Schmidt Chapter Three: Great Teachers are Ring Masters

What’s the Big Idea about Behavior?

In Schmidt chapter three it focuses on student’s behavior. I found this chapter the most interesting and helpful so far. What all new teachers and even more seasoned teachers struggle with is behavior management.  I learned from reading this chapter that all behaviors are motivated by two basic instincts. The first one being “to seek pleasure” and the second is “to avoid pain.” When reading this first page I couldn’t believe the author could some up something so large into two main categories but I see now by teaching in the classroom how very true this statement can be.

I also found the “Understanding Camouflagers” in this chapter very helpful. I had fun reading through the first few “names” like the class clown and I could reflect on my own education and who each of my classmates were and what “name” I might of fell under as a student. What was interesting was learning why we have students like the class clown. This chapter broke down these “names” and gave a reasons why a student might portray themselves this way. I remember looking back at the class clown and just seeing a student who was funny and knew how to distract the teacher so we didn’t have to do as much work. By reading this chapter I realize now that distracting the teacher wasn’t only the main concern. My class clown could have been distracting the teacher because even though he looked like he was smart and understood what was going on in class he might have had trouble comprehending what was actually going on during a lesson. He might have been afraid to look “stupid” to the class and being hurt so he acted funny instead.

In my own classroom I realize many of my students fall under the “bad boys and victims.” One of the main phrases used in my classroom is “stop looking at me (insert students name here.”) Even though I only have five students most of the day, a couple of my students have a hard time working with other students. Even though all my students have a day were I can see them as “bad boy” or “victim,” I have two students in particular who are these “names” on a daily bases. I learned that this strategy allows the student to get out of work when they feel frustrated or “daunted” at the task at hand. I learned that this is why one of my students who falls under the “victim name” will yell out “Stop looking at me!” and the student making the faces will always tell me “I’m not doing anything.” I learned to keep these students separated when I am able to and when I know a lesson will be challenging I will sometimes break the class apart and teach them in different groups so they can’t take their frustrations out on each other. This allows the student to ask questions if they are confused or frustrated instead of trying to have an out. The book advised that when this happens instead of jumping into the middle of the fight that I should take a second and figure out why my student are “hiding” behind this behavior.