I believe that I did a good job of meeting my three goals.
My first goal was to stay caught up in all of my classes. This did not go so well at the beginning of the semester. I am use to history classes where we have a midterm and a final and a term paper and that is it. I virtually have spent the last 2 1/2 years with very little homework. What reading I did have I was able to either glean or do between my breaks at school. This was the first semester where I actually had to do homework nightly and it took me by surprise a little bit. But, by the middle of October I was able to get my act together and I got caught up. By Thanksgiving I had my two term papers done, my Unit plan done, and most of my field response journal for this class done. I did not have to do a single ounce of homework over Thanksgiving.
My second goal was to really value the class. I think that this has been one of the best classes I have ever taken. I have learned so much not only about how people learn but how I learn and how I teach. I have found this subject to be fascinating. I was concerned at first because I find the concept of learning how people learn to be a very abstract one, but I have taken so much out of this class. I also feel like I have a way better understanding of what will be expected of me when I become a teacher.
My third goal was to enjoy my field work. I know that this sounds stupid and silly but I have found my field work to be extremely stressful for me in the past. I have a very packed schedule with little wiggle room for 15 hours of observation. But I was able to take time off of work and spend 5 days in the classroom. I had a great experience observing. The teacher I observed left me with an open invitation to observe her class anytime I want and to come and teach her class any time I want. I have since been back to take her up on her offer. Sometimes in my curriculum class I find myself going why am I going into this profession, but when I am there teaching I realize why.
I think that next semester I need to stay on my homework like I did this semester. I also will have classes 4 days a week instead of two so I need to spread my work load out differently. I also am only going to take 12 units (that’s all I have left) instead of the usual 16-19 units that I am use to taking. With the lighter work load I need to not slack off. I also need to partake in the extra things going on at school that I do not usually have time to do.
As a summative assessment of the semester I think that this semester has been one of my busiest, but one of my best and most accomplished. If my last semester can be as good as this one then I will be very pleased with my last year of school. I also can see where I have changed for the better in the way I study and handle school
As a formative assessment for next year I need to take the way I have learned to study and carry it over into the next semester.
I also wanted to say Thank You. You have really made this class enjoyable. I have learned so much and I really do appreciate every thing you have done for me in this class.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
FRJ #4 - Kohlberg
*4. At which of Kohlberg's levels of moral development are the students in your class functioning? Cite specific evidence and explain your reasoning for selecting these levels. What might be done to help the students advance to higher levels?
Kohlberg’s conventional level of moral development is where most of the students I observed are operating in. the conventional level focuses on the external authorities and the standards of society determine right and wrong. The external authorities are represented by the authority of Ms. B or the teachers in the classroom. The social standards are represented by peer pressure in the classrooms.
External authorities are represented by the teachers. In Ms. B’s classroom she makes the rules and enforces the rules. She has done a great job setting up and teaching procedures in her classroom; there is not one student that questions the rules of her class. The students know that she sets the tone of the class and if they want more freedom in the classroom then they need to follow what Ms. B says. Ms. B’s seventh period class is her most talkative class; she says that she has to be more strict with them and they are not allowed the freedoms her other classes are given. For example when they would do their group activities Ms. B would choose their groups for them. Where in her fifth period class they did the same activity and they got to choose their own groups.
Standards of society determine right and wrong is represented by peer pressure. In the high schools the social standards are set by the other students. Many students do things just because the other students believe that it is ok. When I was teaching the class for my teacher work sample for my Curriculum class Ms. B had me teach her seventh period class; as said before this is her most talkative class. I started teaching and a several students kept talking pretty excessively; one of the girls in the class told the boys to be quiet that I was trying to learn to teach. There was not much talking after that and the students seemed engaged. Ms. B told me that she had never seen them be that quiet and I needed to come and teach every week. This is an example of the standards of Ms. B’s classroom society determining that it was right to listen and wrong to talk and be noisy.
Kohlberg’s conventional level of moral development is where most of the students I observed are operating in. the conventional level focuses on the external authorities and the standards of society determine right and wrong. The external authorities are represented by the authority of Ms. B or the teachers in the classroom. The social standards are represented by peer pressure in the classrooms.
External authorities are represented by the teachers. In Ms. B’s classroom she makes the rules and enforces the rules. She has done a great job setting up and teaching procedures in her classroom; there is not one student that questions the rules of her class. The students know that she sets the tone of the class and if they want more freedom in the classroom then they need to follow what Ms. B says. Ms. B’s seventh period class is her most talkative class; she says that she has to be more strict with them and they are not allowed the freedoms her other classes are given. For example when they would do their group activities Ms. B would choose their groups for them. Where in her fifth period class they did the same activity and they got to choose their own groups.
Standards of society determine right and wrong is represented by peer pressure. In the high schools the social standards are set by the other students. Many students do things just because the other students believe that it is ok. When I was teaching the class for my teacher work sample for my Curriculum class Ms. B had me teach her seventh period class; as said before this is her most talkative class. I started teaching and a several students kept talking pretty excessively; one of the girls in the class told the boys to be quiet that I was trying to learn to teach. There was not much talking after that and the students seemed engaged. Ms. B told me that she had never seen them be that quiet and I needed to come and teach every week. This is an example of the standards of Ms. B’s classroom society determining that it was right to listen and wrong to talk and be noisy.
FRJ #3 - Erikson
*3. In what psychosocial stage did Erikson say most children in the grade level you observed are functioning? What specific teacher behaviors do you oberve that either help or hinder the students to successfully navigate through this stage? What more could or should be done?
Erikson says that adolescences are in the psychosocial stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion. During the identity vs. role confusion adolescence are influenced heavily by their own personal internal state as well as the environment around them. The adolescence need the opportunity to explore different roles that they want to partake of during their lives. They also need a psychosocial moratorium; they need to be actively involved in the exploration process. Ms. B helped her students with finding their identity by allowing her students to do hands on activities to explore historical events and by having them explore current events.
