Personal Learning Theory

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

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

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

Chapter 4/5 Case Study Analysis

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

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

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


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


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

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

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


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

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






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








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






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Course Contract Review #3

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

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Ch. 7/8 Case Study Analysis
In the article titled "A Constructivist Perspective on Teaching and Learning Mathematics", the author, Deborah Schifter, contrasts two mathematics lessons which she feels offers an understanding of the difference between a lesson based on constructivism and one based on the traditional didactic approach to learning.
In the traditional approach, the teacher has noticed that the students are very excited to find out that blue whales can grow as long as 100 feet so she decides to have the students measure this length in the hallway. Here's how she went about it:
I told the children exactly how we would go about measuring the whale's length. We would take the yardstick, which we hadn't explored, and we would put it down and keep track of where it ended and then place it there and keep counting till we reached where it ended and then place it there and keep counting till we reached 100 feet. (Schweitzer, 1996)
Although the children were quite impressed by the length of the whale, the teacher recounts that the lesson seemed unsatisfying, and wondered what the students had actually learned about measurement.
In the constructivist approach, the teacher had a measurement activity concerning Thanksgiving. She laid out a model of the Mayflower on the floor in the center of the room using masking tape. Then she prepared a scroll or edict for the students to read, telling them that the ship could not sail until they told the king how large the boat was. After the edict was read, she waited for the students to figure out how they could measure the ship and be on their way. Here's how she described what happened after the reading of the scroll:
"Well, what should we do? Who has an idea?" I asked. Thus our discussion of measurement began... or I thought it would begin. But there was a period of silence-a long period of silence.
What do young children know about measurement? Is there anything already present in their life experiences to which they could relate this problem? I watched as they looked from one to another, and I could see that they had no idea where to begin. Surely, I thought, there must be something they could use as a point of reference to expand on. Someone always has an idea. But the silence was long as the children looked again from one to another, to Zeb, and to me. (Hendry, 1996)
After some confusion about the word edict on the scroll (some students thought the boat was three feet long because the E in edict looked like a three) the following interaction occurred:
I felt we were back to square one again with more silence, until Tom raised his hand and said, "Mrs. Hendry, I know it can't be three feet because the nurse just measured me last week and said that I was four feet, and this boat is much bigger than me!"
From Tom's initial observation, our discussion on measurement was basically off the ground. Hands immediately went up. The children now realized that they knew a little about measurement, especially in relationship to their own size and how tall they were.
"Let's see how many times Tom can fit in the boat," someone suggested. Tom got down and up several times along the length of the boat: the children decided that the boat was four
"Toms" long.
"How can we tell that to the King, since he does not know Tom?" I asked. "Send Tom to the King," was their easy solution, while others protested that they wanted Tom to stay on the boat for the trip. I was really hoping that they would relate to the information Tom had already given us about his size. I thought someone might add four feet, four times, presenting us with a quick solution to the problem. But this was not the route they decided to take.
Mark raised his hand and suggested that we could measure the boat with our hands like they do with horses. His neighbor had a horse that was 15 hands. "Then we could tell the King how many 'hands' long the boat was." The children agreed that this might be a better idea.
"All right," I said. "Since it was Mark's idea, he can measure the length of the boat with his hands." Mark was also the biggest child in the class.
At first, Mark randomly placed his hands on the tape from one end to the other, but when he double-checked, he came out with a different answer. The children were puzzled for a while as to why this happened. It took several more tries and much discussion before they came to an important conclusion. The children decided that it was necessary for Mark to make sure that he began exactly at the beginning of the boat and did not leave any gaps in between his palms and his fingers as he placed them on the tape. Measuring this way, he discovered the boat was 36 hands long.
