Dweck (2006) makes a statement in his chapter that states, “The great teachers believe in the growth of the intellect and talent, and they are fascinated with the process of learning (p. 188). If I would have closed my eyes and had someone read this to me, I would be convinced that William James wrote this quote. Teachers must teach material as if it is the first time they are teaching it. One of the most important aspects of learning at school is that teachers believe that students will have growth in their intellect. This is something that some teachers fail to do, for I feel as though many teachers have thoughts about particular students’ successes. This is so dangerous, because of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Students are able to pick up on these negative thoughts the teacher may have, and will consequently self-fulfill those expectations. I think this is a big problem in our schools (for all grade levels), specifically as students get older. A teacher may be convinced that a student has a failing past. This however, does not mean that the student is not capable of changing that past learning behavior and outcome.
One last quote from Dweck’s chapter (2006) that I really enjoyed is “If you don’t give anything, don’t expect anything. Success is not coming to you, you must come to it” (p. 189). This quote reminded me of James (1889) who wrote a similar quote that states, “You may take a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink; and so you may take a child to the schoolroom, but you cannot make him learn the new things you wish to impart, except by soliciting him in the first instance by something which natively makes him react. He must take the first step himself. He must do something before you can get your purchase on him” (p. 20). This “something” that James discusses in his quote could be the process of fostering those initial connections for the student. Teachers need to pinpoint ways to connect to native interests of their students. This means getting to know your students and determining what they are interested in. This in turn, may also allow you to build rapport and have that student be more comfortable with you. Although teachers may teach the same core content every year, their teaching must be adjusted each year so that they do pinpoint the native interests of the students that are currently in their class.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
R11
Question: Pretz, Naples, and Sternberg (2003) mentioned in their chapter that using familiar information can be harmful to a person in the long run. How can this be changed for those people who constantly make the wrong decisions, based on their past experiences?
Passage: “Prior knowledge provides a tool to structure the information in the problem, allowing the individual to apply a familiar scaffold to the information, regardless of how helpful or harmful it might be. Prior knowledge mediates an individual’s ability to represent the problem in the most efficient fashion” (p. 13).
Connection: I am in a field where I have learned about many psychological disorders. I have studied the multiple components of particular psychological disorders and ways to help these particular disorders. More recently, I was asked to do behavior observations on a student where I do my practicum. When observing in the classroom, the student was extremely hyper. During all three observations, the student was off-task, running around the room, and very jittery. I continued to think that the student may have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I have done multiple ADHD evaluations and observations in classrooms, so my past experience inhibited my performance in determining what was going on with the child. I continued to look for all of the confirming evidence of ADHD, but I failed to see the disconfirming evidence. As it turned out, the student drank coffee every morning with his father before coming to school. Someone who wasn’t as familiar with the disability may have been open to other factors other than ADHD a lot sooner than me. This stresses the importance that no two children are alike and that even though a student may act like another, that they are a completely different child.
Outside Connection: I was constantly reminded of Piaget while reading this chapter on how prior knowledge can often be dangerous. Piaget agrees that individuals strive to be in a state of equilibrium. He further argued that when people are not in their realm of understanding that they fall into a state of disequilibrium. Once disequilibrium is encountered, then people look for ways to reduce their cognitive conflict. Piaget explained that people organize incoming information through the two processes of assimilation and accommodation. Pretz, Naples, and Sternberg (2003) are suggesting in their chapter that in order for people to understand new problems, they tend to assimilate new information into their own knowledge structures that are already formed. Since situations can be harmful by using assimilation, it is important to use accommodation instead. This can be extremely difficult to do, but accommodation allows a person to see the information in a different way. If only we could teach people how to view situations without other situations affecting decision-making. Is it even possible?
Passage: “Prior knowledge provides a tool to structure the information in the problem, allowing the individual to apply a familiar scaffold to the information, regardless of how helpful or harmful it might be. Prior knowledge mediates an individual’s ability to represent the problem in the most efficient fashion” (p. 13).
Connection: I am in a field where I have learned about many psychological disorders. I have studied the multiple components of particular psychological disorders and ways to help these particular disorders. More recently, I was asked to do behavior observations on a student where I do my practicum. When observing in the classroom, the student was extremely hyper. During all three observations, the student was off-task, running around the room, and very jittery. I continued to think that the student may have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I have done multiple ADHD evaluations and observations in classrooms, so my past experience inhibited my performance in determining what was going on with the child. I continued to look for all of the confirming evidence of ADHD, but I failed to see the disconfirming evidence. As it turned out, the student drank coffee every morning with his father before coming to school. Someone who wasn’t as familiar with the disability may have been open to other factors other than ADHD a lot sooner than me. This stresses the importance that no two children are alike and that even though a student may act like another, that they are a completely different child.
Outside Connection: I was constantly reminded of Piaget while reading this chapter on how prior knowledge can often be dangerous. Piaget agrees that individuals strive to be in a state of equilibrium. He further argued that when people are not in their realm of understanding that they fall into a state of disequilibrium. Once disequilibrium is encountered, then people look for ways to reduce their cognitive conflict. Piaget explained that people organize incoming information through the two processes of assimilation and accommodation. Pretz, Naples, and Sternberg (2003) are suggesting in their chapter that in order for people to understand new problems, they tend to assimilate new information into their own knowledge structures that are already formed. Since situations can be harmful by using assimilation, it is important to use accommodation instead. This can be extremely difficult to do, but accommodation allows a person to see the information in a different way. If only we could teach people how to view situations without other situations affecting decision-making. Is it even possible?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
R10
Question: The job I do as a school psychologist expects me to be able to multi-task. For example, I will be working on a report, and then am required to respond to email, while also having to be available to consult with teachers that stop in my office. I feel as though multitasking is the only that school psychologist are able to successfully do the job, for there are so many different tasks that must be done in a day of work. If Rosen argues that multitasking is not an effective strategy to use, what would he suggest a typical day look like for a school psychologist?
Passage: In the article Rosen quotes Dr. Edward Hallowell. He states his ideas
about multitasking by stating, “Never in history has the human brain been asked to track
so many data points . . . and this challenge can be controlled only by reatively engineering one’s environment and one’s emotional and physical health. Limiting multitasking is essential” (p. 106).
Connection: During a typical day as a school psychologist, there are many tasks that I am required to do: testing children, consulting with teachers, writing reports, answering email, planning for counseling sessions, conducting counseling sessions, and attending ARC meetings. While at practicum, I will have a report on my laptop that I am writing, talking with other staff in the room, and have my email account open to answer questions and consult with teachers. I think that there are certain places and times that multitasking is relevant, for I would probably not have a job if I was not able to multitask. Rosen (2008) does have a good argument in stating that multitasking can affect learning. For example, this past week I tried to listen to the power point for this course again in order to master the information. When trying to do so, the television was on and my phone was next to me. When I first attempted the task of learning the material on the power point, my brain could not focus and grasp all of the information the power point presented because I was also checking my cell phone. I became much more effective when I turned my phone on silent and put it on the charger, in addition to also turning off the television.
Outside Connection: In the article, Rosen (2008) discusses Meyer’s thoughts, which Rosen summarizes that “with training, the brain can learn to task switch more effectively, and there is some evidence that certain simple tasks are amenable to such practice” (p. 107). Most students in our school are taught to not multitask, but I think that students should be taught appropriate ways to multitask. For example, I think an important skill to be taught is organization. If students are more organized and receive actual study skills training, then they will be able to switch topics more quickly and to multitask. If taught right, students would be able to be more efficient by learning proper ways to study and to learn appropriate ways to multitask.
Passage: In the article Rosen quotes Dr. Edward Hallowell. He states his ideas
about multitasking by stating, “Never in history has the human brain been asked to track
so many data points . . . and this challenge can be controlled only by reatively engineering one’s environment and one’s emotional and physical health. Limiting multitasking is essential” (p. 106).
Connection: During a typical day as a school psychologist, there are many tasks that I am required to do: testing children, consulting with teachers, writing reports, answering email, planning for counseling sessions, conducting counseling sessions, and attending ARC meetings. While at practicum, I will have a report on my laptop that I am writing, talking with other staff in the room, and have my email account open to answer questions and consult with teachers. I think that there are certain places and times that multitasking is relevant, for I would probably not have a job if I was not able to multitask. Rosen (2008) does have a good argument in stating that multitasking can affect learning. For example, this past week I tried to listen to the power point for this course again in order to master the information. When trying to do so, the television was on and my phone was next to me. When I first attempted the task of learning the material on the power point, my brain could not focus and grasp all of the information the power point presented because I was also checking my cell phone. I became much more effective when I turned my phone on silent and put it on the charger, in addition to also turning off the television.
