Reinforcement: Positive vs. Negative – Striking a Balance
According to the University of Michigan, the average student grades 1st through 12th goes to school for approximately 32.5 hours per week, additionally spending 4 hours per week on homework outside of the classroom (Swanbrow). When considering those numbers it’s without a doubt that school makes up the majority of a child's life. Therefore one can see the potential for a teacher to be a hugely influential force on adolescents. In the story "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez portrays the extremes of the student/teacher dynamics with two very different teachers. On one hand, there's Mr. Blessington, a mean-spirited, tough teacher that is constantly putting the kids down and telling them they'll never be more than criminals. On the other, Mr. Tapia, a nice, gentle and motivational teacher who is building kids up. After Mr. Blessington pushes a kid to the edge and there's an assault, Mr. Tapia helps to cover it up because he doesn’t want anyone to hurt their futures. Even though both these teachers were extremes on both ends of the spectrum, it raises good points about teaching styles and how to handle children/students. When it comes to teaching and fostering children's learning after seeing both sides that a happy medium of positive and negative reinforcement, nurturing and tough-love is needed to create a healthy compromise in classrooms. In “Bodega Dreams” one can see how Mr. Blessington goes from verbally abusive to eventually become physically abusive later on. His students didn’t like or respect him; they hated and feared him. In a study published in the Contemporary Issues in Education Research titled "Comparison of The Frequency and Effectiveness of Positive and Negative Reinforcement Practices in Schools," it explores these questions. They bring up a point made by P. Methuen who said: "Spare the rod, spoil the child" (qt. in Dad et al). This study suggests that to not use negative reinforcements to drive a child in the right direction would spoil that child. In contrast to that, A.E. Woolfolk, a psychologist who specialized in child education as a professor at the Ohio State University at the time of publication, says that “punishment is, at
When a teacher utilized cruel punishment, he felt that the child’s fear rendered them unable to learn from that teacher. “Moreover, if the teacher is to control the moral, social, and intellectual development of the child, se must know the child, that is, have access to the child’s inner self.” (Tozer, Senese, and Violas 71)
CS III b: Times have changed. I can remember when coporal punishment was an acceptable means of re-direction and discipline. Today, with more education, educators and providers have better ways of communicating and developing stronger characters in children. A completely different means of fostering growth and discipline have evolved. Proven lesson methods through psychologists have opened doors for marked and proven progress. Understanding my students backgrounds through home visits, parent meeting, and one-to-one time with my children help me and my fellow educators develop a "whole" view of a childs image and make-up. Re-direction, strong fun-tasks, and constant guidance is the initial start to helping children with challenged
While growing up and observing my teachers at school, I have learned that it isn’t always an easy job. Teachers do everything they can to teach their students’ academic, social and other formative skills. Plenty of my teachers have to deal with complications, most of them being minor, but it isn’t always an easy job helping children, teens and young adults. As a student myself, I know they can be stubborn, unwilling to learn, aggressive, and irresponsible. Sometimes, they simply don’t care. However, that is a teacher's purpose: to help and shape their students to become better learners, so that they have a clearer understanding regarding a variety of subject matters. Someday, I actually want to become an elementary art teacher, which is
While reading Journal 1 of The Alternative and reflecting on the assignment giving, memories of teachers flooded through my mind. I am unabashed to admit that I believed some teachers to be poor at their job, and have more than once thought that perhaps this wasn’t the correct career path for them. One such teacher was my 7th and 8th grade science teacher, who believed public shaming to be the preferable way of teaching adolescents. When a student would answer a question wrong in class he couldn’t help but laugh as well as bring it up throughout the lesson, refusing to let the student move past their mistake. He chose to
These stereotypes of teachers inspire the general public by showing a “fairy-tale version” of what truly happens in the classroom. The movies make it look like there is always some huge triumph at the end of the day and everyone ends up learning what they need to learn. This does not always mean learning the classroom material. Breault states that in most of the movies studied the teachers are more focused on teaching life lessons as opposed to the basic knowledge that should be taught in the classroom. The article also discusses how the teaches are viewed as heroes who save the students and advocate for them outside of the classroom. The teachers in the movies are praised for never teaching with a textbook or teaching regular course curriculum. The pictures show that the real live classroom is a lot more structured than what is portrayed in
The first thing I will talk about in this book is the positive and negative effects of physical contact with your students. Michie, the main character, was in an incident where he was accused of touching a student inappropriately. Although the truth was revealed that he didn’t do what he was accused of, it shows how physical contact with a student can have a negative impact on a teacher’s career. Even though Michie was merely trying to console a person, children look for attention in any way they can find. This incident nearly cost Michie his job, but at the same time, a big part of teaching is showing the kids you care for them. Michie believes it is hard to care for people if you keep them at arm’s length, and I agree. Physical contact is an
The author of Bodega Dreams puts a lot of emphasis on the latin community and how as a community people try to help each other out because they realize that they are alone because the government is not going to help them. Willie Bodega has a vision and wanted to help his community by fixing it it. He invested a lot of money in trying to fix it something that the government did not do. In one part of the book it talks about how something will happen in the community and if people don't talk about it lt=ot then the authorities will not do anything about it (ernesto quinonez 64). Bodega wanted to help his people because many people expect the worse from the spanish community. We are destined not be successful because society always expect the
In the book Bodega Dreams, the author Ernesto Quiñonez talks about a scenario in East Harlem that is filled with controversy and dilemma. Narrator and main character Chino, is forced to perform endless tasks for William Bodega, a character who hopes for the better of the community while also trying to chase love. At the same time though, he is trying to make the best out of his relationship, preparing to be a father, and attempting to do well in school. In the end, Chino realizes that he is being manipulated by a different person trying to gain the love Bodega wanted, costing Bodega’s life and accomplishments, while also costing Chino his time and marriage. Bodega Dreams is ultimately a story of tragedy, as demonstrated with the betrayal and murder of Willie Bodega, by his trusted colleague and best friend, Edwin Nazario.