Great! We decided to tell the King this, but just to be sure, I suggested we have Sue, the smallest child in the class, measure the other side. She did and related to the class that her side was 44 hands long. Now there was confusion.
"Why are they different?" I asked. "Can we use hands to measure?" "No," the children decided, this would not work either, since everyone's hands were not the same size.
Al suggested using feet. We tried this, but once again, when someone else double-checked with their feet, we found two different measurements. The children at this time began to digress a little to compare each other's hands and feet to discover whose were the biggest and smallest.
Finally, our original discussion continued, while the children explored various concepts and ideas. Joan sat holding a ruler, but, for some reason, did not suggest using it. Perhaps, I thought, it might be that her experience with a ruler was limited, and she may not have been quite sure how to use it.
Our dilemma continued into the next day when the children assembled again to discuss the problem with some new insights. One child suggested that since Zeb knew the King, and everyone knew Zeb, that we should use his foot. 'Measure it out on a piece of paper and measure everything in 'Zeb's foot."' Using this form of measurement, the children related to the King that the boat was 24 "Zeb's foot" long and 9 "Zeb's foot" wide.
Curiosity began to get the best of them and the children continued to explore this form of measurement by deciding to measure each other, our classroom, their desks, and the rug using "Zeb's foot." I let them investigate this idea for the remainder of the math period.
On the third day of our exploration, I asked the children why they thought it was important to develop a standard form of measurement (or in words understandable to a first grader, a measurement that would always be the same size) such as using only "Zeb's foot" to measure everything. Through the discussions over the past several days, the children were able to internalize and verbalize the need or importance for everyone to measure using the same instrument. They saw the confusion of using different hands, bodies, or feet because of the inconsistency of size. (Hendry, 1996)
Questions:
1. Describe two similarities between the traditional lesson and the constructivist one as described above.Both lessons involved measuring large objects and both lessons used the measurement of feet. One being the English measurement and one being Zeb's foot.
2. What are two benefits and two drawbacks of the constructivist approach as described above?
The benefits of the constructivist approach would be for the student to come up with suggestions and answers to problems because the teacher asks for student's inputs. and it also creates a cooperative learning situation in the classroom because students are being brought into the discussion. The drawbacks to this type of approach would be that the teacher is not teaching traditional facts because the students are asked for how would they do something? and students may learn information that is not correct because the students are coming up with their own answers to problems. Why? In your opinion, are the benefits worth the costs? Explain your response. I believe that the benefits are worth the costs because there is there is much more topics of learning being covered as opposed to just giving facts and information to students. With constructivism students are learning to use creative thinking abilities, they are taught how to work together and in groups, they learn how to work in a community and come up with different solutions, it also helps to bring all students into the learning process and it helps on their cognitive thinking skills.
3. How does the constructivist lesson described above promote critical thinking? Give specific examples of critical thinking from the case study to support your response. Critical thinking is promoted in this constructivist lesson by creating a situation where students have to come up with ideas and solutions on how to measure the boot. The students are also questioned on their methods of measurement, encouraging them to think and rethink their ideas. The teacher points out the flaws of how they decide to measure and this forces the students to think about alternative methods of measurement. Mrs. Hendry also asked many questions while teaching, this promotes the students to think on their own as to how to do something.
4. Would the constructivist activity be considered an authentic activity? Why or why not? Yes, this would be considered an authentic activity because learning how to measure something and why we use a particular form of measurement is an activity that most people will encounter outside the classroom in everyday life.
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Ch. 6 Case Study Analysis
Post your responses to the following questions on your blog.
Case 1: Mr. West wants his students to truly understand Civil War battles. He engages the help of a local Historical Re-enactment Society and assigns each of his students to the Union or Confederate side. His students join the re-enactors from 7:00am-7:00pm for a full day of activities which include a long march (complete with rudimentary battle gear), setting up camp, cooking over campfires, scouting territory, and engaging in a historically representative battle.