It is very important to Ms. B that her students have hands on activities to learn. She wants to allow for creativity in their learning. I observed them doing an activity in their U.S. Honors class they took butcher paper and created life-size scale drawings of people from the Western Frontier. In one of her classes she allowed them to choose which person they wanted to learn about and draw. The students had a great time doing the drawings.
Ms. B also finds it important that her students learn about the world that they are living in now. She has a current event to tell her students every day; she then haves them discuss what they had learned about the current event. I observed five different days and her current events ranged from political current events to artistic current events. She would have them read news paper articles, watch news clips, or have them read magazine articles to gain their information on the current events.
Role confusion is a lack of clear goals and aspirations for self where as identity means a sense of self. I believe that Ms. B does a good job creating an environment where her students are able to be creative. She really pushes them to know what is going on in the world around them. There are examples of this around her room; she posts laminated articles of current events around the room. I was later told that they are used as extra credit for her students. They bring in the articles that they are interested in and present them to the class for extra credit; she then laminates them and hangs them on the wall.
Although Ms. B does a great job helping her students connect what they are learning to what they already know, I believe that Ms. B could do a better job making the connections with areas that her students are interested in. She has them do these extra credit current events that she has them tell the class about but she does not have them express why they are interested in it. I think that would be one more way to help them explore their identity.
Erikson says that adolescences are in the psychosocial stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion. During the identity vs. role confusion adolescence are influenced heavily by their own personal internal state as well as the environment around them. The adolescence need the opportunity to explore different roles that they want to partake of during their lives. They also need a psychosocial moratorium; they need to be actively involved in the exploration process. Ms. B helped her students with finding their identity by allowing her students to do hands on activities to explore historical events and by having them explore current events.
It is very important to Ms. B that her students have hands on activities to learn. She wants to allow for creativity in their learning. I observed them doing an activity in their U.S. Honors class they took butcher paper and created life-size scale drawings of people from the Western Frontier. In one of her classes she allowed them to choose which person they wanted to learn about and draw. The students had a great time doing the drawings.
Ms. B also finds it important that her students learn about the world that they are living in now. She has a current event to tell her students every day; she then haves them discuss what they had learned about the current event. I observed five different days and her current events ranged from political current events to artistic current events. She would have them read news paper articles, watch news clips, or have them read magazine articles to gain their information on the current events.
Role confusion is a lack of clear goals and aspirations for self where as identity means a sense of self. I believe that Ms. B does a good job creating an environment where her students are able to be creative. She really pushes them to know what is going on in the world around them. There are examples of this around her room; she posts laminated articles of current events around the room. I was later told that they are used as extra credit for her students. They bring in the articles that they are interested in and present them to the class for extra credit; she then laminates them and hangs them on the wall.
Although Ms. B does a great job helping her students connect what they are learning to what they already know, I believe that Ms. B could do a better job making the connections with areas that her students are interested in. She has them do these extra credit current events that she has them tell the class about but she does not have them express why they are interested in it. I think that would be one more way to help them explore their identity.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
FRJ #2 Vygotsky
FRJ 2: What evidence do you see of specific teacher behaviors that are geared toward Vygotsky’s theories? Cite specific examples and make clear connection to his work.
Ms. B partook in two of Vygotsky's theories while teaching her classes. The first and biggest one I saw her do was the Power of Play. Vygotsky stated that the role of play put yourself in psychological shoes of what you are learning about. He also states that pretend play allows the students to practice the roles or ideas they are learning about. Every day for all of her classes she structured the class so that she lectured, then did some type of application activity, and then would end with either a formal or informal assessment. Sometimes she would even use the application activity as her informal assessment. These application activities allowed her students to learn by actually having hands on experience (or play).
One application activity that stood out to me had to do with when they were studying the Expansion West in her U.S. Honors classes. She had her students divide into groups of three or four students and each student got a person from the West such as: Cowboy, Railroad Conductor, Sioux Indian Warrior, Sioux Indian Woman, Cattle Rancher, Farmer, and Miner. The students took butcher paper and traced the outline of their bodies onto the paper. They then did reading from their books and from outside reading material that Ms. B provided for them to learn about their person. They then drew their person into the body outline on their butcher paper. They were suppose to draw the types of clothing the person would wear, along with any types of objects or words that represent their person (i.e., the farmer would have the steel plow, a bag of seeds, the students could write the homestead act or 160 free acres of land). Then the students got together and presented their people to the rest of the class. Ms. B used this as her informal assessment of her students and the students really had a fun time drawing their person. It helped the students connect to the movement of Americans on to the Great Plains.
The second theory that I saw Ms. B use while teaching was the Role of Society or socio-cultural learning. Vygotsky believed that we learned through our culture and that our culture affected the way we viewed life therefore affecting how we learn. At Timpview there is a pretty big cultural diversity within the school. They seem to have students of all nationalities. The white population is still the majority but the Asian population in the school is close to second. Ms. B did a great job of including the different cultures into her class. In her AP World class they were doing her Asia unit. It was great how she included her Asian students. While I was there I observed their Ancient China section of the unit. She would ask her Chinese students to pronounce certain names or have them give accounts of how it is in China. One day she even had two students that are second generation Chinese-American give a presentation to all 4 of her AP world classes about the Chinese culture. They got to bring food and show a video of their cousin in a Dragon Race. It was great to get to see these students use their culture to learn.
Ms. B partook in two of Vygotsky's theories while teaching her classes. The first and biggest one I saw her do was the Power of Play. Vygotsky stated that the role of play put yourself in psychological shoes of what you are learning about. He also states that pretend play allows the students to practice the roles or ideas they are learning about. Every day for all of her classes she structured the class so that she lectured, then did some type of application activity, and then would end with either a formal or informal assessment. Sometimes she would even use the application activity as her informal assessment. These application activities allowed her students to learn by actually having hands on experience (or play).
