Final Learning Log

What?
The emerging theory quiz suggests that my philosophy of learning is almost equally split between a cognitive and behaviorist philosophy. Presently, I believe that my theory relies heavily on social constructivism. I believe that learners construct meaning from experiences that they have within the culture they live in. I use Piaget’s cognitive stages of development to try to understand how the students I teach might be thinking. In class, I enjoyed learning about the development of the brain and different theories of learning. These things enabled me to better understand the students I will teach. Going into the classroom to observe during my field experience, I was able to see the teacher using different techniques from the theories and watch how the students would learn. I observed the teacher using scaffolding in each lesson that she taught. She used discovery learning in many of her lessons which I thought was very effective for the students to gain an understanding of concepts on their own which I believed help them retain the information better. Small group activities were used several times throughout the day and the teacher encouraged the students to talk through tasks with their neighbors in a cooperative manner. In addition, the teacher must have conditioned the students to behave in a respectful manner which must have take place at the beginning of the year through a behaviorist approach. I felt comfortable in the classroom partly due to the fact that the teacher used educational philosophies which aligned with my own developing educational philosophy. I saw that these strategies worked in the classroom that I was observing which helped me understand their usefulness in the classroom.

So What?
I will use pieces from many learning theories when I am a teacher. I will use Piaget’s stages of cognitive development to understand the logic of how my students might think. I will use this understanding to help them move further in their stages of thinking. As I hope to teach kindergarten, I believe that many of my students will be in the preoperational stage of development. This will impact my classroom in several ways. The students will have an egocentric perspective, so they will not be able to see another’s point of view. As a teacher, I will need to point out different perspectives while reading books and dealing with situations in the classroom to help students see different points of view. I will focus on class inclusion and conservation giving the students opportunities to sort and re-sort, and to reshape and rearrange a substance. Hopefully this will give the students the experiences they will need to begin to understand class inclusion and conservation. I will give my students the opportunity to use discovery learning so that they will be able to construct knowledge from these experiences. I will try to connect new concepts to prior learning and provide many opportunities for social interaction.
I will use many of Vygotsky’s ideas of in my classroom including scaffolding, play, self talk, and providing tasks which are in their zone of proximal development. I believe that adults in every culture systematically teach children the acceptable ways to behave and respond to the world around them. In my classroom I want to include many opportunities for the students to learn in their zone of proximal development. As Vygotsky believed, it is working within a zone of proximal development that learning takes place. Providing challenging tasks with the necessary help will allow my students the opportunity to learn. I will use scaffolding techniques to provide the support they need to learn and experience new tasks which will eventually lead to them accomplishing these tasks on their own. I will take each opportunity I can to tell the students what I am thinking while teaching them so they understand how important it is to talk themselves through more difficult tasks. This will encourage them to use self talk to work through assigned tasks. I will encourage play which will enable the students to practice adult behavior in a non-threatening way.

I will include some behaviorist ideas in my classroom as I believe that students’ behaviors can be a result of the experiences they have in the classroom. From observing my cooperating teacher, I have come to believe that it is the teacher’s responsibility to condition the students through classroom management skills. The students in the class I observed showed respect to the teacher and to my partner and me in every situation. I believe this respect resulted from the teacher’s high expectations and her consistent insistence that the students behave appropriately.

Now What?
As I continue my education here at UVU, I will continue to learn from knowledgeable professors and gain valuable insight from field experiences. I will keep an open mind as to my developing educational philosophy to ensure that I include the proper techniques and strategies that will ensure I teach my future students in an engaging and effective manner. As I continue to build my educational philosophy, I hope I will be guided by exceptional professionals from whom I can use as mentors. I will continue to learn all that I can through course work, observations, hands-on experiences, and personal study to ensure that I will one day be an excellent teacher.

Chapter 4 Learning Log

What?
The chapter discusses group differences in regards to cultural and ethnic groups, gender differences, socioeconomic groups, and students at risk. Each of these groups has different characteristics which need to be addressed in order to help students in each succeed. It is important for educators to become familiar with the cultural and ethnic groups differences and keep these differences in perspective. In class, we did an exercise where we looked at pictures of students and made a judgment on what our expectations for each student were. It was interesting in that I looked at facial expressions and body posture to decide if they might be shy, outgoing, or serious; while some others in the class took into account ethnicity. I had not considered the ethnic background in my analysis. As a teacher, I should keep in mind the ethnic background of my students so that in general I might have a better understanding. The final analysis turned out to be that we do have a cultural lens through which we view the world. It was determined that while we need to be aware of group differences and what on average may be a characteristic of a group, we need to treat each student as an individual.

As we also discussed, there are gender differences to take into consideration as well. Although there is very little difference in academics, there remain stereotypical ideas that boys are better in math and science, while girls are better in language arts. The real differences appear in academic motivation, sense of self, relationships, and classroom behaviors. These differences can be accounted for in heredity as well as environment. Dr Cox mentioned that it would be worth our while to video ourselves teaching and see if we treat boys and girls equally. Finally, there is a correlation between socioeconomic status and school performance with students from lower socioeconomic situations performing lower academically. Several risk factors come into play including poor nutrition, inadequate housing, unhealthy social environment, and emotional stress.

So What?
As a future educator, it is important for me to understand there are many group differences. As we live in a culturally diverse world, I need to have an understanding of each of the cultural and ethnic groups that exist in the school community. With a general understanding of these groups, I can begin to better understand my students as individuals. From reading the chapter, I have found that there are many things that I see from my cultural perspective and would not have realized there was a different cultural perspective. An example from the text explained that in some cultures for a child to look an adult in the eye would be showing disrespect. From my perspective, I may have interpreted a child’s unwillingness to look me in the eye as a sight of deception. My lack of cultural understanding would have been a disservice to the child.

Being aware of the gender differences will help me as an educator to provide adequate opportunities for both boys and girls to excel in their education. As mentioned in the text, I must make a concerted effort as I select teaching material to represent both genders in a positive light. Finally, I have the ability to foster resiliency in my students especially those coming from challenging situations. Most importantly, I can provide constancy and strength to my students. I can encourage my students and support them in their endeavors. In addition, I can help identify missing resources through the community to help meet the basic needs of the families in need.

