Personal Learning Theory

The results of my quiz for my emerging theory, I found that to many of the questions I agreed strongly to the question. Although most of my answers consisted of a seven, there were a few that I answered with a 5 or a 6. With this I found that much of my emerging theory tends to fall into the category of knowledge construction and higher-order thinking and behaviorist theory. Reviewing each of the learning theories: Piaget's theory of cognitive development breaks learning into 3 stages of learning. These include preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Vygotsky's cognitive development theory states that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition and children learn most when they are attempting tasks in their zone of proximal development. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development states that a person's personality develops over 8 stages. Kohberg's theory of moral development states that there are 6 stages of development and the 6 stages are broken into 3 levels. Goleman's emotional intelligence theory states that individuals manage the emotions of one's self. The information processing theory states that the mind is a system that processes information through the application of logical rules and strategies. The knowledge constructivism theory states that humans generate knowledge and meaning from their experiences and every learner is a unique individual. The behaviorist learning theory states that rewards and praise are positive reinforcers and unpleasant situations are negative reinforcers. It also says that continuous reinforcement increases the rate of learning. Social Cognitivism theory states that people learn by watching others. It also states that individuals will eventually assume control over their own behavior. Group and Individual differences theroy states because there are many different types of groups and individuals, there will be different styles of learning and teaching that needs to accommodate these differences. Motivation Theory says that motivation affects how a student learns and can increase their learning if directed positively.

My personal theory about how people learn draws from all the theories that I have stated above. I feel that students are going to learn best when they are learning in their ZPD. I feel that praise is very important to a person's feeling of self-worth and will a help a student achieve higher goals. I feel that social and emotional development are just as important to a child's success as academic development. The way in which people learn varies so much upon how the individual brain works. When working with students in groups or individually, I notice many different types of learners all of which need different styles of instruction. In order to teach so many different types of brains you need to adapt as a teacher a variety of styles that will accommodate all learners. Is this possible, or as a teacher do we just teach in one style and hope that all the students will learn? The best way to accommodate all learners would be to embrace all the different theories of learning and draw styles from each theory.

As a future teacher, I would like to have a good understanding of all the learning theories as to help me understand my students and what each individual student may need for them to be able to learn as much as possible. The theory in which I will embrace as a teacher will include, understanding my grade level and what their cognitive stage is, also work with my students in their ZPD to get the students to their level of potential development. Understand the students age group and what psychosocial developmental stage their personalities fall into. I feel that the more experiences I can provide as an instructor the more knowledge my students will be able to retain. These experiences would be hands-on, discovery, and real-life situations all of which help a student obtain and store knowledge. I also feel that praising and rewarding my students is very beneficial for the students to progress. It also provides motivation for the student. As I go into my first job as a teacher, I do know that I will have high expectations of myself and some of these expectations may be difficult to achieve my first couple of years. Accommodating so many different types of learners is a very difficult task, if not impossible. There are many students who become labeled or just fall through the cracks of the school system. If I can teach in a way that will reach all my students on a positive level, than I will accomplish my goal as a teacher. In the field of Educational Psychology, there many topics that can be covered extensively. There areas in which I need improvement are to learn in more detail on how the brain operates and how people learn differently because of how their individual brain works. Also, I feel that although I have touched upon these learning theories, there is still much to be learned about each theory. The more I improve in Educational Psychology, the better I may become as a future teacher.

