What are the essential skills and/or learning outcomes you want your students to know and be able to do that relate to cognitive learning?
I am somewhat confused by this question, so I will do my best to answer it. I would love for my students to have adequate short and long term memory. By using different strategies of meaningful learning, the students would be able to use elaboration, organization, and visual imagery to create mental concepts and enhance their existing knowledge. I also want to develop good critical thinking skills. I think that if they can think critically about a topic, then they must first understand the foundation, upon which they can build to analyze whatever it may be that they are discussing.
How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions?
I would definitely explain to my students different strategies of remembering things. I still remember learning ROY G BIV in my kindergarten class. KINDERGARTEN. I think that if I can find ways to make the information more meaningful then the students would be able to understand it better. A memory process plus application would equal a greater understanding. What use is remembering PEMDAS (parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction) if you can't apply it to a math problem. My teaching will be directly affected by my knowledge of memory processes because I obviously want them to remember all of what I teach them (ambitious, I know). By using these processes, I would have a higher chance of achieving this.
I know personally, I was able to remember things especially well with songs. We used this particular song to remember the preamble during 3rd grade. After we had all memorized it, we talked in depth about what it meant and translated it into layman's terms.
Also, the first grade teacher that I had the privilege of observing last year used this song almost every day for her first graders to learn all of the states in the U.S.
My personal definitions for teaching and learning are:
Teaching – involves supplying information
to a person to facilitate learning
I think in the instance of a classroom, teaching would involve the teacher providing materials and experiences that resonate with the students. These acts of teaching would then produce learning when done appropriately and well. There are many methods and many different ways to teach, as well as being intentional and unintentional.
Learning – involves the assimilation and
accommodation of knowledge, which can later be reproduced and applied
I think learning must be measured in application of material. Too many students simply memorize and regurgitate information for tests and classes because as soon as they have completed the required assignments or tests, they do not revisit this information. I think to produce adequate learning, a teacher must make information interesting and relatable. To be truly learned, information will be able to be revisited and explained by the learners. I think a lot of great learning is done unintentionally, but out of pure curiosity and interest.
Also, relating to teaching and learning, I have seen a couple of videos about a teacher named Steven Levy. He is honestly pretty inspiring and innovative when it comes to his teaching methods. I was unable to find a link to any videos showing his teaching practices, but I did find a website explaining a little bit about what he does in his classroom. I also found another website with a short bio and a list of his videos and books that he has written.
Questions to Consider: Turn to p. 559
in Ormrod’s text. Now, imagine that you
are meeting with Ingrid’s grandmother today to explain her scores on the recent
standardized achievement test pictured at the bottom of p. 559. What will you tell her about Ingrid’s
performance? her strengths? her weaknesses?
If grandmother
asks you what she could be doing at home to help strengthen Ingrid’s skills,
what will you suggest?
I would start off by explaining that she did well in some areas, but not as well in other areas. I would then take her through each score and explain where she had fallen, what that meant, and what my plan of action would be, as her teacher, to help her improve. Obviously her strengths are in reading comprehension, science, social studies, and math concepts. She is doing average/below average in speling and math computation. I would also be sure to address whether I thought these scores were an accurate representation of how she was doing in the class. She may have just had a poor test day through some of the sections, etc. Various occurrences could have arisen to affect her scores.
As for what she could do to help her at home, I would provide certain individualized activities and worksheets that they could work on together to give her some extra practice.
This week really reinforced how important testing/scoring can be in the classroom. Even if you don't give formal, summative assessments, you must keep track of your students achievements and progress throughout the year. If they are affected by RTI, you may even have to do these every week.
We also watched this video below, which was definitely an interesting take on the education system. I think that parts of it are good points, but I don't really think it gave any great solutions...more of an intellectual complaint.
I also found a couple of outside resources about testing that bring up some good points: http://www.fairtest.org/k-12
Then, thanks to a fellow student, this Scholastic link was brought to my attention, which provides some great tips on how to help your students prepare for these mandated tests. There are a few articles available to skim over for information.
Think of a lesson plan from your licensure area. Knowing that assessment is an integral part of teaching, explain at least four informal and formal assessments that you will use in your lesson plan to provide you with feedback and involve the students in assessing their own learning.
