Explain a fear, phobia or some euphoric action of yours that seems to be linked to a typically “neutral” stimulus, like a color, a piece of clothing, place on the highway, seat in a car, or whatever. Do you remember any classical conditioning event from your past that might have created this type of response? Be sure to identify the UCS, UCR, CS and CR for your audience.

One insurmountable fear suffered by this author is that of water, whether submersion, immersion, suffusion, or even inundation. Suffering the greatest of embarrassments as a result avoidance of any possible associated situations was a strong pursuit throughout this life.

When sister Donna and yours truly were ages 6 and 4 respectively, our mother took us to swimming lessons at the local YWCA. These lessons transpired in a large pool with several other little girls and one instructor. Parents could stay and observe on bleacher seats at the sides.

At the start of the first lesson, the class entered the water eager to listen and learn. Almost immediately, mother frantically cried out, “Don’t put your head in!” and “Don’t drown!”

Needless-to-say, not much swimming came about from that first lesson. At the outset of the second lesson, mom’s beleaguered outbursts of incredulous horror quashed any success of learning how to swim. There were no further lessons at the behest of the two small sisters. To this day, the thought of swimming, boating, or any water activity causes immediate attacks of extreme panic. The shower in the master bathroom has a handheld sprayer so direct control of the direction of the streaming water is easily controlled and kept away from the face.

Only two exposures to mother’s irrational behavior caused this tremendous fear to continue into and throughout an adult life! This is a textbook definition of classical conditioning. As it began, the water (in the swimming pool) equates to the neutral stimulus when not paired with other factors. However, mother’s frantic screams of abject terror upon entry to the water echoed through the pool. Her screams signify the unconditioned stimulus. Since the cries link to the water, water then becomes the conditioned stimulus. The unreasonable screams and cries elicited fear of loss of life or limb. That is, “I would drown if my face went under water.”

This clearly is the unconditioned response. After only two exposures to the same exaggerated situations, a deathly fear of water and drowning arose for encasement in this being, possibly forever. The heart rate increases automatically at the possibility of the face immersing in water. The reflexive response results in fear or dread (i.e. the conditioned response).

“I’ve developed a new philosophy…I only dread one day at a time.” Charlie Brown.

Works Cited

Berk, Laura. (1996). Infants, Children, and Adolescents. 2^nd Ed., Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Charles, C.M. (1999). Building Classroom Discipline. New York: Addison Wesley Longman.

Websites:

Behaviorism as a Learning Theory, course documents

Huitt, W. and J. Hummel. The Behavioral System, May, 1998.

Personal:

Discussion with sister, January 18, 2001.

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Lesson 2 Question 2

399OL

Spring 2001

Tom Anderson- Instructor

Dianne Fulton

What is your reaction to my inquiry about the exclusion of assertive discipline from the textbook?

This elementary teacher completed her undergraduate degree in elementary education at Illinois State University in 1968, and immediately started teaching at the same school in which she gained her elementary education. It is unfathomable that an author of a textbook would not discuss such a fundamental approach to classroom management as Assertive Discipline (AD). Although, no undergraduate classes about classroom management considered AD, District 186 indoctrinated all teachers with Canter’s AD procedures in the 1980’s. The district had mandatory after school workshops in the early 80’s that strongly advocated and reinforced the AD concept. Since that initial implementation and enforcement of the basic AD concept, repercussions from that style of discipline occur in the District’s classrooms to date. Requirements for teachers’ submission of discipline plans at the onset of each school year exact strict enforcement. The plans must include all rules decided by the class and the consequences remain clearly visible and delineated on the classroom walls throughout the school year. Parents and students must sign an agreement at the outset of the year.