Chapter 4/5 Case Study Analysis

Ch. 4/5 Case Study Analysis
It's not unusual for students to have trouble adjusting to junior high school, so Ms. Cecere typically waits a couple of months after each new school year has started before contacting parents whose children are struggling in her classes. But she makes an exception in Nathan's case when she sees just how much difficulty he has from the very first day. Concerned about Nathan's progress, she arranges a meeting with Nathan and his parents, Mr. and Ms. Hamlin, one afternoon in early October.
Beginning the meeting, Ms. Cecere says, "I'm worried about how Nathan is doing in my German class. He has yet to turn in a test or quiz completed from start to finish--he usually leaves at least half of the items blank. It puzzles me, though. He almost always gets the questions that he does answer correct. And when I ask him about questions that he hasn't responded to, he seems to know the answers to them well enough."
"Sometimes I forget to finish my tests," Nathan explains. "I get distracted a lot."
"I'm like that, too," Mr. Hamlin observes. "I start thinking about other things and lose track of what I'm doing. Like father, like son, I suppose."
"I'm seeing a similar pattern in Nathan's other work," Ms. Cecere continues. "For example, he rarely completes the written exercises that I give in class each day. And when I look at my grade book, I see that Nathan hasn't turned in a single homework assignment all year."
"That surprises me," Ms. Hamlin says. "I make sure that Nathan works on his homework every night. In fact, last night I helped him conjugate the three new verbs you assigned yesterday."
"Well, Nathan didn't turn that assignment in today," Ms. Cecere replies. Mr. and Ms. Hamlin look questioningly at their son.
"I thought I handed it in," he tells them, "but I guess not."
"Nathan, I know you are a bright young man, because you always seem to have the right answer when I call on you. So I'm at a loss to explain why you're not getting your work done."
Mr. Hamlin pauses, seemingly gathering his thoughts together, and then speaks. "I think we should probably tell you, Ms. Cecere, that when Nathan was in second grade, he was diagnosed as having a learning disability. He received special services in his elementary school's resource room for several years after that. But he seems to have licked a lot of the problems he had then. His mother and I would really like him to stay in your class."
Ms. Hamlin pats her son on the knee and adds, "I agree. I don't want him in any more resource rooms."
"Oh, I certainly don't want to get rid of Nathan," Ms. Cecere assures both parents. "On the contrary, I set up this meeting thinking that by putting our heads together, we might identify some strategies to help Nathan be more successful in my class. You said that Nathan received special services when he was in elementary school. What kinds of things seemed to work for him then?"
Ms. Hamlin opens her mouth to reply, but Nathan interrupts. "The doctor put me on drugs because the teachers said I was hyperactive. The drugs made me sleepy all the time. No more drugs!"
"OK," Ms. Cecere says. "What other strategies do you think we could try?"
Questions:
1. What classic symptoms of a learning disability does Nathan exhibit? Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD). His classic symptoms of this disorder are hyperactivity and inattention.
2. What accommodations has Nathan received in the past? Special resource rooms and medication.
3. What strategies would you recommend to help Nathan work with his learning disability? Why?I would recommend to teach Nathen attention-maintaining strategies, help Nathan to organize and use his time effectively, and provide him outlets for excess energy. I would recommend these strategies because Nathan has ADHD and he needs to learn how to focus by keeping eye contact with his teacher, let out his excess energy by getting enough exercise or engaging in a high interest activity before focusing on an assignment, and he also needs to learn how to organize his classroom activities by creating to-do lists and a daily routine list that he can view from his desk.
4. Is Nathan experiencing a cultural mismatch? Justify your response with examples from the case study. Nathan is experiencing a cultural mismatch because at home his parents know that he gets distracted and his father justifies his distractions by saying he is like that too and 'father like son'. This example shows that there is a cultural mismatch because, Nathan's home culture expects him to be distracted and at school the culture holds conflicting expectations for Nathan's behavior. His teacher expects Nathan to turn his work in on time, finish the tests and not get distracted.
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Ch 11/12 Case Study

