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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