Now What?
I look forward to learning more about cultural differences so that I can better understand and then meet the needs of the students I will one day teach. I realize that I with a greater understanding into other cultures, I will be able to better understand the behaviors my student exhibit. As a future educator, I want to promote a classroom community that welcomes and understands differences. In addition, I hope to be fair in meeting the needs of both the boys and girls I will one day teach. I will make a conscious effort to learn about each child in my classroom and meet their needs so that they will have a positive educational experience in my classroom.

Chapter 5 Learning Log

What?
Kristin Wright, a professor at the school, came in and spoke with our class concerning students with special needs. I took an exceptional students class from Professor Wright last semester and found that she was extremely knowledgeable concerning students with special needs as she has previously taught in that capacity for several years in New Jersey. I am very glad that legislation such as the IDEA has been enacted to protect and educate all students. I understand that as a regular education teacher I will have students with special needs in my classroom. I realize that it will be my responsibility to accommodate the needs of these students in my teaching methods. Understanding the needs of these students and working to adapt to these needs will be the key to helping them reach their fullest potential. It will be up to me to create an accepting and understanding environment where all students can work together and thrive as a class.

In addition to discussing students with special needs, we began researching five different philosophies regarding intelligence. These include Spearman’s g, Catell’s Fluid and Crystallized, Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory, Distributed Intelligence, and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. In my experiences so far in my educational experience, I have only heard of Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. From reading the chapter, I believe that each of these theories of intelligence are all very similar in that people are good at different things, and what they are good at has a lot to do with prior experiences.
So What?
As a future educator, I will have students with special needs in my classroom. Some things that can be done to help students with special needs will be helpful to all students in the classroom as well. I can minimize distracting stimuli, use many ways of presenting information, teach study skills and learning strategies and provide study aids. I can provide outlets for excess energy, help my students organize their time, listen patiently, and encourage regular communication. In addition, I can explain clearly my expectations and help to build student self-confidence by providing praise for student successes. Most importantly, I feel I will need to remember that each student is an individual and provide them with the tools to be successful.

I realize I will be called upon to teach a wide spectrum of students from those with special needs to those that are gifted and talented. I will need to prepare to meet the needs of each student. Using multiple teaching methods, I hope to be able to reach the needs of all the students in my classroom. By using different teaching methods, I believe that it gives the student many opportunities to explore what their talents may be.

Now What?
As I continue my education, I believe it is important for me to observe many different methods of teaching so that I can learn different ways to meet the needs of my future students. By closely paying attention to excellent teachers in the field and to professors here at UVU, I feel that I am preparing daily to meet the needs of my future students. In order to meet the needs of students with special needs, I believe that each year as I assess the students in my class I will find it necessary to do additional research into needs that may arise. In addition, taking additional classes and attending seminars on student learning and classroom management will be of benefit to my career.

Chapter 10 Learning Log

What?

This week in education psychology I learned about social cognitivism. The definition of learning for this theory is that learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to a behavioral change. It is a combination of cognitive psychology and behaviorism in that change in behavior may take place and it recognizes that something is going on inside the brain. I thought that the Bobo doll experiment was very interesting to watch and see that children who watched an aggressive model were more aggressive to the Bobo doll. In the text it says that children are influenced by what they watch including videos, games, and movies. I have always thought that children are influenced by what they see; however, I am kind of confused about this because I think that it has been reported in the news that they don’t think there is a connection between what we see and what we do. This seems to not be true. In class, we talked about reciprocal causation and how environment, behavior and personal beliefs, perceptions, values, and emotions can all influence each other. There is an interrelationship between all of these things. We were divided into groups and went to the computer lab. Our group worked on a presentation concerning vicarious learning. Vicarious learning is when a person observes someone else doing something and they learn from the experience themselves. Three types of this include response facilitation effect, response inhibition effect, and response disinhibition effect. In the first, the learner increases an activity after seeing someone else being reinforced for it. The second is when a learner sees a person being punished for an activity and the learner decreases the activity. The final of the three is when previously punished activities are not punished in others and so the learner increases the frequency of the previously punished activity.

So What?

From this chapter, I have learned that modeling of appropriate behavior will have a great impact on my students. As I model the behaviors I expect my student to adopt, they will be able to use me as a model and make goals for their own behavior. As I help my student incorporate self-regulating in their behavior, they will eventually be able to make decisions about their behavior on their own. The things I do in class will have a big impact on all the students through vicarious learning. The students will feel vicarious reinforcement and punishment as they see me interact with other students in the classroom so I had better make sure that I am consistent in my behavior. Students need to have high self-efficacy in order for them to be successful in their lives. There are things that teachers can do to promote a high self-efficacy in their students.

Now What?

I will need to make sure that I am always a good model for my students. Students need to feel that I am competent as a teacher and as a person. They also need to feel that what I model is relevant to their personal situation. For this, I will need to make sure to make connections with what I teach to their lives. In the text, it indicated that I need to provide a wide variety of successful models so that my students feel that they too can be successful. To do this, I will look for resources in the school and in the community so that all of my students know that success is possible for them. I will need to be consistent in my reinforcements and punishments because I have learned that students can experience consequences for behavior either directly or vicariously. In order to promote high self-efficacy in my students, I can provide experiences in which they will be able to be successful in many different areas. I can help them be successful by providing necessary scaffolding. I can provide explicit ways that students are successful and I can communicate my belief in their ability to be successful.

Chapter 9 Learning Log

What?
In class we discussed behaviorism. Dr. Cox passed out small sheets of paper and indicated that she would give us stickers for our contributions to the discussion. At the end of class, which ever groups had 5 stickers on their papers they would get to choose a prize. This is an example of operant conditioning as well as a token economy. Dr. Cox would give us a reinforcer each time a contribution was made and the students in the classroom were making more comments than usual to the discussion. In the end, if each group had five stickers we could get a better prize.

