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.

ETEC 597 Journal # 3 - November 12

I am so excited about all the technology I learned this semester through this course. There were at least two technologies that I will integrate and continue to use. Those two technologies are Blogger.com and WetPaint.com. I have plans to use a blog site for my students so I can get them to journal and really make the site their own. Through blogging I hope to engage my students in learning especially by expressing their thoughts. I am especially excited about utilizing a classroom web page. I have seen a need to create a web page for my students and their parents. I will create a classroom site where my students will be invited to post comments and view the district calendar of upcoming holidays, as well as, testing days. I plan to post extra credit opportunities that my students can complete at home and bring to class. I believe that by doing this my students will be in the practice of being responsible since they will need to remember to bring the assignments to me. I also have plans to continue to update my WetPaint Wiki called "Friendly Connections." I am currently in the process of getting teens to join and get on board with viewing the site on a regular basis. I post upcoming events and class discussions. I plan on posting prayer requests and praises so that the teens can continue to pray for others. I didn't even know that these two technologies existed. Now that I have been exposed to these two technologies I will continue to use them and share them with others.

Some of my "Aha" moments have to include the MAPit activity. I was in awe at the amount of false information posted on the Internet. I was always under the assumption that what I pulled up on the Internet was, for the most part, true. I used numerous amounts of information I pulled off the Internet for research papers I completed in my undergraduate studies. Through the MAPit activity I learned to "weed out" the bad stuff and it opened my eyes that I truly can't believe everything I read. It has made me realize that I need to check for validity on everything I find especially if I am going to pass the information on to my students and others.

I will continue to utilize Blogger.com. I may not update my current one with new assignments unless we are informed to while continuing our graduate studies. I do plan on creating a new one for my family and friends. I will post information about events going on in my life and places I have been. I will pass on the website to my family and friends so that they can view it for updates. I noticed that once I created the blog for this course most of my friends had already created one. I have seen that a blog is not just informational for me, but a way to connect to others. I have been able to see what is going on in the lives of some of my old college friends and I have been able to stay connected with them. I have thoroughly enjoyed this course. There were times when it became overwhelming, but once I stuck with it and took the time to figure it out, I enjoyed all the new technologies.

Discipline Journal # 5 - My Discipline Model

My Discipline Model Name: The "Lemonator" Discipline Model ("When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!")

Brief, narrative description of the model

My model was named the Lemonator because it eliminates behavior problems that surface in my classroom as well as sports my last name. I think of my discipline model as a giant melting pot where I put several ingredients in to make one huge pot of "goodies." I use several of the discipline models that we learned about this semester. The Lemonator Discipline Model utilizes most of the discipline models. Each one of my students are different and what works for one student may not work with another. With that being said, I have to pick and choose different discipline models to use on my students.

I have listed the models that have been implemented in my classroom and have resulted in positive results for me.

Love & Logic Model
I have always enjoyed the Love & Logic Discipline Model by Jim Fay. Love & Logic focuses on the teacher becoming an instrument in getting students to find solutions to their own problems instead of relying on the teacher. The teacher's primary action is to confront while questioning. This action leads to the student to produce a logical and productive solution to his own problem. Dr. Levy sees misbehavior as a result of the student's poor sense of self-worth and the desire to avoid pain. The Love & Logic Discipline Model involves building the student's self esteem up so that they will feel more capable and better about themselves even after they are disciplined. As Dr. Levy explains, students are rational, capable, and want some control. He believes that their behavior is due to a self-conceived deficiency. I have discovered in my 4 years of teaching that my students are all capable of doing what I expect of them, but their acting out has something to do with problems at home or a lack of attention. When I use Love & Logic it is to keep from becoming trapped in a power struggle. I have many students who have to get the last word and who enjoy arguing. When one of my students smarts off or complains about my class I just give them a smile and give them a famous one liner: "Thanks for sharing." Each time I used it the student would completely shut down from arguing with me. Now I have found that my students will tell each other, "thanks for sharing."

