As educators, I feel we use a variety of theories in the classroom. I must say, I haven’t entered a classroom that is not setup on a rewards and consequences system in some manner. I have behavior system set up in the classroom. With that said, I have a variety of positive reinforcements outlined in the classroom as well, positive comments, candy, certificates, calls home, and one of my favorites, shooting hoops in our classroom basketball nerf goal. :)
Homework and Practice:
I must say, I would like to read more about McREL’s research in Chapter 10 that stated “that parental involvement in doing homework should be kept to a minimum.” Quite an interesting quote !
I teach third grade, and I feel parental involvement is crucial to a child’s success in the classroom. I try to keep them as informed as possible. I post our newsletters on the classroom website and have the spelling lists attached as well.
There are times that I will send a study guide home and ask students to have parents sign and return. At the very least, this shows me that the parents know they have a test, and hopefully have reviewed the information. As an incentive of returning the signed paper, I add extra credit for this. As students move through middle and high school, I understand the idea of parental involvement on homework becoming more and more minimal and having students take more responsibility.
Technology/Websites to share:
www.starfall.com
www.Brainpop.com (used it to introduce a concept)
www.nationalgeographic.com (We just used this website to listen to animal sounds from the artic.)
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ReplyDeleteThe comment about limited parental involvement in homework caught my attention as well. I feel that parental involvement (or lack of) can make or break a child's success. As a fifth grade teacher, my philosophy of sending home work is to not only extend a child's thinking, but to include parents to a certain degree. In fact, our Math series includes a weekly "Home Link"segment that is intended to be worked on at home with parents!
ReplyDeleteI found the comment about parental involvement interesting as well. I am constantly wondering how to get my parents involved in their child's education. But as I thought about it more, I realized that you want students to practice the activities that they had learned in school and be successful at the activity without parental involvement. Often times I think parents (especially in kindergarten) try to reteach the activity (sometimes do it for them) and perhaps this is the rationale behind this statement.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct with the statement about parent involvement. Parent involvement in a child's school life is crucial. I especially liked the idea of you having the parents sign the study guide to let parents know their child has a test coming up. I would definitely use this if I taught upper grade levels - I will most likely share this idea with my colleagues if that is okay with you!?
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