Behaviorism’s definition of learning is a semi-permanent change in behavior and the visual analogy for this is a black box. This means that we don’t know what’s going on in the brain, and we don’t care to know. One advantage to the definition is that the change in behavior is measurable. One disadvantage is that we want motivation to come from within not from a reinforcer. Two types of reinforcers discussed include extrinsic reinforcers and intrinsic reinforcers. Extrinsic reinforcers are provided by the external environment and might include an actual object, gesture, sign, or an opportunity to engage in an activity. Intrinsic reinforcers come from the learner themselves and are things like feeling good about doing a task well or feeling pleasure or satisfaction from accomplishing something.

The two types of conditioning which we discussed were classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is when a neutral stimulus is presented at the same time as an unconditioned stimulus and eventually, the neutral stimulus begins to elicit the same or similar response that the unconditioned stimulus did. Pavlov discovered this with dogs and salivation. He began flashing a light at the same time as he presented dogs with their food and they would salivate. Soon, he could flash the light without having food present and the dogs would still salivate. Operant conditioning is different in that a response is strengthened when it is followed by a reinforcer. An example of operant conditioning was shown by Dr. Cox during class with her stickers. The students in the class were experiencing operant conditioning and we were participating more in class as a result of her reinforcer.

There is a difference between a reinforcer and a punishment. Reinforcers can be positive or negative but they both increase the frequency of what we are reinforcing. A punishment on the other hand is meant to decrease a behavior. The problem here is that sometimes we might be reinforcing poor behavior, and what is punishment to one student, might be enjoyable to another.

So What?

Through Dr. Cox’s object lesson we were able to discover several things. First, it is very time consuming to keep up giving reinforcers. Second, when one student was told that he couldn’t receive anymore stickers for his comments, it discouraged him from commenting anymore. Third, sometimes Dr. Cox did not give stickers to students who commented and they may have wondered what was wrong with their comment not to have received a sticker. As a class, we discussed that reinforcers should be used sparingly and that we should try to help students understand there are intrinsic rewards for doing their school work well. Reinforcers are stimuli that increase a behavior whether good or bad. Punishments are supposed to decrease a behavior. As an educator, I need to be careful to use punishment only in situations where it is absolutely necessary. I also need to be aware that one person’s punishment may be a reward (or reinforcer) to another.

Now What?

I need to keep in mind that I need to create a classroom environment where the stimuli including my own behavior is likely to create responses of enjoyment and relaxation. When my students associate my classroom with a pleasant circumstance, they are likely to learn that school is a place that they want to be. On the other hand, if I create a stressful environment, it may create responses of stress and distaste. My students then would associate my classroom with unpleasant circumstances and they will likely learn that school is a place they do not want to be. As I prepare to teach kindergarten, I will need to evaluate the reinforcers I use in my classroom. I believe that I would be interested in using a token economy for some reinforcement. However, I want to instill in my students that intrinsic rewards that are associated with doing tasks well are far better than reinforcers. I need to make sure that the praise I give is genuine and specific to each of my students. I will need to study different methods of reinforcement to determine what will work the best in my classroom. In addition, I will need to be very careful not to reinforce behaviors that I would like to extinguish. I will monitor progress in the classroom to see if my chosen techniques are working and adjust them as necessary.

Investigations Math

What is investigations math?

According to the website http://investigations.terc.edu/, investigations math is a K-5 math curriculum designed at TERC in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was designed to help students understand fundamental ideas about numbers, operations, geometry, data, measurements, and algebra. Investigations math is a result of over 20 years research designed to improve teaching and learning math in elementary schools. Three principles that guide investigations math are that students have mathematical ideas and the curriculum needs to support the exploration of these ideas; teachers are engaged in learning about math and how students learn math, and that teachers and students work together to create curriculum in the classroom. From several sources I have determined that in this type of math the teacher presents a mathematical question and the students work together in groups to try to find a way to solve it. Apparently, time is spent emphasizing concepts, estimating, and using calculators. The traditional idea of memorizing math facts, and repetition and practice are not a part of this type of math.

What were the results of its use in the Alpine School District?

Alpine district began using investigations math in the 2000 school year. I was unable to locate the math scores for pre and post usage of the investigations math program. I only found mention of raised test scores in which the district spokesperson said that there was a 5% increase in elementary algebra and a 7% increase in geometry than the state average. I was able to find reported in 2005 that the legislative committee criticized the method and that the Utah State Office of Education removed it from its list of recommended primary sources of instruction.
I found information that indicated schools in California that used the investigations math approach for 7 years went from being top in math scores in the states to the second lowest. The thing that seemed to be the most obvious result of the use of investigations math was the divisiveness in the district. Some parents were so upset by the program, that they went door-to-door obtaining signatures for a petition against the program. They created a website which kept information concerning investigations math in the forefront of conversation. Some parents moved their children from the public school system into charter, private, or home schools. Several teachers supported the program; however, many others opposed it. In the news reports, children were scolded by teachers for using traditional math ideas and some teachers’ jobs were threatened if they did not use the program. Some teachers reported that they spent 10 minutes on investigations math then closed their doors and taught traditional math.

What are the arguments for and against the use of investigations math?
Arguments for:
Emphasis on concepts, estimation, and use of calculators
Teachers present concepts
Students explore concepts through investigations
Making students into thinking mathematicians
Students develop a deeper understanding and love for math

Arguments against:
Large amount of time for students to identify which solution will work
Fewer topics covered or diminished depth of content
No repetition and practice of basic math facts
De-emphasizes algorithmic methods
Deprives students of some essential skills

My Opinion:

I believe that there should be a balanced approach to teaching math. I believe that it is important for students to memorize basic math facts in order to make it easier to recall basic facts for more complicated problems. I believe that students need to have many opportunities to discover and work with manipulatives in order to solidify abstract math concepts in a more concrete way. As I prepare to teach kindergarten, I realize that my students need many hands on experiences to help them gain an understanding of many math concepts.