Outside Connection: In the article, Rosen (2008) discusses Meyer’s thoughts, which Rosen summarizes that “with training, the brain can learn to task switch more effectively, and there is some evidence that certain simple tasks are amenable to such practice” (p. 107). Most students in our school are taught to not multitask, but I think that students should be taught appropriate ways to multitask. For example, I think an important skill to be taught is organization. If students are more organized and receive actual study skills training, then they will be able to switch topics more quickly and to multitask. If taught right, students would be able to be more efficient by learning proper ways to study and to learn appropriate ways to multitask.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Module 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_HfSnQqeyY
Above is my video that I found. I think the most interesting thing that I found out about this video is that it describes how information becomes transferred into the long-term memory. This video is a lecture from Stanford University. I also like how the presenter uses real life examples to explain the concepts of memory (such as using numbers). Although we have covered information on learning and memory, I think it helps my understanding of the content by hearing someone else present the information as well. On a side note, I also enjoyed the fact that he incorporated particular disorders that are related to memory, and how people with those disorders are affected in areas of their brain and learning new information.
Above is my video that I found. I think the most interesting thing that I found out about this video is that it describes how information becomes transferred into the long-term memory. This video is a lecture from Stanford University. I also like how the presenter uses real life examples to explain the concepts of memory (such as using numbers). Although we have covered information on learning and memory, I think it helps my understanding of the content by hearing someone else present the information as well. On a side note, I also enjoyed the fact that he incorporated particular disorders that are related to memory, and how people with those disorders are affected in areas of their brain and learning new information.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
R9
Question: So many times I here students say that they wished they had photographic memories. How do we make students aware that it is not whether or not you have an average memory, but how you use your memory? Memory is something that is best utilized when strategies are in place. A lot of students in the classroom have similar memories and it is how they use the information and categorize it that makes the information stick. Memory is like a treadmill; if you have a $5,000 Life Fitness treadmill you can have lots of capability, but if you don’t how to work the device or strategies to stay on the device then you will make it nowhere. On the flip side, you could have an average Walmart purchased treadmill, and if you are able to work it you can make it the same distance as if running on an expensive treadmill.
Quotation: “What you have to understand is that even average memories are remarkably powerful if used properly” (Foer, 2011).
Connection: In Foer’s article on memory, he discusses how the memory was assessed by having the competitors in the memory competition memorize dozens of strangers’ names. This immediately reminded me of the first class I took at the University of Kentucky. I took an intro to Russian culture class. There were 65 students in the class, all of which the teacher had never had before in class. On the first day of class he had every student introduce themselves one time. He then went around the room and amazingly named every single person’s name in the room! I was shocked! I could not believe that he was able to do that. All of the students kept asking him if he cheated, in which he responded that he simply used memory strategies to remember everyone’s name.
Outside Connection: I am so fortunate to have read James as our first book in this course. I must admit that I am connecting to James in a lot of my other course work. I again thought of James when reading the article by Foer. Learning and memory is about associations. James (1899) emphasizes in his chapter on associations that “the more copious the associative systems, the completer the individual’s adaptations to the world” (p.42). In other words, the more associations that children are forced to make, the more they remember. The Foer article discussed how in our society that technology helps us store our memories outside of our brains. Such examples are books, audio devices, photographs, computers, and cell phones. Foer describes that before this technology was created that the memory was the device most commonly used. He explains further by stating, “A trained memory was not just a handy tool but also a fundamental facet of any worldly mind. It was considered a form of character-building, a way of developing the cardinal virtue of prudence and, by extension, ethics. Only through memorizing, the thinking went, could ideas be incorporated into your psyche and their values absorbed” (Foer, 2011). Since this was during the time “without advanced technology”, how can our students of this generation use their memories more frequently when they have access to all of the technology that does it for them?
Quotation: “What you have to understand is that even average memories are remarkably powerful if used properly” (Foer, 2011).
Connection: In Foer’s article on memory, he discusses how the memory was assessed by having the competitors in the memory competition memorize dozens of strangers’ names. This immediately reminded me of the first class I took at the University of Kentucky. I took an intro to Russian culture class. There were 65 students in the class, all of which the teacher had never had before in class. On the first day of class he had every student introduce themselves one time. He then went around the room and amazingly named every single person’s name in the room! I was shocked! I could not believe that he was able to do that. All of the students kept asking him if he cheated, in which he responded that he simply used memory strategies to remember everyone’s name.
Outside Connection: I am so fortunate to have read James as our first book in this course. I must admit that I am connecting to James in a lot of my other course work. I again thought of James when reading the article by Foer. Learning and memory is about associations. James (1899) emphasizes in his chapter on associations that “the more copious the associative systems, the completer the individual’s adaptations to the world” (p.42). In other words, the more associations that children are forced to make, the more they remember. The Foer article discussed how in our society that technology helps us store our memories outside of our brains. Such examples are books, audio devices, photographs, computers, and cell phones. Foer describes that before this technology was created that the memory was the device most commonly used. He explains further by stating, “A trained memory was not just a handy tool but also a fundamental facet of any worldly mind. It was considered a form of character-building, a way of developing the cardinal virtue of prudence and, by extension, ethics. Only through memorizing, the thinking went, could ideas be incorporated into your psyche and their values absorbed” (Foer, 2011). Since this was during the time “without advanced technology”, how can our students of this generation use their memories more frequently when they have access to all of the technology that does it for them?
Monday, April 4, 2011
Module 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DbuIn4Dbww
After learning about different sensory registers, I could not think of Orton Gillingham. It is an approach to reading that is multi-sensory, language based, and very structured. A lot of students who do not respond to reading instruction (such as students with dyslexia) benefit from this instruction. More specifically, I am using this program with a girl that I am working with who has Down syndrome. This approach also recognizes that individuals all learn differently, so instruction is individualized. Some individuals struggle with learning, so this approach emphasizes that some students need multi-sensory instruction. One example of how this is used is learning the sounds of the alphabet. Students not only hear the sounds, but they can draw them in sand with their finger, say them, hear them, and write them. Above is a video that shows an example of how this approach is used.
After learning about different sensory registers, I could not think of Orton Gillingham. It is an approach to reading that is multi-sensory, language based, and very structured. A lot of students who do not respond to reading instruction (such as students with dyslexia) benefit from this instruction. More specifically, I am using this program with a girl that I am working with who has Down syndrome. This approach also recognizes that individuals all learn differently, so instruction is individualized. Some individuals struggle with learning, so this approach emphasizes that some students need multi-sensory instruction. One example of how this is used is learning the sounds of the alphabet. Students not only hear the sounds, but they can draw them in sand with their finger, say them, hear them, and write them. Above is a video that shows an example of how this approach is used.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
THE ACTUAL R8 (disregard the past post labeled R8)
Question: What efforts can educators make to encourage students to see each other as individuals and not to fall into stereotypes that their parents or others may have formed? Some examples of stereotypes that parents may have formed that are carried down to their children are the ways that certain school subjects are stereotyped and the way the words special education are stereotyped.
Quotation: “The good news is that when the facts do change, people’s stereotypes can change with them” (Pinker, 2002, p. 206).
Connection: Pinker (2002) discusses how the self- fulfilling prophecy can come into play when stereotypes are applied. This is scary as educators, because there may be particular stereotypes that parents have formed or the teachers have formed about students. When I tutored math in high school, there were so many girls that were affected by the self fulfilling prophecy. I had one female student say to me, “Well my teacher said that boys are better at math than girls, so it’s okay that I am a little behind”. I on the other hand was very fortunate, because my mother was a math teacher. From a young age, she instilled in me that as long as I stayed on top of my work that I was able to be successful in math. It was an expectation that I would be successful in math, so I was. At times when particular concepts in math were a struggle, I pushed through since I had convinced myself that I was capable. At the same time, other female students were simply giving up because they assumed that girls aren’t good at math. Pinker also refers to this concept as the Pygmalion effect. Pinker describes this as, “many people have heard of the Pygmalion effect, in which people perform as other people (such as teachers) expect them to perform” (Pinker, 2002, p. 206). I hope that this stereotype for girls now being good at math has changed in schools, for it is one that is NOT true.
Outside Connection: Hebl and King (2004) published an article that discusses evidence for the self-fulfilling prophecy. In this study, volunteers were told certain characteristics about students in the classroom. For example, they are intelligent or lazy. The students ended up performing in the way that they were treated. Because of studies such as this one, I try to describe to teachers the importance of how they view a particular student in their classroom. When doing collaborative consultation with teachers, I try to encourage the teacher to list many positive attributes of a student so that they can in turn see the student in a different set of lenses. The self-fulfilling prophecy is so dangerous, for it can often times be the reason for failure for students. I encourage all teachers to be reminded of this scary concept in psychology and to remind themselves to think that every child is capable to succeed.