1. After participating in this activity, what do you think the students will remember? How might those memories differ from those students would have if they only read about the Civil War in their textbook? With a hands-on experience such as re-enacting the a day in what life was like for a soldier during the Civil War, students are most likely to remember details of the battle they participated in, detailed information of either the Union or Confederates, and the actual feelings of how soldiers must have felt during this period. To have such a unique experience when studying a topic such as the Civil War, as opposed to just reading about the topic in a book, a teacher would be using cognitive psychology techniques. Engaging the student in class participation, providing the students with material that will actually process to their long-term memory, this will be the effects from a hands-on learning experience. If a teacher just has the students read from a text book, much of that information is lost from the working memory.
2. How does Mr. West’s use of a Civil War re-enactment engage students’ emotions? What is the relationship between emotions and learning? The Civil War re-enactment engages the emotions of students by helping them feel the pain of the Civil War. Carrying the equipment, setting up camp, choosing a side to fight for, and all the work involved. When emotions are placed into learning, an encoding process is placed on the newly learned material to create meaning on that material so that it is easily retrieved.
3. Based on the principles of dual-coding theory, what activities would be effective for Mr. West to use as a follow-up to the re-enactment? Activities that would be effective to use as a follow-up to the re-enactment would be a re-enactment of the following day of a battle. What happened after the fight was over? How were the two sides affected? How many soldiers were lost at battle? These are just a few of the questions that could be answered. As the students would have prior knowledge from the battle, the following day after a battle would be adding to that knowledge.
Case 2: Mr. Dunkin and Mr. Richards, teachers at the same school, are debating in the teacher’s lounge about who provides the best type of organization for the students’ learning. Mr. Dunkin lectures and assigns reading and chapter problems Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays he gives a short answer exam. In Mr. Richards’ class the students never know what will take place on any given day until they arrive in class and look at a detailed outline of the hour’s activities on the chalkboard. His class engages in mix of role-plays, lecture, videos, group projects and demonstrations. Mr. Richards occasionally gives surprise quizzes and his unit tests can include true/false, multiple choice, short answer, or essay.
4. Who do you think provides better instruction for his students? Support your answer from an information processing perspective. Mr. Richard' instruction provides a better way for students to learn because he is using multiple stimuli to hold the students' attention making use of both their visual and auditory senses. This information is more easily processed in the working memory and less apt to be lost if the students do not know what is to be taught the following day. Mr. Richards is helping to keep the class interested in his subjects by using multiple forms of teaching, getting the students active in the teaching process, which will help move the information from their working memory into their long-term memory.
5. How would you expect the students’ learning outcomes to differ depending on which teacher they had? The students who were to have Mr. Dunkin, will probably lose a majority of the information that they learn in class because their teacher is not using a good method of in-depth processing. Mr. Dunkin is also not going to keep the attention of the students and much of their information in their working memory will get lost before going into their long-term memory. On the other hand. Mr. Richards is using excellent techniques for grabbing the attention of the students. For example, he is creating stimulating lessons, getting the students physically involved,and using a variety of teaching methods. These will all help to stop the process of losing information from the working memory and help process the information into the long-term memory.
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Review your course contract from the beginning of the semester. Answer the following questions:
What are you doing well? I am doing all my homework, taking notes in class, and not missing a single class as of yet.
What are you not doing well? My reading skills can always be improved, unfortunately I tend to let my mind wander while I am reading.
Are you making sufficient progress on your goals? Somewhat, maybe I need to read everything twice, just wish I had the time.
List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals. Take notes from chapter as I read, I highlight but maybe if I were to take notes as well it would help retain more information.
For Course Contract Review #4, consider what you will need to change in future semesters. Consider it a summative experience for this semester and a formative one for next semester.