Ch. 11/12 Case Study - Elementary
Instructions: Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow it on your blog. Your response should demonstrate critical thinking and thorough understanding of the subject matter, using proper terminology.
Case:
Mr. Collins doesn't use basal readers or workbooks to teach reading to his second graders. Instead, he expects his students to read at least one book a week and write a description of what they've read. Students may choose their books from a wide assortment on the bookshelves at the back of the room. Each book is color-coded to indicate how easy or difficult it is; for example, books with yellow dots are very easy, and books with red dots are quite challenging.
Once the children have completed their reading requirements each week, they stick a gold star beside their name on the star chart at the front of the room. The child with the most stars at the end of the month will, for an entire week, have the first spot in line whenever the class goes somewhere; that child will also read his or her favorite book to the class.
On the last day of September, Mr. Collins announces the first "reading winner" of the school year: Courtney has earned 17 gold stars, more than anyone else.The following morning, Mr. Collins asks Courtney to sit at the front of the room to read her favorite book. She has chosen Margret and H. A. Rey's Curious George Goes Camping, which is now lying open on her lap.
Courtney's voice begins to tremble as she stutters, "Je-Je-George and his f-f-friend..." She suddenly stops reading and looks to her teacher for assistance.
"You're doing fine, Courtney," Mr. Collins tells her. "Just slow down and have fun being the center of attention."
Courtney nods obligingly. "Je-Je-George an-an-and his...I just can't do this, Mr. Collins."
"All right, Courtney, take a deep breath and relax. You've read this book at least a dozen times."
"I guess I don't like being the center of attention," she replies. "I don't think I can read this book in front of the class."
Mr. Collins kneels down to Courtney's level. "Does it scare you to read in front of the other kids?" he asks softly.
"Only when I'm reading up here in front of everyone," she whispers.
"You're such a lovely reader, but for some reason you're stuttering today. I wonder why."
She looks down ashamedly as she replies, "I'm afraid of messing up."
Continuing to look at Courtney, Mr. Collins stands up, then speaks loudly so the class can hear what he has to say. "Maybe it will help you to know that you're among friends. Every one of us messes up from time to time. After all, we're only human." Courtney looks at the other children, who seem to be nodding their heads in agreement.
"Reading should be fun, not scary," Mr. Collins continues. "Let's first have you tell the class why this is your favorite book and what it's about, then the two of us can read your book together."
Courtney takes a deep breath and says, "Well...I love Curious George because he's fun and sweet, kind of like my baby brother. In this story, Curious George goes camping..."
Questions:
1. Is Mr. Collins's star chart a good idea? Why or why not? Use terminology from Ch. 11 and 12 in your response. I feel that Mr. Colling's star chart is not a good idea because it may lead to students reading for the wrong reasons(jsut to get the recognition or stars) it also places all the students on a chart for the whole class to see. If a student is not able to read fast enough to keep up with the rest of the class and get alot of gold stars this will be obvious to the entire class. This chart may have a negative affect on enhancing students sense of competence and self-worth.
2. For which children is this approach likely to be motivating? For which children is this approach not likely to be motivating? Justify your response. This approach is likely to be motivating to those students who are exhibiting intrinsic motivation. These students will participate in this activity because it gives them pleasure to read the books. This approach is not likely to be motivating to students who exhibit extrinsic motivation. These students will not get pleasure from reading alot of books, they just want the gold stars or recognition.
3. Identify an example of self-determination in the case. Justify your response. Is this a good idea? Why or why not? Self-determination is shown when Courtney takes a deep breath and explains why she loves to read Curious George books. She is showing that she wants to do this in front of the class because it is a valuable thing for her to do. It will be good for her to continue on because it will help build her self-worth when she tackles the anxiety of being in front of people.
4. Is Courtney experiencing state anxiety or trait anxiety? Is it facilitating anxiety or debilitating anxiety? Justify your response. Courtney is experiencing state anxiety because she is only feeling anxiety temporarily while she is trying to read her favorite book on front of the class. It is a debilitating anxiety because she is feeling anxiety that interferes with her performance.
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Multiple Intelligence Project-Piagetian Tasks

According to Piaget's theory this child is in the preoperational stage of development, yet beginning to show signs of moving into the concrete operational stage. As seen in the video, when performing the first Piagetian task the child is able to conclude that she sees the picture right-side up and I see the picture upside down. This task shows signs that the child is beginning to think more logically. But there are also many more signs that show the child is still in the preoperational stage of development. For example, when the Piagetian task of comparing the glasses of water is completed, the child seems to think that both glasses have the same amount of water as they do look the same. Then the child pours one of the glasses of water into a different size glass and thinks that now the glasses have different amounts of water. This here shows that the child has a lack of conservation. A child here has the inability to understand that just because there is a change in appearance does not have to mean that there is a change in the amount.


The level of development that this child is operating in is consistent with Piaget's age range for the preoperational stage. According to Piaget, this stage has the age range of age 2 until age 6 or 7. The child in my study is 5 years-old giving a perfect age example for this stage. She also showed a few signs of moving onto the next stage of Piaget's theory of development and at the age of 5 this would be consistent with the age range of the concrete operational stage which has an age range of 6 0r 7 until age 11 or 12.


