CCR #4

I feel pretty good about the outcome of this semester. I didn't enter into the B range in any of my classes. I stayed above the B line, which was way exciting. So, whatever I did worked in that regard, but I could have made things easier on myself by studying with more than two or three people. I really enjoyed studying with 6-8 girls at the psychology study review. It helped me a ton. I have learned how to change my rote memorization comfort of studying into a deeper study that allows me to apply the information so that it actually makes sense in an application scenario. I have never been able to do that before. I was way happy when I only missed one on the multiple choice of the final exam. I need to keep studying that way, really trying to get the depth of the material, so that I can have greater enduring understanding.
I need to work out more. I was extremely tired on most occasions just because of  lack of exercise. I know if I can do that, I'll feel much better and be able to function at a high-order thinking level instead of the zombie mode I sometimes slip into. Eating healthier is also a huge part of feeling well mentally, emotionally, and physically, so that is something tangible I can improve on for next semester.
Another thing I can work on for the next semester of the teaching program will be to maintain regular study habits, rather than massive cram/study sessions that wipe me out.
Overall, I am burnt out, but I feel great about the semester. I made really good friends from psychology study groups that will probably remain some of my closest friends for a long time. I was able to have good experiences this semester that I believe have conditioned my belief even further that the teaching program is the program for me, the elementary education is the profession for me, and UVU is the University where I can achieve the positive future I see ahead of me.

Personal Learning Theory

• Piaget's Cognitive Development: Environment. schemas, assimilation(use old info to understand new), accommodation(change old to understand new), equilibrium, and disequilibrium. Object Permanence. Sensorimotor: child eats and feels and touches and smells everything. 0-2 years. Depend solely on sensory and motor for thinking skills. Preoperational: 2-7 years. Rely solely on perception more than logic. Tall glass appears appears to have more liquid than when it is poured into a short glass. Concrete operational: 7-11 years. Concrete Operational: 7-11 years. Classification. Animism and egocentrism. Use mental operations to solve concrete problems. Formal operational: 11+ years. Ability to judge inconsistency. All fish live in a tree. A molish lives in the ocean. Therefore a molish is not a fish. Individual constructivist view of learning. Exploration of their environment and others constructs their knowledge of the world. Questioning of the validity of the way he conducted his experiments and what tools he used and how many to test the children. Underestimated young children and overestimated older students'--challenged the validity of the stages. Interaction with peers. Derived from observation. 
• Vygotsky's Cognitive Development: (social constructivism)Culture and experience have a role in cognitive development because it creates their individual schemas. The role of social interaction-- social interactions do not just influence cognitive development, but rather they create individual schemas and thinking processes. Internalizations. Role of Language. Zone of Proximal Development(doing it WITH someone else). Scaffolding. Guided Participation. Apprenticeship. Mediation. Inner Speech and Self Talk.  Big into language and verbal interactions. Interaction with adults. Derived from observation
• Erikson's Psychosocial Development: 1. Trust vs. Mistrust. Birth - 1 year 2. Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt. 1-3  years 3. Initiative vs. Guilt. 3-6 years 4. Industry vs. Inferiority. 6-12 years. 5. Identity vs. Role Confusion. Adolescence. 6. Intimacy vs Isolation. Early adulthood. 7. Generativity vs. Stagnation. Middle adulthood.  8. Integrity vs. Despair. Late Adulthood. Failed to consider the role of culture in shaping individuals personal development. 
• Kohlberg's Moral Development: Move from one stage to the next only after having experienced disequilibrium. Moral internalization. Preconventional Reasoning Stage(7-10)- show no internalization of moral values. Stage 1/Obedience and punishment - rules are followed because of the threat of punishment. Stage 2/ Individualism and Exchange- Best interest of the individual. Conventional Reasoning Stage(10-16)- Stage 3/Interpersonal Conformity- Rules are followed because individuals try to do what is expected of them. Stage 4/ Law and Order- Rules are followed because they are necessary to keep society's order. Postconventional Reasoning Stage- Stage 5/ Social contract- Rules are followed because individuals are bound by a social contract. Stage 6/ Universal Principles- Rules are followed when they are consistent with individuals' own ethical principles.  
• Goleman's Emotional Intelligence- 5 aspects. Marshmallow boy. Delay of gratification is correlated with success and happiness in life. 1. Recognizing one's own emotions. 2. Regulating one's own emotions 3. recognizing others emotions. 4. handling interpersonal relationships 5. motivating one's self. 
• Information Processing- It focuses on the capabilities and composition of human memory. Model: Input goes into sensory register and is either lost or if it is given attention, it goes to the working short-term memory. Then it is either lost or with storing and encoding goes into long-term memory. Then it is either lost or it is retrieved back into working memory again. Semantic/Declaritive=facts, Episodic= personal experience, Procedural= how to or steps. Metacognition- knowing about knowing. Chunking, dual processing(doing visual and auditory), mnemonics, advanced organizers. 
• Knowledge Construction and Higher-order thinking- Bloom's Taxonomy- Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation. Critical thinking skills, being able to take the info and concepts and apply it. 
• Behaviorism- Theory of animal and human learning that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts mental activities. Consists only of acquiring new behaviors. Classic Conditioning- occurs when a natural reflex responds to a stimulus. Dog salivating for food and bell. Operant Conditioning- Response to a stimulus is reinforced. // 1. learning only occurs if there is a change in observable behavior resulting from a person's experience. 2. Behavioral principles are very effective for promoting classroom management, behavior, skills, or self-regulation or for reducing inappropriate behaviors. 3. Students' behaviors can be shaped through the use of various types of reinforcement and maintained through reinforcement and cueing. 4. Certain behaviorist techniques, such as Applied Behavior Analysis, are particularly effective for children with autism and other disorders that impact behavior. 
• Social Cognitivism- Focuses on learning that is the result of observing others or observing the consequences of the behaviors of others. Reciprocal Causation Model: (Bandura) the interrelationship between students' environment, their personal beliefs, and their behavior. 
• Group and Individual Differences- Culture- knowledge, attitudes, values, and behaviors that characterize a group of people. Schema or blueprint that guides the thinking and behavior of a group. Cultural mismatch, IRE cycle(initiate, respond, evaluate), Wait time, Worldview, cultural lens, socioeconomic status, resilience-to not only survive but thrive- Students at risk, gender, and gender differences. 
• Motivation- The psychological process that directs and sustains students behavior towards learning. Extrinsic and Intrinsic. Interest theory: the key to motivating students is doing activities aligned with their personal interests. Dispositional interest: stable. Situational interest: spontaneous and activated by the environment. 
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What? The results of the quiz were the following: B=47, C=48, H=45. I favored the C theory. I found this to be right on because when I was studying Vygotsky this time around, I realized that I supported the constructivist theory most and that it was the social constructivism that I most closely felt like I aligned well with. My review of each of the theories was done above. 