There is considerable value to this plan on many of its points. Students must understand why rules exist and learn how to follow them by modeling and reteaching (Charles, 89). Another point of Canter’s ideals is redirecting student’s misbehavior with “eye contact,” close proximity, and words of praise. The Assertive Discipline model includes suggestions for the “difficult” student. This axiom further suggests that the teacher could display their concern and care on an individual basis, therefore, increasing the likelihood of “reaching” such a student. Additionally, Canter’s AD maxim suggests that teachers should be ready to enforce their discipline plan in a fair and consistent manner.

After reading Charles’ Chapter 4 on Assertive Discipline (AD), a question arose concerning where the error existed in such a program. If an author refrains from discussing the AD program in his new textbooks for the beginning teachers and classroom management, then one must assume there is a better system, of which all of this School District is unaware. What could that be?

Immediately, research and investigation into our text, Building Classroom Discipline began to determine what major points exceeded Assertive Discipline. Much of the basis of Assertive Discipline procedures are in place, but the wording of the verbiage is different. Jones’s directives (Chapter 5) help students support their own self-control. He suggests using incentives to achieve this phenomenon (109). He also suggests employing the general concepts of eye contact, physical proximity, remaining calm…(110-111), the same as AD.

Albert’s “Cooperative Discipline” relates many of the same principles for achieving classroom management. She suggests that students will behave when they personally establish a “code of conduct” and decide what is proper conduct in their classroom (133). Again, a like principle as stated in Assertive Discipline.

The main response of Carolyn Evertson to why AD was not included was that the American Psychological Association has labeled AD as psychological maltreatment. One of the main concerns for educators is teaching students responsibility for their own actions. Assertive Discipline (correctly applied) has incentives for positive behavior as well as consequences for uncorrected misbehaviors. Students do not learn that there are consequences for actions when they are no negative correlations for misbehavior. Such concepts of basic values, many times, not taught at home cannot carry through to the classroom. Teachers, therefore, must instill such a system of intrinsic values to their students. Two of the most important ones are empathy and respect towards other individuals (Gabe).

The Fairview Elementary (my current teaching post) principal’s personal library of books about discipline contained Classroom Management for Elementary Teachers by Carolyn Evertson, et.al. The publication date of the book is 1988. A review of the text included several similarities to Canter’s AD directions. Chapter entries include “Choosing Rules and Procedures”, “Rewards and Penalties,” “Getting Off to a Good Start”, and “maintaining Good Student Behavior.” In this last chapter Evertson says, ” . . .good classroom management depends on very careful planning of the classroom’s organization, rules, procedures, and initial activities. You will need to be actively involved in maintaining student cooperation and compliance with necessary classroom rules and procedures” (95). Anything about these directives sound familiar?

Assertive Discipline components appear in almost all other basic discipline plans, even though redefined. To state that it is inappropriate to include AD in a text because the highly suspect American Psychological Association (APA) found problems with the procedures is an inept attempt at disguising a blatant form of cheap marketing. In Evertson’s own admission, she gives much credence to Emmer and Aussiker saying (paraphrased): teachers and administrators cannot accurately perceive improved student behavior. The APA reference that Evertson used dates January 1988. Those aware know that the APA’s opinions change more rapidly than the breeze in Kansas. The APA is the same organization that last year questioned the need for fathers in a child’s life. (Dr. Laura) Therefore, I have wondered at some of the validity of the APA.

I am in agreement with other class members who endorse the principles of Assertive Discipline in the classroom.

“Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.” Unknown

Works Cited:

Charles, C.M. (1999). Building Classroom Discipline. 6^th Ed. New York: Longman.

Evertson, Carolyn, Emmer, E., Clements, B., Sanford, J., Worsham, M. (1988). Classroom Management for Elementary Teachers. Engelwood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Canter, Lee and Canter, Marlene. (1985). Assertive Discipline for Parents. Toronto: Harper & Row.

Websites:

Commentary: Lesson 2 Assertive Discipline

Schoolwide and Classroom Discipline. Kathryn Cotton.

http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/5/cu9.html

http://www.drlaura.com/main/ Comments on APA were heard last year on her radio broadcast

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/sbarnett/edpsy399/assertivediscipline.html

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/mickley/edpsy33/lesson2q2.htm

Personal:

Gabe, Janice LCSW, MAC, lecture presentation, “Kids in Cultures of Change.” Jan. 11, 2001.