One application activity that stood out to me had to do with when they were studying the Expansion West in her U.S. Honors classes. She had her students divide into groups of three or four students and each student got a person from the West such as: Cowboy, Railroad Conductor, Sioux Indian Warrior, Sioux Indian Woman, Cattle Rancher, Farmer, and Miner. The students took butcher paper and traced the outline of their bodies onto the paper. They then did reading from their books and from outside reading material that Ms. B provided for them to learn about their person. They then drew their person into the body outline on their butcher paper. They were suppose to draw the types of clothing the person would wear, along with any types of objects or words that represent their person (i.e., the farmer would have the steel plow, a bag of seeds, the students could write the homestead act or 160 free acres of land). Then the students got together and presented their people to the rest of the class. Ms. B used this as her informal assessment of her students and the students really had a fun time drawing their person. It helped the students connect to the movement of Americans on to the Great Plains.
The second theory that I saw Ms. B use while teaching was the Role of Society or socio-cultural learning. Vygotsky believed that we learned through our culture and that our culture affected the way we viewed life therefore affecting how we learn. At Timpview there is a pretty big cultural diversity within the school. They seem to have students of all nationalities. The white population is still the majority but the Asian population in the school is close to second. Ms. B did a great job of including the different cultures into her class. In her AP World class they were doing her Asia unit. It was great how she included her Asian students. While I was there I observed their Ancient China section of the unit. She would ask her Chinese students to pronounce certain names or have them give accounts of how it is in China. One day she even had two students that are second generation Chinese-American give a presentation to all 4 of her AP world classes about the Chinese culture. They got to bring food and show a video of their cousin in a Dragon Race. It was great to get to see these students use their culture to learn.
FRJ #1 Piaget
FRJ 1: what evidence do you see of specific teacher behaviors that are geared toward Piaget’s theories about the developmental levels of children at particular ages? Cite specific examples and make clear connection to Piaget’s work.
I did my observation at Timpview High School and observed 4 AP World History classes and 2 U.S. History Honors classes. The U.S Honors classes were made up of all sophomores and the AP World classes consisted of juniors and seniors. Although the AP and Honors students are starting to experiment with the Formal Operational stage of Piaget’s stages almost all of them are still spending most of their learning time in the Concrete Operational stage. When in the Concrete Operational stage adolescents learn best by connecting to real life. They need to make whatever they are learning about real and relevant. In my observation Ms. B did a great job helping her students make clear connections between what they were learning and their real lives. This allowed the students to be able to handle any disequilibrium that might be taking place. Ms. B is a very good example of being able to use assimilation and accommodation to teach her students. She did this two different ways; the first way was by always making connections about what she was teaching and situations in their lives, the second way was by having them do hands on activities that helped them put the historical ideas into practice.
Ms. B’s ability to connect almost any historical event to teenage pop culture blew me away. If I got anything out of my observations it would be that you must help these students make connections of what they are learning in history and their lives. History, especially ancient world history, can be very abstract and difficult for them to connect to. Ms. B expressed to me that she found it to be extremely important for her to explain why all of history affects them today. Throughout all of her lectures she would explain a concept or event and then she would connect that idea to something that the students are involved in. Ms. B expressed the importance of knowing what is popular for her students at the time and participating in it. She said that she listens to music, reads books, and watches T.V and Movies that she knows her students listen to, read, and watch just so she knows what they are talking about. She said that doing this gives her the knowledge she needs to make connections for her students.
One example of this would have to be in her AP world class they were learning about the different districts in Ancient China. Ms. B explained to the class that China was divided up into these districts just like the districts in the book The Hunger Games. She then continued on to explain that Emperor Shi unified the districts just like Katniss helps do in the third book of the series. Another time during a U.S. Honors class Ms. B taught about Colonel Custard’s Last Stand. She taught that it was one of his last battles of his career and what he is most remembered for. Colonel Custard and his regiment lost pretty horribly to a band of Sioux Indians and it would become his supreme embarrassment of his life. Ms. B brought up the movie Night of the Museum II and talked about how in the movie he (Custard) is always scared and it is because of this failure. All of the students were like, “Oh yeah, that makes sense now.”
The other way Ms. B impressed me by making history real for her students was by having them do application activities. The way she structured her class was to have the lecture, then some type of application activity, and then she would end with some type of assessment (it could be either formal or informal). Everyday these students are doing some type of hands on activity that is allowing them to put the practice into action. This also crosses over with Vygotsky’s theory of play (but I will talk about that in a different Journal response).
The activity that most impressed me had to do with their Civil War unit. Ms. B’s U.S. Honors class was studying the Civil War; they were talking about the different battles and they discussed how wounded soldiers would have to have their limbs amputated right on the battle field. Ms. B and her class preformed an actual amputation in class. Ms. B took a cow femur and wrapped it in spaghetti (tendons), steaks (the muscle), and cooked lasagna noodles (the skin) and attached it to a manikin dressed as a Union Soldier. She also inserted baggies filled with fake blood under the steaks so that as the students cut into the leg it would bleed. The students were provided with old tools such as saws and picks to perform the amputation. They discussed the process to amputate a wounded leg and then she had them perform it. I know that every single students that was in the class that day will remember the U.S. Civil War.
I did my observation at Timpview High School and observed 4 AP World History classes and 2 U.S. History Honors classes. The U.S Honors classes were made up of all sophomores and the AP World classes consisted of juniors and seniors. Although the AP and Honors students are starting to experiment with the Formal Operational stage of Piaget’s stages almost all of them are still spending most of their learning time in the Concrete Operational stage. When in the Concrete Operational stage adolescents learn best by connecting to real life. They need to make whatever they are learning about real and relevant. In my observation Ms. B did a great job helping her students make clear connections between what they were learning and their real lives. This allowed the students to be able to handle any disequilibrium that might be taking place. Ms. B is a very good example of being able to use assimilation and accommodation to teach her students. She did this two different ways; the first way was by always making connections about what she was teaching and situations in their lives, the second way was by having them do hands on activities that helped them put the historical ideas into practice.