So What? I believe strongly that people learn from experience. They use prior experience to learn ,and when making positive transfers, prior experience is the foundation of a successful learning process. I also believe culture has a great deal to do with the outcomes of learning and the styles in which enduring understanding is achieved. I believe that the physical environment adds to their experience, and as they gain a positive experience through their environment of learning, they are able to make correct learning patterns that send information to the long term memory, ready for recall. 


Now What? 
(1) My theory can transfer into the following teaching strategies: Call each student by their name in order to add to the positive and personal experience in the classroom. Have an organized and welcoming classroom set up to create a positive atmosphere. Understand how different cultures, genders, and types of students learn best. Use discovery learning and RAD teaching to draw new conclusions from new experiences that can be run by the students' prior knowledge and schemas. (2) The next steps I need to take in learning how to better run my personal learning theory in the classroom is to make a list and sort of cheat sheet for myself to glance at while running the classroom so that I can remember the things I haven't had as much practice with. I will need to study many more strategies to allow students the opportunity of learning through apprenticeship and guidance. I need to remember how to scaffold and allow them opportunities to develop a working capability in their ZPD with other students. As there is a social, emotional, and physical unity in the classroom, there will be synergy and high efficacy of many tasks in the classroom. As the students exercise many different methods of learning, they will have a greater chance of finding high self-efficacy and be able to share their competency with their peers. Through positive experience and an all-welcoming cultural classroom, the students should be able to really progress throughout the year. 

Study: Students more stressed now than in depression

Psychology Extra Credit

What?

Based off of a survey done in 2007 to 77576 high school and college students, the comparison was made to the depression, anxiety, and stress in today's young adults to the depression, anxiety, and stress with young adults during the depression. Studies showed that the psychological symptoms the survey prompted answers for proved that in most cases, those psychological disorders that contain high stress were five times worse than those cases in the late 1930's. There were some disorders, including hypomania, depressioin, and psychopathic deviation that were six times worse than in 1938. 

Hypomania is a disorder related to high anxiety and unrealistic optimism. The average for young adults to have this disorder in 1938 was 5% and now it is 31%. 