Chapter 7 Learning Log

What?
Today’s lecture covered constructivism. This involves learning as an active process in which the learners construct their own meaning based on prior knowledge and experiences. Piaget would favor the idea that individuals construct their own meaning, while Vygotsy would say that society helps individuals to construct meanings. Today in class during the bell quiz, we had an object lesson of social constructivism. As we found out, it was much better to be able to have other class members to work with on our answers then answering them solely on our own. As a class, we were able to construct the meaning of what we had read in chapter 7 and make some sense of it.

Schema plays a big role in our learning as demonstrated by the paragraph that we read. At first, I thought the paragraph was about a girl doing homework and then friends came over to play games. Then upon further examination I thought that it was a group of musicians getting together to play instruments. I never thought that it was about a baseball game as some in class did. This exercise demonstrated that prior knowledge makes a difference in what we learn.
For an activity on developing a schema, our group was given the word “family” to define. We had a very difficult time trying to come up with something that we all felt comfortable with. In the end, we consulted Google and got a satisfactory definition of “A social unit living together.”

I liked the discovery learning example. I felt that the students were given enough direction to lead them to the conclusions the teacher wanted. I also felt that the students were going to remember the rectangles they built and retain the knowledge longer than if the teacher would have just told them the factors of 12. The students used more than just the ears to hear, they used their hands, worked in groups, and I hope made a better connection to the content.

So What?
As an educator, I need to understand and used different theories of learning to help meet the needs of all my students. What might work well with some students, might not work so well with others. I need to remember these theories and integrate them into my teaching style in order to reach as many students as possible. I need to remember the power of schema! Students will come from diverse backgrounds and I do not want to make any assumptions that everyone knows the same things. I need to evaluate, question, and find out what ideas and schema my student have and begin my teaching from there. Many times, I may need to correct misconceptions that students have in their schema. When I was a child, it would have been easy to describe the word “family” as what would have been considered a traditional family. However, today there are so many more ideas that make up this word. I need to carefully consider each student and their family situation making sure all students aware of the many aspects that make a family.

Now What?
As I prepare to become a teacher, I need to really understand and apply the appropriate theories to my lessons. I need to constantly ponder and evaluate if the methods I employ in my teaching are effective and meeting the needs of my students. As I begin teaching, I believe I will find where my students might have misconceptions in their schemas and I can learn to anticipate where I may need to focus my attentions. It will be important for me to watch for differing schemas through questions, testing, and surveying. I will need to use the existing schema for a basis of my lessons. As I prepare my lessons, I need to be sensitive to the diversity of students I will teach and find the appropriate theories and strategies that will help them learn. I would like to incorporate some discovery learning into my classroom as I believe that hands on experiences help reinforce concept attainment.

Chapter 6 Learning Log

What?
I enjoyed learning about what cognitive psychologist believe about the way we learn and commit information to memory. During the lecture, we had the opportunity to work together to diagram how it is believed we remember things. From the five senses, the information is taken into the brain to the Reticular Activating System. From the RAS, the information goes to the thalamus. Next, the thalamus sends the information to the regions of the cortex which are responsible for the senses. For example, sight goes to the occipital lobe, spatial goes to the parietal lobe, touch goes to the frontal lobe, hearing goes to the temporal lobe, and smell goes to the temporal lobe. The information then goes to the hippocampus for cataloging and filing. If there is emotion involved, the information goes to the amygdala instead of the hippocampus. Next, the information returns to the cortex to the region that is responsible for the sense for long term storage. The RAS is the gatekeeper, deciding if we are going to pay attention to information and let it in to our brains or not.

The model of human memory includes a sensory register, working (short-term) memory, and long-term memory. First the input goes to the sensory reception center where it can be attended to or lost. Next, it goes to the short term or working memory center. Some information can be lost here as well. Next, if great detail is paid to it then it goes back and forth and eventually ends up in long term memory. There are not just three areas involved in memory storage as this model may suggest.

In comparing the two ideas, the RAS is similar to the sensory register and it decides whether to pay attention to the input or not. The process of information going from the thalamus to the cortex is similar to the working memory. The process of information going from cortex to the hippocampus and amygdala is similar to in depth processing, and sending the information back to the regions in the cortex is like long term storage.

Apparently, our long term memory is capable of infinite storage; however, are we capable of retrieving all of this information? The more you use information, the easier it is to retrieve. The hippocampus brings all the information back together when we need to remember information. Decay and interference are reasons we might not be able to remember some things. Several things we can do to help learning are rehearsal, meaningful learning, organization, elaboration, visual imagery, enactment, and use of mnemonics.

So What?
Understanding the process the brain undergoes in order to learn and remember information enables me to make choices that will enhance my own skills as a student as well as my teaching skills to better help my student learn and understand. I understand that if I want to remember information, I need to use skills to help encode the information well in the first place. It will be useful to review information I would like to remember so that I can strengthen pathways to the information.

Now What?
As a student I realize that if I want to learn a subject well, I must think of ways to make the information make sense for myself. In particular I need to try to use my prior knowledge to connect the new information to in order to make it useful. It would be wise to get as many senses involved in the learning process as possible if I want to understand and use what I am learning. As a future educator, I need to give my students as many learning opportunities as possible that allow for use of many of the senses. I need to help my students connect their prior knowledge to new information to allow them to apply the new knowledge. I will need to make sure I create lessons of useful information and provide students many methods of connecting to the information. I will need to teach the students useful techniques that will help them encode information properly for future use.

Dr. Grandin Reflection

Today I had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by Dr. Grandin. She presented some very interesting information regarding autism. Diagnosing autism is not an exact science at this time. Diagnosis is done by checking if the patient has a list of behaviors and if the patient exhibits 75% of the behaviors, they have autism. Dr. Grandin hopes that one day a more accurate diagnosis can be reached through brain scans. Autism is a neurological disorder which can range from mild to severe and is an early onset disorder. Dr. Grandin strongly believes in early intervention. As a child, she was put into speech therapy at age two and later had a nanny that spent time helping with her. Dr. Grandin said that the worst thing you could do for autism was NOTHING.

