Katherine Graff
STUDENT QUALITY WORLD: INTERVIEW REPORT Session 11, Page 04, Activity 02
EDUC 5329
M.Ed.T, Secondary, Foreign Languages (Arabic)
ACTFL, NCPTS (
Content practice test NOT TAKEN
TExES content exam NOT TAKEN
PPR practice test NOT TAKEN
TExES PPR 8-12 NOT TAKEN
Quality World Defined
A person’s Quality World is defined by Glasser (1997, p599) in the text Classroom Management (Powell, et al, 2001) as the people, things
and beliefs in our lives that are most satisfying to our specific needs. Glasser generalized
that all people have the same four basic psychological needs: Belonging, Power, Freedom, and Fun. Each person has these needs, but each defines
what satisfies these needs in a different way.
Each of us will also place different values upon each need. For example, I place Freedom at the top of my
list, followed by Power, Fun and Belonging.
Some people might equate Freedom and Power, some might value Belonging
over Fun, and so on. In a nut shell, we
all have different priorities in life, but have the same needs on a basic
level. This aids us in relating to one
another no matter who we are or where we come from or what our cultural filters
are (pp231-234).
My Quality
World is centered around my family. I consider my most important positive role
models people that selflessly serve others who stand up for themselves and for
others who cannot stand alone. I cannot
stand people who take advantage of others due to lack of effort or
ignorance. I like to play golf and
watch TV or movies with my husband. I do
not have much time for friends since I am a wife, I am a mom, I work full time,
I attend graduate school and I am trying to remodel my home. My best friends are in Chattanooga, TN-13
hours away. I do not have much time for
socializing with friends; I have lunch with some instructors once a month, but
that is about it.
I email my
girlfriends back home weekly and I swap student stories with another teacher
from work. I see my neighbors
out and about on weekends and I say Hi and we catch up. We have block parties twice
per year and we attend if we are able.
I see some of my friends during the mornings and afternoons during
breaks or lunch at work, and that is about it for my socialization time. I am a wife, a mom, a full time teacher and a
graduate student, so I do not have time for much else. I can eat out at a variety of restaurants,
but only if I am alone because my husband and kids are picky and complain. I can only see movies if they have the words
“Disney” or “Dream Works” somewhere in the Title because I would have to pay my
life savings to a sitter if I go out anywhere.
All of these
things are a part of my quality world, and I live and breathe education everyday. I teach all day and come home a ton of
homework! Plus, I try to learn something
new everyday, so my life is more colorful.
Preconceived Notions, Fears
and Beliefs
My preconceived notions
about high school students are that high school age students are very
egocentric. They are very much aware
about themselves and what is going on in their own world, without much regard
for anyone else or how they affect the world around them as individuals. I know from experience that many students do
not like their teachers and will put up brick walls and act like fools just to
gain negative attention. Like Dave in
our text, I am concerned about violence, gang memberships, and substance abuse
because I have no experience with these teenage issues.
I watch an interview on “60
Minutes”, an television news broadcast on CBS on
Sunday nights, about the new generation of “Millennials”
in high school and in the work force (website located below this paragraph). Some of the qualities that exist in this new
generation are that anyone over thirty years old is irrelevant, outdated, and
expendable. Authority is for
losers. If it is not technological, it
is not worth knowing. They show up to
work in flip-flops, shorts, and Fridays are supposed to be optional work
days. I have a lazy attitude and expect
something from nothing-everything should be handed to them because that is what
Mommy and Daddy did for them. One story
depicted a college student that turned in a paper late and he received a “C”
instead of an “A”. He called his Mom and
handed the phone to his professor. His
Mom demanded to know why her son did not get an “A” on his paper, because that
is what she is paying for! This generation
has been deemed irresponsible, unmotivated and impersonal, and I am afraid that
I will have little patience with these types of students because of my Marine
Corps background and strong sense of personal responsibility. If kids are not learning this at home, how am
I to successfully teach them to be functioning adults?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/60minutes/main3475200.shtml
The Interview
I interviewed L.B., a nineteen-year-old recent
graduate of
The most important people in her life are her family
and her boyfriend. Her most positive
role models are her volleyball team mates; her negative influences are some of
her fellow students and some of her team mates.
