EDE 4504: BLOG 1 & ED

The first routine that I chose to do was line the students up for lunch. The CT performed the routine by saying “Class! Class!” to get their attention. This prompts the students to respond “Yes! Yes!”. Once she has the classes attention, she calls on the students by table to stand in line. She tells them to walk calmly and quietly to their number on the floor. When they are all in line, she tells them to keep a FAME line. FAME stands for feet, arms, mouth and hands. She expects them to be facing forwards at all times. She handles the students who do not preform the routine appropriately by pulling them to the back of the line and holding hands with them to whole way to the place that they are going. The CT shared how important allowing the students to make mistakes for themselves and understand the consequences of not obey the class rules or teacher directions that are given to them

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When I performed the routine, at first, the children were out of control. They did not want to listen to my attention-getters and totally ignored what I had to say. They were so excited that someone new was taking charge that this was just too much for them to focus on. It wasn’t until I sat there quietly for a little under a minute that they finally calmed down. I told them that they just missed a minute of their lunch time because they did not want to listen. Once they all quieted down, I said "Class! Class! and they all replied "Yes! Yes!" (FEAP 2a). After I talked with the students, I got the desired result. Using the FAME method helped me succeed in getting the results that I was trying to achieve. There were no kids turned around, talking or touching other students (FEAP 2b). This seems to be the biggest problem when asking kindergarten students to create a line.

The developmental level easily impacts the routines potential results because the children do not understand the concept of personal space or fully listening to what the teacher says. These children are still in the preoperational stage of life. This is the second stage of the Theory of Cognitive Development designed and established by Jean Piaget. It is found in children between the ages of 2-7 years old. According to Ed Psych Modules 3rd Edition, “Preoperational children typically engage in egocentric speech, talking aloud about things that interest them without regard for the interests and conversational contributions of the listener” (Durwin & Reese-Webber, 2017, p. 115). When I was trying to get the attention of these students, they were more interested in talking to their friends and telling them what they had to say instead of listening to the instructions that were given to them. I have also seen this when they are talking to each other in a normal classroom setting, not just when getting instruction. The children want to tell everyone what they think more than they want to listen to their friends and teacher. This is a great example of preoperational thinking that can be found in the classroom. The first reflective questions that I have is, is it possible to make children care and listen to the conversational contributions of their friend when in the preoperational stage? The second reflective question is, is there a way to break students out of the preoperational stage early or does a child only grow out of it over time?

The important things that I learned while engaging in this routine is that with these young students, you must be on top of them. The routine did not look like it was going to go well at first because the students were more interested in rambling on about things that have happened to them or just mindless information that they wanted to say. Until they realized that they were be penalized in some way, did their view of the action I was trying to get them to perform change. They also were a little touchy towards their classmates but I reiterated the fact that they were missing more of their valuable lunch time and they went back to preforming the action the way it was intended. What went well was getting them to walk calmly and quietly over to their designated number. I only had to hold the hand of one student once we made it out of the classroom. I took my picture from the back of the line because it is important to see everything that is going on with your students. When you are in the back of the line, you have the best view. I believe that this went well because they knew that this indicated that they were one step closer to getting to go to lunch so they listened and followed the directions a lot more attentively. The routine itself sometimes does not meet the developmental needs of my students but when it is broken down, it is easier for them to complete while following the directions accurately. Next time, I will engage this management routine differently by reiterating the desired outcome multiple times.

Durwin, C., & Reese-Weber, M. (2017). EdPsych (6th ed., pp.115). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

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