Instructions: Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow it on your blog. Your response should demonstrate critical thinking and thorough understanding of the subject matter, using proper terminology.
Case:
Ms. Knowles and Ms. Brophy co-teach a prekindergarten class for 4- and 5-year-olds. To some degree their class works on basic foundations of literacy and mathematics--identifying alphabet letters and their sounds, counting small sets of objects, and so on. But they are well aware that to be truly successful in elementary school, children must know how to work and play effectively with their peers. Accordingly, many of the class's daily activities are designed to nurture social development.
The two teachers use a variety of strategies for helping their young students acquire social skills and make friends. They suggest that outgoing and socially self-confident children ask more reserved children to join a play activity. They teach shy children how to ask "Can I play?" or to suggest ways in which they might contribute to an activity ("You already have a mommy, a daddy, and a baby. Can I be the big sister?") They encourage children to watch for clues in one another's body language ("Look at Ivan's face. How do you think he feels about what you've just done?"). They sometimes bring two or three unengaged children together to work jointly on a project or puzzle. At story time, they read stories exploring the qualities that make for good friendships and the kinds of behaviors that are apt to alienate others. And they suggest that parents occasionally invite their children's classmates for lunch or a short play date.
Often the topic of friends comes up at "circle time," a part of each day when everyone gathers on the floor at the front of the room to discuss issues of general concern. In one circle time session, the teachers read a letter they say they received from their friend Mr. Stone, who lives in California. (In fact, there is no Mr. Stone. The teachers have written the letter themselves to facilitate a discussion about making friends.) "My daughter Susie doesn't have any friends," Mr. Stone allegedly writes. "Do you have any suggestions about how she could make friends?" The children offer a variety of suggestions for Susie Stone: "She could be nice to people." "She could find somebody who likes to play with Care Bears like she does." "Other kids could ask her if she wants to play with them."
Clearly, then, some of the children are acquiring social competencies that will serve them well in the elementary school years. Others lag behind, however. One child who still has much to learn is a handsome young 4-year-old named Liam. The son of two high-achieving college professors, Liam has a good start in academic skills; for instance, he can already read simple storybooks and solve addition problems involving one-digit numbers. But he has little knowledge about how to interact effectively with his peers. Rather than politely ask if he can join an ongoing activity, he is apt to bully his way into the situation, perhaps giving orders, snatching a desired toy, or making threats ("If you don't play with me, you can't come to my birthday party!"). Liam is noticeably larger than his classmates--as Ms. Brophy says, "he's a physical presence wherever he is"--and so he often gets his way. But his overly assertive behaviors are hardly conducive to forging lasting friendships.
Everyone is well aware of Liam's friendless status--his teachers, his parents, and certainly Liam himself. One morning in November, Ms. Knowles takes Liam aside. "I've noticed that you're having a hard time making new friends this year," she gently tells him. "I know the other kids want to be your friend. Do you want to be their friend as well?" When Liam nods, she asks, "Would it be OK if we talk with the other kids about the problem? Maybe we can all figure out a way to fix it." Liam agrees to her suggestion.
At circle time later in the day, Ms. Knowles says to the children, "You know, everyone in this classroom has something that he or she is working on. For example, I'm trying to grow carrots in my garden. I have to plant them just so, I have to water them two or three times a week, and I have to make sure I keep weeds from growing up around them. Deirdre is learning how to tie her shoes, aren't you, Deirdre?" Deirdre nods. "What are some other things you children are working on?" The children volunteer a variety of works in progress--counting to 100, braiding hair, riding bicycles without training wheels, and so on. Then Ms. Knowles continues, "Well, Liam is working on how to make friends. Friendships are so important, aren't they, boys and girls? Do you have any ideas about how to help him make friends?"
"Don't be a bully," one child suggests. "Ask instead of barging in," says another. "Don't push yourself into line when it's time to go outside," adds a third. The children offer their suggestions with kindness and compassion, and everyone leaves circle time with a sense that something has been accomplished.
Liam's behavior slowly improves after that. He still has moments when he intentionally outruns a classmate to be first in line or thoughtlessly grabs a toy that someone else is using. But when a teacher asks him to choose someone to join him in a short two-person activity, the partner he selects usually goes with him without complaint. And a boy named Miles--a sweet, quiet child who admires Liam's athletic skills--sometimes seeks out his company.
Questions:
1. The second paragraph lists a number of strategies that Ms. Knowles and Ms. Brophy have tried to teach social skills. Which one do you think might be most effective and why? I feel that the most effective strategy being used for teaching social skills is having the more out-going and confidant students ask the shy and self-confidant students to play with them. This is a good example of prosocial behavior which in turn increases morality within a person teaching a student about helping others without first thinking of themselves.