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Lesson 3 Question 1

399OL

Spring 2001

By Dianne Fulton

Question: What are some ways that you use punishment to control the actions of students? Are those ways effective? Are there other alternatives?

“Using aversive stimuli to control the actions of humans is traditional, diverse, and controversial, but above all, its use can be effective.” (Course Documents). Unfortunately, experience shows that some students respond only to the threat or use of punishment to control their behavior. During the course of this dissertation, a description of the current classroom management plan, the pros, and the cons of using punishment will ensue.

Armed with teaching experience dating to the early 70’s, this author has witnessed numerous changes to the techniques of discipline designed for the classroom. Some days, controlling the behaviors of students seems to require more time than presenting effective instruction. Within one teaching day it may be necessary to be all three types of teachers as defined by Canter (Charles 85.) Although being proactively involved is the ideal, there are days that may require a nonassertive response, a hostile response, as well as an assertive response style to various situations (87.)

Following our district’s guidelines at the onset of each school year, we teachers establish the rules appropriate for the particular third grade class. Discussions with the new class ascertain and set the rules that are necessary to insure effective learning. We guide the class to a consensus concerning the rules by demonstrating their purpose. Students, parents, and teachers sign a code of conduct contract that promises that a teacher will teach, a student will learn, and parents will be supportive. We also establish our consequences for our classroom rules. They consist of:

a verbal warning
a 5 minute time out (recess)
a 10 minute time out (recess)
missing an entire recess
a call to parents
an office referral

“Taking away a pleasant stimulus, the likelihood of the action being repeated in a similar situation is decreased. This effect is called Punishment.” (Course Documents.)

We investigated a visual chart for students (to “move their marker”) and a clipboard system with student’s names recording rule infractions. The checklist system is more effective for the following reasons:

Students at this age level may act out more getting an undesirable peer response when moving their own marker.
The offense receives coding to indicate whether the offense is disturbing others, or students are up and out of their seats.
With an extreme number of severe discipline problem students in any class, such students tend to be more explosive if their “checks” become public information.

This teacher professes the proactive, preventive approach to discipline. We exercise extraordinary efforts for observing students purposes of praise and encouragement when they follow the guidelines. Special encouragements extend to those who require particular assistance following the rules. Continuous movement about the room and providing feedback with “looks” (teacher’s “ole evil eye,” smiles, pats on the back, and thumbs up) is effective. The key to classroom discipline is fairness, but this can be very difficult when Behavioral Disordered students are in the same classroom. Great efforts to establish contracts with these students seem the most effective means of solving this particular problem. Third graders tend keep a close watch on fairness.

Additionally, parental support is absolutely necessary. Contacts to parents start early in the year, so when called them about discipline problems, trust is already in place. Furthermore, a very successful plan for early elementary teachers includes sending home a weekly behavior checklist for parental information purposes. This simple form indicates the number of behavior checks a student has earned for the week. Included is a personal note to the particular parents for monitoring their child’s behavior, the type of offenses, etc. The parents should sign and return the forms, within the weekly “Home Pride Folders,” which include the student’s weekly assignments.

There are some problems implementing this discipline plan. Due to busing and safety requirements, teachers may not keep students after school. Due to daily scheduling, the 3^rd grade has no formal recess periods allotted. On occasion, we allow extemporaneous recess periods. However, without an aid, the students who deserve time outs cannot be supervised separately, thereby defeating the system. The period that is available and somewhat effective is during the lunchtime recess. During adequate weather periods, the students go out of doors during that period. Stipulating time-outs, detentions, etc., during such periods is a very effective form of paying off infractions of the rules. Regardless, this detracts from the 45 minutes available for a personal lunch and the substantial preparations for the remainder of the day. So many of the times, one feels that we are punishing ourselves. During inclement weather (which is most of the winter) students remain in the classroom during the lunch recess, so there is no place available to have a meaningful “time out.” The struggle with alternatives to this plan, especially this winter, was non-productive.