Author and speaker of the compelling article Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results, Joanne Lipman informs the public on different teaching styles and which ones have the best results. Dabbling in the careers of journaling, editing, and writing, obviously attending Yale University has given Ms. Lipman many opportunities to succeed in life in different areas. Although, having such a sheltered life as a white and privileged woman will obviously give her a different perspective of this topic. Joanne is automatically given the upperhand and is taught from an early age a different way to think about different subjects. Ms. Lipman was fortunate enough to go to a high-ranking high school in New Jersey which could have molded her thoughts about teachers and their teaching strategies. When reading parts of the article we can find examples of her knowledge on the subject, “We’re in the midst of a national wave of self recrimination over the U.S. education system” (Lipman 4) the reader acquires the sense that she is exceptionally well informed on the topic of the education system. With this comprehension of the issue, I can assume that Ms. Lipman has primarily worked in the education field. The background of an author is an immensely important quality when it comes to their works of literature. Not only does it show their point of view, but also their bias which proves to be influential to the readers. Creative and factual, Joanne spreads her point throughout the article thoroughly,
In, “Bodega Dreams”, Ernesto Quiñones discuss a Puerto Rican guy growing up in the hood of having dreams. Julio is a guy that live in Harlem and have a best friend name Sapo. From where he come from having a name other than what your parents give you meant you had status. However, if someone called you by your first name means you didn’t prove yourself worth. His friend Sapo taught him that it doesn't matter if you lose a fight, only that you never back down. Growing up in New York, he painted dozen of R.I.P for guys in El Barrio for guys that felt small and needed something violent to jump start their lives.
“Do we want our children to start the year refreshed and ready to learn? Or burned out and resentful? It’s something every teacher should carefully
In “To Teach the journey of a teacher” by William Ayers different teaching styles are introduced. The book teaches us that nobody is a perfect teacher. A couple myths from the book include time management is essential to teaching and you learn everything you need to know about teaching in college. Everyone will have off days when they are teaching and it is not going to go perfectly. Also, you cannot really understand teaching until you are actually in a classroom experiencing it for yourself. School may teach you basic skills and situations that you may encounter, but it is not real until you actually experience a crisis for yourself. Some other myths in the book are all teachers treat their students the same and all students will perform above average. Children come from all different backgrounds and start school in different places. There is no way that teachers can treat every single student the same and ensure that they will all be above average. Overall the book was full of myths that show what other people think of teachers.
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
This movie that I watched was based on a true story located in Los Angeles, California 1982. It was about a mathematics teacher named Jaime Escalante who was a new teacher teaching at Garfield High School. The area was mainly surrounded by a population of Hispanics and mostly an environment that valued a quick fix over education and learning. Although Jamie was a new teacher in a school with high rebellion, he tried to change the system since many teachers were focused on disciplining their students rather than enforcing academic work. I realized throughout this film that Jamie was a very determined teacher who worked hard to excel in his profession. He was determined to challenge the students to have a higher level of achievement and be able
Authoritative teachers will often “try to catch their students being good” and will reinforce the good behavior, rather than focusing on the bad. (Iannelli, 2004). It is critical that teachers praise their students for their efforts. A teacher can teach the entire classroom by recognizing one child’s positive action. Children desire praise and they will learn appropriate behavior when their fellow students receive praise. When teachers focus on bad behavior and make an example of a particular student to the entire classroom, it only makes the child that is being reprimanded feel alienated, ashamed, embarrassed, or possibly revengeful.