As an elementary teacher, most students that I will be teaching are going to be in the concrete operational stage of development. At this stage of development the students' reasoning patterns will include class inclusion, reversibility and conservation. The task's I would want to perform would include tasks that determine the students reasoning patterns. The first task I could perform would be to determine if they understand class inclusion. This task would involve showing a student a picture of a dolphin, shark, whale, and elephant and then asking the student which one is a mammal. The students in the beginning will choose the elephant, but as they become more knowledgeable, they will understand that they are all mammals. This task would help me understand where a students knowledge of class inclusion lies. The second task I would perform would be to find out where my students are at understanding conservation. Showing a student two balls of clay of the same weight and weighing them on a scale, take one of the balls and smash it into a pancake. Ask the student if the two balls still weigh the same. According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development a child will not achieve conservation of weight until at least 9 years of age. The third task I would want to do with my students would be to see where their understanding of reversibility lies. To do this I would write down 9+3 and 3+9 and ask the student if these have the same answers or different answers. This task would help me determine if a student is able to understand reversibility. Performing these Piagetian tasks on my individual students will help me develop insights into the reasoning abilities of the students.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxZIBiCwsj0

Ch. 10 Case Study - Elementary
Instructions: Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow it on your blog. Your response should demonstrate critical thinking and thorough understanding of the subject matter, using proper terminology.
Case:
Today is Mindy's first day in Mr. Corbet's kindergarten class. Never before has she been in a room with so many other children her own age. She gets to sit at a blue table with two other girls and two boys. She has her very own chair, which is also blue; it even has her named taped on the back of it. Right now she is coloring a name tag that will be taped to her place at the table, and she is chattering along with the other children who are sitting at her table.
"Hmmm...I think I'll color the M in pink," Mindy says. "I like pink. It's my favorite color."
Tanya, who is sitting next to her, says, "I think this letter looks good. Oops, I colored outside the lines on the other one. Oh well...what should I color the rest of my letters?"
"This is so easy," Jonathan pipes in. "I did this stuff in preschool."
"I wonder if we're going to learn to read today," Grant muses.
The fifth member of the group, Tabitha, scans the room. "When did my mommy leave?" she cries. A bit unnerved, she runs across the room to seek comfort from Mr. Corbet.
Pressing a little too hard, Mindy breaks a green crayon as she begins to color the letter D on her name tag. She looks around to see if anyone else has seen what she did; unfortunately, Jonathan has observed the mishap. She walks over to Mr. Corbet so that she can tell him she broke his crayon, but he's preoccupied with Tabitha and so sends her back to her seat. Mindy hides the broken crayon in a box and resumes coloring her name tag.
Jonathan raises his hand straight up in the air. Mindy looks up to see what he is trying to touch, but there's nothing there.
As Mr. Corbet approaches the blue table, Jonathan puts his hand back down. "Well, Jonathan," Mr. Corbet says loudly enough to attract the attention of the entire class, "where did you learn to raise your hand?"
"At preschool," Jonathan replies. He points to Mindy. "That girl broke your crayon."
Mr. Corbet squats down between Mindy and Jonathan. He gently covers Jonathan's hand with his own and curls the boy's pointed finger inward. "It's not nice to point at others or to tattle on them." Jonathan frowns and pulls his hand out of his teacher's grasp.
"What's your new friend's name?" Mr. Corbet asks, looking at Mindy.
Jonathan shrugs. "I don't know know."
Mr. Corbet smiles at Mindy and asks, "Would you like to tell him your name?"
Mindy looks at Mr. Corbet, then whispers, "Mindy. I...I didn't mean to break your crayon."
"It's OK, Mindy," Mr. Corbet reassures her. "Sometimes that happens with crayons when we press on them too hard. I know you didn't mean to break anything. It's not a big deal. In fact, the more you practice using crayons, the less likely you will be to break them. So then...let's find out who else is sitting at the blue table with Mindy and Jonathan...."
After the children have finished coloring their name tags, Mr. Corbet announces, "It's time for recess." Mindy isn't sure what this recess thing is, but she can tell by her classmates' excitement that it must be something good.
Mr. Corbet continues, "I'm going to have you line up at the outside door one table at a time. Hmmm...I see that the children at the red table are waiting very nicely. So, Red Table, you may be the first ones to line up. Please walk--walk slowly and quietly--to the outside door."
Two members of the red table run to be first in line. Ignoring them, Mr. Corbet says "My, I like how Sam walks to the door. Did you see how he walked, class? It shows that he's definitely ready to be a kindergartner!"
Mr. Corbet next summons the yellow table. "Wow! Did you notice how everyone in the yellow group walked? I can tell that I have a smart class this year."
Mindy squirms in her seat until she hears her teacher call the blue table. When he does so, she makes a concerted effort to walk, not run, to join the line.
Once outside, Mindy stands near Mr. Corbet and watches the other children play on the playground equipment. She has finally concluded that recess must be a special place that has swings, monkey bars, tricycles, and other things to play on. A recess is like a park, she thinks, only smaller and without grass or trees. Unlike her kindergarten classroom, recess is a place where running is allowed. Mindy runs to play with Tanya, her new friend from the blue table.
While the class is outside, Mr. Corbet sometimes blows a loud whistle at particular students. Mindy realizes that the sound of the whistle must not be a good thing, because the children he whistles at have to stop what they're doing and talk with him, and they usually don't look too happy afterwards. Mindy wants to avoid the whistle at all costs, although she's not exactly sure how to go about doing that.
Mindy and Tanya spend most of their play time on the swings. At one point, a girl in a yellow dress pushes Tanya to the ground and then climbs on Tanya's swing as if nothing has happened. Tanya begins to cry, and Mindy looks around for Mr. Corbet. Seeing him close by, she raises her hand and waves it to get his attention.
As Mr. Corbet approaches the girls, Mindy starts to point at the girl in the yellow dress but then immediately closes her fist tight. She nods her head toward the guilty child. "See that girl in the yellow dress?" she asks her teacher. "Well, she pushed Tanya off the swings."
Questions:
1. The strategies that Mr. Corbet uses to teach his students appropriate school behavior are most consistent with which two theories/theorists that we have learned about so far this semester? Justify your response. Mr. Corbet is using Lawrence Kohlbergs theory of Moral Reasoning and the behaviorist theory. The theory of moral reasoning is being used when Mr. Corbet talks with Jonathon about tattling on Mindy and then encourages him to acknowledge Mindy as his friend. Mr. Corbet also uses the behaviorist theory by using cueing inappropriate behaviors such as using the whistle at recess. He also exhibits a behaviorist approach by reinforcing desired behaviors. Such as complimented Sam on his ability to walk nicely to get in line for recess.