I was very interested in hearing her describe the different types of sensory problems that are very real for people with autism. She posed the question that how can a person be social when you can’t stand the environment. She gave a personal example that some clothing causes her skin to itch. Dr. Grandin gave reasons why a child would rock or flutter their fingers in front of their face. It was in order to shut out the other stimulus that hurts. Dr. Grandin mentioned that when you take an autistic child in for an eye exam for vision problems, the exam will be normal. The eyes are functioning properly; it is a visual processing problem that is taking place in the brain. Some suggestions to help a child with this type of problem is to place the child’s desk near the window for natural light, get rid of fluorescent lights, put the child’s homework on colored paper, or have the child wear colored sun glasses. The same thing could happen if you took the child for an ear exam, it would be normal. Some children have a difficult time with auditory detail. Dr. Grandin suggested speaking slowly to enunciate the words better for the child to understand. She suggested that we use a combined method of phonics and whole word to teach children with autism to read.

Dr Grandin informed us that there are three types of specialized thinking which include visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, and word thinkers. Visual thinkers see everything in pictures like using Google images. They need a lot of descriptions to create these mental images. This type of thinker might struggle in math. Pattern thinkers are more abstract and enjoy music and math. They might be weak in reading and writing composition. Finally, word thinkers know every fact concerning their favorite subject. With any of these types of thinking, Dr. Grandin suggested that we should build up the areas of strengths and focus on what the child can do when he grows up. We need to use the obsession to teach the child. For example, if the child is obsessed about trains have him read books about trains. Help the child to do things that people will want.

In regards to medication, Dr. Grandin gave an interesting example about how anti-depressants had helped her overcome her fear of dangerous predators. Imagine that she locked the doors, turned off the lights, and let loose a bunch of poisonous snakes. Without her medication, she always felt terrified even though she was in no danger. She suggested that medication has a place along with behavioral therapy and supplements.

Dr Grandin offered some other bits of information. In order to desensitize a child to a bothersome noise, record the noise on a tape recorder and then have the child initiate the sound to help overcome it. Autistic children need structure; but, they need to learn to accept some change. You can help overcome this fear of change by giving plenty of advance warning of change. Also, social skills must be taught. It is never too late to learn, the more experiences a person has to compare to the better off they are. Get children with autism to try and do things. Make a system to make organizing things easier for them. For a non-verbal child, let them use a keyboard for communication.

Who better to help us understand autism than a person who has autism? I now have a glimpse of some of the issues that might affect the children whom I will teach. I would be interested in reading her books because Dr. Grandin’s insights seemed so on target. I will continue to research this so that I might make a difference in many people’s lives.

Chapter 3 Learning Log

What?

Personal and social development are ideas covered in chapter 3. There are many factors which contribute to a person’s sense of self including previous performances, behaviors of others, and group membership. There are developmental changes that occur in our sense of self as we mature. During childhood, a child’s perception of self is concrete and optimistic. In early adolescence, self concepts and self esteem drop as students make the transition from elementary school to middle school. During this period, children have the belief that everyone is watching them, and that no one has ever experienced what their life is like. They are able to think of themselves in concrete terms as well as in some abstract terms such as awesome and cool. During late adolescence, children are able to come up with a general sense of identity of who they are, what things they like, and what they want to accomplish in life. The text discusses peer relationships such as cliques, gangs, and friendships. It touches on parenting styles, popularity and isolation and aggression and offers many suggestions for fostering and building pro-social and moral development.

Erikson presented an eight stage process in which he believed people developed their sense of self. Dr Cox presented a mnemonic method to memorize these stages. The first stage of trust vs. mistrust is represented by 1=bun. The idea is to imagine a delicious cinnamon bun in one hand and a baby in the other reaching for the bun. When you feed the baby, you are establishing trust, when you feed only yourself, you establish mistrust. The second stage of autonomy vs. shame and doubt is represented by 2=shoe. The idea is to imagine a toddler trying to put on his own shoes and tie them. This represents autonomy. However, the mom is in a hurry and ties the shoes herself. This establishes shame and doubt. The third stage of initiative vs. guilt is represented by 3=tree. The idea is to imagine a little girl in a pretty party dress is at a party. She sees an awesome climbing tree across the way and run over and begins climbing it. The little girl has initiative. She gets sticks in her hair and rips her dress. He mom sees her, gets mad, and yells at her. This establishes guilt. The fourth stage of industry vs. inferiority is represented by 4=door. We are to imagine our classroom with two doors in the back. On the first day you teach your students to go out and save the world through the first door. This establishes industry. On the next day, you tell them how stupid they are and send them out the second door which is a pit they fall into. This established inferiority.

The fifth stage of identity vs. role confusion is represented by 5=hive. Imagine a bunch of worker bees who are just buzzing about because they are not really sure what to do. This represents role confusion. Think next of the queen bee inside the hive busily going about doing what queen bee’s do. This represents identity. The sixth stage of intimacy vs. isolation is represented by 6=sticks. Holding out your hands with the sticks in them you bring hands together and rub saying “intimacy, kissy, kissy, kissy” to represent intimacy. Then pull the stick apart and say “isolation.” For the seventh stage of generativity vs. stagnation you think of 7=heaven. If you are generating good things in life, your life is in heaven. If you are stagnating and rotting you are going to hell. Finally for the eighth stage of identity vs. despair you thing of 8=gate. You are so old that you have come to the pearly gates. If you are pleased with your life’s accomplishments you have integrity and are looking in to go ahead. If you despair over what you have done, you are looking out thinking I wish I could have done better.

Moral transgressions are those which all cultures discourage. This is different from conventional transgressions which are things that are specific to a particular culture. It is important to look from the perspective of theories not from religious or personal experiences when determining moral development. Kohlberg presented a three level, six staged process which demonstrated the development of moral reasoning. The first level is preconventional morality and includes the punishment avoidance/obedience stage and the individualism/exchange of favors stage. Preschoolers, elementary school students, junior high students and some high school students are in this level. The second level is conventional and includes the good boy/good girl stage and the law and order stage. This level includes some older elementary students, some junior high students, and many high school students. The third level is the post conventional level and includes the social contract stage and the universal ethical principle stage. This level is not usually seen until students reach college.