Positive Discipline Model
The Fred Jones Model of classroom management consists of four elements. These elements are needed to make this model a success. They consist of limit setting, responsibility training, omission training, and a backup system. I use many of the elements from this model. I use proximity a lot in my classroom. While my students are doing independent learning activities I walk around the classroom. I pay especially close attention to my disruptive students by watching their every move. When I notice one of my students off task I walk up to their desk and help them find the answer to the problem. I reach in with my finger or with my hand to get them back on task. I may point to a particular sentence or I may turn their book to the correct page to find an answer. When I am lecturing or explaining a concept and some students begin to start talking I stop what I am saying and I "camp out" on my cart. I await a reaction from the class. Eventually the students who figured out that I was waiting for talking to cease will tell the other students to be quiet. Another component from this model I use is the eye contact. If I have a student who is misbehaving while I am sitting at my desk I look up at them and make eye contact. The student immediately stops what he was doing that was inappropriate and begins to work. I have always been a teacher that will take one of my misbehaving students out into the hallway, which I call my office, for a discussion on their behavior. I have found that taking the time to speak to them about their behavior makes them aware that the behavior they are displaying is inappropriate and will not be tolerated. I am amazed at how much those little private conferences help eliminate their acting out.

Assertive Discipline Model
This model created by Lee Canter consists of stating and teaching expectations early before problems arise. It also focuses on the teacher developing a positive relationship with her students. On the first day of school I immediately begin to discuss my expectations. I walk my students through a powerpoint that I created which go over the Mesquite ISD Code of Conduct and my classroom rules. I keep my rules posted up in the classroom so that they will always be reminded what is expected. I try to keep my main rules to a minimum of 5 so that they can be easily remembered. I would say that I have an excellent rapport with my students. I have never had a student tell me that they don't like me. I have developed the relationship at the beginning of the school year. At the beginning of the school year I may not be a very soft teacher, but my students understand my rules and expectations. Once I realize that my students understand those expectations I am able to lighten up on them. My students may think of me as mean the first few months of school because I do not let anything slide by me. I write them up for everything out of compliance with my rules or the Mesquite ISD rules. Then once my students understand that I am consistent with discipline they begin to do as I expect. I built rapport with my students by engaging them in conversations about their weekend or their interest. I have students who tell me everything about their life, the good with the bad where they wouldn't share it with any other teacher. I have found that it is difficult for some teachers to develop a relationship with their students because they do not treat them with respect. I have a couple of students who cannot get along with any of their other teachers. I have discovered that they cuss out the teachers, walk out of the classroom, and become disrespectful to them. However these same students are some of my favorites. One in particular always addresses me with respect and adheres to my expectations. It isn't hard to develop a relationship with students. They just have to know that you really do care about them and not just a paycheck. My students constantly ask me if I will be their teacher next year. I ask them why and they tell me it is because they don't want any other teacher. One student stated that if I wasn't his teacher next year he was going to drop out of school because he wants me to teach him until he graduates. I take that as a compliment. Besides teach, the only thing I do for my students is listen without judging. Most of the time they want to fill me in on their lives, but without criticism.

Discipline Preventative Model
The teachers in this model demonstates "with-it-ness," overlapping, smoothness, momemtum, and group alerting. In my classroom and in the hallways I have always practiced "with-it-ness." I just didn't know what it was called until I was introduced to this discipline model. I am constantly aware of what is going on around me. Most people describe it as observant. I can credit my ability to be observant to my undergraduate studies. I majored in Sociology so most of my classes required us to go out into the world and observe how people interacted with one another. I have found that I cannot just simply sit at my desk and play on my computer as most teachers do. If I am using my computer for anything I am constantly aware of what is going on in my classroom. I pick up on every noise, giggle, snicker, etc. This skill of "with-it-ness" has made my job as a teacher stressful at times. I am always the one who has confrontation with students and has broken up altercations in the hallway. While most of my colleagues choose to ignore student's behavior out of the classroom I am the one left to handle the problems. One teacher teases me that I am always in the middle of something. When I am helping one student at her desk I look around to make sure the rest of the class is working. I am like a constant radar detecting every misbehavior and every movement my students make. Another concept of the preventative discipline that I use is smoothness and momentum. Once my lecture is over I leave my students to complete their independent learning activities. If there are announcements that I need to make I either make them before I begin my lecture or I wait until the last 10 minutes of class when my students are beginning to prepare for their next class. I have trained my students to follow the lesson plan on the board. I have posted on the board everything we will accomplish during that class time. I even go to the lengths of numbering each activity. My students know that as soon as they come in the room they grap a book and begin with whatever #1 says then so on. They are not allowed to move on to any questions until after we have read the section aloud. Once I have read the section and lectured, my students know to do the remining of the objectives on their own. Once they finish the bell ringer or the section reviews, they know to go on to the next assignment. I also pre-sort all the worksheets and handouts so that I don't waste time passing them out individually. I count out the number of papers I need for each row and then I have my students pass them back. When I utilize group alerting I randomly call on students to read or answer my question. I used to just go down the row until I learned about this model. Now I have sort of a "stick pull" where I pull out random names to participate. Once a name has been called they go into the discard pile until they are all used up and then I start drawing from the discard pile.