She likes going to the movies, eating out and watching TV with her
friends at restaurants, the cinema, her house, in the locker room or at her
friend’s residences. She finds time to
socialize in between school and volleyball practice, but many days she chooses
not to spend time with friends because she is too tired or has homework. Hours she has available for socialization
are limited to lunch time and some late evenings because this is the only free
time she has available. L. B. says
that socialization is somewhat a part of her Quality World because she needs
time with her friends to recharge her batteries and relax and just be herself. She feels that education is part of her
Quality World because “Education is
very important because I will be able to have a steady job with a decent
income.”
Obstacles for Developing a
Management Plan
After the interview, I realized how busy some
teenagers actually are! I am thinking
that perhaps I need to make sure that my students are consistently engaged in
activities. I may have to build up to
some long term projects like those from BBMS, but group work is definitely a
must for this generation. I think
mediation will work well with these students because they need to have input in
everything involved in their lives.
These students are going to need ground rules, and if they are the ones
setting the rules, I think it will be easier for them to accept and abide by
them. Technology is a must for these learners,
but I am still worried that lack of funding is going to inhibit this
generation’s potential. I will
definitely have to keep up with all of the “Bubble Gum” movies and music, and
perhaps try to incorporate those pop culture items in my curriculum to keep it
fresh and interesting. For my food
lessons, I could have students eat out at their favorite restaurant and
translate items on the menu so we could make a huge project out of it. I like the key words used on page 254 of our
text to define how we should manage millennial students “negotiate, mediate,
choice, engage”. Millennial students
need to be able to make choices in a secure environment at school and
experience the consequences before being overwhelmed with adulthood.
I know from experience that L. B. comes from a school
that showed beginning signs of gangs and violence in the school, but that has
not affected her educational goals or skewed her view of the school. I am hoping that not all students will be
touched by this violence, but I believe that is wishful thinking. I feel the same way Delores felt on page 251
of our text. She asks, “How do I get
into their Quality World in order to reach them? Do I need to know all about
[drugs] or know where he is with [drugs] in order to reach him in my
classroom?” I wondering if the caring
initiatives discussed on page 255 would be more appropriate rather than
focusing on content or learning outcomes with these schools.
I am going to have to be really, really careful about
pre-labeling students. Are they lazy, or
are they unchallenged? I will have to do
more exploration to determine this and develop more engaging activities for my
students. I am also going to have to
have a website and some web projects to keep students engaged and to keep parents
involved and informed.
STUDENT QUALITY RUBRIC
Your Quality World Paragraph
I nailed down the
definition of a Quality World and described how my world is centered on my
family, noted positive and negative role models, described my socialization
habits or lack there of because of family, work and school responsibilities. 10
Preconceptions, fears, beliefs
about a high schoolers quality world.
I discussed how I believed
high school students to be egocentric and related a current piece I viewed on
“60 Minutes” about the new generation of Millennials. The new generation is described as
technologically savvy, but is very lazy, has no regard for anyone over 30 years
of age, and exhibits a severe lack of responsibility. I am also afraid that I cannot help students
with substance abuse or violent issues because of my lack of experience in this
field. 10
Interview responses from a high school students.
I interviewed L.B. who
stated that her life is focused on her family and boyfriend. She cited teammates as both positive and
negative role models. She enjoys going
to the movies, eating out and watching TV with her friends in between
volleyball practice and school. She
finds time during lunch and late evenings to socialize, but sometimes chooses
not to because she is tired or has homework.
She states that these are all part of her quality world because friends
help her relax. Education is very
important to her because he wants a steady job with a decent income. 10
Reflections on your preconceptions
and the ability to develop a management plan.
I assessed that I will
need to keep my students constantly engaged to reflect the business of their
lifestyle. I will need to practice
mediation and focus on group work to cater to the Millennial
attitude and include more technology (if available). I found that the use of the key words
“negotiate, mediate, choice, and engage” on page 254 are very appropriate for
this age group. I still do not know how
to reach students with substance abuse problems because I do not know what I
need to know about drugs, alcohol and abuse.
Because of my own preconceptions, I will need to be very, very careful
not to pre-label students because that will present a huge stumbling block in
student lesson acquisition. A website is
a must for this generation to serve both parents and students to satisfy the
technological dependencies reflected in current society. 10
Read and Respond to 3 learning team members and reply to all
responses to your original post.
This section was waived
due to the 2007 Thanksgiving
Total Possible 40
points My score 40 My percentage 100%