Learning Theory

I have observed the teacher that I am working with really use the learning theory of behaviorism in her classroom.  There are a few different things that she has in place that supports this theory.   The students each strive to earn a fun Friday each week by being on task throughout the week and by getting all of their work done on time.  Another thing that she uses is handing out praise notes.  The school has a school wide program of praise notes that they give out to all the students as they are caught going out of their way to do good things while at school.  This teacher uses these notes to give to the best behaved boy and girl at the end of each day.

Another thing that is in place in this classroom is the use of think time.  Think time is an equivalent to a time out, but is geared to being a more positive  experience.  The students have 3 strikes before they are issued a think time.  If a child is given a think time, they simply go to a designated place in another teacher's classroom to fill out a form that makes the student think about why they are in trouble and how to remedy it.  After the student fills out the form, the other teacher then goes through the form with the student.  After they have discuss what has happened and how the student can avoid this situation in the future, the student is then allowed to go back to their classroom and discuss the problem with his teacher.  It is a great teaching tool to use because it allows the student to do some self reflection and figure out how to avoid the problem behavior.

For my service learning experience,  I am going to volunteer at Rees Elementary school in Spanish Fork. This is a Title 1 school.  Although, the houses directly surrounding the school are nicer homes, the school boundaries include quite a bit of lower income homes. The student body has a great diversity because of this. Rees has received a 5 star rating on the website GreatSchools.   

My understanding of service is learning is that it is an opportunity for me to learn about being a teacher in a hands on approach. I will be able to observe and also be able to give a helping hand where I can.  During my service hours, I am hoping to be able to spend some time in the Kindergarten classrooms. I believe that service learning will be beneficial to me and help me to understand the ins and outs of what actually goes on in the classroom.  I look forward to helping the teachers and to be able to see how they manage their classrooms and go about their day.