Strategy Reflection #1-Similarities & Differences

Identifying Similarities and Differences

What?
I decided to implement the Venn Diagram with my United States History class to teach them to identify similarities and differences in lessons we study. We have been studying the American Revolutionary war and are currently studying the War of 1812. My students have enjoyed these two lessons and really seemed to grasp a hold of each event. I wanted to determine how well my students have understood what I have taught them.

So What?
I printed off a Venn Diagram template from Edhelper.com. Edhelper.com has various graphic organizers and appealing templates to make using graphic organizers fun. I decided to stick with the traditional Venn Diagram template. I gave each student the Venn Diagram. I asked that above one circle they write American Revolution and above the other circle write War of 1812. I explained to them that for this assignment I wanted them to list all the details of each war and then in the middle where the circles meet they needed to write details that were similar. I gave them 10 minutes to work without notes or textbooks. I did allow them to work together if they needed some help. I walked among them to see how well they were able to work on the assignment. Each student had listed different details about each war. Some listed under the American Revolution included famous people such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, and many more. They had listed the date 1775-1783, Second Continental Congress, and the Treaty of Paris. Under the War of 1812 my students had listed the date 1812-1815, Treaty of Ghent, Star Spangled Banner, Andrew Jackson, and the burning of Washington D.C. by the British. In the middle circles they listed United States, British, American independence, causalities, weak nation of America going to war, French, and American Indians. I was amazed at how well they were able to take all the facts from these two wars and create a diagram of a higher level of thinking. Even though I allowed them to use their books after the 10 minutes, my students still understood the concept of similarities and differences.


Now What?
Since this activity went so well I am planning on utilizing higher level thinking activities that will enable my students to think beyond what I expect them to. I plan to use more graphic organizers and Venn diagrams to check for understanding after a lesson that I taught. I have discovered that there is more to checking for understanding than just using tests. If I can just conduct a quick similarities and differences activity I can determine if I need to reteach a lesson or if I can go on. My students seemed to enjoy this activity even though some of them, at first, had trouble grasping the concept or even the point of the activity.

SED 597.410 Conceptions of Schooling

I took 30 hours of PFK this past semester to bundle for this Winter Mini course. In all of those classes I learned many wonderful strategies and skills to utilize in my classroom. However, the one that I seemed to enjoy and seemed to help me the most was the Try and Make Me: Simple Strategies That Turn Off The Tantrums and Create Cooperation book study by Dr. Ray Levy and Bill O'Hanlon. Kelly Smith led the class through a 8 hour course that covered the book.

What I Learned from the Class

Dr. Levy's book discussed the difference between two types of animals and referenced them to human characteristics. Horses are the type of people that are positively motivated. They aim to please people and are willing to work in exchange for praises and recognition. Camels are the type of people that are negatively motivated. They do not aim to please people and could care less about positive recognition. Dr. Levy explains that defiant children mostly resemble camels. They prefer negative reactions and find behavior charts more satisfying than actually doing the tasks requested. Dr. Levy says to mix negative consequences to complement the positive enticements. Instead of praising the "camel" style student when he does well simply use a "I've noticed" statement.

Another strategy I learned from the book study were Practice Academies. I have heard about Practice Academies, but I had never learned how to conduct the Academy. One of our application pieces was to implement a Practice Academy. I chose one of my students who constantly walked around the room and constantly blurted out comments or questions. I stopped him one day during his normal disruptive behavior and said, "Uh oh! Your behavior is telling me that you need a how do I stay in my seat and raise my hand quietly while waiting for Mrs. Lemons to call on me practice academy." Kelly says to name the practice academy however long you want it to be, but it needs to be as specific as you can make it. He didn't know what a practice academy so he thought I was just playing with him. To make a long story short, a student explained it to him and I had him practice the desired behavior for about 30 minutes. I set my timer for 5-10 minute increments. I gave him a question to ask when I called on him. When the timer went off I looked up at his raised hand and had him respond with his question. After that activity I never had trouble with him getting out of his seat without permission or blurting out without my knowledge. I was amazed at how quickly it worked for him and how successful it was just from the first day.

Try and Make Me! is an easy read. Dr. Levy puts the strategies and the book contents in plain English. At the end of each chapter he included summaries so if you need to just go back and look up information quickly you could do so without having to scan the text.

Why Should You Take It?

I benefited greatly from this book study. I didn't find the book to be at all boring and with Kelly Smith teaching the class you can't go wrong. I have all the resources I need to prevent defiant children from controlling my classroom and to keep me from engaging in a power struggle with them. The book study really made me more aware of what types of characteristics resemble a defiant child so I could identify him and "shut him down" before he became out of control.