Experts have concluded from this 2007 survey that psychological stresses, anxieties, depressions, and tensions may be based off of several factors. Some reasons that were mentioned in the article included the following: living in a very fast paced world, the focus of popular culture on impossible external features, heightened awareness of mental services, growing interest in being rich, overprotective parents not letting their children problem solve, increased materialism, and rising divorce rates.

So What?

So, what do we do with the information of all these rising factors in the world that are adding to the percentage of those who suffer from depression, anxiety, or high stress? One other reason given in the article for the increase in these psychological states was that children in this generation have grown up with the mindset, "You can do anything!", and it has created false expectations. The way must be there for the child to accomplish what they wish to succeed at. Unless the opportunity is provided for the child to find his/her passions, then they will not be able to do the 'anything' that was meant by this statement. The other half of the statement I often heard growing up was that you could do anything.... that you put your mind to. I always wanted to be a tight rope walker. From the time I was 3 until I was 10 and realized that I was neither skinny enough or in a situation where I could become a part of a circus. I could not do 'anything.' I could not break the laws of gravity and fly. I could not turn my bike into Rumplestiltzkin's spinning wheel of gold. There were plenty of 'anythings' I found out early on that I could not do. Luckily for me, I did not become depressed or discouraged, but I just moved on. Other cases, 6 times the cases than in the time of the great depression, are not so lucky. Some of it may just be for attention or because the ability to diagnose psychological disorders has improved. What ever the case may be, teachers can play a role in improving this sad statistic in their own classroom by being aware and learning ways to demote this kind of unreal optimism that promotes false expectations. 

Now What?

Teachers play a large role in introducing the kind of motivation that children stick with as they grow throughout their lives. If their motivation to be well behaved is internal, than they will have better chances of controlling their success and personal mental wellness. If, on the other hand, the student learns motivation only through avoiding punishment or seeking rewards, the motivation will be external and not lasting. Besides just the motivation that is introduced to the students in the classroom, there are a plethora of other ideals taught/facilitated in the classroom that allow a person to live without these psychological downers. Some of these principles are the following: realistic career opportunities with realistic ways to achieve the education needed, planning goals and accomplishing them, taking pride and joy in personal success and individuality, social and moral reasoning skills, facilitation of activities that promote problem solving skills and in turn promote confidence, help with passing through Kohlberg's stages, and creatively designed lesson plans that encourage students to discover talents and develop passions. A successful teacher will be able to provide a safety in her class that may or may not exist in the home. It is true that a teacher cannot change what goes on at home, but it is true that the teacher can create multiple opportunities for the success of the individual so that they are better emotionally, physically, and mentally equipped to handle the stresses at home or in the world in general.

Social Cognitivism Case Study - Elementary

Questions:

1. The strategies that Mr. Corbet uses to teach his students appropriate school behavior are most consistent with which two theories/theorists that we have learned about so far this semester? Justify your response.
Mr. Corbet most closely associated with Bandura's theory by using reinforcement techniques to facilitate observational learning. Mr. Corbet recognized students to the entire class for walking instead of running.  He also used the whistle as a punishment that other students tend to want to avoid, though it is unclear of the reason for the blowing of the whistle to Mindy now, it will become most likely more clear with future observance. By coming right over to Jonathan when he raised his hand, and not immediately heeding to Mindy's way of getting his attention by going up to him, he reinforced the behavior of raising your hand when you would like the teacher to respond. All of these behaviors can be observed by the students, like Mindy, so they can adapt to the environment and the expectations therein.

2. Describe one incident in the case study that represents vicarious reinforcement.
 Mindy remembered to walk while lining up for recess because one of the students and the entire yellow table was positively recognized for their obedient walking skills.
Mindy's obedience to walking occurred because she imitated the behavior of someone who had been reinforced for that behavior.

3. Describe one incident in the case study that represents vicarious punishment.
When Mr. Corbet held Jonathan's hand and told him not to point because it wasn't nice, he was punished for that particular behavior, not so much the tattling part. Mindy picked up on not pointing because she experienced the tendency not to repeat behaviors that she observed others being punished for. Before she tattled on the girl in the yellow dress, she remembered not to point her finger at her.

4. Do you think Mindy has low or high self-efficacy with regard to appropriate kindergarten behavior? Justify your response with examples from the case. I think Mindy has high self-efficacy of being able to adapt to a new situation by following the lead of others and the reinforcers being recognized or punished around her. I think Mindy showed high self-efficacy in adapting to a new environment by using the childrens excited emotions about recess to understand that it was a good thing, and she used the body language of the other students poor emotions to conclude the whistle was not a good thing.

