In reflection

I just wanted to make a post discussing how I appreciated the idea of a learning blog. I have never had a blog assignment in another class. I think it is a refreshing idea for a project compared to the typical term paper or another exam. I think it really emphasized the main points for me in a way that I appreciate learning--individualizing my own learning. I can create the blog as I want and emphasize the points that meant the most to me-- plus it makes studying easier and more interesting. I appreciated the appropriate use of technology being used in this assignment and I found it made it accessible to create blog posts. I can create it the best way that works for me! Just like we learned about in class. Good idea.

Functional approach

Functional Approach

Positive Behavior support

strategies (5)

1. teach desirable behaviors

2. consistently reinforce the new behavior in a way they understand

3. in our classroom try to have predictable routines-reduces anxiety, make people feel comfortable

4. provide frequent opportunities for choice-affirms students individuality and that they are
responsible for their own behavior

5. provide adaptations to support academic success ex: child's reading strengths not great.. how can we provide an alternate way of getting that information to them

Activity:
A student in your class, Cody, refuses to do his desk work. What is a possible purpose or function for this behavior? Please suggest an alternative behavior he can learn or adopt to meet this purpose or function. Please be prepared to share your findings.


Ideas I came up with:

-possible other things on mind, doesn’t understand and doesn’t want to admit he doesn’t understand, perhaps doesn’t enjoy desk work--works in a more kinetically manner

-have him do an physical activity, ask him why to figure out what is really going on here to solve his problem to meet his needs in a different way


In class we also watched the video:

William Ury: The Walk from “No” to “Yes”
from Harvard University
worlds leading authority on negotiation- create agreement in even the most difficult situations
-more community oriented
-being the third side

photo from
http://www.williamury.com/about/photos

Operant Conditioning B.F. Skinner continued..

image from www.google.ca/images
Yesterday in class we did an operant conditioning writing activity. We wrote an example of classroom use for each of the four types of conditioning. This activity helped solidify the key points for me and hear some different types of classroom use that my student peers had thought of. We also had to indicate the desired behavior change and what will be done to stimulate the change.

My examples include:

Positive reinforcement- giving students fake money to buy things in the classroom store for behaving respectfully.
desired behavior change: have students behave responsibility
stimulate change: encourage students with fake money for class store

Negative reinforcement- taking away one assignment so students focus more on a different one
desired behavior: students will work on other assignment
stimulate change: taking away an assignment

Positive punishment- adding an extra assignment because class disbehaving
desired behavior change: class will be behave
stimulate change: add extra work

Negative punishment- take away recess because student disbehaving
desired behavior: students will behave
stimulate change: take away recess

An example (I recognize it was just an example) I thought was questionable in class was if a student finished their test early they got to skip other tests. I thought this was questionable as, we just learned and been discussing in our posts students who have learning disabilities. Perhaps some students need a bit more time to process the questions than others-- just a point I thought of when heard this example.

Operant Conditioning B.F. Skinner

image is from www.google.ca/images

I had learned about operant conditioning previously in an intro psych course. In operant conditioning you have:

positive reinforcement- add something to encourage behavior, most effective
praise students when they are doing something right

negative reinforcement- take away something to reinforce behavior
ex: take away the final exam if students get higher than 85% on term exams to reinforce studying

positive punishment- add something to decrease behavior
ex: add detention to get the student to behave better

negative punishment- take away something to decrease behavior
ex: taking away recess to get the student to behave better

a way to remember this is to think

positive: something is being added

negative: something is being taken away

reinforcement: increase a behavior

punishment: decrease a behavior

The point was brought up in class about how this can just be used to have students behaving the way the teacher has them behave or they won't get "a marble". It doesn't teach them to manage their own behavior. I remember in grade 6 we got play money if we did something good and then could buy stuff from the class store. I thought it was awesome back then but did not realize that it was just a way to get us to behave in class- I just thought about the prize I was going to get when I got enough fake money.