References
Hebl, M., & King, E. (2004). You Are What You Wear: An Interactive Demonstration of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Teaching of Psychology, 31(4), 260-2. doi: 10.1207/s15328023top3104_7
Quotation: “The good news is that when the facts do change, people’s stereotypes can change with them” (Pinker, 2002, p. 206).
Connection: Pinker (2002) discusses how the self- fulfilling prophecy can come into play when stereotypes are applied. This is scary as educators, because there may be particular stereotypes that parents have formed or the teachers have formed about students. When I tutored math in high school, there were so many girls that were affected by the self fulfilling prophecy. I had one female student say to me, “Well my teacher said that boys are better at math than girls, so it’s okay that I am a little behind”. I on the other hand was very fortunate, because my mother was a math teacher. From a young age, she instilled in me that as long as I stayed on top of my work that I was able to be successful in math. It was an expectation that I would be successful in math, so I was. At times when particular concepts in math were a struggle, I pushed through since I had convinced myself that I was capable. At the same time, other female students were simply giving up because they assumed that girls aren’t good at math. Pinker also refers to this concept as the Pygmalion effect. Pinker describes this as, “many people have heard of the Pygmalion effect, in which people perform as other people (such as teachers) expect them to perform” (Pinker, 2002, p. 206). I hope that this stereotype for girls now being good at math has changed in schools, for it is one that is NOT true.
Outside Connection: Hebl and King (2004) published an article that discusses evidence for the self-fulfilling prophecy. In this study, volunteers were told certain characteristics about students in the classroom. For example, they are intelligent or lazy. The students ended up performing in the way that they were treated. Because of studies such as this one, I try to describe to teachers the importance of how they view a particular student in their classroom. When doing collaborative consultation with teachers, I try to encourage the teacher to list many positive attributes of a student so that they can in turn see the student in a different set of lenses. The self-fulfilling prophecy is so dangerous, for it can often times be the reason for failure for students. I encourage all teachers to be reminded of this scary concept in psychology and to remind themselves to think that every child is capable to succeed.
References
Hebl, M., & King, E. (2004). You Are What You Wear: An Interactive Demonstration of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Teaching of Psychology, 31(4), 260-2. doi: 10.1207/s15328023top3104_7
Thursday, March 10, 2011
MODULE 5
1.Piaget and Vygotsky were constructivists, in which they both emphasized the idea that people are active learners that construct knowledge. They both agreed that people build knowledge and that learning is affected by their environment. Piaget and Vygotsky also differed in several aspects as well. Vygotsky leaned more toward the nurture aspect of constructivism, while Piaget appealed more to the nature side.Both constructivists had their own theories on development. Vygotsky believed that learning and development were related in that learning results in development. Piaget, on the other hand said that development occurs before learning. He suggested that children learn through interacting with people and objects in the environment.
When looking at the relationship between learning and development, Vygotsky stressed the importance of the zone of proximal development which explained that children are able to complete novel tasks that are within their realm of understanding. He discovered that it is possible for students to have the same mental age according to their actual developmental level, but differ tremendously in their potential developmental abilities.
Piaget is famous for his stages of cognitive development. There are four stages, sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Each stage marks milestones that children should reach at certain ages from birth through old age. However, he did not note the importance of other people’s input and assistance to the extent that Vygotsky did.
Questions I still have: We have learned that disequilibrium is the motivating factor in getting students to learn. How do we make students aware of their disequilibrium in order to motivate them?
2. Even though Spiegel discusses that children spend their time a lot differently than they did in the past, there are still some similarities between what Vygotsky says and what this article emphasizes. The connections I found between this article and Vygotsky are that they both put emphasis on the importance of language. The overview of Spiegel’s article describes self-regulation and self talk. This can further improve their problem solving skills because they are problem solving without the cue of a teacher. It goes back to the idea of guiding your own self, instead of having a teacher guide you.
On a side note, I found this quote very interesting: "In fact, if we compare preschoolers' activities and the amount of private speech that occurs across them, we find that this self-regulating language is highest during make-believe play," Berk says. "And this type of self-regulating language… has been shown in many studies to be predictive of executive functions"(Spiegel, 2008). I am currently working with a student with Down syndrome through the Michelle P. Waiver, where I worked on a variety of skills with her. One is encouraging language development. I am instructed by my boss to model appropriate language use through imaginative play. Vygotsky demonstrated in his work that students in fact pick up the self talk from adults. In fact, these are the times that the child is the most verbal, so I thought I would share this information as it relates to this article. The girl I work with is significantly more verbal during imaginative play than at any other time, so we use this time to increase her language abilities.
3. Just like the two constructivists previously discussed, Bruner thinks that culture plays a huge role in every individual’s life and learning. Students from all parts of the world are brought up with different values, languages, and beliefs. Teachers need to assure that they connect well with both the student and his/her culture. When moving from one part of the world to another, cultural barriers can impact a child if the teachers do not take culture into consideration. It is important that teachers are able to distinguish these cultural characteristics from learning or behavior problems. Referring back to my R8 in my previous blog, Bruner explains that you can’t understand a child’s mental ability until you take into context culture. Also, the video in module 5 discusses the aspect of learning through discovery. Vygotsky would agree the teacher serves as the guiding figure through the learning and “discovery” process children are going through.
When looking at the relationship between learning and development, Vygotsky stressed the importance of the zone of proximal development which explained that children are able to complete novel tasks that are within their realm of understanding. He discovered that it is possible for students to have the same mental age according to their actual developmental level, but differ tremendously in their potential developmental abilities.
Piaget is famous for his stages of cognitive development. There are four stages, sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Each stage marks milestones that children should reach at certain ages from birth through old age. However, he did not note the importance of other people’s input and assistance to the extent that Vygotsky did.
Questions I still have: We have learned that disequilibrium is the motivating factor in getting students to learn. How do we make students aware of their disequilibrium in order to motivate them?
2. Even though Spiegel discusses that children spend their time a lot differently than they did in the past, there are still some similarities between what Vygotsky says and what this article emphasizes. The connections I found between this article and Vygotsky are that they both put emphasis on the importance of language. The overview of Spiegel’s article describes self-regulation and self talk. This can further improve their problem solving skills because they are problem solving without the cue of a teacher. It goes back to the idea of guiding your own self, instead of having a teacher guide you.
On a side note, I found this quote very interesting: "In fact, if we compare preschoolers' activities and the amount of private speech that occurs across them, we find that this self-regulating language is highest during make-believe play," Berk says. "And this type of self-regulating language… has been shown in many studies to be predictive of executive functions"(Spiegel, 2008). I am currently working with a student with Down syndrome through the Michelle P. Waiver, where I worked on a variety of skills with her. One is encouraging language development. I am instructed by my boss to model appropriate language use through imaginative play. Vygotsky demonstrated in his work that students in fact pick up the self talk from adults. In fact, these are the times that the child is the most verbal, so I thought I would share this information as it relates to this article. The girl I work with is significantly more verbal during imaginative play than at any other time, so we use this time to increase her language abilities.
3. Just like the two constructivists previously discussed, Bruner thinks that culture plays a huge role in every individual’s life and learning. Students from all parts of the world are brought up with different values, languages, and beliefs. Teachers need to assure that they connect well with both the student and his/her culture. When moving from one part of the world to another, cultural barriers can impact a child if the teachers do not take culture into consideration. It is important that teachers are able to distinguish these cultural characteristics from learning or behavior problems. Referring back to my R8 in my previous blog, Bruner explains that you can’t understand a child’s mental ability until you take into context culture. Also, the video in module 5 discusses the aspect of learning through discovery. Vygotsky would agree the teacher serves as the guiding figure through the learning and “discovery” process children are going through.
Monday, March 7, 2011
R8
Question: Jerome Bruner (1996) discusses the effects of our culture and environment on education. Overrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLD) is still a huge issue in our schools. This is such a scary thought, since our schools are continuing to become more and more diverse. My question is, how can we reach rural schools that may not be as knowledgeable to inform them of the overrepresentation of CLD students in certain categories of special education and how this can be changed? Also, why can’t educators have more training in diversity?
Passage: Jerome Bruner describes the cultural impact of education by stating, “For you cannot understand mental activity unless you take into account the cultural setting and its resources, the very things that give mind its shape and scope” (Bruner, 1996, p. X-XI).
Personal connection: I personally connected to the preface of this chapter, because so many students that I am currently working with are so greatly impacted by their immediate environment. For example, a child that I tested last week came to school and could barely keep his eyes open. I asked him why he looked so tired, and he explained to me that his mother was up all night crying and upset since his father left the house that evening. He explained that his mother was not working, so his dad got so mad that he left. The other children in his class were concerned about what their mother’s packed for lunch that day, while this particular student had to sit and wonder about his family’s financial situation and if his father would ever come back home. Furthermore, he was worried on whether or not that he would have food at home and what was currently going on at his house while he was at school.