Behaviorism.

1. Is Haley's fear of men most likely due to classical or operant conditioning? Justify your response (yes, it will all be hypothetical as we do not have enough information in this case) using terminology, definitions, and examples.

Haley's fear of men could most likely be due to classical conditioning. According to the text, "When stimuli produce negative emotional responses, they are called aversive stimuli." The neutral stimuli in Haley's case could have been all males. Assuming she had a very negative experience with one male, like her father, her fearful, traumatizing, negatively emotional experience with that one male created an aversive stimuli that was then generalized to all males. This generalization could explain why she refused to go to violin lessons with the male teacher. She paired those negative automatic responses to new similar stimuli.

2. How might you explain Meredith's aggressive behaviors from the perspective of operant conditioning?

According to the text, "behavior is controlled by its consequences; therefore operant conditioning is learning in which behavior changes in frequency or duration as the result of a consequence." Because Meredith had no undesirable consequence for her behavior, she continued it. The consequence she received was that she always got what she wanted after hitting or hurting the other person involved in each situation. "When consequences are rewarding, the likelihood that the organism will repeat the behavior in the future increases." Meredith will continue to repeat the behavior as she has because the rewards fulfill what she was originally setting out to do. She originally set out to wear rock star clothes to school, and when her mother opposed, she still wanted to wear them, so she hit her and was instantly rewarded with her desire being met. Also, Haley is helping in this conditioning process because every time Meredith wants something from Haley, she just pokes her or hurts her, and Meredith's reward is always satisfying what she originally desired.

3. What strategies from Behavioral theory might a teacher use in working with Haley? Be specific and describe how each strategy could be used.

Some behavioral strategies the teacher might use with Haley could be the following:

A Contingency Contract that is solely between the teacher and Haley. This will give her responsibility for her own actions and no one elses. This might help her be more aware of herself and have better self-esteem and maybe even self-efficacy in behaving well in the classroom or not being swayed by others desires.

Use intermittent reinforcement to allow Haley to come up with things that she likes to do. Previous to this type of reinforcement, there would need to be noticed by the teacher an activity or subject that Haley has high self-efficacy in and really enjoys doing. Then, after behaving well, according to the contingency contract, she would be allotted the thing that she personally enjoys doing the most. This may help her develop a more accurate sense of self.

A self-evaluating journal may be a great daily tool to help Haley recognize her behavior and improve.

She would need further help from maybe the school psychologist or counselors for the fear she has of men.

4. What strategies from Behavioral theory might a teacher use in working with Meredith? Be specific and describe how each strategy could be used.

Removal Punishment may be a good tool to use with Meredith if the teacher can find something Meredith really enjoys doing. If Meredith enjoys the token economy, her privileges of participating may be removed until she resumes a desirable behavior that would be clearly understood to Meredith from the teacher by a contract.

Logical Consequences may be the best way to help Meredith's behavior at school. When she wears inappropriate clothing to school that does not abide by the dress code, then she must change into clothes provided by the school that do agree with the dress code standards. If she is pushing or shoving children at recess, than she is no longer able to play with children at recess. If she is pushing Haley around and being bossy, than she can have her desk moved away from Haley and not be assigned to any of the same groups as Haley. I think these logical consequences will most likely be effective in the classroom because there will be a negative consequence to match the negative behavior. There will be a clear cause and effect relationship she will better be able to see.

Constructivism Case Study Analysis

Questions:

1. Describe two similarities between the traditional lesson and the constructivist one as described above.

a) They both used familiar visual lengths to understand the length of their objects. The traditional approach used a measured length of the hallway to visualize how long the whale was. The constructivist used the familiar lengths found in different parts of the human body and the whole human body.

b) Both teachers transitioned to their measuring activities with the students interest and attention.

What are two differences?

a) The traditional approach started with a stated fact about whales (whales are 100 ft. long). The constructivist approach started with a problem (given by an edict on a scroll).
b) The traditional approach jumped to the obvious conclusion of how to measure the length of a whale by giving the students directions to use a yard stick. The constructivist approach allowed the students to come up with whatever ways they thought would work to measure the ship to solve the problem set forth by the King. They experimented with each idea and discovered the pros and cons to each and their effectiveness in solving the dilemma with the King's condition.
2. What are two benefits of the constructivist approach as described above?

a) The students activated their minds to come up with ways to solve a problem. They were critically thinking.

b) The students were able to use a few different approaches and compare and contrast the successes of each and the differences between them all. They also learned the relationships between cause and effect, which is another critical thinking skill.