Also in class we discussed different approaches
1. Technical instrumental approach- this would be operant conditioning-- so controlling behavior

2. humanistic approach- helping students be all that they can be, look at the whole human, have them learn to manage behavior

3. critical perspective- what are unstated political dimensions going on?
gender, class, race, sexual orientation, dominant group in society and how are these continually reproduced in the school system?

Ideally, I would like to follow the humanistic approach--but in all honesty who's saying if I had a wild grade 8 boys physical education class one day that I wouldn't try and use operant conditioning?

Frustration Anxiety Tension (The Fat City Workshop) Continued

image from www.google.ca/images
In class on Nov. 2 we continued watching this video.


Points that I pulled from the video that I thought were interesting and valuable were:

-Teachers using "I can't help the LDD child because it's not fair to the other children" when it has nothing to do with the other students. This is what THIS child needs. I liked how you gave the example with cpr and how if someone needed cpr then you wouldn't give it to them because it's not fair to everyone if this is your reasoning.

"Fairness is not everyone getting the same thing but everyone getting what they deserve."

-Just because you have to learn in a different way-- does NOT make you stupid-

-teachers if they are enlightened can have positive effects on self esteem

-the real challenge is educating those without a learning disability

FOCUS: changing our practice and the environment is through differentiating instruction-- it is NOT about "fixing" them

Differentiating instruction is where the teacher modifies:
content,
process,
and product

through student:
readiness,
interests,
and learning profiles.

As a teacher we need to ensure we have a little bit of every type of learning types to create learning opportunities for the different type of learners in the class--verbal, cognitive, kinestic.

Examples could be watching a movie about the book, writing a paper about the book, having a debate about a topic, acting out a part of the book

Frustration Anxiety Tension (The Fat City Workshop)

I have been finding this video that we have been watching in class really interesting. The examples of activities he gives are excellent! They really make a point- each and every one.

He emphasized that teachers need to fix these actions and sayings such as:

1."look harder"
2. bribe them to answer it right
3.take things away- recess
4. blame the victim "she's not trying hard enough"

"Motivation only lets us do the best of our ability and capabilities. Learning disabilities have little to do with motivation and has to do with perception.

Points that I took from the video:
-Reading comprehension- kids need direct instruction
-children with a learning disability, most times when they get in trouble they won't know what they did wrong
-Dysnoma: hard time finding that word on "the tip of the tongue"
-children with learning disabilities: quick to turn others in when kids make mistakes
-the importance of the gift of time- go erase the blackboard and give them time to think

I think that he gives really good activities that allow you to understand what it is like to be a child who has a learning disability which I find gets the point across rather than be lectured to.
I think it is important to put the child first though when talking about children who have learning disabilities. They are a person first and not a "learning disability child".

All images are from www.google.ca/images

Gender continued

On Wednesday's class we continued our discussion on gender and discussed

Issues:

1. stereotypes: broad categories of expected behavior

2. gender bias

3. Sexual orientation

As a teacher, it is important to make sure that we are being good role models. That we are staying away from stereotypes, and avoiding gender bias.

I went to highschool in a small town and I believe that homophobia was very present in the school. I did not know anyone who openly said they were homosexual- but some people teased others saying they were. In my own experience, I have seen males be more homophobic than females in bullying. I think this may have to due with that as a unrealistic threat to masculinity or "the way men should be". I am not sure why this is the case- makes you think! Even when you ask these people-- they do not have a justified reason most times!

Teachers should have a no tolerance with homophobia and bullying. I think we can be good role models for the student and accept everyone for who they are. Step out of your way to talk to this student and make sure they know that there are people there and accept them--not change them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcVyvg2Qlo.

All images are from www.google.ca/images

Gender

In class today we discussed gender. We started the class in groups where we had to think of an individual who we would define as the ideal of femininity and a male who we would define as the ideal of masculinity.