Considering a 1st grade lesson I just developed for a science education class, I could definitely use:
pencil-paper formal assessments
performance assessments
short quizzes/tickets out the door - formative checks during lessons
other alternative assessments
During this lesson, I begin by reading a book about the butterfly life cycle (i.e. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, etc.). I then discuss with the students what they know about butterflies, whether they know what a life cycle is, etc. I then introduce these concepts. After that, the students are responsible for filling out a worksheet with each stage of the butterfly's life cycle (paper-pencil assessment) and gluing various shapes of pasta onto each stage that corresponds with what the butterfly would look like in that stage of its life (performance assessment). After they finished that, I could do a ticket out the door before a bathroom break or a quick review discussion (formative check). Then, I could move into another related lesson going into a writing prompt such as: Now, create an advertisement for a butterfly you create. Take us through its life cycle and tell us why your butterfly is better than others (alt. assessment).
Consider norm referenced assessment and criterion referenced assessment. Are there advantages to both? Are their disadvantages? I think there are advantages to both. You do want to see that the students are meeting a normal level of development; however, I feel like you also want to use the standard of their work as well. I think the disadvantages are that norm referenced assessment isn't always going to be the best for certain students. If you have an inclusive classroom, you will have to make adaptations, etc. for your class and norm referenced assessment may not always be the best option to assess them. Also, if the students are doing well on one assessment and not on the other, it would produce unreliable results and might mean the validity of one of the assessments is not good.
I think standardization has multiple pros and cons.
Pros
Able to keep a certain level of normality in which students can be tested against
Universal screening, the first tier in RTI, is a method that would require some kind of standardized testing in order to see which students were below average and needed intervention
Able to give the teacher a standard in order to see who can apply the material
I think worksheets are a form of standardization - there ARE other ways of assessing application, though
Cons
Teachers might teach to the test rather than incorporating real-world experiences and inquiry activities
Not enough student exploration
Memorization rather than absorption and application of the information
I think standardization vs. performance assessment is a big issue these days in schools. I think the research tells us to use more inquiry-based, "hands-on, minds-on" learning and evaluate through portfolios and other alternative assessments. However, I think that the school systems still rely heavily on standardized tests for placements, achievement tests, etc. I, personally, lean more towards performance assessments, yet I do think that standardization has its place in the classroom, even if it is not to the extent of that of the school systems.
Chapter 13 Questions to Consider: How will you create a learning environment that is conducive to learning? My main concern about creating my classroom environment is using my time wisely. I want my students to have something to do always. I would prefer not to have any weird middle time in which I could lose control of the class. My mentor teacher in my Ed. 100 class was a GREAT role model for me. She had a routine that the whole class knew and was comfortable with. She had everything planned out during the day, and never lost their attention for more than a few short minutes at a time during individual work times. During her teaching, she kept their attention by giving verbal warnings to those getting fidgety or talking out of turn, and if these behaviors continued, they would have to move on the class behavior chart. I think that being organized also ties in closely with time management throughout the day. If you have everything planned out and all your materials ready to go, it will be much easier to get through what you want to during the day without wasting time setting things up or getting organized. I also want my classroom to be "hands on, minds on." In other words, I want them to have concrete examples for a lot of what we are learning about rather than handing them a worksheet. I want to plan many interactive lessons (some authentic), beginning with stimulating questions to prime their thinking and followed by a hands on activity. I found this video, which I think embodies what I've just tried to describe:
I also want to have a good relationship with my students. I want them to love me without being their friend - the teacher should always be considered the authority figure. I want to have a respectful environment in which I take the time to get to know every student and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I think having a good relationship with mutual respect throughout the classroom will contribute greatly to learning. This is my Elementary Education case study:
You engage your third grade students in cooperative learning
activities at least twice a day, changing heterogeneous group members once
every four weeks. You have agreed upon routine procedures that your classroom
community uses within their small groups, including the roles and
responsibilities of group members. Lately you have noticed that one small group
always seems to have difficulty grasping material and completing their project
in an acceptable manner. You observe this
group carefully and find that Lisa seems to be the catalyst for their
problems. She gets angry with others if
she does not get the job she wants and refuses to do her part in contributing
to the group’s learning. She constantly
interrupts others in her group. She does
not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations.