2. The teachers occasionally use storybooks to promote discussions about social skills and making friends. How might children's literature also help them resolve one of Erikson's stages of psychosocial development? Children's literature could help resolve Erikson's psychosocial development stage of industry versus inferiority. Children can learn through literature that working hard can accomplish great things and also help them understand diversity among people giving children a boost of self-confidence. Letting them know that everyone is different and they have the ability to achieve anything that they want will help decrease the feelings of inferiority and increase their feelings of accomplishment.
3. How might children's literature help them develop moral reasoning? In children's literature there are many books that teach morals. I good example for a young child could be the Lorax or the Giving Tree. Both these books emphasize what happens when you only think about yourself and how that may affect other things or other people around you. Teaching children how their direct actions can affect people in a positive or negative way. These two literature examples focus on preconventional morality where people make decisions based on what is best for them not thinking of anyone else and how they may feel.
4. The teachers read the children a letter they claim has been written by their friend Mr. Stone. What are potential advantages of this strategy? Incorporate ideas from Chapters 2 and 3 in your response. The first potential advantage of this strategy would be to ask the students to come up with ideas on how Susie can make friends. The teachers are helping the students work on Piaget's theory of concrete operatioanl thought process. This strategy creates a situation where the students have to begin using logical thinking on a topic that they can only imagine. The second potential advantage that this strategy may work on would be the second stage of Kohlberg's theory on moral reasoning. This particular strategy helps a students think about the exchange of favors with another person. If you are nice to somebody, then they will be nice to you.
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Ch. 2 Case Study - Elementary
Instructions: Read the case study, then answer the questions that follow on your blog. Your responses should demonstrate critical thinking and thorough understanding of the subject matter, using proper terminology.
Case:
As the final school bell rings, most of the students in Ms. Bowman's first-grade class gather their belongings and hurry out the door. But Amy convinces her friend Lucy to linger for a few minutes while she checks on Ringo, the class's pet goldfish. As this week's "animal keeper" for the class, Amy has noticed that Ringo hasn't eaten any of his food for the past 2 days. In fact, all he does now is lie sideways on the surface of the water; he doesn't try to swim away when she touches him. With her friend looking over her shoulder, Amy tries to give the fish a slight push toward a few flakes of food.
"He must be sleeping," she says. "Usually all I have to do is swish the water around to make him swim. He's acting really weird. Maybe he's forgotten how to eat and swim."
Lucy inspects the fish and then looks back at her friend and says, "I don't know, May. He's been sleeping an awful long time. He's not eating either. I'll get Ms. Bowman, and maybe she can fix him."
Lucy hurries over to her teacher and grabs her by the hand. "Something's wrong," Amy declares as Lucy and Ms. Bowman approach the fish bowl. "He's not moving. He hasn't eaten for a long time."
When Ms. Bowman looks in the bowl, she realizes that Ringo has died. She delicately explains the situation and then wraps the fish in a paper towel. She assures the girls that she will give Ringo a proper burial as soon as she gets home.
Amy looks puzzled. "But...but...when my grandpa died last summer, he went away to heaven and didn't come back. Ringo's still here. If he's dead, he should be going to heaven."
"Do you want Ringo to go to heaven?" Amy nods, and Ms. Bowman smiles. "Well, then, I bet he'll go there just as soon as he possibly can."
As the two girls walk home, Lucy poses a question: "Do you have to eat in heaven?"
"I don't know," Amy responds. "I suppose so, or else you'd be hungry all the time."
"Oh, that makes sense." Lucy pauses for a moment and then asks, "Well, do you have to go potty in heaven?"
Amy rolls her eyes, indignantly puts her hands on her hips, and replies, "Of course not, silly! You know our mommies and Ms. Bowman make us go potty before we go anywhere!"
"Oh, yeah, I forgot," laughs Lucy.
Questions:
1. Describe an episode in the case study that demonstrates disequilibrium. Justify your response. an episode in the case study that demonstrates disequilibrium is when Amy is wondering if her grandpa went to heaven when he died, then how come Ringo is not in heaven. This is because she is puzzled that she can still see Ringo even though he is dead and when her Grandpa died she could not see him.
Describe an episode that demonstrates assimilation. Justify your response. An episode of assimilation is when Amy says that you will not have to go potty in heaven because they are always told to go potty before they go anywhere. This is because she is dealing with a situation in a way that she understands. Everybody uses the potty before they go somewhere.
2. Identify a possible instance of preoperational egocentrism in the case. Justify your response.
When Lucy asks Amy if you eat in heaven and Amy responds that of course or you would be hungry. This gives an example of the act of speaking without taking into account the listeners knowledge.
3. How might a Vygotskian theorist suggest Ms. Bowman address the death of the class pet?
A Vygotskian theorist would suggest that Ms. Bowman use guided participation to address the death of Ringo. This would require steps to help the students understand the process of death. Involving the practice of mediation, scaffolding, and supervision for a child to get a better understanding of why things have to die.
4. How might taking care of pets in the classroom promote students' cognitive development? When you have to care for a pet it gives you responsibilities and understandings of what something needs to exist and live a good life, helping increase a persons knowledge, thinking, and reasoning processes. Knowledge of caring for something, thinking about how to care and what needs to be done, and the reasoning of why certain things need to be done.
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Course Contract Review #1