Examples and traits:

Femininity: Kate Middleton; classy, stylish, attractive

Masculinity: Gerard Butler; tough, successful, rugged, unafraid

I believe that gender is a learned behaviour from those around us- family, school, community, role models. I do not think as babies we know that as a girl in order to be considered "feminine" you should have nice looking hair (how do you style your hair and why do you style it that way? Learn through observation), what is considered nice makeup, and what is "stylish"? These are learned through observation. Sex is the biological component, whether you are male or female. Gender is the sociocultural dimension. I believe that children learn (and as stated in class, are policed) gender young from toys, family, community, television, school. Males and females are policed into specific gender roles which are expectations for thinking, acting and feeling-- such as even what toys they can play with! Therefore, I believe gender is a learned behavior.
All images are from www.google.ca/images

In class on Friday we watched the video: Shawn Achor: The Science of Happiness and Potential

I really liked this video about positive psychology! I thought it was very interesting and enjoyed the humor he incorporated.

The points that particularly stuck with me about why don't we study happy people? Why just if there is a problem? I also like the point about trying to attain happiness as a mindset and choice. He made this realistic by including that it is about changing your baseline of happiness (bringing your baseline higher). I found this realistic because I know that I could not be happy all the time but on average I could become a happier person with conscious thought and effort. He gave tips on how to work on becoming a happier person such as writing 5 things you are happy for each morning, writing about a positive experience everyday in a journal, and not multi-tasking. I find that I multi-task too much such as checking my email, working on homework, listening to music, cooking supper, having laundry going, texting, and thinking about something else as well! Just typing that it looks overwhelming! I believe that not only would I be happier if i single tasked-- I would be more successful as I would produce better quality output of work. I absolutely agree with the point of exercising. I know that exercise makes me feel happier because after I workout I feel good about myself. I have been trying to take more time to focus on myself such as going for massages and having alone time away from others each day to unwind. I can understand how it can be difficult to change because it is easier said than done. Even though it takes only 30 seconds to write 5 things you are thankful for down, you still have to do it. This leads me to the other point I liked in the video about making these tasks more easily accessible. The example in the video was the guitar and keeping it out in a more accessible place.
I can include this by thinking positive before a test or hard workout. I have to do it anyway so might as well be positive while going through it instead of complaining about it before and dreading it. As a teacher, you can apply this by priming your students-- acknowledging them by name, asking how they are, asking about interests, being positive yourself as a teacher. As a student I can tell what kind of mood my teacher is in and that effects the whole class. I believe the teacher makes the difference in the tone of the class and it is therefore important to be positive.
All images are from www.google.ca/images.

Diversities

Image is from www.google.ca/images

In class this past week we learned about diversities.

Diversities can be seen in:

• socioeconomic status
• cultural capital - The term cultural capital refers to non-financial social assets; they may be educational or intellectual, which might promote social mobility beyond economic means. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_capital

It is important to:

• reduce barriers

• promote multicultural education by:

1. empowering students: promote pride in student's background, encourage students(and demonstrate yourself as a role model) to make positive changes in community
   
2. Kanu's 3 Recommendations:

• School curriculum should be openly anti-racist and anti-discriminative
• multicultural education should be apart of every students education
• students should be trained to be more conscious of cultural

"If people are going to come to this country, then they need to adapt to us! Plain and simple, I'm not changing for anybody!"

I do not agree with this quote. Canada prides itself in multiculturalism and who has the right to say that "their way" is the "right and only way"? If this was true than would you agree that Hitler was justified in his actions? That African Americans should have different water fountains? We are all human. We may have different culture and color of skin but I believe that is was makes us unique. This is what makes each person interesting. I think we should view diversity as a chance to learn from each other! To people in favor of this quote, what is your thoughts on First Nations and how they were forced to change their ways even though this was their land first? I believe then this is hypocritical. Thus, I agree with the points of continuing to promote multicultural education in schools. I believe this will encourage students and therefore the future generation in creating these positive change in their community and valuing their own background and being able to appreciate others. I believe by starting this education in the classroom it will prepare students for living in a multicultural society. As a teacher you can promote cultural awareness by even something as simple as including posters that have individuals from different cultures! I agree that it is important to acknowledge the differences, instead of ignore and pretend that you do not notice these differences-- because these differences are attributes that make us unique and are important to self-identity.