Outside Connection: Another scholar recognized that individuals are impacted by their environments. Bronfenbrenner (1979) recognized that there are many systems acting on individuals. These systems include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. Bronfenbrenner categorized the different levels of influences are how they play a role. In the particular example I gave above, this student’s microsystem is strongly affecting him, since this is the setting in which he lives. Many of the descriptions of poverty that Bruner (1996) discussed in the preface would be categorized into Bronfenbrenner’s macrosystem. For example, this would include cultural contexts like SES and poverty. Regardless of what system is affecting the child, it is important that educators are able to identify that there are many factors that are acting on a child and how they learn. I think that is why it is so important to get background information on kids before being referred for special education.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Passage: Jerome Bruner describes the cultural impact of education by stating, “For you cannot understand mental activity unless you take into account the cultural setting and its resources, the very things that give mind its shape and scope” (Bruner, 1996, p. X-XI).
Personal connection: I personally connected to the preface of this chapter, because so many students that I am currently working with are so greatly impacted by their immediate environment. For example, a child that I tested last week came to school and could barely keep his eyes open. I asked him why he looked so tired, and he explained to me that his mother was up all night crying and upset since his father left the house that evening. He explained that his mother was not working, so his dad got so mad that he left. The other children in his class were concerned about what their mother’s packed for lunch that day, while this particular student had to sit and wonder about his family’s financial situation and if his father would ever come back home. Furthermore, he was worried on whether or not that he would have food at home and what was currently going on at his house while he was at school.
Outside Connection: Another scholar recognized that individuals are impacted by their environments. Bronfenbrenner (1979) recognized that there are many systems acting on individuals. These systems include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. Bronfenbrenner categorized the different levels of influences are how they play a role. In the particular example I gave above, this student’s microsystem is strongly affecting him, since this is the setting in which he lives. Many of the descriptions of poverty that Bruner (1996) discussed in the preface would be categorized into Bronfenbrenner’s macrosystem. For example, this would include cultural contexts like SES and poverty. Regardless of what system is affecting the child, it is important that educators are able to identify that there are many factors that are acting on a child and how they learn. I think that is why it is so important to get background information on kids before being referred for special education.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Module 4
Q1: Explain in your own words the principal contributions of Piaget's cognitive constructivist theory as a theory of learning. Make a list of questions you still have
Piaget's cognitive construction theory outlined the different stages that children pass through in their life. Specifically, these stages identified key skills that students were able and not able to do during the particular stage of development. This is extremely important for both parents and educators, because it discussed how children cognitively learn in particular ages of development. Ultimately, this sets guidelines for educators so that we are able to provide information that is developmentally appropriate. This theory also proposed the idea that students construct their own meaning of new information, in a multitude of ways.
Questions I have: Minds of younger children grow so fast, so in a first grade classroom that has students that could be up to a year apart, how do you address students who may be entering into a new stage of development?
Also, how would Piaget address gifted students in the classroom who currently lack the motivation to challenge themselves?
Q2: Make a connection between Piaget's stages of development and what James argued the teacher should know about cognitive development.
I thought about James quite often while reading about Piaget. The first thing that stood out to me was that both psychologists recognize the importance of our environments. As a school psychologist, this is something that we must do every day in our work. The environment has so many effects on how a student learns. James discusses the stream of consciousness and the importance of the teacher getting that stream to focus on instruction. Piaget argues that the learner is greatly affected by their environment, with factors like culture playing a vital role.
Both of these theorists also agree that learning can be enhanced by having a connection to the material. Piaget supports that students can construct their own meaning of new information, while James also supports this since he believes that learning is all about associations that people make. People make all different types of associations, so therefore the learning is constructed by the learner themselves. It is absolutely crazy to me that these theorists developed these ideas so long ago, but most of their arguments still explain learning today.
Q3: What would authors Airasian and Walsh have to say about the learning environment in which Bart was placed? Is this an example of constructivism? What are your own thoughts about constructivism as a theory of learning so far?
Airasian and Walsh would support the environment that Bart was placed. This was definitely a constructivist type of classroom, where students were given the freedom to learn how they wanted. The students in the classroom explored their own learning, where the teacher guided them through the learning process, as opposed to the teacher being the person who delivered the content of the learning process.
If you asked me 5 years ago what I thought about constructivism, I would have thought that no one would learn under these circumstances. I do however think that constructivism can be effective in particular situations. I think constructivism can be such an asset sometimes, because it allows students to guide their own learning, which can ultimately foster even more curiosity of a particular subject. For example, in elementary school my teacher allowed me to do a project and learn about any artist. I chose Monet, and I went to a museum with my grandmother to explore his work. Because of this, I wanted to continue to learn more and more about this artist.
I enjoyed reading about the social-constructivist theory of learning, for it reminds us as educators that students are ultimately affected and closely affected by their immediate environment.
Piaget's cognitive construction theory outlined the different stages that children pass through in their life. Specifically, these stages identified key skills that students were able and not able to do during the particular stage of development. This is extremely important for both parents and educators, because it discussed how children cognitively learn in particular ages of development. Ultimately, this sets guidelines for educators so that we are able to provide information that is developmentally appropriate. This theory also proposed the idea that students construct their own meaning of new information, in a multitude of ways.
Questions I have: Minds of younger children grow so fast, so in a first grade classroom that has students that could be up to a year apart, how do you address students who may be entering into a new stage of development?
Also, how would Piaget address gifted students in the classroom who currently lack the motivation to challenge themselves?
Q2: Make a connection between Piaget's stages of development and what James argued the teacher should know about cognitive development.
I thought about James quite often while reading about Piaget. The first thing that stood out to me was that both psychologists recognize the importance of our environments. As a school psychologist, this is something that we must do every day in our work. The environment has so many effects on how a student learns. James discusses the stream of consciousness and the importance of the teacher getting that stream to focus on instruction. Piaget argues that the learner is greatly affected by their environment, with factors like culture playing a vital role.
Both of these theorists also agree that learning can be enhanced by having a connection to the material. Piaget supports that students can construct their own meaning of new information, while James also supports this since he believes that learning is all about associations that people make. People make all different types of associations, so therefore the learning is constructed by the learner themselves. It is absolutely crazy to me that these theorists developed these ideas so long ago, but most of their arguments still explain learning today.
Q3: What would authors Airasian and Walsh have to say about the learning environment in which Bart was placed? Is this an example of constructivism? What are your own thoughts about constructivism as a theory of learning so far?
Airasian and Walsh would support the environment that Bart was placed. This was definitely a constructivist type of classroom, where students were given the freedom to learn how they wanted. The students in the classroom explored their own learning, where the teacher guided them through the learning process, as opposed to the teacher being the person who delivered the content of the learning process.
If you asked me 5 years ago what I thought about constructivism, I would have thought that no one would learn under these circumstances. I do however think that constructivism can be effective in particular situations. I think constructivism can be such an asset sometimes, because it allows students to guide their own learning, which can ultimately foster even more curiosity of a particular subject. For example, in elementary school my teacher allowed me to do a project and learn about any artist. I chose Monet, and I went to a museum with my grandmother to explore his work. Because of this, I wanted to continue to learn more and more about this artist.
I enjoyed reading about the social-constructivist theory of learning, for it reminds us as educators that students are ultimately affected and closely affected by their immediate environment.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
R7
Question: In their article, Airasian and Walsh outline cautions to take when trying to implement constructivism into classroom settings. Some of their argument was convincing to me, however, I also feel that constructivist classrooms can be very beneficial in certain situations. Since I am currently working at an elementary school, my question is how are younger children supposed to respond to constructivist teaching, since they may not see the importance of learning? For example, a current student that I am working with does not see the importance of reading, since his father told him that you do not have to be able to read to get a job.
Passage: “To convey one’s construction of meaning will require an in-depth presentation about
one’s knowledge and how one arrived at or justifies that knowledge. If constructions are reduced to multiple-choice items or to some other truncated representational form, the richness and meaning of constructivism will be lost” (Airasian and Walsh, 1997, p. 448).
Connection: One class that I took as a graduate student required that we write reflection papers weekly on our readings. In this class we also spent much of our class time in discussion of our views of the readings and wrote papers where the students developed the purpose of the paper. There were constructivist applications used in this class, since we were to build our own understandings of the material we were assigned. I had existing beliefs of my job as a school psychologist prior to the course, but I implemented the beliefs into my learning of new information, which is one way Airasian and Walsh described constructivism. I was able to gain knowledge in this particular course because I was educated enough to make legitimate associations with the readings in class to my prior knowledge and experience. This enabled me to remember a large portion of the material, since I could relate it to previous ideas. That being said, I do not believe that I would have benefited from using constructivism when I was in elementary school, because some concepts, like mathematics, would have been very difficult to construct my own knowledge without my teacher instructing me along the way. When I did attempt to “learn things on my own”, I failed to bring away the big picture of the particular topic.