Overt Teacher Behaviors
Empathetic response
Posted classroom rules/expectations
Verbal recognition
Skeeter Shout Outs
One Liners
PAT Time: Review basketball, BAM boards

Covert Teacher Behaviors
One Sentence Interventions
"Camping Out"
Proximity
"Evil eye"
Palms on desk
Moving In
Circle room
Mentioning student's name

Educational Insights
What glimpses, indications, signals, warnings, or advice would you offer to a new teacher based on your experiences and your new knowledge gained from this course?

When I think back on my first year of teaching I can't help but wish I could go back to that year. I wouldn't want to go back to being unexperienced, but I would like to go back and correct my mistakes. I am sure my students 4 years ago knew that I didn't know what I was doing. I have been teaching for 4 years and I feel that I have matured so much in these 4 years. I feel that I have learned so much from my experiences and mistakes. I have more control of my students and I feel like I know what I am doing.

I would offer several tips to new teachers such as,

1) Do not be afraid to discipline your students. My first year I don't think I wrote but 3 referrals the whole year because I didn't want confrontation and I didn't want to hurt my students' feelings. I wanted them to like me so that I could be their favorite teacher. I quickly learned in my second year of teaching that I had to be stern. I discovered that students will still respect you even after you discipline them.

2) I would tell them not to be afraid to change discipline methods. I think too often some teachers keep their same discipline techniques from year to year. The technique that worked 20 years ago when they started teaching doesn't work for this generation of students. I would encourage the new teacher to combine several aspects from different models to use in the classroom. Each model has important elements that can be used in the classroom. Just as we do with food, we have to sample many different things to see what we like and don't like. Every 7 years even our taste buds change. What we didn't like 7 years ago is something that we do like now. What discipline model we didn't like 7 years ago may be worth trying again.

3) I would also tell them not to believe what other teachers say about students to be true. It is obvious that some teachers just don't enjoy their job and their attitude conflicts with others especially students. I have found that some of my colleagues' worse students have turned out to be the ones that I look forward to seeing in my classroom. It has been my experience that I would hear a group of teachers discussing a particular student in lounge and I would believe that the student they were discussing was just awful. I would panic when I noticed that same student on my roll for the following year. I would have a preconceived notion that this student was going to be horrible, but then I gave him a chance to prove himself to be good. Once I saw for myself that this student was not so bad I quickly stopped judging students.

4) I would inform them to take the time at the beginning of the year to establish their expectations with the students. Instead of doing fun getting acquainted activities the first 2 days, go over the school's rules and your own rules. Instead of compiling a list of rules that they would forget I would tell the new teacher to come up with no more than 5 good ones. I always make one of my rules to comply with the Mesquite ISD handbook and that takes care of all the extra rules.

5) It is important to develop a good rapport with your students. They tend to do as you ask if they know that you care for them. Each student comes with a heavy load on their shoulders and a lot of responsibility at home. When they come to school they feel that they can do nothing right. If they feel that their teachers care about them then they will feel safe. They will no longer have to put up protective barriers to isolate themselves. I have found that I seem to have less discipline problems in the classroom because my students enjoy me as much as I enjoy them. Sometimes we have down time when we discuss issues and they share with me things going on in their lives. I have found that each time my students open up to me they share a private part of their lives which helps me understand how I can help them both academically and emotionally.

Strengths
Some of the strengths of my discipline model is being flexible. I am not set in stone on how I handle a situation. Each student is different and each situation is different. By being able to be flexible and rolling with the punches, my model allows me to take care of numerous discipline problems that arise. By developing a rapport with my students the discipline problems cease and become rare. By always being aware of what my students are doing in the classroom the potential of behavior problems decreases. When a student knows that his teacher is constantly moving around the classroom he won't have time to come up with a plan to act out or do something out of compliance to the class or school rules.