Ms. B’s ability to connect almost any historical event to teenage pop culture blew me away. If I got anything out of my observations it would be that you must help these students make connections of what they are learning in history and their lives. History, especially ancient world history, can be very abstract and difficult for them to connect to. Ms. B expressed to me that she found it to be extremely important for her to explain why all of history affects them today. Throughout all of her lectures she would explain a concept or event and then she would connect that idea to something that the students are involved in. Ms. B expressed the importance of knowing what is popular for her students at the time and participating in it. She said that she listens to music, reads books, and watches T.V and Movies that she knows her students listen to, read, and watch just so she knows what they are talking about. She said that doing this gives her the knowledge she needs to make connections for her students.
One example of this would have to be in her AP world class they were learning about the different districts in Ancient China. Ms. B explained to the class that China was divided up into these districts just like the districts in the book The Hunger Games. She then continued on to explain that Emperor Shi unified the districts just like Katniss helps do in the third book of the series. Another time during a U.S. Honors class Ms. B taught about Colonel Custard’s Last Stand. She taught that it was one of his last battles of his career and what he is most remembered for. Colonel Custard and his regiment lost pretty horribly to a band of Sioux Indians and it would become his supreme embarrassment of his life. Ms. B brought up the movie Night of the Museum II and talked about how in the movie he (Custard) is always scared and it is because of this failure. All of the students were like, “Oh yeah, that makes sense now.”
The other way Ms. B impressed me by making history real for her students was by having them do application activities. The way she structured her class was to have the lecture, then some type of application activity, and then she would end with some type of assessment (it could be either formal or informal). Everyday these students are doing some type of hands on activity that is allowing them to put the practice into action. This also crosses over with Vygotsky’s theory of play (but I will talk about that in a different Journal response).
The activity that most impressed me had to do with their Civil War unit. Ms. B’s U.S. Honors class was studying the Civil War; they were talking about the different battles and they discussed how wounded soldiers would have to have their limbs amputated right on the battle field. Ms. B and her class preformed an actual amputation in class. Ms. B took a cow femur and wrapped it in spaghetti (tendons), steaks (the muscle), and cooked lasagna noodles (the skin) and attached it to a manikin dressed as a Union Soldier. She also inserted baggies filled with fake blood under the steaks so that as the students cut into the leg it would bleed. The students were provided with old tools such as saws and picks to perform the amputation. They discussed the process to amputate a wounded leg and then she had them perform it. I know that every single students that was in the class that day will remember the U.S. Civil War.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
FRJ #6 Cultural Differences - need to revise
FRJ 6: Look for cultural differences in the classroom. Describe the areas of diversity and explain what is being done to help these students feel accepted and be successful in school. Make connections to suggestions in the textbook.
I did my observation at Timpview High School in AP World History classes and U.S. History Honors classes. I assumed the major cultural difference in the classroom would be Hispanic but that did not prove to be true. The majority of the class is made up of white students the cultural difference is predominantly Asian. I did not ask specifically what nationality the students are but in three of the classes I observed there are at least 6 to 8 oriental students in the class of about 40 students. In the first period AP World History class there was not only oriental students but there were two students who seemed to be Filipino.
There did not seem to be any language barriers between the Asian students and Ms. B although after class one of the young Asian females of the class was speaking her native language on her cell phone. All of the students seem to be at least second generation and there does not seem to be any ESL situations going on with the students. If there are any students that do not speak English as their first language there was no indication of this to me.
The Asian students seem to be treated just like every other student in the class when it comes to their seat assignments. This is one of the reasons the students did not seem to have a language barrier. As for the seating assignments there seems to not be any accommodations that are being made; there could be accommodations being made but they are not obvious to my observation.
Inclusion of the Asian students did not seem to be focused on the academic aspect of the classroom. The inclusion seemed to be more focused on relating topics being taught to what they already know. This was more prevalent to the AP World History classes. They are studying China and have been covering the different dynasties the four times I came to observe. Ms. B asked several of her Asian students (that I assume are Chinese) to pronounce different names or words in Chinese. When she would come to a name or a word she would turn to the students and say, “How do you say this?” All of the others students in the class seemed to think it was great that they could pronounce them.
In one of her classes Ms. B had one of the students tell the other students what it was like living in China today. The student spoke perfect English and sounded like every other American high school student (that is why I assume he is at least a second generation Chinese-American). The kids in the class really got excited that he was able to answer questions about how hot it was, how humid it was, what it was like going to school there for two years, what his apartment was like, etc. I think it is great that Ms. B is allowing these students to use their culture to help the class connect to ancient Chinese history.
In reference to the text ethnic identity is an important part of social development. The text states that there are three stages that minority high school students fall into: Diffusion/foreclosure which includes individuals who have not yet examined their ethnicity, Moratorium which refers to those who currently are exploring the components of self-identification, a sense of belonging, a positive or negative attitude toward their ethnicity, and ethnic involvement, and Achieved which describes those who are committed to their ethnic group membership. (page 56 – I don’t know how you want me to site this???) Ms. B is encouraging her students to experience Moratorium. This is also an important part of Erickson’s psycosocial crisis of Identity vs. Role Confusion. Ms. B is allowing her students to discover who they are and where they came from while using their culture to make her history lessons relevant to the rest of her class.
I did my observation at Timpview High School in AP World History classes and U.S. History Honors classes. I assumed the major cultural difference in the classroom would be Hispanic but that did not prove to be true. The majority of the class is made up of white students the cultural difference is predominantly Asian. I did not ask specifically what nationality the students are but in three of the classes I observed there are at least 6 to 8 oriental students in the class of about 40 students. In the first period AP World History class there was not only oriental students but there were two students who seemed to be Filipino.
