Educational Psychology Module 3

Chapters seven and thirteen are based on behaviors of learning and creating a classroom or learning environments. One point of chapter seven that I would like to focus on is actually in the introduction called the "Teacher's Case Book." It briefly talks about a student going to the nurse a lot and about nine out of ten times he/she has not been sick. It was recognized that the student would most often "feel" ill during oral assignments or when he/she had to speak in front of the class.

This reminds me of several of my students. They often say that they do not feel well or have had an emotional episode that puts them into a bad mood to which they can not complete the assignment or task at hand. This is a common behavior in my experience and to be completely honest my past schooling days. I have done something to this effect due to nerves or failure to complete work while I was in elementary or High School. At first it was an unconditioned response that eventually turned into a conditioned response. I had realized that if I did not feel well I could avoid that which my me nervous and that I was afraid of. Now older I have realized it was more fear than anything. After being punished for some of the behavior I was displaying it became worse, but after one teacher in sixth grade reached out and positively reinforced my actions I learned to change them. I became confident, out going, and well to be honest again annoyingly out going. That one teacher changed my schooling and my life. Learning how to change the response to a stimuli that I did not like or made me nervous allowed me to push through and really strive to reach my full potential.

Positive reinforcement is a n extremely powerful tool along with negative reinforcements or consequences or punishments. Correcting behavior with an constructive and or a preventive no threatening attitude or approach can again change lives. Is this so for every situation no, but I strive to be firm and clear yet reassuring that yes the student did not complete whatever was not completed but while correcting reinforce confidence and composure.