Personal and Social Scenarios Lecture Notes

Personal and Social Development Scenarios Scenario 1 In an upcoming lesson in third grade, you will be addressing state standards related to listening and speaking (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). How would you encourage parents/guardians to support this standard outside of the classroom?  Not all learning opportunities have to take place in the classroom, it is very possible for the student to still be developing and learning at home with the help of their parents or legal guardians. To encourage families to promote this standard outside of their student’s class, I would first start by announcing the weeks lesson and goals in the weekly bulletin. I would inform the parents of the class that their students will be working on gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to other with intention and care, and speaking one at a time about the discussion at hand. I would then give them ways that they can be a part of their child’s learning experience by allowing their child to order their own meal at a restaurant, allowing their child to share their day and some feelings they may have experienced at a family meal, or doing an interactive game night (Hammer, 2019). Scenario 2 James, an African American student, is very successful in your class and has been on the honor roll for the past three quarters. His family is concerned with his abilities to socialize with peers of various cultural backgrounds. How can you support the families in your classroom in embracing cultural identity’s role in a student’s personal and social development?  It is important to ensure that all students participate during discussions or class lessons. This is to ensure their understanding of the material as well as helping them become comfortable with speaking in front of their peers and large groups of people. It also may be a good idea to do more group activities, allowing the students to converse and become familiar with each other. I would then consider keeping in contact with James’s family to ensure them that we are working on building communication skills within the classroom, and that I want to collaborate with them to achieve our shared goal of seeing success in their student (Morin, 2020). Scenario 3 Recently, a concerned parent brings to your attention that a poll was taken on social media, and students in your class nominated Jenna as the “biggest loser.” How can you best communicate your school’s policy on cyberbullying, your plan to address the concern at school, and how can parents address it in the home?  It may be necessary to take some time to educate students on cyberbullying, its impacts, and the school’s policies regarding cyberbullying and the punishments that surround it. It is important all students understand the severity of this issue, as it is a pressing cause of depression and other mental illnesses in schools. I would take the time to address Jenna’s parents, and notify them that we are discussing cyberbullying in the classroom and will be working to try to figure out who posted such a nasty poll about their daughter. I then would communicate to all parent’s through an email or weekly newsletter that there has been a bullying incident and we as a class are discussing it. Communication with parents is crucial to establishing a high functioning classroom, as the teacher and parents should work as a team to see success in their students (Adams, n.d.). Scenario 4 For the past few weeks, you have noticed that several cliques have developed in your classroom and there are many students being left out of social activities in and out of the classroom. There are beginning to be tensions rising between two of the cliques. How can you encourage inclusion, and explain to parents how they can support you from home?  First, I would encourage building new relationships between students by doing group activities where the cliques are separated. It is important to also create lessons and games where the class can participate equally while also building meaningful relationships with students that they may not be friends with outside of their clique. Cooperative games and lessons are a great way to overcome social barriers that may exist between students (Schwartzman, 2017). I would consider sending out a newsletter to the parents of the class explaining that we are working on expanding our social habits by doing group activities and games as a class. I would also prompt them to chat with their students about inclusion and fair treatment of their classmates, even if they aren’t best friends with everyone. Scenario 5 At the beginning of the school year, you notice that several of your sixth graders are wearing the same brand of Nike shoes. A few days later, you overhear a few of these students mocking another student for not having these same shoes. The next week, the student being teased comes to school in the Nike shoes. How can you address peer pressure within your classroom and encourage parents to support the concept from home?  I would start by addressing peer pressure and the negative implications it can have on one’s mental and physical health. Although pressuring a student to buy a specific shoe is not a severe issue, peer pressure can lead to more serious consequences if students are being pressured to do things they don’t necessarily want to do. Many times, students fall into peer pressure so they can fit in or feel accepted by a group of people, however usually the consequences out way gaining a new group of friends. It is important to educate the students on how actions and words can cause unfortunate circumstances on others, even if it is just a few harmful words or phrases (Prado, 2018). Again, in this case I would communicate with parents through the weekly newsletter and encourage them to chat with their students at home about respecting other students wishes and not pressuring them to do something they would prefer not to do.