There did not seem to be any language barriers between the Asian students and Ms. B although after class one of the young Asian females of the class was speaking her native language on her cell phone. All of the students seem to be at least second generation and there does not seem to be any ESL situations going on with the students. If there are any students that do not speak English as their first language there was no indication of this to me.
The Asian students seem to be treated just like every other student in the class when it comes to their seat assignments. This is one of the reasons the students did not seem to have a language barrier. As for the seating assignments there seems to not be any accommodations that are being made; there could be accommodations being made but they are not obvious to my observation.
Inclusion of the Asian students did not seem to be focused on the academic aspect of the classroom. The inclusion seemed to be more focused on relating topics being taught to what they already know. This was more prevalent to the AP World History classes. They are studying China and have been covering the different dynasties the four times I came to observe. Ms. B asked several of her Asian students (that I assume are Chinese) to pronounce different names or words in Chinese. When she would come to a name or a word she would turn to the students and say, “How do you say this?” All of the others students in the class seemed to think it was great that they could pronounce them.
In one of her classes Ms. B had one of the students tell the other students what it was like living in China today. The student spoke perfect English and sounded like every other American high school student (that is why I assume he is at least a second generation Chinese-American). The kids in the class really got excited that he was able to answer questions about how hot it was, how humid it was, what it was like going to school there for two years, what his apartment was like, etc. I think it is great that Ms. B is allowing these students to use their culture to help the class connect to ancient Chinese history.
In reference to the text ethnic identity is an important part of social development. The text states that there are three stages that minority high school students fall into: Diffusion/foreclosure which includes individuals who have not yet examined their ethnicity, Moratorium which refers to those who currently are exploring the components of self-identification, a sense of belonging, a positive or negative attitude toward their ethnicity, and ethnic involvement, and Achieved which describes those who are committed to their ethnic group membership. (page 56 – I don’t know how you want me to site this???) Ms. B is encouraging her students to experience Moratorium. This is also an important part of Erickson’s psycosocial crisis of Identity vs. Role Confusion. Ms. B is allowing her students to discover who they are and where they came from while using their culture to make her history lessons relevant to the rest of her class.
Course Contract 2
Course Contract Two...
1. I think that my attendance has been great (which is usually a struggle for me). I have started to do my study guides early; it's nice to have them all done. It has freed me up to work on my assessment inventory and to study more. I have finally started my field work so I am able to now start to work on my FRJ's. I have planned it out and I am going to do 1 per day of classes that I have left in the semester.
2. I haven't started my FRJ's. This worries me because it seems to be a big project due at the end. I need to get going on those. My field work had been on hold, but I started last week and I am going next week for two whole days.
3. On my goals that I have set from the beginning. I was feeling like I was drowning when I was working on the assessment inventory. But since I turned in our first copy I have caught up on ALL of the study guides so that I can focus on doing the FRJ and studying for my tests. It is nice since the big thing left is the FRJ. I have also really enjoyed my field work. I love the teacher that I got placed with. I have also learned SO much from her and from being back in the classroom. This has been a way better experience then it was last semester.
4. I need to finish my field work next week. I have set a FRJ entry to be done every Tuesday and Thursday. I need to not put off my FRJ anymore and I need to start working on them.
5. My motivation for the class was really struggling there for a while when I was working on my Assessment Inventory. But I have been away from it for a week and a half and I feel like I am ready to look at it and get it polished up. I also feel like I have been focusing on getting my work for this class done early so that I am not trying to do it last minute. I also want to get my FRJ done early because I have three big research papers due for my other classes the week before finals and I do not want to be doing those and trying to do this at the same time. I have put it off since I haven't been doing my field work but now that I have started that I am ready to get it done. I think that my approach has been set with a mastery goal approach. I have not always achieved it and there have been times that I have been more performance goal oriented but over all I have been more mastery oriented.
1. I think that my attendance has been great (which is usually a struggle for me). I have started to do my study guides early; it's nice to have them all done. It has freed me up to work on my assessment inventory and to study more. I have finally started my field work so I am able to now start to work on my FRJ's. I have planned it out and I am going to do 1 per day of classes that I have left in the semester.
2. I haven't started my FRJ's. This worries me because it seems to be a big project due at the end. I need to get going on those. My field work had been on hold, but I started last week and I am going next week for two whole days.
3. On my goals that I have set from the beginning. I was feeling like I was drowning when I was working on the assessment inventory. But since I turned in our first copy I have caught up on ALL of the study guides so that I can focus on doing the FRJ and studying for my tests. It is nice since the big thing left is the FRJ. I have also really enjoyed my field work. I love the teacher that I got placed with. I have also learned SO much from her and from being back in the classroom. This has been a way better experience then it was last semester.
4. I need to finish my field work next week. I have set a FRJ entry to be done every Tuesday and Thursday. I need to not put off my FRJ anymore and I need to start working on them.
5. My motivation for the class was really struggling there for a while when I was working on my Assessment Inventory. But I have been away from it for a week and a half and I feel like I am ready to look at it and get it polished up. I also feel like I have been focusing on getting my work for this class done early so that I am not trying to do it last minute. I also want to get my FRJ done early because I have three big research papers due for my other classes the week before finals and I do not want to be doing those and trying to do this at the same time. I have put it off since I haven't been doing my field work but now that I have started that I am ready to get it done. I think that my approach has been set with a mastery goal approach. I have not always achieved it and there have been times that I have been more performance goal oriented but over all I have been more mastery oriented.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Educational Neuroscience Blogg
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
What? - She combined neuropsychological and human development methods to conduct research about emotional and social functioning in two boys who are missing half of their brains. Her research had implications that learners may try to "compensate for relative neuropsychological weaknesses" by processing information differently. Her research confirmed that not all learners solve problems in the same way. Her research also showed how brain science can inform education. She specifically found that the boys' social and emotional desires and predispositions (in the area of supportive educational environments) seemed to guide and organize their recoveries.