Dr. Cox presented a developmental chart on emotional intelligence. We begin with knowing one’s emotions. Next, when a person moves on to managing their emotions followed by motivation oneself. Next, a person is able to recognize emotions in others. Finally, a person is able to handle relationships. Dr. Cox also told us an interesting study called the Marshmallow test which involved delayed gratification. Through the study, the correlation was made that if a child is able to wait for 15 minutes to get two marshmallows as opposed to gobble up the first marshmallow immediately, the child ended up having higher SAT scores, higher life satisfaction and was more successful and happier in life. This type of emotional tests is a better indicator of life success and happiness than IQ tests.

So What?

From the discussion of our individual concept maps we created with factors that contributed to our sense of self, it was determined that every person is unique with a diverse set of factors which make up our sense of self. Based upon our sense of self, each person in the classroom is different; and therefore, will behave differently based upon their unique sense of self. This can easily translate over into a classroom full of students. Each student in the class is different, has experienced different things, been exposed to different things; and therefore, will indeed react or act differently. As a teacher, it is important to keep this in mind and try to accommodate all the students as much as possible similarly to including Gardner’s multiple intelligences. Although a teacher cannot change the circumstances from which a student comes from, the teacher can teach the student to make better social and moral decisions. It is important that I as a teacher am aware of the Erickson and Kohlberg’s stages so that I can determine how best to help each student. It would be unproductive to push the student to achieve something that is several levels above their present developmental capacities.

Now What?

As I prepare to become an elementary school teacher it is important for me to understand that each student comes to class with a unique sense of self. Each one of these unique children will be dependent upon me to provide appropriate instruction to teach them. Some students might not come from ideal home situations and as a teacher I will be able to make a positive impact on their lives. I believe it is extremely important for me to establish a classroom environment which welcomes and celebrates diversity. I feel strongly that I am responsible to help each student develop a good working relationship with all the other students creating a positive environment in which no students feel neglected or rejected. There are many things which I can do to help develop students’ moral and social and personal sense. I can create small group projects, assign and change seating arrangements, and encourage and facilitate extra curricular activities. I can help students evaluate differing perspectives when reading stories. I can teach and model effective social skills. I can provide many opportunities for interaction and cooperation in the classroom. I can explain and establish appropriate classroom rules. I can encourage students to have empathy for others. I will keep the students’ zone of proximal development in mind as I consistently try to build students’ personal, moral, and social abilities. I will need to continue to learn about this topic so that I can be prepared to help my students’ development.

Chapter 2 Learning Log

What?

Learning is the development of neuronetworks. These networks are strengthened through use. The more you use a certain pathway the more it anticipates future use. It is like driving a car on the same roads each day, it becomes habit to follow the same pathway. The brain is not a predetermined thing. It is very changeable and adaptable. The things we do in our lives can stretch our brain and make it learn.

Piaget and Vygotsky proposed two different cognitive development theories. Piaget suggested factors that affect cognitive development include biological maturation (nature), active exploration of the physical environment (nurture), social experiences (nurture) and equilibration (self-regulation). Piaget proposed that we learn through assimilation and accommodation of events into our schema. Piaget’s theory includes three stages of development which include sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Vygotsky’s theory on cognitive development is a sociocultural learning perspective. It includes guided participation, apprenticeships, peer interaction and the importance of play. He believed that children have a zone of proximal development (ZPD) in which learning takes place. The ZPD is where a child is challenged at a level that they can only accomplish a task through scaffolding.

A very important factor in cognitive development is acquiring language. A portion of chapter two is devoted to linguistic development. One very important factor in linguistic development is that children’s ability to learn language is greatly affected by the amount of language in their environment. Children who come from rich language environments will develop a larger vocabulary more quickly than those who do not. Language development includes vocabulary, syntax, listening comprehension, oral communication skills, and metalinguistic awareness.

So What?

As a mother of a 6th grader, I have come to realize that some of the abstract math concepts being introducing in her class are in what Piaget calls the formal operations stage. I have occasionally though while helping her with her homework that she’s not grasping the concept at all. Now that I have read the chapter and listened to the class lectures, I realize it is likely that her cognitive development is being stretched in this instruction as she is likely only now moving into the formal operations stage. As I help her, I try to draw pictures, provide examples, and explain the concepts in several different ways to help her make a connection that she will remember. Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories help me to understand where my own child might be in her cognitive development. As a future educator I need to be aware of the theories of cognitive development as they apply to my students and provide meaningful experiences, instruction, and scaffolding to help my students develop cognitively.

Now What?

As a future kindergarten teacher, it is important for me to understand the different cognitive theories to help my kindergarten students develop cognitively. I will need to continue to learn and apply cognitive development theories so that I am best able to help my students learn effectively. Several things that I can do in my classroom include providing hands on experiences, providing opportunities for sorting objects, allowing for play time, encouraging students to talk through tasks, and providing learning situations which are in the student’s zone of proximal development. In order to assist in the students’ linguistic development I can make sure that my classroom is rich in literature. I will incorporate reading, writing, and listening into as many activities as possible in the classroom. I will encourage parents to talk with their students as well as to read to them. Above all, I need to continue to learn about the cognitive and linguistic development of the students I would like to teach in order to understand their abilities and how I can help meet them as a teacher.

