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Introduction
The main purpose of writing this paper is to provide information concerning the state of education at the classroom level in the Jewish church and Family Services Therapeutic Day School. This information is important for purposes of future improvements in the institution in terms of learning. This assignment is very essential to me as an individual because it provides me with an insight into the real situation in the institution and besides it’s an important application of the learning theories I have gone through in my studies. Three important observations were made in the course of this undertaking and hence they have been described in this paper then followed by an interpretation in terms of theories of development and learning. There is a summary of the descriptions and conclusion that is based still on the observations. The Jewish church and Family Services Therapeutic Day School was a perfect choice for this particular activity because it is located in the west end of Rogers Park where other programs are still run. This center offers several services including family counseling to tae kwon do The school has fourteen classes comprising of students from first grade to high school It has seventy five teachers who report to work on daily basis. The school has students with different ages backgrounds and races with long histories of mental illness and some have had to go through trauma. The school has enrolled students form the neighborhood and is a haven of peace of all the kids who may have been molested or gone through unfortunate experiences in life.
Observation one
During the exercise the classroom was observed to be having four students with one who was coming for specialized lessons. Physical the class had the teacher’s desk situated to the west of the classroom just in front of the eraser board. The teacher was seen to e facing the students who had desks that made a box of fourth with some allowance for a fifth desk at the center. The color of the student’s desks was grey and cream with a shelf that appeared below the main surface for the storage of books and papers and other things. Their chairs were dark blue and plastic with heavy aluminum legs with each one of them having an undercarriage that provided more space for storage. Each one of the students was noted to be having a unique desk for instance one had stickers and reminders others with drawings. Directly behind the students to the east the observer noticed ten cubbies one for each student for storing coats and backpacks while the rest was meant for supplies. Large cabinets stood one to the left for books and other reading devices. The other one to the right held board games , action figures and other toys. Student’s computers were seen directly behind the round table at which the observer sat. Behind the computers, a bulletin board with some of the student’s best work was on display. The observer was sitting on a round table near the entrance of the classroom during the social studies lesson.
At the beginning of the lesson the teacher was observed to announce to the class that lesson was about to start. She said “OK guys, time for social studies. Clear your desk and grab your blue books.” The student with autism entered the room with his teacher and was directed to his desk at the center of the room. The classroom aide was observed to keep the students focused and together. During that lesson the teacher taught about climate and she told the students to open page 21 then waited. The other two teachers offered asiisantace. When the teacher asked for a volunteer to begin reading students I raise my hand first. Even though student H raised it later the teacher had already chosen the first one. Student H threw his book across the room then pulled his chair from the desk and fell to the flow. Miss A continued with the lesson while the student H was told to go back his seat and calm down. After calming down Student H was told to read the next session on tropical climate
Interpretation
- The physical climate was conducive for the learning process. The teacher was positioned in such a way that she was able to see all the students in the class. In terms of classical conditioning when the teacher asked for a volunteer to read that was an Unconditional stimulus while when the students put their hands up it was Unconditional response.
- Basing on the classroom arrangement it was observed that individual differences were catered for in the e classroom with the student with autism being given a seat at the middle. Besides the teacher there were also aides to assists the students with autism and other cases.
- The teacher in her leadership authoritative. For instance when student H threw his book across the room she made it very clear that he needed to calm down or else get out of the classroom. Therefore there was no compromise since it was time for learning.
- The behavior of the student H can be related to one of the case studies whereby Edward shouted at his colleague in class “what’s wrong with you” This was because Connie was looking at his globe. Edward was worried that it could break off if it fell on the floor yet he depended on it for the report. The shouting made Connie to break down in tears and this interfered with the learning which was taking place. Connie was upset and was sobbing almost out of control and so she needed to go out into the office to get some tablets that her mother left her. This is a behavior problem in class that is similar to the situation student H demonstrated while in class. (Gordon , Thompson, Forrest 1999)
Observation Two
Miss A stood in front of the classroom and announced to the class that they were going to conduct an experiment. Half of the class was observed to cheer while the rest groaned. The teacher asked the students “Do you guys remember talking about rainfall earlier this week?”. One student claimed to remember while the rest responded vaguely. She went on to discuss how and why people measure and record rainfall. She varied her tone and physical gestures to keep the students focused. She then came back to the experiment and said that now that the students knew how to keep track of rainfall they should then they should try keeping track of themselves. The teacher really got the students excited as their eyes lit and she then pulled out a small plastic rain gauge. The teacher then ordered the students to get their coats on and line up at the door.. The line order had been posted on the door. The students rushed to get in line and scrambled to grab their coats to get in line. When they reached outside the teacher grabbed the attention of the students and required the perfect place to place the rain gauge from the students.
Interpretation
- The teacher had set objectives that she was using in this lesson. She moved systematically as it could be seen in the way she introduced the lesson. As the teacher sought to find out the perfect place to position the rain gauge she was utilizing the knowledge part of blooms taxonomy. The teacher varied her strategies of instruction and this was meant to capture the attention of the students for instance when she varies her tone and uses physical gestures it is meant to keep the students in focus. The teacher also used meaningful reception learning in her strategies and took learning beyond the classroom for instance in the experiment part of it and when she relates measurement of weather to personal life when she mentioned the students to keep track of their personal life.
- The teacher tries as much as possible to motivate the students using extrinsic strategies for instance when she uses learning materials like the rain gauge this excites the students and makes them desire to learn since the lesson is interesting. The learning materials are very essential in the process of learning especially when students use them to internalize concepts into their cognitive structure. The rain gauge here is vital for the sake of the students having a practical experience on what their teacher is trying to make them understand.
