Caring is so important to learning
I am preparing to lecture on how to manage classrooms behaviors tomorrow morning. This week’s learning theory flavor is Behaviorism; I am not a big fan of this theory, but it does have its uses.
We are using Woolfolk’s “Educational Psychology” textbook for our required texts, and she is savvy enough to have podcasts about some of the more important topics. So I logged on to my course’s site and listened to the podcast about classroom management. She talks about how classroom management is about and should be about caring. We should care for our students enough to treat them well, even when there are behavioral problems. We should care for our well-behaved students enough to recognize their good behavior.
Anita Woolfolk’s podcast on classroom management
Once again, I am struck by Fink’s admonition that caring is required to create significant learning. After all, I want all my students to have meaningful, significant learning. I want them to not only learn principles and theories, but I want them to learn how to use these concepts to improve lives, including their own. That is why I teach.
Creating a safe, effective learning environment
I have been teaching my students that guiding their students to enable an effective learning environment is very important. It is through feeling safe and feeling wanted that our students are able to feel comfortable enough to begin learning. It is through a classroom management plan that teachers can be prepared to change student behaviors so a classroom is comfortable for students’ learning.
But a teacher must care enough about her students to make the effort to change negative behaviors. It takes time and patience. It also takes preparation. Teachers must prepare for classroom management by envisioning scenarios of poor behaviors and devising behavior modification plans so the teacher can quickly modify those problem behaviors without much thought except to refer to a prepared behavior management plan.
The following is a rubric I created so my students know the important steps in creating a behavior management plan. This rubric not only gives my students the steps required to set up an effective plan, but it also helps me figure out how to properly grade their plans. 
Rubric for Behavior Management Plan
| Name | Notes | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Behavior Identification | ||
| Barriers/Problems | Identify 5 or more barriers/problems that need to change | 5 |
| Effects | ||
| Effect on Teacher | Identify at least 2 effects on the teacher when the behavior occurs | 5 |
| Effect on classroom and students | Identify at least 2 effects on the classroom and/or students when the behavior occurs | 5 |
| Causes | ||
| Direct Causes | Identify at least 4 direct causes of a barrier/problem | 5 |
| Indirect Causes | Identify at least 4 indirect causes of a barrier/problem | 5 |
| Solutions/Strategies | ||
| Chosen solutions/strategies | Changes to encourage behavior change | 5 |
| Type of stimulus | For each solution, please state the type of solution such as a positive or negative reinforcement, punishment, or extinction | 5 |
| Explain reasoning for each stimulus type | Please explain your reasoning for each solution; e.g., why did you choose positive reinforcement and how is it positive reinforcement? | 5 |
| Style and Citations | ||
| Style/Grammer | Please minimize errors in style, spelling, grammar, etc. Be sure to use APA style! | 5 |
| Sources & Citations | Information in all source citations should be correct and in APA format | 5 |
| Behavior Management Plan | 50 pts | |
References
Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences. San Francisco, CA: John-Wiley & Sons.
Fink, L. D. (2005). Integrated course design [Electronic Version]. IDEA Center
Woolfolk, A. (2006). Educational Psychology (Vol. 10): Allyn & Bacon.