The other day in class we discussed IQ:

Defn:

A simple way to describe intelligence by assigning it a number that represents the ratio of mental to chronological age, multiplied by 100. Average IQ is therefore 100 and is based on a comparison between an individual's performance and that of other comparable people.

Average IQ score: 100

Formula: IQ= MA/CA x 100

Myths:

1. IQ tests measure a vague, mysterious, property

2. IQ score is constant

The result of the test could depend on how the individual was feeling that day-- did they eat breakfast?? Get a good nights sleep? Did they just have a fight with their mom?

3. Measures the only important thing to know about people

There are so many important things to know about people other than just intelligence in this one area. Is this person caring? hardworking? dedicated? honest? These are important qualities for success as well.

4. IQ score is unbiased
ex: If the test is given in English rather than the test writer's first language; social class differences-- does this student come from a home where there are books everywhere or did they even have breakfast this morning?;

Fact: strongly correlates academic success

General intelligence will assist you in success but I believe that having a hardworking, "don't give up" attitude is just as important- because if you have all the smarts--but no motivation or effort- you are not going to get anywhere. I think it doesn't make you smarter as I believe everyone is smart in their own way--perhaps someone excels at kinesthetics, at drawing, creating music, cooking, writing, discussing different view points etc.

I have seen (and participated) in achievement tests in schools. I have never taken a "IQ" test that I know of. I think that IQ testing or achievement tests are okay to have in schools because it gives an idea of where the students are at today in comparison to 10 years ago. It also gives the teacher some idea of areas they need to work on with their classes.

I think that achievement tests can be detrimental in situations where a student gets a "bad" mark on a test and then labels them self as "stupid" and settles for this label and stops trying in school.

Carol Gilligan gave us the points of

Kohlberg being too:

1. Individualistic

and Kohlberg overemphasizing:

2. the justice perspective

Carol Gilligan believes that we should emphasize more:

3. Care perspective: relationships and concerns for others

4. Feminist

5. Combine justice AND care

I agree with Carol Gilligan's framework because she emphasizes justice and care combined. I believe that justice is important but it is important to care for others as well. It may be wrong to do something but it may be the only option to help someone who you care deeply about. You have to be realistic with this though: yes, maybe you would steal medicine from a store if the person you cared about was dying and you could not get it any other way but you would not kill someone just because your significant other got in an argument with them and told you to. For example, as a nurse, perhaps you have a patient who wants to die-- as a nurse you can still care for them--but you can not assist them with their death.

Kohlberg

Kohlberg's levels and stages of moral development

1. Preconvential
a) Punishment "shouldn't do it because we could get caught and punished"
b)Hedonism "need to do what is necessary to get what I want" live off those highs

2. Conventional
a) "nice girl/boy" -want to be good, liked
b) law and order "it is illegal"














3. Post conventional
a) social contract "we are a community"

b) universal ethical

I find that I am at different stages of moral development at different times. I believe I have been at all the stages except universal ethical because that is a high level to compare myself to others. I believe I am a very morally sound individual and conscientiousness of what is right and about others feelings. I like the social contract level of the thought of "we are a community". I could leave more things outside without worrying about if it would get taken or not during the night if more people were at this stage of moral development.


All images were found on www.google.ca/images

Today in class we watched a video: Digital Nation. It discussed technology and education. My learning has been shaped by technology, for example one of my classes I am taking has online classes. It is different having class online and I am unsure if I like it or not yet. I like how I can be at home and have a load of laundry going at the same time as I am watching the powerpoint slideshow, but I do also find it more distracting and lacks that social aspect. In school, we did not have personal laptops but had computer class and typing class where we learned about programs on the computer.