Kim Peek at UVU

Today, I had the fantastic opportunity to go to the UVU Ballroom and hear a presentation given by Fran and Kim Peek. Fran is Kim’s father and companion. Kim is known as a mega savant. He has incredible abilities including reading books and accurately remembering 98.7% of what he reads. This is indeed incredible because Kim was born with severe mental retardation. At the age of 9 months it was recommended to his parents that Kim should be institutionalized at a mental hospital in American Fork. The Peeks refused and cared for Kim at home. Very early on, Kim began reading and memorizing books. At the age of 6, the Peeks enrolled Kim in school but due to behavior problems they had to bring him home again. At their insistence, the school provided a retired school teacher to tutor Kim 45 minutes a day twice a week. Kim completed the high school curriculum at the age of 14. Although Kim has incredible mental abilities, he requires help on basic functions such as showering, shaving, and dressing. When Kim was 32 years old it was discovered that the two hemispheres of his brain were completely fused together. There was no corpus collosum.

The movie “Rain Man” was written after the writer met Kim. Dustin Hoffman spent time with Kim and his father before he did portrayed Kim in the movie. Dustin made his father promise that he would share Kim with the world. Fran did not know if that were possible because Kim was severely mentally retarded. Fran began working with the Jordan School District on commercials about caring and respecting differences. After the students had prepared questions for Kim he attended an assembly to answer them. With a few minutes left, they asked other students for questions. One boy asked, “What is it like to be a spastic?” Kim answered with a positive response and found out the boy had been dared to ask the question by two friends. Then Kim replied, “Now that you have been education, we can now be friends.”

Apparently Kim has improved significantly in his social skills since receiving notoriety as the real “Rain Man.” Kim was given the “Best Performance for 1988” Oscar, and takes it with him to his presentations and allows everyone to hold it. During the presentation, Kim seemed warm, friendly, personable, and funny. He would randomly start talking about unusual items and his father could eventually get around to figuring out what he was saying. He has presented to 5.3 million people and he has a mission which is: “Recognize and respect differences in others and treat them as much as they want them to treat you so we can have a better world to live in. You don’t have to be handicapped to be different. Everybody is different.”

The human brain is capable of amazing things. Kim Peek is a remarkable person with unbelievable mental abilities. Fran Peek is a dedicated and loving father. Their presentation made me wonder about the brain’s capacity and made me want to reach higher in all I do.

Brain Learning Log

What?

In Educational Psychology this week I learned some interesting things about the brain. Taking the online quiz testing my knowledge about the brain led me to realize that I have several misconceptions about the brain. It was interesting to me to know that we are using 100% of our brain. Another interesting thing about the brain is that the brain only uses as much energy as a refrigerator light. Dr. Cox’s explanation of this seemed to make sense, that if it used more energy, our heads would overheat.

I learned the basic functions of each section of the brain. The frontal lobe, located right under the forehead, controls reasoning, judgment, motor function, planning, parts of speech, movement and emotion. The frontal lobe is extremely vulnerable to injury due to its location. The temporal lobe is located under on the sides of head by the temples and helps with speech, memory, hearing, memory formation and emotional responses. The occipital lobe is the vision perception center and is located most posterior back of head. The parietal lobe is located at the back and top of head and integrates sensory and spatial information along with hand-eye coordination. The hippocampus is involved in emotion and is the birthplace of memory. It is located deep within the temporal lobe near the amygdala. The Amygdala is almond shaped and is involved in arousal, fear, emotion, and hormone secretions. The brain stem is vital and should not be damaged. It controls motor movement, regulates heart, stomach, breathing and other reflexes. It is located deep in the brain leading to the spinal column. The reticular activating system is the center of arousal and motivation. The cerebellum controls voluntary motor movement, balance, equilibrium, and muscle tone. It is located at the base of the skull. The Brochas area is for language production and is located in the front of the left lobe. The Wernicke’s Area is similar to the Brochas area and it is responsible for language comprehension. Finally, the corpus collosum is deep within the brain and it is the gateway between the left and right halves of the brain.

Neurons are nerve cells that reside in the brain and in other parts of the nervous system. The neurons sent information to other cells. The neuron is made up of dendrites which receive information. Dendrites are branch like structures that are like fingers on a hand. The cell body can be thought of as the hand, and the axomis an arm-like structure that transmits information to other neurons. The axom eventually becomes covered in a myelin sheath of fatty insulation. Myelination enables faster transmission of messages. Messages are transmitted over the synapse. This is gap between two neurons that allows message transmission. Synapses begin to form before a child is born and continue to form throughout life. Some synaptogenesis is driven by genetics. Early in life children have more synapse than adults but over time, synaptic pruning occurs which means that the unused connections fade away. According to the text, learning involves forming new synapses and strengthening old ones. Dr. Cox stated that the brain is a garden and it needs pathways to function.

So What?

The brain is a complex organ that controls all the functions of our bodies. Understanding the basic regions of the brain, their functions, and the general development of the brain will help me to tailor learning to the needs of my future students. With this basic understanding that I have I will be able to help students who might have brain injuries or tumors in the brain. Understanding which sections of the brain may be affected will help me tailor specific help for these students. In addition, I realize now that learning involves important processes in the brain, many parts of the brain work together to accomplish tasks, and that the brain continues to change and adapt throughout life.

Now What?

Now that I am aware of some of the functions of the brain and the developmental time frame of the parts of the brain, I will better understand the actions of others around me especially my own children as well as the students I will teach. I better understand that the brain develops from back to front and that the frontal lobe which controls judgment, planning and problem solving develops last. I can continue to learn and improve my own life because my brain is capable of what ever I set my mind to do. I will instill the idea that my students can learn and be whatever they want because their brains are capable as well.

Educational Research

There are four types of educational research which include descriptive, correlational, experimental, and action research. Descriptive research tells how, what, or why a situation happens. Descriptive research can be quantitative – using percentages, frequencies, and averages; or it can be qualitative – yielding nonnumeric information in the form of verbal or written reports, documents and pictures. This type of research tells facts about a particular situation. An example of this type of study would be the number of students in a classroom and their standardized test scores.

The second type of educational research is correlational research. This type of study explores the relationship between two variables. Although it may determine that a relationship exists, it cannot determine that one variable causes the other variable. With this type of study, if one variable is know, we can predict what the other variable might be. An example of this type of study is seeing that there is a relationship that exists between class size and improvement in standardized test scores.

