A brand new teacher, who came from a rural town, started his first year of teaching at Central High School, an inner city high school. Troy was given an upperclassman psychology class to teach (as a gift). As he continues to teach the class, it is apparent there is several troubling students (Jerome, Angel, Hosea, and Tyrone). Trying to control his classroom, he implements a punishment system. First offense is a clear warning, then second offense changing seats or a grade reduction. A third offense is being sent to the dean’s office. In two and half weeks in, he gives 5-7 reprimands a day and grade deductions.
One day, Hosea was bullying Maria, and Troy sent him to dean’s office. Hosea came back relevantly soon afterwards. Troy went to talk to Roy (the Dean of Boys) about Hosea after class. Roy said that he had other problems to deal with and that Troy needs to change his attitude in order to get his classroom under control. Unsatisfied with that, Troy went to the principal. Mr. Dobson said that he needs to learn how to control and manage his classroom. Demographics The setting is in an inner city high school in the Midwest, Central High School.
Surrounding homes and business are decayed after middle and upper class families move to the suburbs. Demographically, the school consists of 50% African-American, 30% White, and 20% Hispanic. Economically, most of the students are from lower class families. Some students aren’t eligible for a student lunch, and there is a lack of funding to the school. In the class, there 33 seniors; only 21 seniors plans on going to college. Main characters There are nine main characters. Troy is the new teacher who comes from a small town. He is apprehensive about the school’s culture. Mr.
Dobson is the principal of Central High School. He gave Troy advise on his first day and he believes that Troy should take care of the discipline problem by himself. Mary is the social studies department chair. She tells Troy to make clear limitations and rules. Angel, Jerome, Hosea, and Tyrone are the disruptive students in Troy’s class. They often get in verbal fights with each other and talk without permission. Maria is the girl who was bullied by Hosea; she is picked on because of her good grades. , Lastly, Roy is the Dean of Boys; he takes care of punishing the boys.
He is busy with other matters, which is why he can’t help Troy much. Point of View According to Hosea, Jerome, Tyrone, and Angel; the problem is the teacher won’t listen to them nor respect them. To them, the class feels more like a prison, instead of school. They see Troy as a threat, not a teacher or someone they would respect. Because of this, the intensity is high. According to Maria, she is being bullied because she is doing well in class. The intensity is high. According to other students, they can’t learn efficiently or properly with all this fighting between Troy and some of the other students.
The intensity is medium. According to Troy, (teacher), the problem is a lack of respect and cooperation with the students. He can’t have a discussion without interruptions. His colleagues won’t listen to him, nor help him. The intensity is high. According to the parents, this may be an issue because they be disrupted at work when the Dean calls them about their child. This means that they can lose time and money. The intensity of this is median. According to Mr. Dobson, this may be an issue because he has other major problems to face like school fights and weapons brought into the school.
This may be happening in other classrooms as well. The intensity is high. According to the community, this behavior can translate outside of school. The intensity is median. For colleges, this could affect their admissions. The intensity is low. Theories Social Cognitive theory could help this problem. According to Social Cognitive theory, people observe a behavior and analyze the benefits and consequences of imitating that behavior before imitating it. Based on rewards and punishment, the behavior will continue or stop. This is motivation.
The students doesn’t have motivation to behavior well in class. Troy’s punishment system isn’t enough to deter students away from that behavior. According to this model, he can add rewards too, not just punishment. He can encourage and give feedback to his students. He should allow them to take ahold and be responsible of their own education to make it more meaningful to them. Behavior theory could help this problem as well. Operant conditioning is when the a behavior is strengthen or weaken when punished or rewarded. In this case, Troy uses negative reinforcement when trying to control his class.
He lowers grades, moves seats, etc which is considered negative reinforcement because it is meant to weaken the bad behavior. He should implement positive reinforcement as well. Studies have shown that positive reinforcement works better than negative reinforcement. He could do something/ give something as simple as praise when a student is behavioring well in order to strengthen the desired behavior. Alternative Solutions Problem: Students can’t/aren’t learning Teacher will change discipline system to include more of a less harsher system and more of an reward system.