As I have finished my first exam, I feel that there are a few things that I am doing well. Attending class is always necessary. On top of doing all homework and reading assignments. Using my study guide is another essential part of my studies. What I am not doing well on is giving myself enough time to study. That seems to be a difficult task. Being regimented in how I study and the study tools I use also becomes a little harder to accomplish with lack of time. And leaving little time to go over the course website. I was not as prepared to use this sight as I should have been, although I did make use of it the night before the exam. I do have to say that I am making progress in my studies, as I find the class interesting. This is always a bonus when it comes to taking a class. I feel that I am learning and retaining information and with that said, I would say I am making progress. What I need to change to meet my goals is to stay on top of my studies. Definitely trying to accomplish this goal and as I manage my time and stay organized I should be able to meet my goals.

Cool Brain Research

Judy Willis, a board-certified neurologist and middle school teacher, has done research on how the brain is stimulated when learning. She has found that in today's classroom settings students are becoming increasingly bored and unable to retain information. Combining her knowledge on the brain and that of a school teacher, she has been able to observe students and come up with solutions for creating a more interesting environment for learning. In 2007 after much research she wrote the book titled "Brain Friendly Strategies for the Inclusion Classroom". Her studies involve neuroimaging and brain mapping. This process helps researchers actually see how the brain reacts to learning new material and how that material is stored.

The research that Judy Willis has done is very helpful in the field of education. She is focusing her research mainly on how to teach students of all levels and abilities and keep them interested. With the schools focusing on teaching the standardized tests, classrooms are becoming very stale and unstimulating. The whole purpose of Judy Willis's research is to find out how to keep the brain interested so that learning is recorded and stored into the long-term memory.

There is alot of knowledge for a teacher to learn from this research. Her books alone are a must-read for teachers. A classroom needs to be creative and stimulating for the students. They need to find it curious and energy charged. Learning to keep my classroom from getting stale, getting to know each student on an individual level, and making sure that all the needs of the independent learners are met are just a few of the ideas that need to be brought into the classroom.

Web Quest #3

The four educational research types, (descriptive, correlational, experimental, and action research) can all be helpful in obtaining information, but they do have their faults. Descriptive may be able to conclude valuable information but it also can be a long process and time consuming. Correlational studies may be able to compare two subejects and see how they relate to one another but they cannot prove the causation of the relationship. Experimental research can give us information by testing something on a group and comparing this to a group that was not tested. We may be able to see the affects of the testing, but experimental research does not work well with education. With action research a more positive process of research can be used on the classroom. A teacher that approaches their classroom with the hopes of learning how to become a better teacher may be able to do so using action research.

As a student in the process of becoming a teacher, I feel that understanding the different types of educational research will be helpful. As noted descriptive, correlational and experimental research have their place in science, but they do not necessarily have a place in teaching. With action research, a teacher can approach a subject to be taught in class with a new technique and study the effects at this new technique has on the class. If a teacher handles their action research where they do not have it interfere with teaching, it is not demanding on their time, they are commited to the research and they approach it ethically then the research can be a very positive process.

As a student and future teacher there is still alot to be learned about the process of action research. If I want to be able to test different teaching strategies on my classroom, and I will, I will need to go about the process diligently. The students must always come first when teaching and if I were to impose a new idea onto my class I would want to make sure that in all possible ways it would be beneficial. I feel that doing alot of research on my own before implimenting anything onto a classroom will be quite useful. Also, as I mentioned before, if am I commited to my research and I do not let it interfere with my teaching then it could be a positive learning tool.

Educational Psych Course Contract

1. My weekly preparation plan will be to divide my assignments up over the week. Giving me time each day to read and take notes. As I take notes I will try to understand each topic and make a note of any topic I do not understand. I will also set up note cards for terminology to be used during the course.
2. First complete reading assignment. Second fill out studyguide. Third fill out note cards. Fourth complete any other assignment.
3. If I do not understand a topic, I will make note of the topic. I will use blogger for any feedback. I will email necessary questions. I will brind any questions into class. And if I still need more understanding, I will then use office hours for questions.
4. I will reach my goals in this course by reading chapters, meeting for study groups, taking necessary notes, completing all assignments on time, and attending all classes(unless I have a really good excuse).

intro

Why am I here? I am working on a second bachelors. My first degree is from M.S.U. 20 years ago. Scary. I should be working on my doctorate by now, but took time off from school to play, travel, experience life and be a stay at home mom. I decided to go back to school and the best option for me was to start fresh as I have been out of practice for a long time. I chose teaching because I love kids, love to watch them learn and have worked as a preschool teacher and done a lot of volunteer work in the schools. I hope I am making the right choice ( I always second guess my decisions) Hope to have fun, expand my mind and not get too buried. After I finish this program and actually start working, I am hoping to travel with my children in the summer months and work for volunteer programs teaching less fortunate children.