She is quoted saying, “I use [what I learned at HGSE] every day,” she says. “I definitely use my qualitative and quantitative skills from HGSE, as well as the constructivist, contextualized approach to understanding neurological, socio-emotional, and psychological dimensions of learning.”
So What? - Immordino-Yang's research has impacted education globally. She believes that you can see biological changes and predispositions in people based on social experiences in different cultures. She says that outlines interdependence between the brain development and our social world. Emotions like admiration, awe inspiration and compassion can reflect biological predispositions, and involve the neural systems for consciousness and "self." They can also play a role in shaping how a student feels in the classroom and how they learn and develop identity. This theory says that the biological differences can reflect different aspects of self-awareness and consciousness. That can translate into the classroom and influence how a child may feel about his peers and teachers. It can also affect cultural and temperamental differences in identity development and how a child learns. It is important to understand this so that you can see that children may learn differently because of biological reasons.
Now What? - She really emphasized how emotion helped or changed the way a student learned and that they all learned differently. She talked about what types of emotions had what types of effects on people. I think it is important to understand that cultural differences will affect a student’s response to emotions differently. She focused on how the biological differences also altered their emotional responses. It is good to know that emotion affects the students. This just solidified what we had learned in class that we need to evoke emotion in our students and they will learn better and will remember and retain more. It is also good to know that each student’s brain uses different techniques to learn. Not all students learn the same and we need to be able to accommodate to that.
The website I read from: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/features/2008/06/25_immordino_yang.php
What? - She combined neuropsychological and human development methods to conduct research about emotional and social functioning in two boys who are missing half of their brains. Her research had implications that learners may try to "compensate for relative neuropsychological weaknesses" by processing information differently. Her research confirmed that not all learners solve problems in the same way. Her research also showed how brain science can inform education. She specifically found that the boys' social and emotional desires and predispositions (in the area of supportive educational environments) seemed to guide and organize their recoveries.
She is quoted saying, “I use [what I learned at HGSE] every day,” she says. “I definitely use my qualitative and quantitative skills from HGSE, as well as the constructivist, contextualized approach to understanding neurological, socio-emotional, and psychological dimensions of learning.”
So What? - Immordino-Yang's research has impacted education globally. She believes that you can see biological changes and predispositions in people based on social experiences in different cultures. She says that outlines interdependence between the brain development and our social world. Emotions like admiration, awe inspiration and compassion can reflect biological predispositions, and involve the neural systems for consciousness and "self." They can also play a role in shaping how a student feels in the classroom and how they learn and develop identity. This theory says that the biological differences can reflect different aspects of self-awareness and consciousness. That can translate into the classroom and influence how a child may feel about his peers and teachers. It can also affect cultural and temperamental differences in identity development and how a child learns. It is important to understand this so that you can see that children may learn differently because of biological reasons.
Now What? - She really emphasized how emotion helped or changed the way a student learned and that they all learned differently. She talked about what types of emotions had what types of effects on people. I think it is important to understand that cultural differences will affect a student’s response to emotions differently. She focused on how the biological differences also altered their emotional responses. It is good to know that emotion affects the students. This just solidified what we had learned in class that we need to evoke emotion in our students and they will learn better and will remember and retain more. It is also good to know that each student’s brain uses different techniques to learn. Not all students learn the same and we need to be able to accommodate to that.
The website I read from: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/features/2008/06/25_immordino_yang.php
Corse Contract Review #1 Blog
1. I feel like I have really taken the time to study and understand the material. I have come to every single one of my classes, and I have been able to finish all of my homework on time for the class.
2. I wish I was more on top of doing my homework early. I have found that I end up doing my homework for this class on Wednesday night. My goal was to do my homework over the weekend for this class so I did not have to worry about it during the week.
3. I think I am doing OK with my first goal. which was to stay caught up in all my classes. I have found that I am caught up but I really am doing everything right up till the point that they are due. I really want to do better at getting homework done over the weekend so that I do not have as much to do over the week. On my second goal to really take value in the class, I feel like I've learned so much in this class. What I am having a hard time with is that I have six classes in the day and I am at school, with no breaks, from 8 to 5. So by the time I get to Ed Psych (my last class of the day) I am tired and my brain is fried. For my last goal, I have not even been to a school yet so I do not really have anything to go off on that goal.
4. I need to be better at doing homework on the weekend. I also need to get my time off work so that I can go to do my field work. I also need to get my school and teacher picked so that I can set up times to go. I want to do tomorrow so that I can turn in my school next time in class.
5. I think my motivation is OK. I feel like my goals are mastery goals, but sometimes I do my homework just to make sure that my grade is going to be OK, so I'm sure it could be considered to be a Performance goal.
2. I wish I was more on top of doing my homework early. I have found that I end up doing my homework for this class on Wednesday night. My goal was to do my homework over the weekend for this class so I did not have to worry about it during the week.
3. I think I am doing OK with my first goal. which was to stay caught up in all my classes. I have found that I am caught up but I really am doing everything right up till the point that they are due. I really want to do better at getting homework done over the weekend so that I do not have as much to do over the week. On my second goal to really take value in the class, I feel like I've learned so much in this class. What I am having a hard time with is that I have six classes in the day and I am at school, with no breaks, from 8 to 5. So by the time I get to Ed Psych (my last class of the day) I am tired and my brain is fried. For my last goal, I have not even been to a school yet so I do not really have anything to go off on that goal.
4. I need to be better at doing homework on the weekend. I also need to get my time off work so that I can go to do my field work. I also need to get my school and teacher picked so that I can set up times to go. I want to do tomorrow so that I can turn in my school next time in class.