It is more than evident from the extensive experience of this educator that plans for the sound management of discipline are essential for successful learning in all classrooms. Drugs and alcohol directly and indirectly influence the students. Gang members have already approached some of the third graders. Many of their moms and dads have abdicated their parental responsibilities and half of the class does not have phone numbers. It is essential to express this so that one understands that I am not whining, nor am I winning.

Works Cited:

Charles, C.M. (1999). Building Classroom Discipline. 6^th Ed. New York: Longman.

Anderson, Tom. Course Documents.

Churchward, Budd. Techniques for Better Classroom Discipline.

KNEA. Tips for Teachers.

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Edpsy 399OL – Spring 2001

Dianne Fulton

Tom Anderson, Instructor

Lesson 3, Question 2

Punishment still lingers in various forms in most school districts – so does corporal punishment! Where? In what forms does it exist in your district? What does research say about the effects of punishment, and of corporal punishment? What do you say about the use of punishment? Why?

“It is estimated that corporal punishment is administered between 1 and 2 million times a year in schools in the United States. Increasingly, states are abolishing corporal punishment as a means of discipline, but statutes in some states still allow school officials to use this form of discipline.” (APA) It is hard to believe in this day and age only 27 state legislatures have abolished corporal punishment in schools. Corporal punishment still exists throughout the world, even in the new millennium, but its use is widely discouraged. Third world countries in Africa are even trying to abolish this abuse of human rights. (Guardian)

During this teacher’s days of elementary school, the male sixth grade teacher took the boys and even a few girls out into the hall to receive swats from a huge wooden paddle. Most of the students that remained in the classroom unblemished from the paddle felt some indignation and empathized with their “punished” classmates, especially when the punishment was unjust. At the outset of my teaching career in the 1970’s, corporal punishment remained at Fairview Elementary. One first grade teacher became quite notorious for applying the paddle. The selection, on this teacher’s part, of a different classroom management plan insured no spanking of students in the assigned classroom. None-the-less, some of the same students, after misbehaving outside of the classroom, experienced corporal punishment administered by the female principal. Since witnesses had to be present, the teacher suffered along with her students. The punishment occurred only after parents agreed by completing a particular form describing the means and rules for corporal punishment. Since the 1980’s, District 186 forbade the use of corporal punishment at any of the district schools, for any reason. However, an incident of pseudo-corporal punishment happened last year in the district. A supervisor and security officer (partly in jest) handcuffed a middle school student, who was “goofing off” on the playground, to a fence. Parental outrage by this incident was exactly that. Incidentally, the district administrators retaliated, insuring no other reoccurrence of a similar staff infraction.

Research absolutely discourages the use of corporal punishment. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that corporal punishment may adversely affect a student’s self-image and school achievement. Additionally, corporal punishment may also contribute to disruptive and violent student behavior (APA.) The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry believes that corporal punishment, “signals (to) the child that a way to settle interpersonal conflicts is to use physical force and inflict pain They continue to state that punitive punishment may also contribute to disruptive and violent student behavior. (APA) Children will also fail to develop trusting, secure relationships with adults and fail to evolve the necessary skills to settle disputes or wield authority in less violent ways.” (alcorenv) Researchers Docking, Doyle, and Maurer and Wallerstein, have found that:

The results of corporal punishment are unpredictable.

· Even when it is successful at inhibiting inappropriate behavior, corporal punishment still doesn’t foster appropriate behavior.

· Corporal punishment is sometimes unintentionally reinforcing, since it brings attention from adults and peers.

· Corporal punishment often creates resentment and hostility, making good working relationships harder to create in the future.

· Corporal punishment is related to undesirable outcomes, such as increased vandalism and dropping out.