The third type of educational research is experimental research. This type of study can determine cause and effect relationships. This type of study requires manipulating one variable to determine its possible effect on something else. This type of study requires a control group and a treatment group selected at random to make sure that the groups are as similar as possible. Although this type of research yields the most useful results, questions sometimes do not lend themselves ethically or practically to carefully controlled experimental studies. An example of this type of research would be determining that lower class sizes result in an increase in standardized test scores.

Action research is the four type of educational research. This type of study is useful to an educator when they want to do their own research into their personal teaching practices or programs. Educators can reflect on their educational practices, identify strategies for improvement, implement the improved strategies, and then assess the effectiveness of the new strategy. This is effective for the particular classroom or school where the action research takes place; however, the practice cannot be generalized and used in all classrooms or schools. Additionally, this type of research lacks the external and internal validity associated with properly conducted experimental research. An example of action research would be a teacher changes her reading program and sees an improvement in the reading levels of her students.

Through this Webquest, I have learned the differences in the types of research and what conclusions can be drawn from each type. I have learned that it is important for me to look carefully at research conclusions reported in the media and journals to determine for myself if the conclusions are valid. Accepting what is reported as fact, and changing educational practices based on invalid research could have a negative impact upon my teaching practices which would negatively impact my students. Jumping onto a bandwagon of a touted theory based on inaccurate conclusions would be a poor decision.

While analyzing the research scenarios, I determined that I need further explanation into the wording that I should look for to determine what type of research is taking place and if the conclusions are based on sound research. This would help me to know if the proper conclusions are being drawn from the research in the first place. I believe that I need additional guided instruction into understanding what words to look for to determine the types of research that are being discussed. This would allow me to determine if the conclusions drawn are valid for the research.

For myself, I have a greater understanding into the benefit of being a reflective educator. I realize it is important for me to critically think about my own teaching practices and look for areas that can be improved. Keeping current on educational research will help me determine which of my practices should be altered to align with current theories and practices. Once I determine that I need to alter or improve my practices, I can implement the changes and assess their effectiveness in my own classroom.

Motivational Blog

Why are you here in the teacher education program in this class at UVU?
For fifteen years I have had the dream of going back to school and eventually becoming a kindergarten teacher. During those years, I raised my children, supported my husband through numerous job transfers, and collected books, games, puppets, manipulatives, and ideas that I planned to eventually use in my kindergarten. Finally, after settling our family in a permanent location, I returned to school with my dream in mind in the fall of 2007. I have finally arrived in the teaching program and look forward to each step that brings me closer to my dream.

What motivates you?
Having returned to college after a twenty year absence, I have found the university learning experience to be exhilarating and rewarding. I truly love learning and understanding more about the world around me. Although at times college life can get extremely challenging, I find that I look past what is causing the challenge and visualize myself teaching my own kindergarten class and know that I can make it through the temporary setback. Additionally, I have a grand cheering section back at home, encouraging me in all my endeavors.

Why do you succeed?
I am internally driven to do well in what ever I set out to do. Usually this included a lot of hard work, effort, encouragement, and a few occasional tears. Hard work usually pays off and you are rewarded for your efforts.

Why do you fail?
If I allow myself to become overloaded and allow discouragement to creep into the corners of my life, I can begin to question my ability to succeed.

How do you need to change your motivations and mindset for this class in order to become a great teacher?
Being driven by perfection can be a debilitating force in my life. As I begin this challenging teaching program, I need to keep my focus on the big picture of becoming a kindergarten teacher and realize I cannot or need not be perfect in all things. I am here learning to become the great teacher I hope to be one day. This learning process might include some missteps along the way from which I can learn from as well.

Course Contract

List 2-3 specific goals you have for this course.
I will be perfectly honest and let you know that one of my goals is to work hard on all assignments and tests in order to earn an A grade. This will help me maintain my high GPA and allow me to apply for another scholarship. At this time, I am able to work toward my educational goals through scholarships and grants and I hope to be able to maintain this avenue. Another goal which I have is to learn and understand appropriate teaching techniques and apply them to my future classroom in order to be a successful teacher. As the time for me to have my own classroom approaches, I realize it is extremely important for me to know how to teach, motivate, and encourage the students in my classroom. Finally, I hope to maintain a positive attitude by keeping the big picture in mind in order to maintain a sense of what is really important in my life.

Describe your weekly preparation plan. Be specific. What will you do each day of the week to prepare for this course.
I will refer to the schedule and look for the chapter that I need to read for the class that we are discussing it. While reading the chapter, I will highlight information that I think is important. If I have been given a study guide, I will go over the questions prior to beginning reading, and look for the answers as I read. After I have completed reading the chapter, I will then type my notes from my reading in outline form including the highlighted items. I will then print out my notes and scan them daily. For key words, I will put them onto cards so that I can study them. After attending class, I will type my class lecture notes and with red pen write into my reading notes any additional information I would specifically like to remember. I will complete my assignments in a timely fashion, completing the bulk of any work on Friday and Saturday. I will make time available as necessary to meet with any group members if I need to do so during the school hours on Monday through Thursday. On Sunday evening and Monday morning, I will quickly review my reading notes on the chapter that is going to be discussed on Monday.

Outline the study strategies that you will use to understand the material.
I will carefully read each assignment. When necessary, I will re-read particular sections to try to understand what it is saying. When necessary, I will consult the internet for additional information. I will make clarifying notations in my notes with a red pen and then I will review my notes and note cards on a frequent basis. I will get together with other classmates to review for tests and assignments as needed.

Explain the process you will follow if you do not understand a topic.
First, I will re-read a section to see if I missed something. Next, I would read further in the text to see if I can clarify my question there. I would consult the Internet to shed further light possibly. I would contact my friends and classmates to see if they had some way to explain it to me better. Finally, I would contact Dr. Cox to get her explanation of the topic.

Complete the following statement:
I will reach my goals in this course by continuing to work hard and do my best in all I do. Since I am aware of how difficult this course is, I will apply myself, study diligently, maintain a positive attitude, and never allow discouragement or set backs to get the upper hand in my life.