5. I think my motivation is OK. I feel like my goals are mastery goals, but sometimes I do my homework just to make sure that my grade is going to be OK, so I'm sure it could be considered to be a Performance goal.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Motivation Blog
I am in the education program because I have always wanted to teach history. I've always wanted to teach, I was one of those kids that forced her kid brother to play school with her every day. When I was in the sixth grade I had an AMAZING social studies teacher. Secretly ever since then I have just known that I had to teach history.
Immediate rewards. I know this sounds horrible but it's true; especially when I am doing something that I hate. I have to take long term or far away rewards and break them down into smaller ones. This can go with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. For example when I do my homework (something I don't like) I have a list of ALL my assignments and I will do anything to be able to check them off (my extrinsic motivator). It is SO satisfying. I did Color Guard for 10 years, and my rewards for that were more intrinsically motivating. Every time I got a move right that was an immediate reward that was just as satisfying as checking off my finished homework.
I am very driven in situations where I'm interested. I do not find it hard to find the flow when I'm studying a subject I love or I'm doing Color Guard. I feel like I almost find that natural high when I do the things I love; I don't really have to try to be motivated. But what makes me successful when I am not interested in something has to be my stubbornness and my self-determination to succeed.
Sometimes I feel like I get extremely overwhelmed and I can experience a case of debilitating anxiety. I find that when I am so overwhelmed with school, and work, and homework, and cleaning the house, and making dinner, and spending time with my husband there are times when it just seems like too much. All I want to do is sit on the couch and watch T.V.; I just can’t picture doing anything. Unfortunately this happens more then I would like to admit. I find that I have to be really on top of my homework, and I have to find fun in what I'm doing (even homework). Having fun is essential to me being successful.
(Are these the goals I wrote on my blog or the ones you wrote??? If its the ones I wrote...) My goals were to 1. Stay on top of my homework, 2. To really take value out of this class, 3. To enjoy my fieldwork. I believe that these are mastery goals because I set them to be able to enjoy this course and to make sure I take something out of the class. They really aren't performance based except for maybe doing my homework. I hope that this says that I want to be able to learn how to teach effectively even if that means I have to make mistakes to get there. I also think that it means I'm not afraid to try.
I believe that I need to not see my busy schedule as something that hinders me. Sometimes I get tired and I start to not see what I am doing as important or relevant. When that happens I need to find the determination to stick with hard thing even if I'm not getting the immediate reward. Homework is not rewarding for me. In fact I would rather watch T.V. which is more fun. I have to be able to put that aside to study.
Immediate rewards. I know this sounds horrible but it's true; especially when I am doing something that I hate. I have to take long term or far away rewards and break them down into smaller ones. This can go with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. For example when I do my homework (something I don't like) I have a list of ALL my assignments and I will do anything to be able to check them off (my extrinsic motivator). It is SO satisfying. I did Color Guard for 10 years, and my rewards for that were more intrinsically motivating. Every time I got a move right that was an immediate reward that was just as satisfying as checking off my finished homework.
I am very driven in situations where I'm interested. I do not find it hard to find the flow when I'm studying a subject I love or I'm doing Color Guard. I feel like I almost find that natural high when I do the things I love; I don't really have to try to be motivated. But what makes me successful when I am not interested in something has to be my stubbornness and my self-determination to succeed.
Sometimes I feel like I get extremely overwhelmed and I can experience a case of debilitating anxiety. I find that when I am so overwhelmed with school, and work, and homework, and cleaning the house, and making dinner, and spending time with my husband there are times when it just seems like too much. All I want to do is sit on the couch and watch T.V.; I just can’t picture doing anything. Unfortunately this happens more then I would like to admit. I find that I have to be really on top of my homework, and I have to find fun in what I'm doing (even homework). Having fun is essential to me being successful.
(Are these the goals I wrote on my blog or the ones you wrote??? If its the ones I wrote...) My goals were to 1. Stay on top of my homework, 2. To really take value out of this class, 3. To enjoy my fieldwork. I believe that these are mastery goals because I set them to be able to enjoy this course and to make sure I take something out of the class. They really aren't performance based except for maybe doing my homework. I hope that this says that I want to be able to learn how to teach effectively even if that means I have to make mistakes to get there. I also think that it means I'm not afraid to try.
I believe that I need to not see my busy schedule as something that hinders me. Sometimes I get tired and I start to not see what I am doing as important or relevant. When that happens I need to find the determination to stick with hard thing even if I'm not getting the immediate reward. Homework is not rewarding for me. In fact I would rather watch T.V. which is more fun. I have to be able to put that aside to study.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Hidden Assignment - 1st Assignment
Goals for my Ed Psych Class
1. My first goal encompasses all of my classes, My goal is to stay caught up on my home work. I have 6 classes this semester and work, and I want to stay caught up on my assignments so that I have study time and I'm not trying to play catch up.
2. My second goal is to really take value in the class. Sometimes I find that I learn so much in a semester that by the end I really don't feel like I've taken much out of some of my classes. I want to make sure I learn one thing a week that I am able to put into practice.
3. My last goal is to enjoy my fieldwork. Last semester I had such a crazy semester that I felt like I didn't have time to go into a class for two days. I really want to relax and enjoy my fieldwork, so that way I am able to really observe what is going on around me.
As for weekly preparation I tend to be one of those people that try to bite off more then they can chew. So my goal this semester is to be more organized and to put school work first. I have a planner (I am a paper person and have to have it in writing not online... but I do have one) and I went through ALL of my syllabuses and wrote down when all my assignments are due. I have also prioritized my large assignments such as my fieldwork, presentations, and research papers for the semester. I have also made the goal to do my school work first before I do other activities (I tend to be a bit of a procrastinator and I am a T.V. JUNKIE! So I have decided that this year NO T.V. until my home work is done. It's only been a week but it's gone good so far!)
