How Technology Has Changed Our Classroom

Technology in the school has become an increasingly challenging and somewhat disruptive aspect in today’s educational system. In order to maintain what is considered the status quo, schools have focused their energy and resources on banning cell phones, wireless Internet and blocking social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in schools. However, as technology continues to grow in our society outside of the school, many believe that effectively involving these technologies into the classroom can ultimately improve student engagement in their learning environments. This research paper will focus on both sides of the argument and ultimately seek to determine if there is a best practice regarding technological being put into schools.

Technology in the classroom is important for teachers, parents, and students alike, because technology use has become a necessary skill for survival in today’s vastly expanding technology driven global economy. Research has shown an increase in student’s success rates when exposed to technology in the classroom. Also technology has opened lines of communication between educators and parents to keep students on track, and help teachers educate better.

It is important for a teacher to challenge disruptive behaviour immediately and consistently. I feel by trying to make lessons enjoyable and providing work that helps students to achieve minimizes disruptive behaviour. The use of good communication by the teacher can also be a useful tool. This includes the use of the voice, phrasing, eye contact and body language. For example, using an assertive tone when making a request or physically positioning yourself near disruptive students.

We must report any inappropriate behaviour to the class teacher and take action where appropriate. We must be fair and consistent when applying the school procedures to ensure that the pupils are treated equally. If pupils who behave badly are treated differently, or in their eyes unfairly, they will become confused of their boundaries and unsure of what is expected of them. Treating misbehaving children differently will have a negative impact on future behaviour.

is a 5th­grade teacher, who in their second semester together, has run into a disruption problem

A classroom is a very dynamic and spontaneous place. Every classroom is comprised of a diverse combination of individuals who all contribute to the unpredictable nature and uniqueness of the class. The reality that no two students are alike and no two classes are ever alike, contributes greatly to the difficulty of establishing a realistic and effective classroom management plan. It is important that teachers realize that a classroom is an unpredictable place and that it is much more reasonable to strive to manage their classroom as opposed to trying to control it. I see my role as a managing teacher as

When dealing with behavior, remain calm and positive. Do not allow yourself to get in a power struggle with a student. Use system of least prompts to help the child work through the issue.

Keeping troublesome/disruptive behaviour dormant is not the ideal solution and although it has its short-term benefits, it may adversely affect the rapport between teacher and learners – not a good start. Abatement, enhancing or changing disruptive behaviour requires certain skills and so it is hoped that by addressing the pre-requisite, specifying an appropriate methodology, identification, and selection of appropriate techniques a logical flow to this section is established.

More importantly, creating positive student-teacher relationships can prevent discipline issues from arising. By establishing a persistent tone of mutual respect, students will participate in class activities with confidence that they and their opinions are valued. Students also should be taught how to appreciate the unique contributions each student brings to the class, as well as how to effectively resolve issues that may arise. I believe that demonstrating genuine respect to students and showing interest in their concerns will allow the effective use of instructional time, positive relationships to prevail, and minimal discipline problems to avail.

Mrs. Park’s classroom is an environment in which respect is mandatory. To promote this attitude, Mrs. Park has student-created posters on the classroom walls. The posters include sayings such as, “Kindness Matters”, “Don’t be rude to your peers, even if they are being rude”, “Rise Above”, and “Don’t feed into the bad”. By taking the time out of her content instruction, the students are able to see that Mrs. Park cares about them as individuals. She promotes a safe and respectful environment through her students’ input as seen on the posters. She also takes the students’ input for establishing classroom rules. At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Park enforces three rules that she created herself and then the students are to talk amongst

3. Shield the individual from harm ? evacuate any hard questions that are close to the individual in inclination to moving the individual

                Another theory that clarifies my perspective is Canter’s Assertive Discipline. The focus of this theory is to show teachers how to establish a classroom climate in which needs are met by maintaining a calm, productive classroom environment. To achieve this goal the teacher must attend to students’ needs, establish understandable class rules for behavior, and establishing a climate of understanding and trust. I believe that when students and teachers respect one another the climate of the classroom is more pleasant than in classrooms where there is no respect from both the students and the teacher. Canter says that this type of relationship is developed through speaking respectfully to students, a true sense of fairness, and giving

These interactions can both prevent and cause behavioural issues within the classroom, as they are the basis upon which the lessons and relationship are built. All of these interactions are planned to a degree by the class teacher in their short term planning, allowing for a certain degree of behaviour management to be planned. Haydn (2007) suggested that the key to behavioural management is in good preparation, however it is impossible to plan for every aspect of behaviour as not every issue can be predicted. It is suggested that children often behave undesirably when they do not know what to do and the correct communication can reduce this; planning for the right levels of teacher/child talk at different points in the lesson is vital. During the introduction to a subject or lessons, when instructions are given it is important that the class teacher has the full attention of the class, and so the transmission method of teaching would be appropriate, as an unclear understanding of instructions can cause children to misbehave (Dean 2001). However throughout the remainder of the lesson, in order to keep children engaged in their learning, and reduce negative behaviour, the type of talk within the classroom should be varied. The use of group or paired work has been argued to be a factor in reducing negative behaviour as it allows children to witness alternative ways of behaving through working with

Harry Wong. He agrees that it is easier to maintain good classroom behavior than to

Classroom management and classroom discipline share a correlation with one another yet; they are uniquely different issues and should remain a separate focus of the teacher. (Cantor, 2006) Behavior and misbehavior also share a connection but represent different degrees of infraction. (Charles, 2008) This essay focuses on the differences and similarities of these topics and their relation to the classroom.