I have noticed more in recent years that technology is more evident in society. Everyone I know has a smart phone and use their phones a lot. Also I find the way I interact and keep in touch with others is different because of social networking. It is easier to keep in touch but less personal.

I think technology is beneficial to have in schools because culture of today's society is not the same as even it was ten years ago. I think it should be done in moderation though by making sure there are writing and typing components, powerpoints and drawn posters. I believe I find classes more interesting that have forms of technology being used. I had one class where the teacher just wrote his notes (very messy) on the board and there were no powerpoints, etc. Therefore, I believe technology is beneficial for today's students.

What is my main priority?

Yesterday in class we were prompted with the question "What is your current, main priority in life?". I am very goal oriented, so the answer popped right into my head: finish my schooling. This is my fourth year of college and I still have two more after this one. At times it feels like I will never be done school but I also have the moments where I think "where did the past three years go??". I want to be successful in school. Also this might be my last year playing competitive basketball so I want to excel in basketball as well since I have been playing since grade five.

Here is an inspirational video I found on youtube about success that I found motivating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jal4OkZtz8g

In class, we learned about Erik Erikson's Stages of Human Development which are:

1. Trust vs. Mistrust
2. Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
3. Initiative vs. guilt
4. Industry vs. inferiority
5. identity vs. identity confusion
6. intimacy vs isolation
7. generativity vs. stagnation
8. integrity vs. despair

The stage I see myself in is 4 and 6. I see myself in stage 4 because I want to be successful in my schooling and I was unsure if that would be placed into stage 7 because it was more self centered goal than giving back. Also, I see myself in stage 6 because I am in a relationship of four years and my significant other is an important part of my life and supports me.

Piaget or Vygotsky?

In class we studied Jean Piaget. He is considered an "ages and stages theorist". I had previously studied Piaget in my nursing class as well.

I included examples of Piaget's stages:

1. Sensorimotor: birth until 2, feelings, movement, uncomfortable Ex: An infant is cold so they cry.

2. Preoperational: ages 2 to 7, beginnings of symbolic thinking, egocentrism, animism, explains world through intuition Ex: "The sun is playing hide and seek with the clouds"

3. Concrete operational: ages 7-11, conservation, mental operations that are reversible Ex: A child recognizing that 4 marbles close together and 4 marbles spread apart are the same.

4. Formal operational: hypothetical deductive reasoning, adolescent ego centrism Ex: Thinking of different positions when writing a paper.




Also in class we learned about Lev Vygotsky

He is concerned with social and cultural interactions. His assumptions are:
1. Learning occurs along a developmental trajectory
2. Cognitive skills are structured by language
3. The importance of social relationships and culture

ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development)
Level of knowledge, achievement, skill, performance which we can only achieve with support


Piaget or Vygotsky?
Of the two theorists of cognitive development that we discussed in class, Piaget and Vygotsky, I find that I resonate more with Piaget. I chose Piaget because I like the structure but also flexibility in the stages. It gives you an idea of what children are like at certain stages but also gives an age gap (ex ages 2 to 7) so it shows that children can be individual in their psychological development as well. I believe it would help a teacher better understand where students are at. Therefore, teachers could structure lesson plans around the stage where the students are at in psychological maturity to ensure students are able to understand the material and be successful in class.

The point I found difficult to grasp by Vygotsky is "cognitive skills are structured by language", no language, no thinking. However, I appreciated the importance he placed on relationships such as mentor-protege, coach-athlete, teacher-student. I appreciated this point because I have learned a lot from teachers and coaches, not only about subject matter, but also some were role models. However, even though I find this relationships important, I believe students can learn on their own and problem solve. Support from someone else is not always necessary as I believe it may decrease problem solving or critical thinking.


All images were found on www.google.ca/images.