The Religious Tolerance Organization also has many arguments against spanking. There reasoning includes:

· It is ineffective. (It will stop the misbehavior only momentarily).

· It can lead to abuse. (Spanking may be used often, and corporal punishment will become the standard response that could be carried through to adulthood, thus repeating the cycle.

· It can unintentionally cause serious physical damage.

· It trains a child to use violence.

· Slapping or any other type of force used on the buttocks is a sexual violation.

· Spanking lowers the IQ. (A study of 960 children showed that those who were rarely or never spanked had an average IQ of 102, whereas the frequently spanked children had an IQ of 98. It goes on to state that they believe that parents who do not spank are forced to use more reasoning and explaining while disciplining the child, thus the verbal parent-child interactions enhance the child’s cognitive ability.

· Spanking creates fear in the child.

In addition to these moral and psychological against using corporal punishment, there is also the argument and statistics that show racial and gender bias. The documents from the U. S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 1998 Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Compliance Reports have listed the ten worst states by percentage of students struck by educators. (Illinois was not on this list!) An additional bar graph shows that there is a steady decline in the use of corporal punishment from about 1.5 million in 1980 to 365,000 in 1999. This survey also points out the significant disproportion of African American students subjected to physical punishment, and the worsening of that disproportion. (U.S. Department of Education)

There is a voluminous amount of documentation stating that corporal punishment is unfathomable in the public school system. This is not an alternative to classroom management. At best, it is a very poor tool. The research for this paper included considering the merits of corporal punishment, which always indicated that there are more effective means to discipline students. The effect of corporal punishment can damage a student’s self-esteem and cause irreparable damage in the relationship between student and teacher. Frankly, there is over-sensitivity about this on the part of the teacher. “Violence begets violence” and the cycle may continue with the student “getting even.” Personal experiences with corporal punishment have always been very negative. Although, there is no argument offered on the part of this teacher towards total abolition of this form of punishment from all school systems, there are other forms of punishment that deserve even more attention. Although, corporal punishment does not attribute to a student’s learning, the insidious forms of punishment such as derogatory comments by teachers that cause students to loose all motivation in particular subjects are just as serious.

Works Cited

Academy of Pediatrics Corporal Punishment in Schools (RE9754). Volume

106, Number 02. August 2000, p. 343.

alcorenv Corporal Punishment in Schools. A Policy Statement by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, June 1988.

Course Documents. http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/5/cu9.html

Guardian Corporal Punishment Should be Abolished in Schools. 12-14-99.

Religious Tolerance Organization The Case Against Corporal Punishment

U. S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 1998 Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Compliance Reports Our Ten Worst States.

Personal:

Fairview Elementary School, Springfield, Illinois. 6^th grade. 1960.

Fairview Elementary School, Springfield, Illinois. 1972-Present.

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Edpsy 399OL – Spring 2001

Dianne Fulton

Tom Anderson – Instructor

Lesson 4 Question 4

*In some ways Kounin’s model casts the teacher into an orchestra conductor’s role. Discuss how this can be a reasonable metaphor, and some places where the metaphor breaks down. Does this metaphor work well to explain your teaching techniques? Design one that might work better.

Kounin’s metaphor

Orchestra conductors actively seek to maximize the positive continuity of their charge while minimizing the negative aspect of a diminishing bottom line. In a stretch, this is comparable to teachers influencing elements in the classroom to achieve positive learning situation. In reality, Kounin’s metaphor fails by being overly simplistic in accordance with today’s actualities. The members of a symphony orchestra are highly motivated because their living comes from a specific purpose-to produce entertaining music, to which many will listen and probably purchase. The simple idea is that melodious tunes sell. The “orchestra members” of a classroom (the students) are not always in class to learn. A musician’s chosen field is orchestrated for a common goal including a shared love of music, but students do not always realize or acknowledge that their main pursuit of a living is learning. Although, learning for the classroom student may not immediately pay off in vast sums of money, it is the means by which they can become a member of an orchestra, thereby obtaining those same vast sums of money. The musician demonstrates god-given talents and hard-earned skills amassed through years of practice. Early elementary teachers are the ones preparing the prospective orchestra members by showing them how to put their instruments together, how to follow music, and how to play and connect the basic notes. Therefore, they are more of a conductor of students rather than musicians.

