Nunnalley has a student in her class whose name is Arturo. She says to him, "You are in America now, and I am just going to call you Arthur." Her action is
inappropriate, because students deserve to be called by their given names, no matter what they are.
Ms. Jonas is teaching a mathematics lesson on telling time to the half hour. After giving a mini-lesson that contains guided practice, she gives each student a worksheet that asks them to apply their new learning. As soon as she is finished going over the instructions, she moves to her desk at the back of the classroom and begins preparing for reading groups. This practice is
ineffective, because Ms. Jonas should be circulating the room and monitoring students' progress.
Marcie is a student in your class, and she has been talking to the students around her during seatwork, despite the fact that you have warned her and begun to impose consequences for each infraction. You decide to talk with her again, this time using your constructive assertiveness skills as you address her. You begin the conversation by saying, "Marcie, when you talk during quiet times, it distracts others and keeps them from doing their work. It also prevents you from getting your own work done. Why do you insist on talking even when I have repeatedly asked you not to?" Your response is
ineffective, because although you named the behavior and explained its effects, you also quizzed Marcie, a practice that should be avoided.
Miss McGuire has recently earned her teaching license and, as part of her program, learned how to make a web page. When she is hired to teach second grade, she sets up a web page as the primary means of communication with parents. Her idea is
ineffective, because it assumes that all parents will have access to the website.
In general, phrasing rules with the word "don't" in them is
ineffective, because it does not help students think of the actions they should be demonstrating.
Seymour is one of your lower-functioning students, and he rarely produces work that earns a grade higher than a C. You notice one day that he has done an outstanding job on an assignment and say (within the hearing of the whole class), "Seymour! High five! You did good work on this. Pretty soon you will be as good at this as Vivian is! I am so proud of you!" Your praise is
ineffective, because it is not specific about the aspects of Seymour's work that drew your attention, and it compares his work to that of another student, which is to be avoided.
Mrs. Becker gives out certificates for every student who earns an A on the unit test. This practice is
ineffective, because it will motivate only some students.
A social-emotional learning program focuses primarily on
students' emotional self-awareness, self-management, and interpersonal skills.
When lessons are engaging, well planned, and developmentally appropriate,
students' motivation is typically maximized and behavior problems tend to be minimized.
"Having students work with a peer or small group is an acceptable way to offset extreme heterogeneity in elementary classrooms." This statement is
true, because peer assistants can serve to reduce the burden on the teacher and increase student involvement.
Mr. Twigg says, "I can't wait to spend some time really thinking about and reflecting upon different possible room arrangements for my new classroom. The way the space is set up is the first really critical decision I will make to ensure that my students and I have a successful year." Mr. Twigg's statement is
true, because room arrangement and organization are key aspects of smooth classroom management and can directly impact student achievement and behavior.
Three words that describe major considerations a teacher needs to make when considering room arrangement are
visibility, accessibility, and distractibility.