September 17, 2011

In class this week we watched two videos. The first video we watched was from the TED talk: Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action. Points that I appreciated from the video was the comment he made about the difference between leaders vs. those who lead and how leaders hold a position of power but those we lead have people follow them out of will. He brought up the point of focusing on "why?". Why do you do what you do? Not just how or what you do. In class we discussed "why do you want to become a teacher?". Honestly, I do not want to become a teacher but I respect the profession. I am going for my Bachelor of Science in Nursing but have considered one day perhaps teaching nursing like the instructors at the college. I will relate this point of "why?" to why I want to become a nurse. I want to become a nurse because I feel I have the compassion, intelligence and I just know it is the career for me. I have a caring personality and I feel it is right. The image to the left was found on www.google.ca/images.

The second video we watched in class was the video: Allison Cameron which was from a news program. Previous to the video we discussed being a wise consumer of information about educational psychology. It is important to be cautious, avoid conclusions, recognize how easy it is to overgeneralize about a small or clinical sample, be aware of single studies, consider the source of information, and evaluate credibility. The video was focused on exercise and how it helps students learn and improve in school. Using the points discussed above, we know that this was a small sample size between the two schools they had talked about and it is easy to overgeneralize for a greater population base. Also, it may not be the case for everyone to "improve" after exercising- perhaps some students get more tired- avoid drawing conclusions about individuals needs based on group research. This could be an effective input for that specific class but maybe not every class or every student. I also consider the effects of the camera being there and interviewing the students- could this have influenced their behavior and attitudes towards the study? I also consider the point- is this a problem with our physical education programs and if it is necessary to add more cardio activity in the programs. As from personal experience, there were many hours spent "playing" dodgeball in my gym class (where most kids who did not want to play would either stand out of the way or try and get hit first so they could sit down). Either way, what I learned from this lecture is that is is important to be a wise consumer of information. I personally love exercise and particularly sports and I believe it makes me more disciplined and organized with my time. I believe sports have taught me many lessons and that I need to be focused on my school and organize my time since I have a busy schedule. The image on the left is was found on http://www.rdc.ab.ca/athletics/videos_photos/Pages/Photos.aspx and the image on the right was found on www.google.ca/images

Tuesday September 13, 2011

First official post and already a week into classes! Wow!
Yesterday in class we went over our first 'real' lecture. We went over effective teaching and during class there was a discussion about diversity and experiences individuals have had in the school system. It was an interesting conversation and I thought it tied in with the first two points of effective teaching quite well from the lecture of "1. teaching involves social and ethical matters 2. teaching involves multicultural students". The conversation displayed how these two points are tied. The other point I particularly was interested in was commitment and the importance of being present in the moment. I feel there are times when I am wishing for the weekend for a trip or worried about something in the past. I found this quote on http://www.essentiallifeskills.net/liveinthemomentquotes.html:


"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." Chinese Proverb


I liked this quote because it deals with getting started-just like getting started assignments at this time of the year can be hard with just coming off summer break. It ties to living in the present even though mistakes may have been made in the past and not waiting for tomorrow to start.

A situation where I have personally witnessed effective teaching is through a basketball coach of mine. I have played basketball since grade five and this is my fourth year of playing basketball at the college level so I have had many coaches. This one coach I have had stood out for me significantly. This coach demonstrated many aspects from the list of professional skills. The coach was very good at motivating the team in a positive manner. The coach also was very skilled at communicating with athletes by ensuring she was paying attention to the athletes and listening to them. Not only did this coach have goals for the team but the coach strived to have the athletes set goals as well. This coach was always well prepared for practice and had great management and this helped the flow of practice and ensured we covered everything we needed to.

By reflecting upon this example of teaching in action I recognize many points of effective teaching that this coach demonstrated on a continual basis. The image below I believe demonstrates different approaches to instructional strategies. Not all children may be able to understand something that is just spoken to them but having it in a visual form may be more beneficial.

This image was found on http://www.google.ca/images

My interest is to learn more about the classroom management point of effective teaching. In high school I did work experience with grade seven boys/girls gym class as a assistant and a grade nine boys gym class and I found this aspect more challenging.