Looking
at the same set of statements from Question 4, determine which one statement
you DISAGREE with completely. What is it you find challenging with that statement?
Explain.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Chaps 11&12 - Ques 4
Table 12.1 on page
178 in Help for Billy summarizes all the concepts from the
previous chapters in a concise comparative chart.
Take a look at the
statements above. Determine which statement you agree with completely and share
your thoughts on why that statement resonates with you.
Chaps 11&12 - Ques 3
Imagine that Billy comes into your classroom upset and distraught.
He is angry that the teacher in his class prior to yours gave him an
"F" on an assignment. Billy is making loud accusations about this
teacher being an "idiot" and that this teacher is just out to get him
for no reason. Billy slams his backpack down on the floor and kicks his desk.
You have a few minutes before
the bell rings, so imagine what you could do to help Billy calm down right now.
Your role is to become the safe base Billy needs to help him de-escalate and
avoid losing control.
Based on your reading, what
would be some effective ways you could address the situation?
Chaps 11&12 - Ques 2
The above Table gives insight into how traditional social
skills techniques are taught to students compared to what is really going on in
students like Billy’s minds.
How does this comparison chart give you a greater
understanding of why some of your students respond the way they do &/OR
have you developed additional strategies that have effectively helped your
students who struggle with self-regulation and poor social skills? Share your
thoughts.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Chaps 9&10 - Ques 5
"There is absolutely no evidence of any academic benefit from
assigning homework in elementary, or middle school. For younger students, in
fact, there isn't even a correlation between whether children do homework (or
how much they do) and any meaningful measure of achievement. At the high school
level, the correlation is weak and tends to disappear when more sophisticated
measures are applied. Meanwhile, no study has ever substantiated the belief
that homework build character or teachers good study habits."
Alfie Kohn, The
Homework Myth; Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing
Do you agree/disagree with Mr.
Kohn? Discuss your response.
Chaps 9&10 - Ques 3
Respond vs Reacting. Billy is the student who has an uncanny ability to push all the
teacher's "hot buttons." He knows exactly how to get underneath the
teacher's skin very quickly and with great intensity. When this happens, it can
be like getting emotionally hijacked, and we react instead of responding. Love,
tolerance, understanding, and patience are gone.
It is important to understand
that when we go into reaction mode, it's no longer about the student. At this
point, it's about us. Please note that this is not a
statement of blame. On the contrary, it is a statement of empowerment. The more
we can understand our own reactivity, the more "power" we have in
changing the dynamic with our Billy's.
Share your thoughts on the
above paragraph.
Chaps 9&10 - Ques 2
Carl W. Buehner said, "They may forget what you said
-- but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Reflect and respond on what
this quote means to you.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Chaps 7&8 - Ques 5
Think about all of the key
transitional times students face -- changing classrooms and subjects, cafeteria
time, recess/PE, breaks withing the school day, field trips, before and after
school, beginning of the school year, ending of the school year, holiday
breaks, and graduation from high school.
What advice would you give a new or
struggling teacher about how to prepare good transitions for struggling
students who are coming to their classrooms and/or share ways that you have
successfully built relationships with struggling students in the past that
helped make for a good year for both of you.
Chaps 7&8 - Ques 4
"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human
mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get
worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the
confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things
better."
Share your thoughts concerning
this quote from King Whitney, Jr., based on our reading. You can even apply
this to how you personally have responded to all of the changes we have
experienced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Think about ways the pandemic has affected
ALL of our students and what differences we might see in them when they return
to school in August. After all, the pandemic is "trauma."
Chaps 7&8 - Ques 3
What
are your successful strategies (or successful strategies you have observed from
co-workers) to keep yourself calm when a student starts to escalate?
Chaps 7&8 - Ques 2
What
interventions do you use -- or will begin to use -- to proactively support
students who need help with self-regulation?
Monday, May 11, 2020
Chaps 5&6 - Ques 5
Think
about teachers, coaches, mentors, bosses, or parents who were in your life as a
child or young adult. Think about how you would categorize these people:
Of
the three categories of personas you thought about, which one influenced you
the most to stay regulated, focused, and motivated? Are you more naturally a
"Mister Rogers" or a "General Patton?" Think of ways that
you can balance yourself as a teacher to include both personas.
Chaps 5&6 - Ques 4
Chapter 6 can be summed
up in the following statement: "It takes responding to Billy instead of
reacting to him." We have to remember that in some situations, it isn't
about our students needing to make better choices or intentionally breaking
rules or testing boundaries. This is a regulatory issue, not a behavioral
one.
