This week I paid special attention to the verbal and non-verbal communication techniques my cooperating teacher uses, as well communication techniques used throughout the school in general. Since I'm in a catholic school, the main overall message, both verbal and non-verbal, surrounding everything is religion (of course!).
Verbal messages throughout the school come in the form of things such as daily prayer, attending weekly mass, and daily religion classes. Every prayer over the loud speaker ends with some form of the phrase "go forth and be good Christians." I think this is pretty direct verbal communication. It's always said very "matter of factly," like there simply is no other choice but to always have the Christian faith on your mind in every part of your life and every decision you make. Non-verbal messages back up the verbal messages with things such as; crosses and portraits of Jesus throughout the entire school and mandatory uniforms. Boys must have short hair and girls are not permitted to wear make-up. I like the idea of wearing uniforms in schools. I think wearing uniforms sends the non-verbal message that the children are all the same within the school community and are unified to focus on one common goal, which is to learn. I also think it sends the message that people should be judged by who they are, rather than their appearance. I do believe that allowing children to dress any way they wish, wear make-up, have certain hairstyles, etc., promotes individuality, but if I had to choose, (in my opinion) uniforms ROCK!
My cooperating teacher is always dressed very nicely and appropriately professional. She wears minimal make-up and is in good physical shape. This sends a message to the children because they look at their teacher as a role model, as do most children. The teacher's appearance sends the message that it is important to take care of yourself physically, as well as to keep a subtle "clean-cut" style concerning clothes, hair and make-up. It sends the message that she is definitely practicing what she is preaching to her students.
My cooperating teacher sends many verbal messages to the students. For one thing, she teaches religion class and that is basically a straight forward, to the point, verbal message...the students MUST be good Christians! Aside from that obvious message, she does send many others. One thing that stood out to me, was her mentioning of "mom and dad." She would constantly say things like "what do your mom and dad think about that?" This statement verbally implies that everyone has a mom and a dad and that they all live together in a traditional setting, which is not always the case in this day and age. A conversation between the teacher and the students took place where they were talking about what time they do their homework and the teacher said, "I assume most of you do homework right after school/activities, when mom is cooking dinner and you're waiting for dad to get home from work." I don't think the teacher intends to send the message that anything less than the traditional american family is not ok, but to some (such as myself) who might be sensitive to that, we might hear the underlying message that, that is the way it SHOULD be. I think most of us (like myself) understand that this is not meant to deliberately attack any lifestyle, but some may take offense. Another similar example was when the teacher asked if I was a "Mrs. or a Miss." "Ms." didn't seem to be an option, so "Miss" was fine. No harm meant, no harm done. Another very apparent verbal message she sends to the students pertains to their success. She is always mentioning the "honors classes they will all be taking next year in high school," inferring that regular mainstream classes are not good enough and that they are capable of more.
The teacher has a lot of non-verbal communication with the students as well. I would think that the most forefront non-verbal communication from a teacher to a student would be their grades, right? Giving the students grades is a non-verbal way of telling the student how they are progressing with their learning. She also has many posters hanging around the room with both inspirational and spiritual sayings on them, which is a non -verbal way of saying, "this is a good thing to do or a good way to be." The teacher and the school in general require that the students participate in some type of community service project, sending the non -verbal message that it's good to volunteer, help other people and help the community.
The teacher has a class website which contains her schedule, lesson plans, extra credit activities and homework. Each student has their own email address as well, which the parents are also given access to. This is the main way that she corresponds with the parents. The teacher sends home a packet at the beginning of the year, which include a welcome letter, a parent/student/teacher contract, and an outline of all of the material she will be covering with the students that year, including projects and field trips. The contract is to be signed by the parents and the students and one copy is returned to school and kept on file, the other is kept at the student's home. She explained to me that most of the time the type of written correspondence she uses with the parents is beneficial in maintaining a rapport with the parents.
This Thursday will be my last day of observation at the school and I have to say that it has been such a wonderful experience and I'm sad to see it coming to an end!
Verbal messages throughout the school come in the form of things such as daily prayer, attending weekly mass, and daily religion classes. Every prayer over the loud speaker ends with some form of the phrase "go forth and be good Christians." I think this is pretty direct verbal communication. It's always said very "matter of factly," like there simply is no other choice but to always have the Christian faith on your mind in every part of your life and every decision you make. Non-verbal messages back up the verbal messages with things such as; crosses and portraits of Jesus throughout the entire school and mandatory uniforms. Boys must have short hair and girls are not permitted to wear make-up. I like the idea of wearing uniforms in schools. I think wearing uniforms sends the non-verbal message that the children are all the same within the school community and are unified to focus on one common goal, which is to learn. I also think it sends the message that people should be judged by who they are, rather than their appearance. I do believe that allowing children to dress any way they wish, wear make-up, have certain hairstyles, etc., promotes individuality, but if I had to choose, (in my opinion) uniforms ROCK!
My cooperating teacher is always dressed very nicely and appropriately professional. She wears minimal make-up and is in good physical shape. This sends a message to the children because they look at their teacher as a role model, as do most children. The teacher's appearance sends the message that it is important to take care of yourself physically, as well as to keep a subtle "clean-cut" style concerning clothes, hair and make-up. It sends the message that she is definitely practicing what she is preaching to her students.
My cooperating teacher sends many verbal messages to the students. For one thing, she teaches religion class and that is basically a straight forward, to the point, verbal message...the students MUST be good Christians! Aside from that obvious message, she does send many others. One thing that stood out to me, was her mentioning of "mom and dad." She would constantly say things like "what do your mom and dad think about that?" This statement verbally implies that everyone has a mom and a dad and that they all live together in a traditional setting, which is not always the case in this day and age. A conversation between the teacher and the students took place where they were talking about what time they do their homework and the teacher said, "I assume most of you do homework right after school/activities, when mom is cooking dinner and you're waiting for dad to get home from work." I don't think the teacher intends to send the message that anything less than the traditional american family is not ok, but to some (such as myself) who might be sensitive to that, we might hear the underlying message that, that is the way it SHOULD be. I think most of us (like myself) understand that this is not meant to deliberately attack any lifestyle, but some may take offense. Another similar example was when the teacher asked if I was a "Mrs. or a Miss." "Ms." didn't seem to be an option, so "Miss" was fine. No harm meant, no harm done. Another very apparent verbal message she sends to the students pertains to their success. She is always mentioning the "honors classes they will all be taking next year in high school," inferring that regular mainstream classes are not good enough and that they are capable of more.
The teacher has a lot of non-verbal communication with the students as well. I would think that the most forefront non-verbal communication from a teacher to a student would be their grades, right? Giving the students grades is a non-verbal way of telling the student how they are progressing with their learning. She also has many posters hanging around the room with both inspirational and spiritual sayings on them, which is a non -verbal way of saying, "this is a good thing to do or a good way to be." The teacher and the school in general require that the students participate in some type of community service project, sending the non -verbal message that it's good to volunteer, help other people and help the community.
The teacher has a class website which contains her schedule, lesson plans, extra credit activities and homework. Each student has their own email address as well, which the parents are also given access to. This is the main way that she corresponds with the parents. The teacher sends home a packet at the beginning of the year, which include a welcome letter, a parent/student/teacher contract, and an outline of all of the material she will be covering with the students that year, including projects and field trips. The contract is to be signed by the parents and the students and one copy is returned to school and kept on file, the other is kept at the student's home. She explained to me that most of the time the type of written correspondence she uses with the parents is beneficial in maintaining a rapport with the parents.
This Thursday will be my last day of observation at the school and I have to say that it has been such a wonderful experience and I'm sad to see it coming to an end!