Kounin’s seven models of discipline apply directly to the conductor metaphor. As classmates Barnett and Trieger stated, the conductor’s “withitness” is necessary for the orchestra’s performance. A teacher with this quality will increase her student’s performance in all academic areas. Smooth transitions from one piece (each lesson) to the next make the overall results much more melodious. The orchestra members all know which piece and page is next, and students must learn the same smooth transitions. Pupils must be alert (accountable) for their learning, and the conductor is obliged to insure they remain so. The district’s transition to State Leaning Standards and Benchmarks is a step in this direction. The final model for preventing boredom by providing variety to lessons compares to the variations and interpretations applied to the music repeatedly played by the symphony. (Humboldt).

An observation of Kounin states, “that teachers’ personality traits had little to do with classroom control. In reference to teacher traits such as friendliness, helpfulness, rapport, warmth, patience, and the like, he declared that (contrary to popular opinion) such traits are of no value in managing a classroom. Management, he insisted, is a complicated technology consisting of specific techniques applied at the appropriate times and in the appropriate manner so as to provide learning experiences that are nonsatiating.” (Charles 42). This axiom is not applicable in all situations. A true orchestra is not just a sum of management techniques, and the conductor is a person who truly loves music. Likewise, what makes an effective teacher is more than the technique they employ. It is extremely disheartening to witness the number of clinical evaluations that state nothing more than what works in an average classroom. A classroom is composed of individuals who display individual behaviors and individual purposes. A teacher is obliged to deal with individuals, on an individual basis. A conductor deals with musicians making music. Comparing a teacher to a conductor is oversimplifying the resemblance.

Using Kounin’s metaphor in my classroom

Since the onset of this class, experience shows that modifications occur on this teachers part to several of the classroom management techniques noted in our text and reading. Likewise, we implement several of Kounin’s techniques. Employment of the “ripple effect,” where one student is reprimanded, thus affecting other students’ behavior is appropriate in certain instances. Use of this technique in minor behavior issues such as noisiness or getting up without permission shows excellent results in most cases.

Several techniques of “withitness” are necessary for teachers. “Selecting the proper student for correction” (Charles 37) is definitely advantageous. There is a preference for the eyesight to be better than 20/20 when identifying the misbehaving student. Another element, timing, is necessary to insure that an incident does not get out of hand. A classroom example is insuring that pencil sharpening does not delay a written assignment.

Other comparisons to Kounin’s work are:

Momentum and smoothness- “Getting activities started promptly, and keeping them moving ahead, bringing closure or transition.” Example-One must have a beginning routine. Each morning at exactly 8:25, all students assigned to room 125 at Fairview Elementary enter the classroom, mark their attendance and lunch preference on a chart by the door, and complete a daily language review sheet at their desks to start the day. Except for fire, floods, and acts of God, there are no variations upon this theme. Additionally, the site-based management team in our school building reduced the number of unanticipated classroom distractions by remanding intercom messages to a prescribed time-period during the school day. The contribution to maintaining momentum in the classroom and insuring the smoothness of the daily grind was exceptional.
Group Alerting- “the ability to keep students alert, attentive, and actively involved in appropriate activities is essential to a productive, efficient classroom. (38-39).

This emerges and abounds through good questioning and the application of unrelenting classroom motivational techniques.

Accountability- “holding each student in the group responsible for active involvement in learning the facts, concepts, or procedures being taught.” (39.)