Limitations
If a teacher doesn't build a rapport with her students then my discipline model will not be as successful. It requires more patience than most teachers are willing to give. When I had trouble with some defiant students in my classroom I would handle it in my classroom. I would separate the group or move one of the students to my desk. I would put up with a lot of frustrations, but I dealt with it. Some of my fellow teachers would constantly remind me that I didn't have to put up with what happened in my classroom and they would encourage me to send the student straight to the office. I always gave my students second and third chances to straighten up. I believe that my patience has also be a contributing factor to my classroom discipline model being successful.

Why do you believe that your model will work with students?
I believe that this will work because I have been doing it for the past couple of years and I haven't had near the amount of discipline problems as my peers. I teach students with disabilities that range from ADHD to MR. My toughest classes are always my freshmen class during 3rd period, however, the problems I have with these same group of freshmen doesn't even come close to the problems these same group of students give their other teachers. My model treats students with respect which I in turn receive from them. It gives them a second chance to prove themselves as respectful students who are capable of adhering to my expectations.

SED 500 Discipline Journal #4

Incident #1 Dress Code
A. November 20, 2008
B. During 1B (after hall duty)
C. When I was on hall duty, a group of 4 Hispanic girls were walking around. I stopped and asked them where they were supposed to be and they said that they had just gotten to school. One of the girls was a size small and was wearing an XL out of dress code zip up jacket. I asked her to hand me the jacket since our campus enforces the "bag and tag it" policy. The "bag and tag" policy is when someone is wearing a jacket out of dress code we are supposed to take it up and put it in a trash bag where it is to be stored until the end of the year. She said that she was on her way to her locker to put it up. I told her to put it up and if I saw her with it again I would take it. I left my hall duty and headed to the office when I saw the same group of students walking towards me. It had been at least 40 minutes since I saw them last and the same girl was wearing the same jacket. Needless to say, she didn't put the jacket up in her locker and the girls still didn't make it to class. I approached the girls and they tried to walk past me. I asked the young lady to hand me the jacket since I had already warned her once. She responded that I wasn't going to get her jacket and she wasn't going to give it to me. I asked her 3 times and each time she refused. Then I told her that we could just walk into the office since she refused to give me the jacket. Then she said that she wasn't going to go to the office either. Finally after about 5 minutes, her friend convinced her to give me the jacket. Instead of handing me the jacket, the student threw her jacket at me. Instead of dealing with that issue I decided to leave it alone and walk away. I told her thank you and began walking away from the girls. When I walked into the office, Mrs. Marshall (the Principal) was in the hallway. I joked with her about confiscating a jacket that was thrown at me. We laughed because now the student will not ever be able to get her jacket back because she didn't even give me her name to write on the bag.
D. Since she gave me the jacket there were no other disciplinary actions to take. I just turned the jacket inside out so no one could see the designs and try to claim it for their own and placed it in the white trash bag. On the label I wrote my name and the date.
E. If I could do it over again there isn't anything I would have done differently. I followed the procedure and kept my cool when I had to deal with the student the second time. If anything I might have investigated where the girls were supposed to be instead of letting them walk around the school.

Incident #2 Trespassing / Insubordination
A. November 21, 2008
B. During 4A towards end of the period
C. I teach Modified BCIS for about 9 students who are enrolled in CBVI. Since they all ride the special education buses we leave about 10 minutes before the bell to beat the rush of other students. Every day there are about 5 students who are hanging out on campus. We have warned the students that if they are on campus when they are supposed to be home then they will be given a ticket for trespassing. After numerous warnings these guys still hang out on campus. I didn't know their names, but I did know one student's name. He was one of my students. I asked them to go around the school building and not walk into the breezeway. The group of students knew that I was outnumbered and didn't know their names so they proceeded to ignore my requests including my student. So the next day I asked one of the administrators what to do. He indicated that I needed to write him up for insubordination and for trespassing.
D. I received the referral in my box the next day and he was given a 4 hour Saturday School. I don't feel that this was an appropriate consequence since it is a continuous thing with him. I think he should have received one day ISS since he can't stay off campus and obviously wants to be here. I think if he is made to sit in ISS until 5 o'clock he would think twice about being on campus when he should be at home.
E. I think I handled everything well. Instead of just writing him up on a referral I checked with an administrator and we both agreed on the disciplinary action. Since that day I have no longer seen him hanging out on campus. I have recently found out the other students' names and I am ready to write them up for the same thing if I see them on campus again.

