Today was my second day in the orchestra room at Dixon. This time I was with the smaller, but equally enjoyable, fifth grade orchestra. These students are tight knit, and are very comfortable making mistakes around each other. They are very enthusiastic and welcoming, and have a family atmosphere in their classroom.
They were very welcoming, and it was nice to see the students I taught last year. As good as they are, they are very talkative. It was Mrs. Rindt's birthday while I was there, and she got all of the students treats. She had a fun rehearsal planned, but barely scratched the surface of it due to the talkative students.
I felt really bad for Mrs. Rindt, and felt that she should be treated better. After the rehearsal I figured out my purpose in her classroom: I will make sure the students give her respect. I learned how to command respect by watching Mrs. Little do it daily last year, and have been excited to try some of her techniques.
Tying this in with psychology, this can go along with reinforcement (and punishment) and obedience. These students have not been punished for negative behaviors, so there have been no incentives to stop. In order to shape their behavior, we can use positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is when a desirable behavior is rewarded (for example: dog gets a treat when it sits). Negative reinforcement is when something is taken away to produce a desired behavior (for example: seat belt alarm shuts off when the seat belt is engaged).
