BLOG POST 3

After reading the article "An Educator's Guide to Teacher Reflection", I wanted to write this post using the tool of re-framing. Reframing means to look at, present or think of something (beliefs, ideas, relationships) in a different way. When I went to my field experience last week I decided that I would try to stand from a student's point of view in the classroom. I have been a student before so I have had that viewpoint before and I am currently, obviously, a college student. But, in my opinion, the teacher-student treatment in a university classroom differs a lot from the elementary setting. So I decided that I wanted to have that viewpoint again, as sometimes I think the students get attitudes and complain too much with the teacher, but that was when I was simply observing.

The teacher that I was assigned to is a warm person, with a tough attitude. She cares about her students and I can notice that, but most of the time she responds with a simple "yes" "no" and sometimes she even tells them to "shut up" when she gets mad. Instead of enforcing behaviors by teaching the students that they shouldn't interrupt (by modeling or so) she prefers to shut them up, which can, most of the times, make a student feel offended or sentimental. This day the students were testing. When they finished their tests, if they got an A they would get a reward and if not they wouldn't. This strategy may be tricky sometimes because of course, who would want to hurt a student? But at the same time it works because it is a motivation for those who usually don't do their home works or don't study as much as they should. Several times, students went to the teacher's desk to give her the test back and she said out loud "This is an F!!!! I will post it in the Internet". Students faces turned into frowns as they were hurt by what the teacher was saying. They also felt this way when she told them to shut up. Nonetheless, most of the students knew every answer and got them all right. So from this I could notice that they do pay attention and they do have respect for the teacher, but I don't believe that having such respect is so honorable if one gains it by talking this way to students.