Incident #3 Tardy #4 and #5
A. November 22, 2008
B. During 3A
C. I have this one student who walks in late. She used to be on time, but lately she has started coming in late. After the 2nd tardy, students receive immediate referrals. I sent the student to the office after lunch so that she would have time to eat before going to the office. We go to lunch at 12:35 - 1:05. So I sent her at 1:10. She didn't make it back to my room until 2:10 which was just 5 minutes left of the period. I looked on the referral she received and she was dismissed from the office at 1:40. She had been walking around for over 45 minutes. When I asked her what took her so long to get to class she said that she was talking to a teacher in the hallway. When I investigated it a little further, the teacher thought that she had that lunch period and let her stand there and talk to a group of girls. I asked an administrator what to do. The student was with another teacher, but that student knew she was supposed to be in class.
D. We decided that she should be written up for skipping and she received one day of ISS.
E. I feel that the consequence was appropriate since she skipped my class. I am really glad that they didn't just give her a warning. This student has started walking in late and has started exhibiting behaviors that are not appropriate and if she "got off" then I believe she would have felt she controls the school. I wouldn't have done anything differently since I checked with an administrator and the two of us decided on the disciplinary action.

Incident #4 Dress Code (Jeans)
A. November 21, 2008
B. During 3A
C. The tardy bell had just rung when the same student from the above incident came in with her sixth tardy. After I sent her to the office I looked over and noticed two of my other students sitting in jeans. One of the girls had on a really dark pair of jeans that looked like regular pants until you got closer. The other girl had on gray jeans. They had made it all day in the jeans with no one stopping them. So I was very frustrated that it was now 3rd period on a Friday afternoon and I had to be the one to handle the situation. The girls begged for me not to send them to the office because one of the girls got out after my class and the other girl had just gotten back from MIC. I asked them why they wore jeans and the dark jean student told me that she didn't have anything else washed but her jeans and that other one just wanted to wear it because it was Friday. Then she told me that she had a pair of pants that were in dress code in her bag, but she didn't want to wear them. I told them that it wasn't fair for me to send the tardy student to the office everyday and not send them down for a flagrant dress code violation. After about 10 minutes of me taking time to write the referrals and listening to the begging me not to write them up, I sent them on their way.
D. One of the girls received a Saturday School while the other one in the gray jeans received one day of ISS.
E. I believe that the consequences were appropriate. The one who received a Saturday School hadn't been to the office very often and was getting out after my class and I think her disciplinary action was appropriate. I think they should have been consistent and had given the other girl the same disciplinary action, but since she had a prior record and had the other pair of pants in her bag I think she received an appropriate consequence. I wouldn't have done anything differently in this situation.

Incident #5 Cell Phone
A. November 21, 2008
B. During lunch
C. I was walking to the lounge to get my lunch while avoiding the large crowd of students walking towards me to go to the cafeteria. I noticed one student in the clearing of the crowd texting on his cell phone. I stopped and asked him to hand me his phone. He gave it to me without hesitation and then he gave me his name. After lunch the student came to my classroom and told me that another teacher had told him to put his phone up and turn it off because his dad was trying to call him so that is why he was on the phone in the hallway. He kept trying to convince me to give his phone back. I told him that when I saw him I had already been watching him for about 10 seconds and he wasn't turning off the phone, he was texting on it.
D. I had another teacher run the phone up to the office with his name and information on it since I had to get back to class. The disciplinary action depends on if his phone was taken up before or not. It this was his first time then he will just have to pay $15 and wait 24 hours. However, if this was his 3rd time then he will have to pay the $15 and not get his phone back until the end of the school year.
E. I feel that I handled this situation well. When I take up cell phones from students I know that if I let them off the hook I am not helping support other teachers. We all must be consistent in order for the school to run smoothly. Too often I hear that teachers give phones back to students as a warning, but I know those same students have been warned several times before that. So I like to think that when I take their cell phone up I am taking it up for all the other warnings that they might have already been given.