He will also adjust his form of communication to fit his students’. He will also offer tutoring outside of class to students who need help. He will aso have teacher-parent confidences and have better expectations of his students. Students will attend tutoring and counseling sessions. They will also respect the teacher and listen to him. They will also communicate with parents about school. Principal will acknowledge the problem, instead of ignoring the problem. Principal will fire the teacher. Parents will help their children with homework. Also, parents will attend parent-teacher conferences
Problem; Inexperience Teacher Teacher will be more opened minded to ideas. Teacher will research different classroom management styles. Teacher will attend classroom management classes. Teacher will listen to the parents and the students about their concerns and needs. Principal will give advice to the teacher. Principal will hire a classroom coach to teacher teachers about classroom management. Parents will communicate with the teacher about their child’s academics. Students will also communicate with the teacher about their concerns and needs. Problem: Students are jumping on the teacher’s weaknesses
Teacher will reinforce the rules. Teacher will also respect his students. Students will abide by the rules and listen to the teacher. They will also respect the teacher. The principal will email the parents about communication problems and give them strategies to them. The parents will show students communication skills. Problem: Parents doesn’t care Teachers will send a newsletter every week about things going on the classroom and in the school. Teacher will also have parent-teacher confidences to all the students. Teacher will use dojo interaction.
Students will express their concerns about school to their parents. Students will also be responsible of showing their parents the newsletter. Principal will form a parent committee to get parents involved. Principal will also hold family nights to get parents interested and to let students and their parents bond. Principal will also set up newsletter to all classrooms. Parents will attend parent-teacher conferences and family nights. Parents will also look at the newsletter and get involved in the committee. Problem : Frustrated teacher Teacher will stop being bias to students.
Teacher will adjust his attitude and give all his students a chance. Teacher will also listen to his students problems and concerns. Students will stop antagonizing the teacher and listen to the teacher. Parents will explain how important education and teachers are. Principal will acknowledge the teacher’s problems and concerns and visit the classroom. Problem: Uncooperative Colleagues Teacher will express concerns to other colleagues and incorporate advice. Principal will establish teacher conferences for all the teachers so all teachers can bring up problems and concerns they may have.
This may be happening in other classrooms. Other teachers will actively listen and give advice. Evaluate Alternatives Teacher will change discipline system This is good because he would acknowledge and reward students who are doing good in the class. He won’t just be focusing on the bad. This would promote the students to do well and motivate them. It would allow him to gain respect from his students. It would put both the students and him on more of a equal standing. On the other hand, students might assume that he is taking favorites if he is always rewarding the same people.
This could cause more friction with some students if they feel this way. It will also take time to find the right system. Since he is a new teacher, he will have to research and experiment to find the one system that fits his and the class needs. Principle will acknowledge problem and view all problems fairly This is good because it will allow him to have better relationships with the teachers. There will be more of an understanding between them This will also allow him to have a better understanding of what is happening in the school.
He can then assess situations more accurately and thoroughly. On the other hand, students could feel more oppressed since the principal would be monitoring more. It would take a lot of time. It would be hard to manage time to do this since there are other duties he has to attend as principal. If there are a lot of problems, it can be overwhelming as well. Students will respect the teacher/ authority This is good because they would have a better relationship with the teacher. This can lead to better grades and more learning since they will not be focus on fighting.
It can also translate outside of school. This means they might not get in trouble with parents or law enforcement. On the other hand, the teacher has to earn their respect, and they have to earn his. This would take time because students will have to build a good relationship with the teacher before respect will be given. Articulation of Solution There are several steps that is in this plan. First, teachers will peer review other teachers. They will sit in different classrooms when they don’t have a period and peer review teachers to see how well they are managing their classroom.
This will be done in September to make sure the teacher who are struggling gets help, If they don’t pass the evaluation, the principal will come and evaluate them himself. Those struggling teachers will then have to take a professional development and classroom management training. This will be once a week for 4 weeks. Then, teachers can implement what they have learned into their classroom. Teachers will take this in October. In order to get this funding, the school will have a car wash fundraiser and a bake sale.
Second, the principal will have teacher conferences every quarter to talk to parents and update them on their student’s process. Third, teachers will start using dojo interaction in their classroom to get parents invested in their child’s learning. Fourth, students will take a field trip to a local community college to see what can happen after high school. This will give them a goal to keep in mind and motivate them. This will happen before winter break. Fifth, teachers will peer review other teachers again in the spring to make sure all teachers are doing well. This will happen in February.