Module 3 and Teacher Interview

This chapters talked about positive and negative reinforcement. My experience with high school students so far is that every student has different ways to get motivated. Juniors and seniors sooner or later start to realize the importance of taking responsibility for their own learning. Misbehaviors have many factors such as lack of motivation, lesson plan are not interesting enough, and high school students have more responsibilities and need to learn how to manage stress. I believe that discipline in secondary education plays a huge role and creating a positive climate in class will benefit all students in a classroom.

I interviewed a high school business teacher who has been teaching for seven years. When I walked into the classroom everything seemed to be organized and arrange like a company. Students would be seated in groups at different locations. The groups were called by their expertise. Groups included: Human Resources, Marketing, Accounting, Research and Development and Board of Directors. I asked the teacher why she decided to arrange her classroom this way. She said that business classrooms should prepared students for the workforce. If students continue to feel like they are in a classroom, they will not be prepared to behave and assume responsibilities for a real company/organization. Chapter 7 talks about positive reinforcement and this connects to what they teacher said because if students are given real expectations for them to succeed in the workforce this creates a positive environment because students will want to be treated like adults. I asked the teacher what the most challenging thing she has faced in teaching business. She said that it takes time to develop students to write and use business terminology. Business language is completely different from your everyday language. Vocabulary is a huge obstacle when it comes to explaining business concepts. It is easy for a business teacher to use vocabulary especially since you have been working in the corporate world. I asked her how she implements literacy in her lesson plans. One of the ways she implements literacy is by giving very small research and working together as a group to develop the skill of analyzing and interpret text and graphs. She has tried to modify lessons for students who struggle with reading but since business vocabulary is new to everyone it is better to work as a group and then assist those who need extra help but not modify lesson plans. She stated that the goal for the business department was to prepare students for the workforce. A company will not modify a graph, report, chart if you struggle at reading. The company expects for workers to know or find a way to accomplish a goal.

            The teacher also mentioned that it is very important to have a lesson of ethics regardless of the type of class that students have elected. I asked how she deals with those students who are not willing to work as a group. She said that she talks to the counselor and gives them a copy of her curriculum and syllabus. She makes it clear the expectations so that when she meets with the students she will give them and explain what they are signing up for. When students arrive on the first day she goes over the syllabus for the first semester. She gives students the opportunity to drop the class and talk to the counselor to find a better fit. She said to treat students with respect just like any other real company and set expectations that they can reach. She stated, “Business classes have the power to change student minds into how they see the world. Be transparent with students on how business works if not, they won’t be prepared when they face a real-life situation”. I asked her how she connects with students. She said that students love when you are honest and transparent. Students seek to get their minds “out of school”. They want to come into a classroom that doesn’t feel like school but more like a college/workforce environment. To connect with students, you must show them the good side or business and bad side of business. Not everything is black and white, and students know that. Having students find what their ethics are is very important since it will determine how they see thing and complete task. She said that literacy in business classes is important especially when it comes to business law, marketing, management. I asked the teacher how she works with other teachers to prepare her lesson plans. She said that working with teachers is important but challenging. As business teachers we had experience working in the corporate world and we modify lesson plans to get as close as possible to the real world. Some teachers will complain about the high expectations but at the end of the day you control your classroom meet the department goals to prepare students for success.