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Running head: BEHAVIOR PHILOSOPHY

PPE 310: Health Literacy for Schools


Behavior Philosophy
Daniel Scott
Arizona State University
Dr. Hesse

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Running head: BEHAVIOR PHILOSOPHY

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Behavior Philosophy
Behavior is an important factor to a student and teachers success in the
classroom. It is the foundation you build a healthy working relationship with your
student. Ultimately, a student can only succeed knowing the proper discipline and
conduct. It is crucial for a teacher to find the best behavior implementation plan for
their classroom so the students can know the procedures throughout the year, they
can apply it to their school work, home, relationships and collaborative learning, and
hopefully they will hold on to it until they grow up. Based off of what has worked for
me and what I see work for the teachers around me, I feel like I finally have a grasp
on how to properly manage my future students.
The first task which I believe to be the most important one, because it lays
down the blueprint for the entire year, is to get through those first couple of weeks
as a tough teacher enforcing respect and responsibility for all students. This sets the
tone with the students that in order for it to be a great class, they have to be
constantly on track and on task. The teacher has to instill high expectations in the
students and treat them as if they can achieve those expectations. The first couple
of weeks to a month is the best time to make sure everyone understands what is
expected from them in terms of behavior. It is okay in these couple weeks that the
kids make mistakes in modeling what their behavior should be, as long as the
teacher is constantly reminding them what is expected.
Furthermore, the big question is what is actually expected? Currently my
school follows a PBIS behavior plan where students are constantly rewarded with
appraisal and sometimes small gifts when they are behaving well. This really works
and the reason I know it is working is because today at my internship a kid came

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running up to the teacher to show her the R.O.A.R. cards (good behavior points that
are turned in for a prize) that they had received. The student was ecstatic and that
is how kids should feel, especially when it is way past the half year point. The fact
that it still gives the kid encouragement to maintain good behavior truly exemplifies
what a positive reinforcement is. Therefore, I would want to work on the basis of a
classroom PBIS system, where all the students are working to receive positive
reinforcements that they actually care about. I expect my students to come in
everyday ready to learn, and ready to actively participate in the school curriculum. I
think that in order for this to work you have to give a little as a teacher in return,
therefore I do not mind if at the end of the day there is a free time, or students talk
amongst themselves while working independently, just as long as they give me
their full undivided attention during instruction.
When I entered this internship my teacher told me that all the teachers were
really focusing on talking to kids in a more positive and kinder way. This not only
models what I want my kids to do when they have an issue with another person, but
it also shows respect to the student. When that respect is shown it is more likely to
receive a respectful answer back. Teachers should also explain themselves, or
model through their words, frequently to individual students who are not behaving
properly. There was this scenario today in my classroom where a student was not
doing his work and talking to another student. The teacher who was watching over
them moved his computer, but he quickly moved it back. Right when the student
did that the teacher went over and she explained why she moved the computer in
the first place and how she really wanted him to finish his work and not disrupt
others. The kid listened and after the teacher said thank you for his understanding.
This may not be able to happen at all times during the day, so it would be my duty

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to document when I ever commanded a student to do something, and if they did not
understand why, to go to them later and explain to them why I was so adamant on
them changing their behavior.
Another portion of my behavior philosophy includes making sure there is
visuals around the room to remind the students of what is the expected behavior in
the class. This also encourages literacy, and can also be a place to refer students
when they are not understanding what is going wrong. Places where respect rules
are listed, character pillars are displayed, behavior modeling, and solution posters
are all necessary around the classroom. I think what also encourages positive
behavior is famous figures in the past, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King,
Eleanor Roosevelt, and anyone who truly made an impact from the way they went
about their causes being depicted around the room with maybe a quote or a list of
their accomplishments.
There is something essential that I had never thought of, but realized how
imperative it is, once I actually saw what it can do for the teacher and students in
the classroom. When it finally caught my eye it was kind of a wow moment. It is
important for everyone in the class to have a role/job to support their classmates.
This step to me is now one of the most fundamental things to do, especially in a
lower grade settings. The reason why is because it keeps kids moving without them
being disorderly. For example, while someone is passing out journals, while another
person is sharpening pencils, and then there are other kids checking homework,
while there is one person who is labeled as the teacher assistant, and they are
making sure everyone is staying on task. This gives everyone a chance in the
classroom to feel like they are important and responsible for a duty that must be
done. There is also an accountability piece where the students are held responsible