Outside Connection: I couldn’t help but think of my brother after thinking about constructivism. In high school, he developed his own method of balancing equations in chemistry. It was an effective way, and he applied former knowledge learned in calculus to his creating of this method. It made sense to him, because his mind was a math machine. For example, he can look at any time on the clock and tell you the square root of that number within 10 seconds. I think it is great that he was able to learn the concept of balancing equations his own way, but what about the kids that don’t have the desire to learn the material? I think if I was told in high school that I could learn something however I wanted, I would respond by not being academically engaged.
After reading about constructivism in the classroom, I also thought about how it could be measured. In my career, I will be looking at students who are struggling and their responses to certain interventions. With schools moving towards Response to Intervention, it would be extremely difficult to implement constructivism. If a child is learning in their own way, then how can we tell if a concept is mastered or not?
Passage: “To convey one’s construction of meaning will require an in-depth presentation about
one’s knowledge and how one arrived at or justifies that knowledge. If constructions are reduced to multiple-choice items or to some other truncated representational form, the richness and meaning of constructivism will be lost” (Airasian and Walsh, 1997, p. 448).
Connection: One class that I took as a graduate student required that we write reflection papers weekly on our readings. In this class we also spent much of our class time in discussion of our views of the readings and wrote papers where the students developed the purpose of the paper. There were constructivist applications used in this class, since we were to build our own understandings of the material we were assigned. I had existing beliefs of my job as a school psychologist prior to the course, but I implemented the beliefs into my learning of new information, which is one way Airasian and Walsh described constructivism. I was able to gain knowledge in this particular course because I was educated enough to make legitimate associations with the readings in class to my prior knowledge and experience. This enabled me to remember a large portion of the material, since I could relate it to previous ideas. That being said, I do not believe that I would have benefited from using constructivism when I was in elementary school, because some concepts, like mathematics, would have been very difficult to construct my own knowledge without my teacher instructing me along the way. When I did attempt to “learn things on my own”, I failed to bring away the big picture of the particular topic.
Outside Connection: I couldn’t help but think of my brother after thinking about constructivism. In high school, he developed his own method of balancing equations in chemistry. It was an effective way, and he applied former knowledge learned in calculus to his creating of this method. It made sense to him, because his mind was a math machine. For example, he can look at any time on the clock and tell you the square root of that number within 10 seconds. I think it is great that he was able to learn the concept of balancing equations his own way, but what about the kids that don’t have the desire to learn the material? I think if I was told in high school that I could learn something however I wanted, I would respond by not being academically engaged.
After reading about constructivism in the classroom, I also thought about how it could be measured. In my career, I will be looking at students who are struggling and their responses to certain interventions. With schools moving towards Response to Intervention, it would be extremely difficult to implement constructivism. If a child is learning in their own way, then how can we tell if a concept is mastered or not?
Monday, February 21, 2011
R6 (Not R5 like it was previously labeled. sorry for confusion!
Passage: Noddings discusses that, “Students today need help in working through the meaning of achievement. Schools, with their system of competitive ranking, encourage students to think of success in terms of beating others out. Achievement, then, is defined as attaining a higher grade point average (GPA) than those with whom one is competing” (p. 17).
Question: Why do teachers not typically outline to students in middle school/ high school the goal of the class? The goal should be to learn the material; not just to receive an A+++++.
Connection: Noddings stresses the importance of self understanding. My connection to the above quote is that I was a student in high school that was only concerned about grades. Having an older brother who was identified as gifted at a young age was very difficult to follow, especially since I had many developmental delays with communication, hearing properly, and with daily living skills. Throughout my schooling, I tried to make sure that I was a success to impress my parents. I thought that success meant good grades. Unfortunately, I carried this association with me to high school. Instead of being concerned about mastery of a concept, I was just concerned about the grade. To me it didn’t necessarily matter that I did not understand chemistry, but as long as I could bring home a grade of 101 my parents were very happy. Reading this article brings personal disappointment to myself, because I just wish that someone would have stressed to me that it is whether or not you learn the material; not the grade that you receive. I focused way too much on grades and I wish that I could go back in time and change this. For now, all I can do is ensure that I don’t do this anymore in my future.
Outside Connection: Unfortunately, this brings me to the point of the usage of extra credit in schools. Is it possible to get through a class without having an understanding of the material? Absolutely! I was a perfect example of this. So many teachers spend time giving extra credit opportunities to kids, when they could be using that time for more instruction. In the beginning of the article, Noddings discusses the importance of self-understanding and that we should help students to understand how their minds function. The time spent doing extra credit should be spent informing students on the best ways for them to learn the material and why it is important. I also think it is crucial that teachers educate students on different and effective ways to study and to learn. There are so many problems and referrals for kids that reach college and still have no study skills. Why are we teaching children if they do not know how their own minds function? Relating this to everyday life, a piece of machinery can be very effective, but if no one knows how to use it than its effectiveness is limited.
Question: Why do teachers not typically outline to students in middle school/ high school the goal of the class? The goal should be to learn the material; not just to receive an A+++++.
Connection: Noddings stresses the importance of self understanding. My connection to the above quote is that I was a student in high school that was only concerned about grades. Having an older brother who was identified as gifted at a young age was very difficult to follow, especially since I had many developmental delays with communication, hearing properly, and with daily living skills. Throughout my schooling, I tried to make sure that I was a success to impress my parents. I thought that success meant good grades. Unfortunately, I carried this association with me to high school. Instead of being concerned about mastery of a concept, I was just concerned about the grade. To me it didn’t necessarily matter that I did not understand chemistry, but as long as I could bring home a grade of 101 my parents were very happy. Reading this article brings personal disappointment to myself, because I just wish that someone would have stressed to me that it is whether or not you learn the material; not the grade that you receive. I focused way too much on grades and I wish that I could go back in time and change this. For now, all I can do is ensure that I don’t do this anymore in my future.
Outside Connection: Unfortunately, this brings me to the point of the usage of extra credit in schools. Is it possible to get through a class without having an understanding of the material? Absolutely! I was a perfect example of this. So many teachers spend time giving extra credit opportunities to kids, when they could be using that time for more instruction. In the beginning of the article, Noddings discusses the importance of self-understanding and that we should help students to understand how their minds function. The time spent doing extra credit should be spent informing students on the best ways for them to learn the material and why it is important. I also think it is crucial that teachers educate students on different and effective ways to study and to learn. There are so many problems and referrals for kids that reach college and still have no study skills. Why are we teaching children if they do not know how their own minds function? Relating this to everyday life, a piece of machinery can be very effective, but if no one knows how to use it than its effectiveness is limited.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Just like the Altoid experiment that was done on the show the Office, this kid in this video wanted to trick someone too. This kid seemed to have some doubt in the beginning as to whether or not the pairing of associations would work. Little did he know, if you pair a stimulus with something enough times, then you can obtain the appropriate behavior. This video is so useful because it shows that the concepts of behaviorism are seen in so many everyday actions that we do. Just like the PowerPoint presentation discussed, there are so many activities that occur during our day that elicit certain behavior. For example, as I am sitting here typing this blog, my boyfriend just opened a paper bag. I reacted by getting hungry (since it sounded like a fast food bag). As I jumped up to see what he had brought home, it was a paper bag filled with tabs for cans that he collects at school. Bummer! James would agree it is about associations that are made.
For us school psychology students, behaviorism is a huge part of what we do. An example of this is our responsibility to completing Functional Behavior Assessments for students' particular behavior. I just completed my first observation for a student who throws tantrums. It is amazing to actually observe in the classroom and to see that there is an antecedent and consequence to his tantrums. During this observation, every time he has a tantrum, the teacher ran over to him and gave him attention.
For us school psychology students, behaviorism is a huge part of what we do. An example of this is our responsibility to completing Functional Behavior Assessments for students' particular behavior. I just completed my first observation for a student who throws tantrums. It is amazing to actually observe in the classroom and to see that there is an antecedent and consequence to his tantrums. During this observation, every time he has a tantrum, the teacher ran over to him and gave him attention.
Monday, February 14, 2011
R5
Passage: Skinner discusses a solution to the problem of education when he states that “We could solve our major problems in education if students learned more during each day in school. That does not mean a longer day or year or more homework. It simply means using time more efficiently” (p. 950).
Question: Why are so many people pushing toward more school days and longer school days, instead of pushing for more effective school days?