2. Describe one incident in the case study that represents vicarious reinforcement. Explain your reasoning.When Mr. Corbet reinforces Sam's good behavior of lining up properly and tells the class that Sam is ready to be a kindergartner. And then the next table that lines up for recess

also goes quietly and calmly, Mr. Corbet comments how well they have done. The fact that the table that followed Sam's table did well lining up for recess exhibits vicarious reinforcement. Sam was recognized for his behavior and because of the recognition the next table lining up for recess did a good job so that they could get recognized.






3. Describe one incident in the case study that represents vicarious punishment. Explain your reasoning. An incident that represented vicarious punishment was Jonathon being scolded by Mr. Corbet for tattling on Mindy for breaking her crayon. Because of this, when Mindy witnesses Tanya being pushed off the swing by another girl she raises her hand to tell Mr. Corbet. But when Mr. Corbet approaches Mindy, she withdraws her arm, so that she will not get punished for tattling. This response exhibits vicarious punishment, a decrease in frequency when another person is observed being punished for the same act.








4. Do you think Mindy has low or high self-efficacy with regard to appropriate kindergarten behavior? Justify your response with examples from the case.I believe that Mindy has low self-efficacy with regard to appropriate kindergarten behavior. Her inability to understand exactly what the whistle means when it is blown by Mr. Corbet. She understands it is not a good thing, but she is not sure of how to avoid getting it blown at her. Also, when she wants to tell Mr. Corbet about the girl who pushed Tanya off the swing she is not sure how to approach telling Mr. Corbet the problem without it being considered tattling.






