rights and responsibilities class...actually I thought that class today was one of the best because we got to work in small groups which is my favorite thing to do because I like the smallnest of people and will be more willing to talk and participate with only a few people. So, also not only did we talk about what the questions were and how to relate them to the article that we read, but we also talked about some personal examples that will help me to remember things more. I liked that we were having a class and learning about certain material, but I also like how we were just having a conversation at the same time. This is one of the ways that I learn the best and so it was fun to have a chance from the lectures that I usually have in my other classes. One of the points we brought up was the discipline issue and what is appropriate and should be done in some of the situations that may arise. I find it hard to believe that teachers really would be able to hit and punish some students in a violent ways. I think to my field experiences and even my girls that I coach and I just couldnt see hitting them , no matter how mad I would be. I am just amazed that not only did that used to happen but yet it was ok and they all got away with it. I am honestly glad that most states do not allow that any more, because if I was going to be a teacher I would not want to have to do that to a child. Some thing else that surprised me also was that not all states have banned this kind of punishment and also that the the kinds of schools that still have it are the private type. I would have thought they would have been some of the first to ban it especially since a lot of the time they are much more conservative and usually have some kind of religious affiliation as well. This still seems just a little much especially since some of the times what the students were doing probably wasnt that bad compared to what it could be and to me that is not how you deal with it. As our group talked about, there are plenty of ways that one can deal with being punished. One that we talked about that we have seen is just the embarassment factor. If you have a student who is being disruptive and you ask them in front of the class to go to the hallway or out of the room for a minute and then they have the whole class watch them leave, it is going to affect them in some way. Also, the teacher will then leave and then come back with the student which usually is the time when the class will stop again to watch that child join the class again. I think especially at a younger age (before they enter high school) this can be very very affective since usually the kids who are acting out do want attention, they dont want the negative response they get when they go to the hall. I have noticed through my own experiences that usually after that the child will be much more behaved for at least the rest of the class. Also, another method that I have found is just a simple raising of the voice for just one time. I have found this, especially in sports, that kids will respond quickly and well to a loud voice. I think that this is a way to get the attention of everyone and if nothing else give them the scare factor and so usually they are going to be good for a while and even when they come back to this class later they are going to at least be thinking in the back of their mind about that incident and are probably going to think twice, especially if they dont like getting yelled at. A good example I have found with that was actually last night. I was up at the high school where my dad is the wrestling coach and I was trying to get some work done for him and the team. There was one kid who was not doing what he was supposed to be doing and thought he was getting away with something. However, he didnt realize that even though my dad wasnt watching him not do anything, but I was. So then, my dad brings to the teams attention in a very loud voice about what he had seen and yelled for quite a while. Well, after that the behavior was changed and things got better, and here we were dealing with older kids and the yelling still stopped. I also think that if you single a kid out just once, they will behave in a better way so that action doesnt get repeated again. I know that there was one time in a class that for some reason I was called out for something and I had never been so embarassed in my life. After that, I was much better behaved when I needed to be so that I would not get called out again in front of everyone. I think that there are different ways of punishing people and the action should be fitting of what happened and it should never include anything physical or harming to a student.