Instructor Response in Discussions is Paramount!

Mid-Term Formal Reflection for EDUC 744 925 Bullying and Cyber Bullying in Schools

By Julie Council July 16th, 2013

Julie Council, E-Learning Practicum SU13- 960C -1106 p. 1

Activating and Engaging

Contextual Information This is the last week of my intern class. This class was a short five- week class. I am interning in Bullying and Cyber Bullying EDUC 744 925 with Alfi Velasco-Hurst. The learners have 3 or 4 activities they are required to do each week, along with a weekly reflection. I have taken many classes online but this has been my first experience with teaching. There were several things that stood out to me, but when I think back to week one, there was one particular event that stood out to me. The event that really stood out was realizing that bullying is a sensitive subject and that when I respond in the discussions, I need to respond in a professional manner with empathy, support, and compassion to the learners. I found myself initially starting to respond and then changing my wording over and over again. I realized that I was not just a learner anymore, but that I needed to give much more thought to my responses to the learners. Also, I noticed that many of the learners discussion posts were short. Some only wrote one or two sentence responses. Information About the Event The learners were asked to participate in three or four discussion areas every week. In the first week of class, along with the icebreaker discussion, the learners were asked to respond to the following questions: 1) Who do you pose as the biggest challenge: the bully, the bullied, or the bystander? 2) What real life scenes come to mind?

Julie Council, E-Learning Practicum SU13- 960C -1106 p. 2

Presenting Issues and Concerns As I reflected on this event, the pattern that I saw from the learners is that most in the class would agree that the bystander is the biggest challenge. Here are some of the learner responses: Who is the greatest challenge? I think its the bystanders, without a doubt. I would put the bystanders as the number one challenge. I feel that the bystander is the greatest challenge. I think being the bystander is the hardest role. I think the bystanders are probably going to be the toughest group to deal with.

These are just some of the responses. I was surprised out of the 17 learners in the class, 13 felt the bystander was the most challenging, 2 learners felt all three roles were the biggest challenge, 2 felt the bully was the biggest challenge, and 0 felt the bullied was the biggest challenge. I can see where the bystander could be a challenge, but really I think all three are a challenge. I think it really depends on the situation. When the learners asked what real life scenes comes to mind, here is what some of the responses were: The real life example that comes to mind is name calling. Too often, I will be walking down the halls behind some students and hear them refer to others (sometimes to their face) with such terms as fag, gay, fat. slut, or retard. Some of our students hear nothing but negative messages - hear it enough and they will begin to believe it. I thought about when I was in elementary school and feeling so sad when one of my classmates broke down crying because he was being teased by another student I felt horrible. Which at the time I was the bystander and I could have stuck up for him. This kind of courage is hard to teach. I can remember being out on recess duty and seeing the "bully" wanting the ball. I remember watching carefully and seeing the bully aggressively come in the group. The mistakes we make our first years teaching. This brings back memories of my daughter being bullied in high school. I have so many
Julie Council, E-Learning Practicum SU13- 960C -1106 p. 3

regrets because I did what my mom would have done- I told her to find a way to stay away from the girl- never going to the bathroom between classes.

Perspectives and Perceptions When I was reading some of the learners responses to the discussions, I knew that many in the class were either bullied, someone close to them had been bullied, or they had been in the bystander position. I believe this can be a tough situation for a teacher to be in. Through this discussion, many of the learners indicated these types of situations were starting out happening in the 6th grade. Many of the learners in this class teach middle and high school. I think this class has been an eye opening experience for some. Many of the learners teach in small towns where everyone knows each other, and they havent had much personal experience with bullying.

Exploring and Discovering

I anticipated that bullying would be a sensitive subject. However, I was thinking that I would respond in discussion just as I would have if I was a learner participating in the discussion. When I started to respond to some of the learners, I realized that I was the intern and I had to be careful how I respond. I realized that some of the learners had been living with regret and wishing they had handled their bullying situation differently. I think that because of this class, the learners will be more aware of bullying and cyber bullying, and will have some ideas on how to handle these types of situations.

Analyze Cause-Effect Relationships

Julie Council, E-Learning Practicum SU13- 960C -1106 p. 4

I think that many of the learners were not sure how to respond to some of the discussion. Due to this being such a sensitive subject area, in the first week of the course, I think many of the learners did not open up as much as they could have or wanted to. As a result, I think that many of the learners just agreed with one another. Also, most of the discussion posts were a bit short. The learners began to open up a little more each week in the discussions.

Organizing and Integrating

Connections I have been able to connect everything that I have learned in this course to my own everyday life. I have now two girls in middle school this year. One going into 6 th grade and one going into 7th grade. I will now be more aware to bullying and cyber bullying. I also, have learned some good strategies to deal with this type of situation. I feel like I am now more prepared, and I have gained numerous resources for dealing with this type of behavior. I will be able to apply these skills when I start teaching as well.

Generalizations I would say the best advice I would give to someone that is teaching this class is to read everyones discussion post thoroughly and really take some time to think about the discussion before you reply. Bullying and Cyber Bullying are extremely sensitive subject areas for some people. I think you have to be even more careful to respond in an online environment. You really want to make sure your words are sincere. Since you are not in a face-to-face discussion, your written words need to be well thought out.

Applications I will be taking with me the hands on experience in online teaching. I have taken
Julie Council, E-Learning Practicum SU13- 960C -1106 p. 5

many classes online, but this internship was definitely a different feeling knowing that I was not just the learner in the class. My background is in psychology, and I feel like I was able to apply some of that knowledge in this course, especially in the areas of responding to learner discussion because of the sensitive subject area. Also, I feel like I have a better understanding in knowing how to offer constructive feedback. One of the biggest things I have appreciated in this whole certificate program is that a learner cant give a right or wrong answer. For example, no answer is always right or completely wrong. Everyone is able to express their thoughts and experiences just as they are. I believe that is what makes each person an individual and unique with their own experiences. As far as the grading aspect of the course, I do understand that you have to be a little flexible. Most of the learners in the class are middle and high school teachers. In many of the discussion responses from the learners, I had a very hard time trying to understand the grammar. For example, here is one of the responses from a learner: I was not aware of the term bully idle but it makes sense. I had never heard of the word until now. It concerns me that the bullied was being treated hat badly that it came to this. There are many options in our school from counseling to programs like mentoring to assist someone thinking of committing bullycide. Our school district is really anti ululating and have pbis as well as other rules to keep bullying at as much of a minimum as possible. I would go to a counselor as well as administration and our on site police officer. I would follow up with counselors and students to reinforce policies n discuss what bullying does to people. I certainly dont expect perfection because I am not perfect myself. I think an occasional spelling error or a missed comma is not such a big deal. I do think it is important to focus on the content. However, like I stated earlier, these are teachers. I think that teachers should be role models to their students. I will most likely start with a
Julie Council, E-Learning Practicum SU13- 960C -1106 p. 6

friendly reminder to my students about grammar. If I see where it continues to be a problem, I will send a private email addressing the issue.

Personal Learning When I do obtain a teaching position online, I realize that I need to set aside a time each day to read learners discussion posts and allow some extra time to reflect on the discussions. I want to be able to provide a meaningful reply to everyone. I want every person in my class to feel comfortable to discuss and ask any questions. I noticed that by the second Module of discussions, the learners were opening up

and disclosing how they felt. When the discussion on bullycides was addressed, many of the learners were shocked to hear of the many cases. This class has definitely been a good learning experience. I believe that after having the opportunity to intern in this class, I am ready to start teaching an online course.

Julie Council, E-Learning Practicum SU13- 960C -1106 p. 7