Incident #6 Cell Phone
A. December 1, 2008
B. During 1st period/Hall Duty
C. I was standing outside in the freezing cold for my duty when I looked up and saw a girl texting on her phone. I almost didn't notice her because she was walking with about 20 other girls. The All Stars had just finished practicing in the small gym and were on their way back to the locker room. This one student was in the middle of the crowd, but her mannerisms stood out so I noticed her. I told her that phones are not allowed on campus and that she needed to put it away. She gave me an attitude as she shoved it in her pocket. I then told her, "You know what? Never mind, just give me your phone." Surprisingly she gave it to me without any hesitation. I asked for her name so I could tag it as her phone.
D. Once I finished my 45 minutes in the 50 degrees weather, I walked her cell phone to the office. It was then that I followed procedure by putting the phone in a white envelope and filled out all the necessary information. Usually the procedure for cell phone disciplinary actions varies according to how many times her phone has been taken up by faculty. If it is her first time, which I doubt, then her phone will be kept for 24 hours and she will have to pay the $15.00 to get it back. If this was her 3rd time she won't be getting the phone back until the end of the year.
E. If I could do it over again, I would have given the phone to the All Star coordinator so that she could have handled it. Her punishment might have been worth more than what the office would do for her.

Incident #7 Insubordination / Walking Around
A. December 1, 2008
B. During hall duty / 1st period
C. I saw a group of students walking towards me. One girl in particular stood out because her shirt was hanging down past her knees and her shoes were out of dress code. I had already seen these same group of students walking around in the main hall so I approached them. I asked to see their passes. The student out of dress code is the only one of them that pulled out a pass. However, when this girl showed me her pass, it was more of a "flash." I told her that I wanted to see the pass in my hand. We have had a group of students using old passes they received so they can walk the halls so we were advised to check the time and date on all the passes. She kept trying to walk past me. I tried to step in front of her to stop her and she would go the other direction. Finally one of the girls she was with took the pass from her and told her to just show me the pass. The student was supposed to go to ISS and she was walking around the school. I told them to get to where they were supposed to be and I told them I didn't want to see them out walking around again.
D. I ended up E-mailing the teacher who signed her pass to let him know that she was up walking around the whole campus instead of going to ISS. I am not sure if anything was turned in since he hasn't e-mailed me yet.
E. I feel that I handled the situation well. I thanked the friend for being so respectful and helpful in assisting me with the student. If I had to do it over again, I think I would have personally walked her to ISS to make sure she made it and stopped walking around campus.

Incident #8 Tardy #3
A. December 1, 2008
B. During 3B / US History
C. One of my students walked in from lunch 5 minutes after the tardy bell. When he signed the sheet I noticed that he was on his 3rd tardy. According to the tardy policy, the student is to be sent to the office with a referral.
D. I wrote a referral documenting all the days he was tardy and when I contacted his parent. He showed me his referral and it indicated that he was given one day of ISS. He is rarely late to my class, but apparently it is a problem for other classes. So since it was only his 3rd tardy for me, it was one more too many.
E. I felt that I handled the situation well. Neither the student or I were engaged in a verbal battle. This particular student is one of my favorite students and he respects me enough to know that he was in the wrong and that I had to send him to the office.

Incident #9 Shaving
A. December 1, 2008
B. During 3A / US History
C. When my students walked back into the classroom from lunch I noticed one of my students hadn't shaved from the long holiday weekend. It was so obvious I don't know how I missed it at the beginning of class. I had already given him warnings when the facial hair wasn't as bad so I sent him down to the office. I wrote the referral to indicate a violation of dress code for not shaving.
D. My student never made it back to class from the office so I am sure he was either waiting for an administrator since the lunch period is a crazy one. Usually the policy states that students will receive one day of ISS for being out of dress code so I am sure that is what he received.
E. I believe that I handled this situation well. I had given him several warnings because he gets out of school after my class and I didn't ever see a point to send him down when he was going to leave within the hour. Since this facial hair was so obvious and I had given him several warnings there was nothing else I wanted to do, but write him up for a dress code violation.