Connection: In the article, “The Shame of American Education,” I connected to the passage where Skinner talked about the solution to the current problem within education. He argues that it is more important to be efficient with the time you are given, as opposed to be given more time during a school day. My personal connection to this is how I work on homework. On a typical Monday afternoon, I have four hours where I do not have class or do not have to be at work. I frequently use this time to work on my reports for practicum, but I am typically multi-tasking while working on these reports. For example, I will be texting, watching television, and writing a report. Instead of increasing the amount of time that I spend working on reports, I should simply be more effective during my time that I am working on the reports. I should eliminate the distractions, so that way I only have to work on my report writing for 2 hours and can use the remaining hours being productive in other areas.
The outside connection to this reminds me of proper studying techniques. So many students that I work with at practicum do not exert any effort to studying. They think that they have to spend their entire night studying for an exam. When I ask students how they study, the most common response that I get is that the material is just read over and over, for multiple hours. Instead of studying for an extremely long time, I am trying to stress to students that they do not have to study all evening long. If they set aside an hour or two to study and are efficient during that time, then they do not have to spend all night studying like they think they need to. This is where implementing an evidenced based practice for studying can be extremely helpful. The Fold-in method allows students to be reinforced for learning new material (Shapiro, 2004). It enables students to also check for their own mastery before studying further facts. If students use an actual evidence based practice to study, it can be so much more beneficial that simply looking over class notes for 6 hours. It is not a matter of how long you study, but how you study. (Quality, not quantity of hours)
Shapiro, E.S. (2004). Academic skills problems workbook (rev. ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
Question: Why are so many people pushing toward more school days and longer school days, instead of pushing for more effective school days?
Connection: In the article, “The Shame of American Education,” I connected to the passage where Skinner talked about the solution to the current problem within education. He argues that it is more important to be efficient with the time you are given, as opposed to be given more time during a school day. My personal connection to this is how I work on homework. On a typical Monday afternoon, I have four hours where I do not have class or do not have to be at work. I frequently use this time to work on my reports for practicum, but I am typically multi-tasking while working on these reports. For example, I will be texting, watching television, and writing a report. Instead of increasing the amount of time that I spend working on reports, I should simply be more effective during my time that I am working on the reports. I should eliminate the distractions, so that way I only have to work on my report writing for 2 hours and can use the remaining hours being productive in other areas.
The outside connection to this reminds me of proper studying techniques. So many students that I work with at practicum do not exert any effort to studying. They think that they have to spend their entire night studying for an exam. When I ask students how they study, the most common response that I get is that the material is just read over and over, for multiple hours. Instead of studying for an extremely long time, I am trying to stress to students that they do not have to study all evening long. If they set aside an hour or two to study and are efficient during that time, then they do not have to spend all night studying like they think they need to. This is where implementing an evidenced based practice for studying can be extremely helpful. The Fold-in method allows students to be reinforced for learning new material (Shapiro, 2004). It enables students to also check for their own mastery before studying further facts. If students use an actual evidence based practice to study, it can be so much more beneficial that simply looking over class notes for 6 hours. It is not a matter of how long you study, but how you study. (Quality, not quantity of hours)
Shapiro, E.S. (2004). Academic skills problems workbook (rev. ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
R4
Question: James (1899) discusses in his chapter about will that ideas come into our consciousness, yet many times we do not act on these thoughts. I know that often students think about their homework, so what are ways that we as educators can teach students to go ahead and do their homework while they are thinking about it instead of putting it off for later? (or not at all)
Passage: James (1899) states, “In either of these latter cases it is hard to hold the right idea steadily enough before the attention to let it exert its adequate effects. Whether it be stimulative or inhibitive, it is too reasonable for us; and the more instinctive passional propensity then tends to extrude it from our consideration. Why shy away from the thought of it. (p .90).
Personal experience: This quote reminds me of my personal strive to get more accomplished in my day. I think a lot of it goes back to the idea of habit forming that James discussed in previous chapters. I have formed habits of being unproductive and spending a lot of my time sitting around thinking about what I want to get accomplished, instead of actually doing it. A better term to describe my thinking about what I want to get accomplished is procrastination. I am aware that I have the ability to be more productive, but I have developed this bad habit of just sitting there and thinking about it. James (1899) discusses that, “In either of these latter cases it is hard to hold the right idea steadily enough before the attention to let it exert its adequate effects” (p. 90). From James, I have realized that when I am given the opportunity to do something productive, I often think about it for a long period of time when I could actually be doing it. Usually the activity I am spending my time doing is often much easier than whatever I should have been doing.
Connection: Later, James (1899) states that, “To think, in short, is the secret of the will” (p. 91). He later explains that this is very evident with our students when that they say things like, “I never thought” (p. 91). So how do we get our students to think? Instead of punishing them for not thinking, we should initiate ways for them to think about their thinking (introspection). Have the students think about the times in which they think about doing certain things, such as homework and not getting away from the thought of the particular idea. Wouldn’t it just be easier to get the homework completed at the time you are thinking about it, instead of having to re-think about it later? I think it helps the students if you can put yourself in their shoes, in order to help them problem solve and work towards particular goals. It is all about relating to the students and fostering them to think! After all, James (1899) states, “to think, in short is the secret of the will, just as it is the secret to the memory” (p. 90).
Passage: James (1899) states, “In either of these latter cases it is hard to hold the right idea steadily enough before the attention to let it exert its adequate effects. Whether it be stimulative or inhibitive, it is too reasonable for us; and the more instinctive passional propensity then tends to extrude it from our consideration. Why shy away from the thought of it. (p .90).
Personal experience: This quote reminds me of my personal strive to get more accomplished in my day. I think a lot of it goes back to the idea of habit forming that James discussed in previous chapters. I have formed habits of being unproductive and spending a lot of my time sitting around thinking about what I want to get accomplished, instead of actually doing it. A better term to describe my thinking about what I want to get accomplished is procrastination. I am aware that I have the ability to be more productive, but I have developed this bad habit of just sitting there and thinking about it. James (1899) discusses that, “In either of these latter cases it is hard to hold the right idea steadily enough before the attention to let it exert its adequate effects” (p. 90). From James, I have realized that when I am given the opportunity to do something productive, I often think about it for a long period of time when I could actually be doing it. Usually the activity I am spending my time doing is often much easier than whatever I should have been doing.
Connection: Later, James (1899) states that, “To think, in short, is the secret of the will” (p. 91). He later explains that this is very evident with our students when that they say things like, “I never thought” (p. 91). So how do we get our students to think? Instead of punishing them for not thinking, we should initiate ways for them to think about their thinking (introspection). Have the students think about the times in which they think about doing certain things, such as homework and not getting away from the thought of the particular idea. Wouldn’t it just be easier to get the homework completed at the time you are thinking about it, instead of having to re-think about it later? I think it helps the students if you can put yourself in their shoes, in order to help them problem solve and work towards particular goals. It is all about relating to the students and fostering them to think! After all, James (1899) states, “to think, in short is the secret of the will, just as it is the secret to the memory” (p. 90).
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Module 1
The two IAT tests that I took were the Fat¬-Thin and Gender-Science. The Fat-thin had me associate fat or thin with good/bad. For this particular test, I did not expect the results that the computer gave me. I worked at weight loss camp for two summers, and originally thought that I would have no biases toward people who are overweight. I was stunned that this test showed I preferred thin people to fat people, by a large percentage. After being in such shock, I determined that maybe I do have a subconscious preference. After all, one of the primary purposes of our camp was to have a “fat person” lose weight and become a “thin person.” This was definitely a preference that I was not aware about and I will definitely be conscious of this thought process during my everyday interactions so that I do not discriminate.
The second IAT test, the Gender-Science, had an even stronger association than did the Fat-thin test. I did expect this association, unlike the first test that I took. From my experience as an undergraduate and graduate student, most of my classes had a very small percentage of boys in attendance. Also, I am surrounded by males in my family who have sought out the science profession, and from spending time with their colleagues, I have always had this idea that their careers were dominated by men. I do realize there are females, but that a lot of science directed fields are dominated by men.
I cannot help but think back to the Fat-thin test I took. I am still disturbed by my high percentage score on this test. At first, they just showed the faces of the people without associations. Coincidentally, I continued to miss the ones that were the skinny people. They then paired the word good with the word thin, and bad with fat. Again, the few that I missed that involved an “X” flashing on the screen” were all of the skinny people. Once the software matched “bad” with thin and “good” with fat, I found myself clicking the skinnier people quicker. The thin people were the ones that I had previously answered incorrectly to the thin people the reaction was the “X”, reminding me again that I was wrong. This reminded me of James, “No reception without reaction, no impression without correlative expression” (p. 17). The reaction on my part was the sense of rejection I felt when the screen displayed the red “X”. I therefore seemed to respond quicker to the thin people as a result. With my personal education, I find myself often remembering facts that I incorrectly answer in class due to the rejection I feel when I answer a question incorrectly with a teacher.