Instead of asking
- How do I get Billy to change his behavior?
- Why won't Billy behave like the other students?
- Why can't he see that life would be much easier if he
just behaved?
- What punishment would have the most leverage to
motivate Billy to change?
We should ask
- What else is really going on here?
- What does this child need?
- How can I change my perspective?
- What keeps me only looking at the behavior?
- What is this behavior communicating right now?
- What in the environment could be triggering this
behavior?
Chaps 5&6 - Ques 3
Trauma leaves a child feeling powerless and without a voice. Give
Billy a voice, whether you agree with what he is saying or not. he simply needs
to be heard. Once Billy feels heard and can express himself, he is more likely
to accept positive feedback and direction from an adult.
Denying Billy's voice and
expression is to throw fuel on the fire. Why? and/or When you allow Billy to
express how he is feeling and you validate that you heard him, why does this
start the healing process and building of a better belief system for Billy?
(share a personal experience if you can.)
Chaps 5&6 - Ques 2
In Chapter 5, the author stated, "Our belief systems are at
the core of who we are. They drive us. They persuade how we act and on what we
put our attention. A belief is this powerful because it is simply any
perception, cognition, emotion, or memory that we consciously (Muhammad Ali) or
unconsciously (Billy) assume to be true. In short, our belief is our
reality."
We learned that our beliefs
begin in the womb then continue forming throughout our lives based upon
experiences and external messages.
What are some negative beliefs
you (or a friend ;-) developed in your childhood/what external messages did you
(or a friend ;-) hear as a child that turned into a negative belief about
yourself? Have any of those beliefs stayed with you into your adult life and
how have they affected you in the choices you've made in life? What negative
beliefs about yourself, either as a child or presently, can you use to relate
to the Billy's of your classroom?
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Chaps 3&4 - Ques 5
The
impact of early life experiences can be seen in the six developmental areas
below. Choose one area that stood out to you as having the greatest impact on
students' lives and/or share about a Billy you have had whose chaotic and
traumatic childhood negatively impacted his development in one or more
developmental areas.
Chaps 3&4 - Ques 4
Reflect
on your classroom for a moment and think about the students you have had who
were like time bombs....the ones whom you never knew quite when they might go
off. What communication did you have with their parents and/or what did you
know about your students' histories and/or how will you approach these types of
students differently now that you know what you know?
Chaps 3&4 - Ques 3
How
can you use the information from Chapter 3 about the brain along with your
knowledge of trauma to create an overall classroom climate where students like
Billy can succeed?
Chaps 3&4 - Ques 2
Think
back to the Chapter 3 information about the brain. How has neuroscience helped
us to understand that we need to change our approach?
Thursday, April 30, 2020
THINK ABOUTS - read but don't respond
What do you think your students would say about you and your
classroom? Be honest with yourself.
The book says, "The
reality is, for Billy to learn and achieve academically, he must also be
engaged at the relational level." On a scale of 1 - 10 with
10 being the highest, how do you rate yourself at building relationships with
ALL of your students?
When a student displays
inappropriate behavior, do you stop and think, "What has my
student been through at home?" or do you react and ask, "What's
wrong with this child?"
Chaps 1&2 - Ques 5
(To respond, click the pencil underneath the post.)
What advantages does Andy have
over Billy when you compare their windows of tolerances &/OR what
disadvantages does Billy have in a structured school environment?
Chaps 1&2 - Ques 4
(To respond, click the pencil underneath this post.)
What tool(s) have you found to
be most effective with a child who is out of control &/OR are there any
effective tools you've witnessed other teachers use with a child who is out of
control?
Chaps 1&2 - Ques 3
(To respond, click on the pencil underneath this post.)
Respond to the following
quote: "We live in a world that is different than it was fifty
years ago, even twenty years ago. As a result, we are teaching different
children in the classroom than in the past."
Chaps 1&2 - Ques 2
(To respond, click on the pencil underneath this post.)
According to the Hierarchy of
Learning below, "motivation, creativity, curiosity, problem solving, and
memory all come AFTER the four basic levels of self-esteem, relationship,
safety, and physical needs are satisfied." What are your thoughts or experiences?
Chaps 1&2 - Ques 1
(To respond, click on the pencil underneath this post.)
What ideas & thoughts
caught your attention in Chapters 1 & 2?
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
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