Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulation

Implementing self-efficacy and self-regulation strategies could really benefit Lisa in the classroom. Because using self-efficacy encouragement is useful to students that are not having trouble in the classroom, this could be something that Lisa really needs to experience in order to participate in groups and be attentive in class. I would start out with the basic encouragement to build her confidence. If we allow her to work by herself and build her confidence in her individual work, then we could try telling her things like, "You've done so well by yourself, I'm sure you will do an even better job if you work with your friends." Even if it takes some positive or negative reinforcement along with the encouragement, with enough support it could work. I could also give her a chart to fill out that would allow her to write down what she liked or didn't like when working in a group, then allow her to pick her own group based on what she likes. This would allow her to regulate herself and what she likes, as long as she tries to participate in the group. We could have one-on-one meetings with Lisa after her group work and point out all the good things she did and contributed to the group and how she conducted herself. It is important to make sure that she realizes the benefits of her group work for her to gain the confidence built by an increased sense of self-efficacy.

This article discusses the difference between high and low self-efficacy and how it affects student's work habits and their understanding of locus of control.

Case Study Consideration

Our case study, about Lisa, leaves room for a lot of different theories to be attempted. From a behaviorist's perspective, you could implement a system of reinforcements for Lisa if she is willing to work in a group and cooperates the whole time. Trying to show her how the appropriate ways of interacting within her group can help her learn can be reinforced. Also, if an individual reinforcement system doesn't work, there could be a class-wide system that would end with a "big" reward, like a pizza party or no homework for a week. These rewards would only be offered to those that participated in their groups and did not cause disruptions. These reward systems would be offered in hopes that Lisa would eventually participate in and see the benefits of group work.
From a constructivist perspective, we could try smaller groups with brand new activities so that it was different every time we did group work. We could try allowing her to pick her groups to see if she would be more willing to participate if she had more control over who she worked with. Even allowing her to pick new activities or having a group come up with their own activities could be attempted.
The difference between these approaches is that the behaviorist approach could both punish and encourage Lisa depending on which system was being used and if the systems helped her. The benefits to the behaviorists theory are that the rewards could be what helps her join the groups but then the reward itself serves as one reward and then the benefit of working in the group could be another. A deficit of the behaviorist approach is that if the rewards don't interest Lisa at all, then the system will not work.
The benefits of the constructivist approach is that Lisa gains more control over her work and who it is she works with and the children also have input into picking their activities. The deficits are that, again, if Lisa does not like working in groups with anyone in the class, then having the freedom to choose will not encourage her cooperative behavior. Also, she may like to pick the work she does but will not like to do it in groups either. If she is denied being able to do the activity she chose without being in a group, that could have a negative effect on her desire to do the activity at all.

I believe my overall classroom management will strictly depend on the students. I find I am interested in a little bit of each theory so I can not settle for just one for my classroom. I am open to using them all at different times of one for each child if necessary.

Here is an article discussing the use of Behaviorism, constructivism, and cognitivism.
http://abanksto.myweb.uga.edu/portfolio/bankston_learning.pdf

Metacognition

The process of thinking and understanding is what we as teachers hope every student can achieve in our classroom. Enhancing students' metacognitive processes is the first step. I believe Math is a subject that would best allow students to see and understand their progress throughout the lesson. From watching my fifth grade observation class at Farragut, the teacher provided ample amounts of feedback and explanations that would help foster the children's understandings. The teacher would have students walk her through the steps to a math problem to check for their understanding of the right sequencing of operations. Their ability to do the right operations is immediately reflected in their answering of the problem. The teacher can ask questions throughout the lesson of how and why the students went in a particular order. This will allow students to correct their understanding as they go instead of waiting till the end of a lesson.
Another subject that is great for having children think is Reading. While beginning a book at Farragut, the students would look at the title page and pictures and predict what the story could be about. The teacher would ask them why they made their predictions and what evidence there was to support it. This checking of understanding and reasoning can help the teacher aim questions at the students to provoke more thinking on the students' part. The more questions we encourage students to ask, the better we can help them piece everything together and further their ability to think and understand.
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