Tanya Langlois

Blog 9   Troublemakers - Carla Shalaby Reflection Before reading this preface, I imagined classroom management as one of the most important skills to master as a future teacher. I thought about how I would  maintain  order, set expectations, and handle disruptive behavior.  Th is changed  how I want to think about my future students. When a child refuses to comply, acts out, or makes noise when others are silent,  my first  instinct   would  probably be  to redirect, discipline, or remove.  But what if that child is actually telling me something important about the environment I've created? One way to combat this is to give students a real voice in their education.  If children are allowed to name what they need, we spend less time guessing what their behavior means.  The video below shows a school that practices student-led conferences ,  and I think  it's  a powerful example of what it looks like to a...

  Blog 8 Literacy  w ith  a n  Attitude   Patrick J Finn Connections -  Chapter 2         Patrick Finn’s discussion of Jean Anyon’s study shows how much social class shapes the way students experience school. The way a classroom is run sends a message to students about what their teachers think they are capable of. When I read Chapter 2 and connect it to other authors  we’ve  studied this semester, I keep noticing the same pattern: schools often reinforce inequality instead of challenging it.   Anyon found that in working-class schools, teachers often assumed students  couldn’t  handle complex thinking. Instead of helping them  understand  the material, they focused on step-by-step instructions and repetitive tasks. Lisa Delpit would see this as a major problem. She talks about the difference between teaching students the “codes of power” and just training them to follow directions. In these classr...

Blog Post 7   What to Look for in a Classroom   Alfie Kohn   Reflection and Connection     When I think of a classroom, I think of a place that is warm, inviting, and comfortable. It should be a space that celebrates its students by displaying their work and accomplishments, making them feel proud of the environment.  In my opinion, children  learn best through collaboration. I love classrooms where students can talk and share ideas, which  is  difficult to do when desks are stuck in rows. In his  list , Alfie Kohn suggests that chairs gathered around tables are far better for  facilitating  interaction. He also argues that the teacher’s voice should not be the only sound heard. Instead of lecturing from the front, teachers should be walking around, guiding students toward answers to foster independent thinking. Students need to feel comfortable sharing ideas and answering questions ,  even if they are incorrect.   Th...