Chapter 7-Personal, Social, and Moral Development

Think about the concept sense of self and its implications for teaching and learning. Review
the developmental trends on p. 245 in your textbook. Did you see indications of sense of self
affecting learning of the student(s) with whom you worked? Explain.
What effect did perspective taking have on the teaching and learning environment? Reread p.
255 in your textbook to understand developmental trends.
If you observed aggressive behavior, explain the type of aggressive behavior that you witnessed.
See textbook p. 254-255 for an explanation.
Response: A student in the special education class would start to act out whenever he had to
work on math because he did not think that he could do it. It was his least favorite subject and he
found that it was easier to act out and get into trouble than to try and work on it.
In the same class, the students were working on different types of weather. They were learning
about hurricanes and the students had a hard time relating. They could not fully grasp what the
victims were going through, but they felt bad that the victims were hurt and homeless.
One of the special education students showed signs of aggressive behavior, the beliefs about the
appropriateness and effectiveness of aggression type. Every time I observed this same child
would get physical, throw stuff, and try to harm others. He thought this behavior was an
acceptable way to show he was upset. He would do these things to get out of doing his math, and
most times it worked because he got sent to timeout and did not calm down until the teacher
moved onto the next subject.
Reflection: I was surprised that this student would get so aggressive that he would flip desks and
throw stuff at his teachers and classmates. I was shocked that this was an everyday occurrence.
Chapter 8-Instructional Strategies
Many instructional strategies are summarized on p. 312 of your textbook. Describe two of the
ones you used for tutoring or RTI in your school placement. Be sure that you give a rationale for
the instructional strategies that you selected to use.
Response: In the second grade general education class I used the connect school subject matter
to real-world context and problems strategy. I helped a boy try and learn how to count with
money by using it to buy trading cards (a hobby of his). He could tell me how much the cards
were at the store and we would figure out how much it would be to buy two sets.
In the second grade class, I had a used the acquire effective strategies for interacting and working
with others strategy. I had a small group of students working with me in a reading group. I made
sure that the students were following along while another student read and I made sure they were
respectful to others opinions.

Reflection: I was excited when I helped the boy make the connection between math and money.
When I related the money to his trading cards I could tell he became more interested and actually
paid more attention to what he was doing.
Chapter 9-Strategies for Creating an Effective Classroom Environment
Chapter 9 discusses many ways to enhance the classroom environment. What were some of the
ways that you helped to create an environment that was conducive to learning?
Explain which of the suggestions on p. 347 in your textbook for addressing undesirable
classroom behaviors you utilized in the tutoring or RTI setting of your school experience.
Response: I tried to show the students that I cared about them and wanted them to do well. I
think they knew that I was there to help them in areas that they were struggling. When I worked
in small groups I tried to make sure everyone felt like they were an important part of the group. I
let everyone ask questions and partake in the activates. I also gave them goals to reach in our
lessons.
There were some instances that I could just ignore, like accidently turning too many pages and
getting lost in the reading one time. I also used cueing when a student would start to get off task.
There was one instance when a student kept playing with is ruler that I had to have a private
discussion with him, but he stopped.
Reflection: I was flattered with how fast some of the students took to me. They knew I was there
to help and they were really respectful to me. After the first day in the second grade class I had a
girl come up to me and thank me for helping her with her math. She told me that she understood
it better.
Chapter 10-Assessment Strategies
What types of assessments did you employ with the student(s)? Did you choose to use different
types of assessments? If you did use a variety of assessment tools, explain why different
assessments were necessary?
Response: Most of my assessments of the students were done by observing. I watched what the
students were working on and would see if they needed my help or not. I would also see if after I
stopped and explained the process to them, if they understood it better.
Reflection: I was helping a child in the special education classroom take a math practice test and
he was having difficulties using information out of a table. I helped him by changing the names
of the stuff in the tables and changing the names of who got the stuff to his an my name
(example: he had five chocolate cookies, two oatmeal cookies, and one raisin cookie and I had
three chocolate, four oatmeal, and zero raisin). He loved the idea that he got to take my stuff or
that he had more of something, and he seemed to understand it better.

Final Reflection:
Take some time to think about your responses and reflections in this journal. Respond to the
following questions.
1) In terms of the major concepts presented in this class, how do you think your school
experience and reflections on it has helped prepare you for classroom responsibilities as a
teacher?
I think I made some good connections with the students and they helped me learn what
strategies were helpful for them and which were not. I think the best way to learn is by
actually doing, so having the chance to practice my teaching skills was a great way to see
how I would do.
2) Briefly sum the impact that this school experience has had on your professional
aspirations. You will not be penalized for constructive criticism.
I enjoyed my time at the schools. I preferred the general education classroom to the
special education classroom. The special education classroom was a little too wild for me.
The teacher seemed to allow the students to get away with a lot of aggressive acts that I
did not think was alright. But overall I liked getting to work one on one with the students
and learn from them.