After reading my CSEL case study, there are a few options of how a teacher could respond. I think the main objective for the teacher would be to take Lisa aside and ask her one-on-one why she is acting the way she is acting. You should ask whether her peers interrupt her and could even give a small demonstration of how it feels to be interrupted (being very careful NOT to be disrespectful or offensive). You should ask why she is not participating as much as everyone else and why she is getting so angry. If she is getting angry for a legitimate reason, you could even bring the group together (circling), and have them kind of hash this out by re-asking similar questions so the group could get to the bottom of their problems and move on to their projects. You should also remind Lisa that there are certain procedures and guidelines in the classroom, which she is not following very well. If the behavior continues, you might be able to give her the choice to either shape up and fly right, or go to see the principal. I think another option, if the group cannot hash out their problems, is to change the groups before the four-week time period. If Lisa's anger is sparked by something specifically, she and the teacher might be able to develop a cue for when she needs a moment to collect her thoughts alone and cool down for a few minutes (self-regulation). Lastly, the teacher should reflect on whether the lesson and group work is really using class time wisely. Having too much time could lead to issues because there is time to socialize rather than doing classwork. Overall, a teacher must just make sure that they are creating a classroom environment that is conducive to learning. The teacher should set and enforce limits, while still maintaining the teacher-student relationship by respecting the student.
There are so many theories out there about teaching and what is "right" or "wrong," but I, as well as many others, think that we should focus more on what has been shown to be effective with different kinds of students. As we all know, it can be difficult to effectively teach and create a group of motivated learners. In class this week, we talked about a few different theories about motivation and what we might use in our future classrooms. Below are some questions to consider with my thoughts and opinions following.
How might you enhance
motivation and affect in your students using the theories of motivation?
Every teacher wants to increase their students' motivation to become actively engaged learners, and if they don't, they might not be fulfilling their potential as the adult in the classroom. I think it is important to think about motivating each student individually, just like you would schoolwork (i.e. differentiation). What motivates one student might not motivate another; therefore, it is so important to know your students. The ultimate goal is to increase intrinsic motivation - internal drive. I think the first thing teachers should consider is arousal - keeping their students engaged and interested in the topics being covered in class. Obviously, students have preferences regarding their favorite or least favorite subjects, but if you can incorporate a lot of inquiry learning and hands on/minds on work throughout the day, you can increase the level of "fun" while still facilitating learning. When you do differentiate, you can try to tailor that to an interest that the student might have or make it relatable for them. Overall, the teacher should be modeling good behavior and excitement in the classroom to try to make sure the students follow suit. This could also relate to "self-fulfilling prophecy." Students eventually perform based on what the teacher expects. I also think guided choice is an important part of the classroom. Simply giving the students a choice between one activity or another can increase motivation because they are "choosing" what they do. I worked with one teacher who had allotted about 45 minutes every day for "centers," essentially. She created 5 different activities, which were placed in each child's center folder. Every day during that time, the students would work on one of the activities of their choosing. They just had to get all 5 activities completed by the end of the week. During this time, each student worked fairly quietly and there were rarely any behavioral problems. To be clear, though, structure should still be kept in place.
I don't think external reinforcers (giving a sticker, etc.) should be used unless it is a class-wide goal that they work towards together. Overuse can reduce intrinsic motivation and self-determination. I have seen many teachers successfully use a jar full of marbles or pompoms to drive better behavior. Whenever they make it as a class to the bathroom quietly and everyone washes their hands, they receive a marble, etc. Then, when the jar is full they all receive a "prize." I have seen teachers do a class party, bring brownies, allow the students a pajama day, etc. I don't personally see any harm in this. As for teacher praise, I think it is very important to provide a positive, encouraging environment without going too far overboard. You should also be careful about the way in which you praise your students. You should say something like, "I can see that you have been working really hard on your project!" You should try to stay away from generic phrases like, "Good job!" Students are able to develop a greater intrinsic motivation through specific and individualized praise rather than generic praise.
Which theories of motivation
are most helpful and instructive for you?
I think intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation is extremely helpful to consider (see above). I also think that Maslow's theory about the hierarchy of needs is very interesting. While you may not take it 100% literally, I think the concepts are important ideas to consider. Before a child can be a successful, active learner, they first need the basics of food, water, and sleep. Then, they need to feel that they are in a safe environment, which is up to the school and their teacher to provide. After those two needs are met, they can begin to form bonds and friendships, gain more confidence and achievement, and finally become creative and inquisitive. These are all strong considerations for a teacher.
Image courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs.png
In class, we watched a couple of videos regarding different school environments. One was about the MindUP Program, created by the Hawn Foundation. The other was about a school, here in Knoxville. Both were taking into consideration the needs of the children in order to help them rise to their full potential. I think it should be an example for all teachers to try to provide the best environment they can for their students.
This is the video on the MindUP homepage.
We also watched this video, which I found interesting, posted for your enjoyment and viewing pleasure.
