Lesson 4

Being relational means the students have a positive relationship with the teacher. This can be accomplished by showing a warm and caring attitude toward the students. A relational teacher must be worthy of respect, so she should provide a well-run classroom with clear expectations in place. It is possible to be strict about enforcing rules without being mean. It is actually more common for teachers to lose their patience when they are not consistent with rules and expectations. Another important component of building a positive relationship with students is to keep expectations realistic and spend a lot more time praising the positive behavior than punishing the bad behavior.

Lesson 3

The issues of attention, emotions, and learning are central in the classroom. Students cannot learn if they are not paying attention. A mentor teacher once told me bluntly, “If you don’t have classroom management, you have nothing.” Point taken. It is a battle to get the students’ attention and keep it. Teachers are wise to make lessons interesting and keep students engaged. Young students should not be expected to spend long periods of time passively listening. They can be active listeners by taking notes or spend a chunk of time processing the information by discussing it with a partner or group. Some students, regardless of the teacher’s management skills and lesson planning, will still have trouble paying attention. ADHD is common. These students should be placed at the front of the room and may need an IEP so their particular needs are met. Both attention and emotions are heavily impacted by the environment during infancy and early childhood. Some kids may be wrongly diagnosed with ADHD when they simply have some catching up to do. Teachers can help them build stamina. Emotions, like attention, are immature in young students. Emotional development may have been stunted in the home from stress or neglect. Teachers can help these students immensely by providing a kind and positive environment. Sometimes emotional abuse can hinder the child’s ability to learn. They may need a lot of encouragement in order to build confidence.

Lesson 2

Vision and hearing are vital for learning. Like all bodily functions, hearing and vision are controlled by the brain. During infancy, the brain must be stimulated so that babies can see and hear properly. The eyes must be trained to see detail and process different images. They need to have interesting things to look at and lots of close human contact. The ears also develop in early infancy. Babies should be exposed to music, talking, and nature sounds. Loud, monotonous sounds can have a detrimental effect. As a teacher, I need to look for signs of hearing and vision problems. Lazy eyes or inattentiveness many be signs of vision or hearing problems. When detected, I must refer students for evaluation. Although they may not be able to have complete correction of the problems by the time they are in first grade, the brain can still repair some functioning. Corrective lenses and hearing aids can do a world of good so that students can learn.

Lesson 1

After watching the videos on brain architecture, plasticity, and understanding the impact of the environment on a child, I know that I have my work cut out for me as a teacher. Since I teach first grade, many of my students have already suffered or benefitted from the impact their early childhood experiences have had on their brains. They are still young enough, however, that what I do with them in the classroom will have a profound impact on their continued brain development. The brain develops until age 25, so 6 and 7-year-olds are just starting out. Two things I already do are read quality literature to my students and provide a loving, positive classroom environment. It is easy to find a book on YouTube or even use a short video clip for a journal prompt. Sometimes it is frustrating to get all the students to sit and listen to a story. They are not used to sitting and listening. But I persist. I believe something important takes place when I read to them. As far as the classroom environment, I pour on praise. My students are always happy to walk through the door, and my former students still run up to me and give me hugs. I know that positive development happens in their brains as a result of this environment. These two examples will go a long way, but I will continue to look for other ways to help create an environment for optimal brain development in my students.