Incident #10 Language
A. December 1, 2008
B. During 3B / US History
C. I was walking back into class from being out in the hallway between classes when I heard one of my female students yell out, "My n******!" Since the whole class heard it clearly and I heard it clearly there was no mistake that the comment was made. She said that it was an accident and she didn't mean to say it. She claimed it just "slipped out." Since the policy in my class states that all inappropriate language will result in an office referral including slip ups, I sent her to the office.
D. The student came back to class with a referral indicating that she received one day of Saturday school. I figured since it was a slip up she didn't get as severe a punishment as other students who use inappropriate language.
E. I feel that I handled this situation well. If I could do it over again I probably would have let her off with a warning, but then if I did I would have to do it for the rest of my class. If the whole class didn't hear it I probably would have let her off with a warning and no one would have known.

II. The Model I Implemented

Assertive Discipline Model

Summary of the Model

Assertive discipline is defined as a structured, systematic approach designed to assist educators in running an organized, teacher-in-charge classroom environment. This model focuses on the teacher's right to determine what is best for her students, and to expect compliance in regards to her established classroom rules and procedures. It is aimed at teacher's developing a positive, trusting relationship with their students and teaching them appropriate classroom behavior.

How I Implemented the Strategy

I am a firm believer in rewarding desired behavior. I usually give verbal praises to my students who do what I ask of them. I decided to try to implement the post it note recognition that was demonstrated in our last class. I cut colored index cards into 2 pieces. Then on each card I put a smiley face sticker. As my students worked on their assignments I walked around the room. If I saw a student working quietly I would place the smiley faced card on his desk. I did this for about 10 minutes. At the closing of the class period I heard my students asking each other how many smiley faces they each received. When one student got more than the others they would make a comment that the next time they would get more smiley faced cards.

What Worked and What Didn't

The only problem I found with doing this activity was that I tended to give more to my "favorite" students and not to the students who usually irritate me. I already had a mind set that my good students would do well and do as I requested so when I walked by their desks I gave them the sticker. Of course while I was walking around the room looking for students who were working quietly I came across my "bad students" who weren't doing as they were supposed to so I just walked right past their desks. The stickers worked well for the most part. When the students got the stickers their faces would light up. Even if they didn't show their happiness, I could tell in their mannerisms that they were happy to get a sticker.

Reflection of the Strategy

I really enjoyed passing out the stickers. In a way I felt like I was handing out smiles for the day. When my students were having a bad day I would give them a sticker for doing what I asked of them and then their whole outlook on the day changed. Their moods were more pleasant in the classroom and they seemed to have enjoyed the class time better. This strategy is one that I will continue to use. I will especially try harder to give them to my normally "bad students" to see if the sticker changes their outlook and their attitudes.

ETEC 597 Journal #2 - October 8th

Information literacy is being able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use information for a topic or issue through the Internet. I never thought about the possibility of information I find on the Internet being false. When I think about all the information I took off Google to compose papers in my undergraduate studies and all the information I pulled off Google to use in my classroom, I can't help but feel ignorant. I never once thought about the possibility of the information being untrue or fabricated. I was fairly new on using the Internet in college because it was then that I received my first computer ever. No one really taught me about how to research effectively. I didn't know people could post information without being censored or reviewed for authenticity. I honestly thought that the people who worked for Google had employees who sat down at desks and researched all the information to make sure it was the truth and then posted it. I was guilty of pulling up the first link that appeared in Google and using it because I thought it was the closest, true information found for my particular search. The MAPit activity really opened my eyes to the amount of false information posted daily on the Internet. The Martin Luther King activity really bothered me. If I was researching Martin Luther King I probably would have used some information on that website without even noticing all the racial remarks. It is really kind of scary to find out that kind of information is readily available for everyone. This MAPit activity has undoubtedly opened my eyes to be more careful when relying on the Internet. I have started passing on what I learned to collegues, family, and friends. I want them to be more aware of the fabricated information posted on the Internet. Many of them use Google to conduct research and most likely click on the fist thing that pulls up. Through the exercise I learned that Google lists information based on how many "hits" that site received not by the most reliable source. How many people used fabricated information without realizing it?? How many others have passed on that fabricated information to their students? If the cycle continues this new generation will undoubtedly receive false information and believe it to be true. Our students will be misled into believing what they read to be the truth and will then pass it on to others. Eventually it would result in the generation becoming less intelligent because they will believe everything they read to be true. I plan to use Altavista more as well as other search engines. This exercise also opened my eyes to other search engines. I just always used Google because I hear about it more than other search engines. I wonder if you could do a Google search on other search engines. That would be information I could use in the future.