For this class specifically since it is only on Thursday I have tried to get my reading done ahead of time. So I am going to do most of my reading on Friday afternoons and then any assignments that I have to have done for that class I want to have done by the Tuesday before. Because of my school and work schedule I am going to have to take a few days off to do my Fieldwork. So I have decided to do my field work in the first two weeks of October. So that I am able to work on my response blogs I am seeing if I can take a day off of work in September to go (but this is not for sure yet).
For studying I tend to be one of those people that are able to cram and do really well on the exams... but I NEVER RETAIN IT!!!! Last semester I really focused on studying early for exams and I have found I retained a whole lot more! I want to be that way again. As I said earlier I want to stay caught up on my assignments so that way I am able to have time to just study, and not just memorize but also understand. I read the study strategies and they really had very basic but sometimes hard things to do, such as get 8 hours of sleep and we talked in class about exercise. I have to admit those are the first two to go when I get busy, I am trying to do better on both. I have made an 11 o'clock bed time Which gives me 7 1/2 (not quite 8) and me and my husband have started running and working out 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).
If I don't understand a topic I will first make sure I have read what I was suppose to. I will also go over any class notes that we might have taken. I also have quite a few people in this class with me that I have had classes with for 2 years. I will ask one or two of them to explain it to me. Sometimes it just takes hearing it another way to make sense. If I am still not getting it I will make contact with you. Most likely through email or I'll set up an appointment to come in and talk with you. You really stressed that we shouldn't wait to ask for help and that is really reassuring going into the semester.
I will reach my goals in this course by turning off my T.V.!!! I will reach them by making sure I do my homework on the days that I have assigned them to be done as well as study when I have decided too. By making sure that I still find time during the week to have fun and relax and not just work, work, work. I will reach my goals by finding one thing each class period that I really want to understand more. and I'll reach my goals by taking the time to enjoy what I am doing in school and not just trying to rush to get it done.
1. My first goal encompasses all of my classes, My goal is to stay caught up on my home work. I have 6 classes this semester and work, and I want to stay caught up on my assignments so that I have study time and I'm not trying to play catch up.
2. My second goal is to really take value in the class. Sometimes I find that I learn so much in a semester that by the end I really don't feel like I've taken much out of some of my classes. I want to make sure I learn one thing a week that I am able to put into practice.
3. My last goal is to enjoy my fieldwork. Last semester I had such a crazy semester that I felt like I didn't have time to go into a class for two days. I really want to relax and enjoy my fieldwork, so that way I am able to really observe what is going on around me.
As for weekly preparation I tend to be one of those people that try to bite off more then they can chew. So my goal this semester is to be more organized and to put school work first. I have a planner (I am a paper person and have to have it in writing not online... but I do have one) and I went through ALL of my syllabuses and wrote down when all my assignments are due. I have also prioritized my large assignments such as my fieldwork, presentations, and research papers for the semester. I have also made the goal to do my school work first before I do other activities (I tend to be a bit of a procrastinator and I am a T.V. JUNKIE! So I have decided that this year NO T.V. until my home work is done. It's only been a week but it's gone good so far!)
For this class specifically since it is only on Thursday I have tried to get my reading done ahead of time. So I am going to do most of my reading on Friday afternoons and then any assignments that I have to have done for that class I want to have done by the Tuesday before. Because of my school and work schedule I am going to have to take a few days off to do my Fieldwork. So I have decided to do my field work in the first two weeks of October. So that I am able to work on my response blogs I am seeing if I can take a day off of work in September to go (but this is not for sure yet).
For studying I tend to be one of those people that are able to cram and do really well on the exams... but I NEVER RETAIN IT!!!! Last semester I really focused on studying early for exams and I have found I retained a whole lot more! I want to be that way again. As I said earlier I want to stay caught up on my assignments so that way I am able to have time to just study, and not just memorize but also understand. I read the study strategies and they really had very basic but sometimes hard things to do, such as get 8 hours of sleep and we talked in class about exercise. I have to admit those are the first two to go when I get busy, I am trying to do better on both. I have made an 11 o'clock bed time Which gives me 7 1/2 (not quite 8) and me and my husband have started running and working out 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).
If I don't understand a topic I will first make sure I have read what I was suppose to. I will also go over any class notes that we might have taken. I also have quite a few people in this class with me that I have had classes with for 2 years. I will ask one or two of them to explain it to me. Sometimes it just takes hearing it another way to make sense. If I am still not getting it I will make contact with you. Most likely through email or I'll set up an appointment to come in and talk with you. You really stressed that we shouldn't wait to ask for help and that is really reassuring going into the semester.
I will reach my goals in this course by turning off my T.V.!!! I will reach them by making sure I do my homework on the days that I have assigned them to be done as well as study when I have decided too. By making sure that I still find time during the week to have fun and relax and not just work, work, work. I will reach my goals by finding one thing each class period that I really want to understand more. and I'll reach my goals by taking the time to enjoy what I am doing in school and not just trying to rush to get it done.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Introduction
My name is Brianna Martin. I am 26 years old and I grew up in Pleasant Grove, UT. I have an awesomly cute husband named Greg. We've been married for 3 years. I am going to school for History Education. I lived in Southern California for 3 years where I was on a world championship color guard team (thats the girls with the flags and rifles, except on the World level it is much more dance oriented). I was on the team Fantasia, it was made up of 15 guys and 15 girls, and we were based out of Riverside California. I won a World Championship in 2006, and we were the silver medalist in 2007. I love to read, and will read almost anything... but since I read so much for school I prefer to read young adult fiction when I have the time. I some times can be a sci-fi nut. And I love the show X-Files! I also love T.V. I am not going to lie I am an adict! I LOVE the show Survivor and my best friend from high school won season 15. My new FAVORITE show though has to be BIGGEST LOSER!!!!!!!! and I feel strongly that Darius should have won last season!
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