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for getting their jobs done, and are rewarded if they do so correctly. Some classroom
jobs are phone answerer, door holder, teachers assistant, graded work returner,
note taker, someone who passes out all the journals, someone who writes down
what needs to go in the agenda, etc. This also leaves the kids with less time to get
in trouble and out of line, and gives them the ability to move around and wake
themselves up while doing something that is necessary.
Finally, in addressing the role of students, I think it is important for a teacher,
especially one at a lower grade level, to pick and choose their battles. Not
everything needs to be made into a spectacle, yet some things need to be fixed
immediately that might be subtle. Always look for things that are recurring issues,
issues that will affect the persons health, outlook on life and school, hurt someone
or themselves when choosing to react to a behavior. It is not always necessary to
react to every single outburst from a student. This is very critical to remember
because students are children who have jitters throughout the day and need to let
out some energy from time to time. This can come in many different forms, but as
long as it is not hurting anyone, then I say dont bother.
Speaking of allowing kids to be kids, there constantly needs to be brain
breaks and moments in the day students can take a break off their work, do a
physical activity, then jump back into what they were doing. This will help students
who both are tired during the day and need to be woken up, or kids that cannot sit
still. When I was student teaching in my functional skills placement, many times my
students would come into class very sleepy. Therefore I would always do a morning
workout with them to get their blood flowing. There are so many sites and songs to
help with this, my favorite is gonoodle.com.

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Addressing the role of parents is a tricky yet necessary step. I always


visualize my future class and wanting to have as much collaboration with the
parents as possible. I think another job of a teacher, which might be time
consuming, but worth it, is actually calling parents at least once to three times a
month. It does not need to be the full class, however no one should be left out, so
eventually every students parent should be called. Parents should be called when a
bad behavior is displayed but also when good behaviors are displayed. They should
be told how hard their child is working to be a better student. It will make the child
feel good, the parent feel good, and the teacher feel good. Collaboration is key
when talking to parents. They might know strategies that work for the student that
you as a teacher have not tried yet. I also think it is important to work with
whatever parent is thrown your way, even if your ideas do not align. Ultimately,
what is most important is the student, so whatever you can do as a teacher to
understand the parent and what happens to the child when they leave your
classroom is a necessary tool to further develop individualized behavior plans.
This leads to the next important topic of individually working with students
who show diverse behavior. As a teacher I think it is important to approach a
student with an individual behavior problem in a very caring and concerned way.
The reason for this is because I do not think that students truly want to be that way,
especially when all the other students are aiming to receive rewards. I truly think
that it is either learned behavior with no examples of role models in the students
life, or that student has an issue they need to work out that might change their
behavior, or the student may have a disability. I always think of my cousins when I
see kids who are not behaving the way they should. The reason I bring up my
cousins is because they were all abandoned by their mother, who is heavily

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addicted to drugs, and they have no father. My grandmother takes care of all five of
them. Sometimes their mother comes back to see them, but eventually leaves. My
grandmother and the teachers at their school noticed a reoccurring pattern that
when their mother comes back into their life that is when things get bad. I will never
forget when one of my cousins came running out of the room screaming and crying
because he thought we had left him and needed to be reminded that we were still
there. From an observers perspective, the behaviors that my cousins show are bad,
but they are not bad students, and they are not bad kids, which brings me to my
final point.
Children are not bad. I will never label or encourage a person to label a
student bad. This subconsciously tells the student and anyone who works with this
student that they are not worthy of an education the kids who exemplify good
behavior get, they are useless, they are too bad to learn. This will lead them to
make bad decisions in life and I could not live with that conscious that would remind
me at one point I told that kid he or she was terrible.
In sum, I think it is important for teachers to right out of the gate make sure
that students are aware of the expectations. They must always be reminded of
these expectations through visuals and conversations with the instructor. I think it is
important to also work on a positive reinforcement model, which praises students
for doing their best to become better students. Respect must go both ways and in
doing so you will realize that students are capable of more than what you think that
age range can do. They can be held accountable for daily tasks in the classroom
and can be a great help to teachers. Parents must be constantly collaborated with,
and a phone call, whether good or bad, can go a long way in understanding a
student and where they come from. Finally to wrap up my philosophy, I believe that

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every kid has the ability to achieve greatness, and no one should be labeled bad,
whether they need individual work or not. We must always strive to be the role
model in the students life, because sometimes they do not have one.

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