In the beginning of the book, James states that "Education, in short, cannot be better described than by calling it the organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior" (p.15). When learning the new associations in the IAT test, I was a prime example of the idea of thoughts becoming habits. I have a habit to assume that the liberal arts profession is dominated by females, as science is more male dominated. Throughout my life, I have noticed an association between careers and gender. Overtime, these thoughts have become a specific habit of mine. In fact, I seem to only look for the scenarios that confirm my ideas that only certain people are in a career, whereas I developed a need to start look for scenarios that dis-confirm my ideas.
The second IAT test, the Gender-Science, had an even stronger association than did the Fat-thin test. I did expect this association, unlike the first test that I took. From my experience as an undergraduate and graduate student, most of my classes had a very small percentage of boys in attendance. Also, I am surrounded by males in my family who have sought out the science profession, and from spending time with their colleagues, I have always had this idea that their careers were dominated by men. I do realize there are females, but that a lot of science directed fields are dominated by men.
I cannot help but think back to the Fat-thin test I took. I am still disturbed by my high percentage score on this test. At first, they just showed the faces of the people without associations. Coincidentally, I continued to miss the ones that were the skinny people. They then paired the word good with the word thin, and bad with fat. Again, the few that I missed that involved an “X” flashing on the screen” were all of the skinny people. Once the software matched “bad” with thin and “good” with fat, I found myself clicking the skinnier people quicker. The thin people were the ones that I had previously answered incorrectly to the thin people the reaction was the “X”, reminding me again that I was wrong. This reminded me of James, “No reception without reaction, no impression without correlative expression” (p. 17). The reaction on my part was the sense of rejection I felt when the screen displayed the red “X”. I therefore seemed to respond quicker to the thin people as a result. With my personal education, I find myself often remembering facts that I incorrectly answer in class due to the rejection I feel when I answer a question incorrectly with a teacher.
In the beginning of the book, James states that "Education, in short, cannot be better described than by calling it the organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior" (p.15). When learning the new associations in the IAT test, I was a prime example of the idea of thoughts becoming habits. I have a habit to assume that the liberal arts profession is dominated by females, as science is more male dominated. Throughout my life, I have noticed an association between careers and gender. Overtime, these thoughts have become a specific habit of mine. In fact, I seem to only look for the scenarios that confirm my ideas that only certain people are in a career, whereas I developed a need to start look for scenarios that dis-confirm my ideas.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
R3
Question: James (1899) devoted an entire chapter to the concept of memory. It has been proven that cramming is not effective, yet so many students are continuing to do cram for exams. How can educators include proper study skills teaching into the school’s curriculum? Throughout my schooling, I was never taught how to study for an exam. This may be why so many students do cram, since they may not understand that constant exposure over time is much more effective.
Passage: James (1899) explained in his lecture that, “You now see why cramming must be so poor a mode of a study. Cramming seeks to stamp things in by intense application immediately before the ordeal. But a thing thus learned can form but few associations. On the other hand, the same thing recurring on different days, in different contexts, read, recited on, referred to again and again, related to other things and reviewed, gets well wrought into pupils habits of continuous applications” (p. 64).
After reading James (1899) and his view on cramming, I could not help but think of my brother. My brother is in medical school, and also has a very high IQ. During his undergraduate career, he was able to not go to class and to cram for an exam the night before an exam. Unfortunately, this study method was very reinforcing to him since he continued to get all A’s as a biotechnology major. Once my brother entered into medical school, he tried to utilize this same study habit to learn his material. He would pull all-nighters before an exam, in order to cram all of the material in. He quickly found out that a lot of this information was not transferred into his long term memory storage. He also discovered that the teachers assumed that the information that was previously tested on was in the students’ knowledge base. They would build on previous knowledge, and expect that the students were familiar with the material instead of reviewing it. Just like the other students, my brother had to start finding ways to react to the material he was expected to know. He explained to me that working in the hospital now helps him better remember information, since he is actually using the information instead of simply trying to cram it in the night before a test. The information now has meaning, he reads about the information in a textbook, and in addition he uses the information while he is working at the hospital.
Outside connection: This quote by James (1899) reminded me of why cramming is so ineffective. While reading this passage, I continued to question why so many students continue to cram for exams. This made me think back on which classes I crammed for, and which classes I did not cram for during high school. The class that I did not cram for was math, since our teacher continually gave pop quizzes. These quizzes could be on anything that we learned during the school year. Since she often used cumulative exams, I wonder why cumulative exams are not utilized more often in the schools. With exams covering only a few weeks of content, cramming for tests can be reinforcing since it is very likely that a person is able to perform well. On the other hand, it is very difficult to cram for a cumulative exam, which could further promote other study skills other than cramming.
Passage: James (1899) explained in his lecture that, “You now see why cramming must be so poor a mode of a study. Cramming seeks to stamp things in by intense application immediately before the ordeal. But a thing thus learned can form but few associations. On the other hand, the same thing recurring on different days, in different contexts, read, recited on, referred to again and again, related to other things and reviewed, gets well wrought into pupils habits of continuous applications” (p. 64).
After reading James (1899) and his view on cramming, I could not help but think of my brother. My brother is in medical school, and also has a very high IQ. During his undergraduate career, he was able to not go to class and to cram for an exam the night before an exam. Unfortunately, this study method was very reinforcing to him since he continued to get all A’s as a biotechnology major. Once my brother entered into medical school, he tried to utilize this same study habit to learn his material. He would pull all-nighters before an exam, in order to cram all of the material in. He quickly found out that a lot of this information was not transferred into his long term memory storage. He also discovered that the teachers assumed that the information that was previously tested on was in the students’ knowledge base. They would build on previous knowledge, and expect that the students were familiar with the material instead of reviewing it. Just like the other students, my brother had to start finding ways to react to the material he was expected to know. He explained to me that working in the hospital now helps him better remember information, since he is actually using the information instead of simply trying to cram it in the night before a test. The information now has meaning, he reads about the information in a textbook, and in addition he uses the information while he is working at the hospital.
Outside connection: This quote by James (1899) reminded me of why cramming is so ineffective. While reading this passage, I continued to question why so many students continue to cram for exams. This made me think back on which classes I crammed for, and which classes I did not cram for during high school. The class that I did not cram for was math, since our teacher continually gave pop quizzes. These quizzes could be on anything that we learned during the school year. Since she often used cumulative exams, I wonder why cumulative exams are not utilized more often in the schools. With exams covering only a few weeks of content, cramming for tests can be reinforcing since it is very likely that a person is able to perform well. On the other hand, it is very difficult to cram for a cumulative exam, which could further promote other study skills other than cramming.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
R2
R2
Question: James (1899) suggests that our thoughts are also another example of habits that we routinely have. Many children/adolescents have thought for so long so many negative thoughts about school, so how do we as educators change those thoughts that have become so routine for those students, especially when the students do not have a desire to change?
Passage: James (1899) stated that, “But our thinking and feeling processes are also largely subject to the law of habit, and one result of this is a phenomenon which you all know under the name of the association of ideas” (pg. 40).
When James (1899) speaks about habits that a person aspires to gain, it reminds me of my journey to being a runner that began three years ago. At first, I was so hesitant to run since I had such a negative view of running from my high school basketball days. It was an association with punishment, and something that I never could imagine enjoying. I however knew that in order to lose weight and to feel better about myself, I needed to start running. The first two days I ran, I hated it. The next few days I did not run, since I continued to have such a hate for this activity. I realized these negative thoughts were preventing me from enjoying this activity. I actually physically enjoyed the feeling of running, but I still had these negative attitudes toward it. Like many life changes I had made, I needed to change the way that I viewed running. To try and do this, I would self-monitor how I felt after my runs, in addition to self monitoring my mileage. In addition to this, I also did a lot of self talk during my runs. I told myself things like, “Fatigue is mental” and that my body could go beyond what I thought it could. After the first week, I still did not enjoy running. By reading over my self-monitored notes, I observed that I actually felt really good after running. Although I still hated the feelings of nervousness before the run, the feelings of accomplishment and relief I felt afterward were actually quite amazing. After about 3 weeks of running, I broke the habit of the negative thoughts I had toward running. Although it was a struggle at first, I am so glad that I did. By thinking about the way that I feel after running, I have completely changed my view of running. It is now something that I have not gone more than 4 days without doing in the past three years.
James (1899) speaks about how thoughts become a habit, which emphasized to me the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is founded by the belief that we can ultimately change our behaviors, by first changing our cognitions (Shinn, Walker, & Stoner, 2002). The weight-loss camp I worked at incorporated this therapy technique as their intervention. So many of the children/adolescents I worked with had such a skewed idea of unhealthy food and that it made them happy. They had so many false beliefs that became a habit to them. The goal of our camp was to change these thoughts that become a habit, by replacing them with different ones. Like any habit, it is tough to break, but if you stick with it your thoughts are able to change.