Observation Three
This observation was made on Miss K and Miss B. They were communicating with the autism students. The observer was sitting right behind their desks and he was able to notice Miss K sitting directly in front of B desk. Teacher B was sitting at her desk while playing with a ball. That particular day Teacher K was working on a coin recognition with teacher B. She placed a cup of cards with values ranging from I cent to 25 cents on the desks. She then said “Get started” with a distinctive positive tone and voice. Barnett was then observed to be matching the coins with their respective values. She then sat to complete her next task as the student continued with coin labeling.His attention was lost at some point but with a simple point by the teacher finger his gaze was drawn back to the task. When the task was complete teacher K prompted B to state his completed work “Alll” then she paused for the sake of his response. The student responded by saying “DONE”.The teacher then gave him a squeeze just to let him know that he had completed the task successfully and that he had done what is required and he had made her happy. He got a bit agitated for a moment and rubbed his finger under his nose while squeezing his eyes. Noticing that Miss K grabbed two cards from under the desk. One of the cards was labeled “I want break” while the other one was labeled “I’m ok”. Looking at the choices the student opted for the break. The teacher then again prompted him to use his own words what he wants. She began with “I Want ‘with her hands in motion. He responded by saying “break please” and rushed to the corner where he could play with the toys. The teacher then set the timer and then showed him telling him “You have five minutes” as she pointed to the clock. Just to reinforce his understanding she asked ” How long do you have B? Then he responded “five minutes”
Interpretation
- The teacher in this description was noted to have arranged some setup to find out if the autism student could recognize coins with different values. This observation can be interpreted in terms of a laboratory experiment set up to investigate some properties of light that the student should be familiar with in the physical world. The teacher was noticed to have designed a setup to make the student recognize coins and this can be interpreted in terms of an experiment that can be used to investigate the understanding of the student on properties of light. An experiment was designed with the aiming of investigating the student’s knowledge on properties of light. The experiment was conducted in the laboratory with materials such as wood, glass and a source of light such as torch. The experiment needed to test the hypothesis that light only passes through clear or transparent materials. In the set up the clear glass was placed in a vertical position on the table in such a way that the torch was switched on facing the glass. In this experiment the independent variable is light while the depend variable is the type of material which includes wood and glass. With the torch still in the same position the wood material of same measurement was used to replace the glass. Observations were made in the two set up and the results recorded.. I would expect the students to see light through the glass material and to see no light through the wood material. It was expected that the student to understand that light cannot pass through the wood material because it is opaque while in the other glass material light was able to pass through because it is transparent.
- The observation that was made demonstrating the communication between the student and the teacher can be interpreted in terms of an article we read in EDEN 307 annual editions. “Mrs L came to me and took the paper fire stuck I had just completed. she peeled wheels off the fire truck and told me that she knew that I could do better. I had tried to cut out round wheels but was unable to create anything better than octagon shapes. Obviously this was not good enough.” ( Thomas p13,2005)This article is related to what happened between the teachers and the student with autism because the communication which exists between the two is very important for the sake of learning.
- In her instruction the teacher communicates effectively what is required for the student to learn. She first of all arranges well the instructional materials like the cards and coins. Her objectives are well spelt out and she manages to achieve them when the student completes the task assigned well without going wrong.
- The teacher uses very well her motivational strategies and manages to keep the student focused to the assignment for learning. This is evident when she uses her finger to direct the student when he tries to deviate from what he was doing. He utilizes positive reinforcement to appreciate the student because of the good work done.
Summary and conclusion
I summary I can underscore the fact that that teacher was effective in her teaching and this has seen the achievement of her objectives. This is all due to the proper organization skills the teacher has adopted in her class. The teacher manages well the class because she is fully in control and even manages to contain disruptive behavior like the one demonstrated by one of the students when he is not chosen to read in the class.
First she has ensured that her communication with the students is effective. Individual difference between the students in the class been well catered for. When student suffering from autism is able to complete the task assigned well this is an indicator that communication was effective and therefore there is achievement of learning objectives in the class. The teacher is therefore effective in her teaching methods and techniques because learning has been achieved. Therefore I can say that this teacher is a role model that should set the example for other teachers especially those who are in the special education profession.
References
- Achenbach, T. M. (1986). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 & 1991 Profile. Burlington, VT: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont
- Edelbrock, C. S., Costello, A. J., Dulcan, M. K., Conover, N. C., & Kalas, R. (1986). Parent-child agreement on child psychiatric symptoms assessed via structured interview. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27 , 181–190
- Kazdin, A. E. (2001).Behavior modification in applied settings (6th edition). Stamford, CT: Wadsworth
- Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.
- Dave, R. H. (1975). Developing and Writing Behavioural Objectives. (R J Armstrong, ed.) Educational Innovators Press.
- Rescorla, R. A., & Wagner, A. R. (1972). A theory of Pavlovian conditioning. Varitions in effectiveness of reinforcement and non-reinforcement. In A. Black & W. F. Prokasky, Jr. (eds.), Classical Conditioning II New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
- Kirsch, I., Lynn, S.J., Vigorito, M. & Miller, R.R. (2004). The role of cognition in classical and operant conditioning. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60, 369 – 392.
- Dayan, P., Kakade, S., & Montague, P.R. (2000). Learning and selective attention. Nature Neuroscience 3, 1218 – 1223.
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