Silently signaling answers with hand signals is one procedure that is used during each class to insure each child is answering and thinking. Even if a student is incorrect and observes his neighbor signaling correctly, they learn the correct response without publicity. Teachers may call on specific students to explain answers correctly. Thumbs up or down for opinion/true/false questioning is easy to implement. Individual dry erase boards practicing math is a very effective tool. The teacher can easily sum up (no pun intended) the whole class’s understanding of concepts.

· Overlapping- “refers to attending to two or more issues at the same time” (40).

While conducting a small group, hand signals can redirect another student’s behavior or activities, such as a need to sharpen a pencil, get a drink, etc…

Another metaphor for teaching:

A metaphor that is certainly self-serving and descriptive is that teachers are gardeners. Each year a gardener prepares the soil for the new crop of seeds. The seeds will definitely be a mixed variety. The gardener needs to be aware of such rich diversity in seeds and the special care each kind needs. The gardener’s experience will help him know what problems to anticipate and how to prepare for them. Next, a gardener must plan to plant the seeds in a manner or design that they will not strangle or overcrowd neighboring plants, like and unlike species. The gardener’s tools (teaching techniques) must be sharp and in good repair. A good gardener is always on the lookout for weeds (undesirable behavior) and will first use preventative measures (classroom rules) to inhibit the unwanted growth. If a weed (problem) pops up, the gardener’s diligence will insure the weeds cannot get a foot-hold, keeping them from spreading and ruining or lessening the whole crop’s yield. Additionally, insects and pests (excess baggage that comes with students) will be controlled or eradicated to insure the best crop. A gardener will nurture his plants with sunlight (classroom management), fertilizer (knowledge), and water (methods) insuring the young seedlings will refrain from withering or dying out. An extremely necessary virtue of a gardener is patience. If a plant is not thriving, a good gardener will use whatever means necessary to bring the seedling to good health. Despite meticulous care, a few plants will come up a few pedals short of a bloom! It is the duty of a gardener to care for his plants in a way that will produce the highest yield so they will go on and produce new seeds for the next year.

Works Cited

Charles, C. M. Building Classroom Discipline. Sixth Edition. New York: Longman.

Classmates: Barnett, Treiger, et.al, Edpsy390OL Spring, 2001

Course Documents. Commentary on Kounin:

http://www.humboldt.edu/~tha1/discip-options.html

Personal experience:

Teaching 2^nd-5^th grades at Fairview Elementary School, Springfield, Illinois. 1972-present.

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Edpsy 399OL – Spring 2001

Dianne Fulton

Tom Anderson – Instructor

Lesson 5 Question 3

Report some testimonies when your short-term memory or that of your students appears to be overloaded. What did you do about it?

After reading several colleagues remarks and examples of short-term memory overload, the decision was to explore the personal and classroom manifestations of overloading. Since the 50^th birthday recently passed, it was necessary to insure that the short-term memory lapses were actually attributable to overload and not the forgetfulness of old age!

Several sources defined and explained how short-term memory works.

Bruning states,” Like sensory memory, short-term memory is limited with respect to capacity and duration.” The text goes on to state Miller’s theory of the memory system in that the brain can “hold no more than seven or so chunks (meaningful units of information) in memory at one time” (Bruning 36-37.) In Understanding How You Learn, MacDonald states that, “Short-term memory functions as the first active storage site in your memory process. It is responsible for processing information to make it understandable, meaningful, and useable.” She also states, “ the information disappears quickly from short-term memory. Information is held here for only about twenty seconds. It is the kind of memory you use when you look up a telephone number.” Considering all of the above, it becomes very apparent how overloading affects short-term memory.

Additionally, Goodhead clarifies the meaning of short-term memory in his paper, “The Difference Between Short-Term and Long-Term Memory.”

Characteristics of Short-term and Long-Term Memory

Entry of Information
Short Term Memory (STM)	Long Term Memory (LTM)
Enters as a result of applying attention to the stimulus, which has been momentarily (about a quarter of a second) held in a visual or auditory sensory registry.	1) If information in the STM is rehe