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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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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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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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Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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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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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Friday, October 9, 2009
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.
Edit this page (if you have permission)
Google Docs -- Web word processing
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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Saturday, October 3, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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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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.
Edit this page (if you have permission)
Google Docs -- Web word processing, presentations and spreadsheets.
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