The reason that I asked the question above was because in my personal case and the case about cognitive behavioral therapy, those people wanted to change. How do you change the habit of thoughts, when there is a resistance to do so?
References
James, W. (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology: And to Students on some of life’s
ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Shinn, M. A., Walker, H. A., Stoner, G. (2002). Interventions for academic and
behavior problems II: Preventive and remedial approaches. Bethesda, MA:
National Association of School Psychologists.
Question: James (1899) suggests that our thoughts are also another example of habits that we routinely have. Many children/adolescents have thought for so long so many negative thoughts about school, so how do we as educators change those thoughts that have become so routine for those students, especially when the students do not have a desire to change?
Passage: James (1899) stated that, “But our thinking and feeling processes are also largely subject to the law of habit, and one result of this is a phenomenon which you all know under the name of the association of ideas” (pg. 40).
When James (1899) speaks about habits that a person aspires to gain, it reminds me of my journey to being a runner that began three years ago. At first, I was so hesitant to run since I had such a negative view of running from my high school basketball days. It was an association with punishment, and something that I never could imagine enjoying. I however knew that in order to lose weight and to feel better about myself, I needed to start running. The first two days I ran, I hated it. The next few days I did not run, since I continued to have such a hate for this activity. I realized these negative thoughts were preventing me from enjoying this activity. I actually physically enjoyed the feeling of running, but I still had these negative attitudes toward it. Like many life changes I had made, I needed to change the way that I viewed running. To try and do this, I would self-monitor how I felt after my runs, in addition to self monitoring my mileage. In addition to this, I also did a lot of self talk during my runs. I told myself things like, “Fatigue is mental” and that my body could go beyond what I thought it could. After the first week, I still did not enjoy running. By reading over my self-monitored notes, I observed that I actually felt really good after running. Although I still hated the feelings of nervousness before the run, the feelings of accomplishment and relief I felt afterward were actually quite amazing. After about 3 weeks of running, I broke the habit of the negative thoughts I had toward running. Although it was a struggle at first, I am so glad that I did. By thinking about the way that I feel after running, I have completely changed my view of running. It is now something that I have not gone more than 4 days without doing in the past three years.
James (1899) speaks about how thoughts become a habit, which emphasized to me the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is founded by the belief that we can ultimately change our behaviors, by first changing our cognitions (Shinn, Walker, & Stoner, 2002). The weight-loss camp I worked at incorporated this therapy technique as their intervention. So many of the children/adolescents I worked with had such a skewed idea of unhealthy food and that it made them happy. They had so many false beliefs that became a habit to them. The goal of our camp was to change these thoughts that become a habit, by replacing them with different ones. Like any habit, it is tough to break, but if you stick with it your thoughts are able to change.
The reason that I asked the question above was because in my personal case and the case about cognitive behavioral therapy, those people wanted to change. How do you change the habit of thoughts, when there is a resistance to do so?
References
James, W. (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology: And to Students on some of life’s
ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Shinn, M. A., Walker, H. A., Stoner, G. (2002). Interventions for academic and
behavior problems II: Preventive and remedial approaches. Bethesda, MA:
National Association of School Psychologists.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
R1
Question: James (1899) suggests that, “children admire a teacher who has skill”. He also suggests that a teacher “must express their interest “. How are students supposed to learn, when the teacher does not express that interest in their lectures?
Passage: James (1899) stated that, “Children admire a teacher who has skill. What he does seems easy, and they wish to emulate it. It is useless for a dull and devitalized teacher to exhort her pupils to wake up and take an interest. She must first take one herself; then her example is effective as no exhortation can possibly be” (p. 26).
When I first entered the program of school psychology I was startled by the realization that our roles in the school are primarily geared toward assessment. Once it was time to start mastering the assessment process, I had a difficult time learning and caring about the process. The manner in which the lesson was taught to us was not effective to me, because the teacher simply lectured on the background of the assessment tool and read straight from the assessment manual. Not once was there any relation to when he used it as a school psychologist, or his satisfaction or interest with the tool. I found myself questioning if I even wanted to continue in the field of school psychology, because all semester I could not take the interest in the different assessment tools that were being lectured to us. Just like James (1899) says, “it is useless for a dull and devitalized teacher to exhort her pupils to wake up and take an interest” (p. 26). Similar to this quote, I never found the interest in the assessment tool during that semester.
Consistent with what James (1899) states in the passage quoted above, I ended up expressing an interest in the assessment tool because of a different practitioner who did have an interest in the tool. I shadowed a school psychologist after the semester that I took the assessment class discussed earlier. When she would teach me about a particular assessment tool, she would discuss how she used the particular tool and would express her excitement to me about all of the beneficial outcomes it has, in relation to evaluating a child. After seeing her enthusiastically give the test to many students and being an observer to her particular skill, her passion towards assessment was contagious to me. I could not help but want to jump in and start using this test, just like she did. Everything she taught me I grasped onto and it fostered me to express interest and to explore this test even further outside of practicum experience.
I think this personal experience I had with the practitioner highlights the importance of having a practicum experience before becoming a professional in any career. When relating this experience to research, Le Riche (2006) explained that social work students typically shadow practitioners before they further develop their own professional ideas. Le Riche (2006) emphasized that job shadowing for students is “is a vehicle for perspective transformation, which is an important aspect of professional learning and the development of professional identity” (p. 782). Just as Le Riche (2006) spoke about professional identity, students in the classroom may form their personal identity by emulating the teacher. Teachers must be reminded to have their interest in the particular subject be energetic and visible, for their styles will be imitated and demonstrated in the lives of their students. In addition to this, students may already have previous interests and excitement that they have picked up earlier in their lives through imitation as well. That is why teachers should understand what prior interests that students have picked up, so that they can relate the new material to that prior experience when necessary.
References
James, W. (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology: And to Students on some of life’s
ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Le Riche, P. (2006). Practicing observation in shadowing: Curriculum innovation
and learning outcomes in the BA social work. Social Work Education, 25,
771-784. doi: 10.1080/02615470600915829
Question: James (1899) suggests that, “children admire a teacher who has skill”. He also suggests that a teacher “must express their interest “. How are students supposed to learn, when the teacher does not express that interest in their lectures?
Passage: James (1899) stated that, “Children admire a teacher who has skill. What he does seems easy, and they wish to emulate it. It is useless for a dull and devitalized teacher to exhort her pupils to wake up and take an interest. She must first take one herself; then her example is effective as no exhortation can possibly be” (p. 26).
When I first entered the program of school psychology I was startled by the realization that our roles in the school are primarily geared toward assessment. Once it was time to start mastering the assessment process, I had a difficult time learning and caring about the process. The manner in which the lesson was taught to us was not effective to me, because the teacher simply lectured on the background of the assessment tool and read straight from the assessment manual. Not once was there any relation to when he used it as a school psychologist, or his satisfaction or interest with the tool. I found myself questioning if I even wanted to continue in the field of school psychology, because all semester I could not take the interest in the different assessment tools that were being lectured to us. Just like James (1899) says, “it is useless for a dull and devitalized teacher to exhort her pupils to wake up and take an interest” (p. 26). Similar to this quote, I never found the interest in the assessment tool during that semester.
Consistent with what James (1899) states in the passage quoted above, I ended up expressing an interest in the assessment tool because of a different practitioner who did have an interest in the tool. I shadowed a school psychologist after the semester that I took the assessment class discussed earlier. When she would teach me about a particular assessment tool, she would discuss how she used the particular tool and would express her excitement to me about all of the beneficial outcomes it has, in relation to evaluating a child. After seeing her enthusiastically give the test to many students and being an observer to her particular skill, her passion towards assessment was contagious to me. I could not help but want to jump in and start using this test, just like she did. Everything she taught me I grasped onto and it fostered me to express interest and to explore this test even further outside of practicum experience.
I think this personal experience I had with the practitioner highlights the importance of having a practicum experience before becoming a professional in any career. When relating this experience to research, Le Riche (2006) explained that social work students typically shadow practitioners before they further develop their own professional ideas. Le Riche (2006) emphasized that job shadowing for students is “is a vehicle for perspective transformation, which is an important aspect of professional learning and the development of professional identity” (p. 782). Just as Le Riche (2006) spoke about professional identity, students in the classroom may form their personal identity by emulating the teacher. Teachers must be reminded to have their interest in the particular subject be energetic and visible, for their styles will be imitated and demonstrated in the lives of their students. In addition to this, students may already have previous interests and excitement that they have picked up earlier in their lives through imitation as well. That is why teachers should understand what prior interests that students have picked up, so that they can relate the new material to that prior experience when necessary.
References
James, W. (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology: And to Students on some of life’s
ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Le Riche, P. (2006). Practicing observation in shadowing: Curriculum innovation
and learning outcomes in the BA social work. Social Work Education, 25,
771-784. doi: 10.1080/02615470600915829
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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