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Course Contract Review #3

Course Contract Review
Complete the following assignment on your blog AFTER completing each exam.
Review your course contract from the beginning of the semester. Answer the following questions:
What are you doing well?
I am not missing any classes and doing all my homework.
What are you not doing well?
I am not going over past material enough, my notes in class could be better, I am taking my exams with too many distractions. A very difficult thing to do with my busy schedule and my kids around. Hmm, not much I can change here. I guess I will just keep plugging ahead. Oh, and I really should have gone for that mountain bike ride before the exam. Oh well, I will be off now.
Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?
My sufficient progress is complete, if I complete my courses with some added knowledge and decent grades. Phew, I think that is happening. I just have to go with the flow, low stress mode and just know I will get it done somehow and I do.
List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals.
I still should really have gone for a run before this exam. But, Sunday morning is lazy, coffee, breakfast, kids, spouse. Oh and don't forget we had the very long and fun eventful Halloween yesterday. I suppose if I was really on top of the game I would have had this out of the way before Halloween. But no, I have been fighting off a cold or something all week and have not been up to par or up to homework. Must take care of self first, then we will think of school. I have my priorities right. Oh and of course family. School unfortunately is not my top priority. But, it is up there and I do make it happen. So I just keep plugging away and hope for the best. Good luck to me!!!
For Course Contract Review #4, consider what you will need to change in future semesters. Consider it a summative experience for this semester and a formative one for next semester.
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Ch. 9 Case Study - Elementary
Instructions: Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow it on your blog. Your response should demonstrate critical thinking and thorough understanding of the subject matter, using proper terminology.
Case:
I teach first grade at a small private school just outside of New York City. Most of the children who attend the school come from very wealthy families; many have full-time nannies and one or more live-in servants at home. A lot of my kids have "issues." It's clear that money doesn't necessarily solve life's problems.
Take Haley, for instance. She's terribly afraid of men. She gets hysterical if a strange man walks into the classroom. And she won't go to my class's weekly violin lesson because the school's violin teacher is male.
Another thing about Haley is that she lives in the shadow of her older sister, Heidi, who's a third grader at our school. Mom dresses the two girls alike each day. She thinks Heidi is perfect and often tells Haley to "be more like your sister." When Haley gets upset, she asks if she can go see Heidi, and when Heidi stays home sick, Haley cries all day. As you can see, the sisters are very close. Too close, in fact. When I ask my students to write about themselves, Haley usually writes about Heidi instead. And once when I asked the kids to draw self-portraits, Haley drew a picture of Heidi!
Haley has one good friend in class and seems lost if this friend isn't there. Her name is Meredith, and she often carpools with Haley and Heidi. She's very smart. She's also very aggressive. One day she pushed a girl down the stairs. Another time she shoved a chair leg into a boy's foot. Haley looks to Meredith for clues about how to behave and obeys Meredith's every command, partly because Meredith pinches or punches her if she doesn't. Meredith treats her own mother this way. One day Meredith wanted to come to school dressed like a pop star--you know, with a miniskirt and a tight, skimpy top that showed her navel. Mom tried to discourage the outfit, but Meredith hit her, and so we had a pop star in class that day.
No one except me ever holds Meredith accountable for her behavior. At home she constantly has servants and her nanny waiting on her while her mother goes shopping or works out at the gym. Here's a 6-year-old who doesn't know how to dress herself! She can't even zip up her jacket or tie her shoes!
Questions:
1. Is Haley's fear of men most likely due to classical or operant conditioning? Justify your response (yes, it will all be hypothetical as we do not have enough information in this case).
Haley's fear of men is most likely classical conditioning. Possible something happened to her with a male figure and now she interprets all male figures to be the same.
2. How might you explain Meredith's aggressive behaviors from the perspective of operant conditioning? Meredith's aggressive behavior gets a reaction from people or gets her the things she wants. This is a sign of operant conditioning because her response is strengthened every time she acts aggressively.
3. What strategies from Chapter 9 might a teacher use in working with Haley? Be specific and describe how each strategy could be used. As a teacher you would want to make Haley feel special and important. You would want to use secondary reinforcement such as praise. This would help give her confidence. Effective reinforcement with Haley would work by making her feel needed in class, such as helping the teacher out. This also would help to make her feel special and needed. If you can help make her feel special and important she is more apt to want to be in class and it will help her with her identity, separating her from her sister.
4. What strategies from Chapter 9 might a teacher use in working with Meredith? Be specific and describe how each strategy could be used. It appears that Meredith acts the way she does to get attention and get what she wants. As a teacher, you would need to know Meredith well and know what consequences for misbehaving would be the beneficial. For example, if Meredith is just looking for attention when she misbehaves the teacher and class can just ignore her behaviors and she may become bored and lessen her aggressive behavior. A process called extinction. You could also use incompatible behaviors with Meredith. Maybe have Meredith in charge of classroom ethics, and have her help set up the rules as to how classmates should treat one another. A process called reinforcing incompatible behaviors.

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