What are two drawbacks of the constructivist approach as described above?

a) It took a lot longer to learn the math skill of measuring and even went through the entire next day.

b) Some students may have been bored, knowing the answer all along, like the girl with the ruler in her hand could have been.

In your opinion, are the benefits worth the costs? Yes, the benefits are worth the costs because they are discovering the answer, which will stick with them. This method will allow them to use the skill they learned in any problem solving situation they face later on that allows it to be a solution option. One cost is the teacher having to spend more time allowing them to come up with the answers and the wait time to the questions that promote their critical thinking skills. Another cost would be that the students are apt to misconceptions if the ideas aren't proven in a way that the students understand why that couldn't work and why something else works better. There would have to be many examples provided, but it would be worth it to the students who successfully experimented with measuring by coming up with the best solution.

3. How does the constructivist lesson described above promote critical thinking?

Critical Thinking: The process of systematically examining available information and coming up with conclusions that are based on evidence.

Examples of Critical Thinking:

They came up with multiple options to measure the ship, which promoted critical thinking because they were curious how each of their ideas would work out. Tom, Mark, and Sue are guaranteed not to forget the material they discovered and explored with this activity.

The simple fact that the class was silent for a long wait time after the question proves that the problem and question probed at their critical thinking abilities.

4. Would the constructivist activity be considered an authentic activity? Yes, the constructivist activity would be considered an authentic activity because it involves problem solving and critical thinking. The children are learning through approaching a problem hands on, coming up with ideas and testing them out with trial and error, and understanding their ideas full capacity in the situation with cause and effect. Real life is filled with constant problems that must be solved in either a moments notice, a couple hours, weeks, or in a daily routine. Helping to develop the skills to face real life problems is an authentic way to learn, rather than multiple choice questions that are never provided in the real world.

Course Contract Review

1. What are you doing well? I am putting a lot of time into studying for the exams. I am completing all my assignments on time. I am participating in class. I am on time to class and I have no absences. I am making and keeping good relationships with family, friends, and new friends. I am doing well, emotionally and spiritually. I am moving forward with big decisions in my life rather than being at the stagnant stage I was before.
2. What are you not doing well? I am struggling with doing all the assigned reading before the class where we discuss that material. I am not eating that well or working out that often. I am not getting all the sleep I need during the week. I haven't been as prompt with work lately because of all the study groups and homework projects.
3. Are you making sufficient progress on your goals? I have A's or A-'s in all my classes, which is great. I am tired, but I'm not slacking. I am continually adding to individual class folders and notebooks the important ideas and thoughts I can use in the future.
4. List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals. I need to read, read, read in order to do better on the exams, understand the material in class and outside of class, and be able to answer application problems/apply what I'm learning. I need to exercise a reasonable amount every week (three times). I need to make good use of my time and eat healthy. I have been trying to finish term assignments before field so that I don't have to be so stressed while I am in the role of a teacher at my field work school. It is stressful now, but it will be great to focus on the kids and my teaching responsibility during field.
5. How is your motivation? My motivation isn't focused on my ultimate goal, but the A's are my target in sight. It is only because it is drawing closer to field and classes and work have been very time consuming and draining that I have to rely on the performance goals. But I think that's why I set the performance goals... for times when I was too tired or too caught up to remember the deep intrinsic reason/motivation behind it all. Reaching those performance goals will keep me on track to obtaining my mastery goals, even if it is dragging me along for a little while.
6. Are you focusing on mastery or performance goals? I am focusing more on the performance goals at this moment because I am tired. But my overall mindset when I get down to the reasons why I am set on completing my assignments on time and attending all my classes is really a mastery goal of becoming an excellently prepared teacher.
7. Does anything need to change? Yes, there are always things I should change if I really want to be progressing. I could be getting better sleep, getting ready in the mornings instead of rolling out of bed and going to school looking like a zombie, and I need to change the negativity that has crept up on me lately with my social life and school work. If I can change my attitude to be more positive, things will run a lot more smooth.

Cognitive Psychology-Information Processing Case Study Analysis

Case 1: Mr. West

1. After participating in this activity, what do you think the students will remember?

They will remember their emotions during the process, the clothes, colors, flags, and other visual characteristics of the day. They will probably remember the weather, particularly if it was extremely hot or cold and the way their clothes reacted with that. They will remember the smells and the food cooked. They will remember the march and its set up on the field.

How might those memories differ from those students would have if they only read about the Civil War in their textbook?

The students who read about the Civil War in the text book may remember a picture or two from the page, but it will be 2 dimensional, dull, and it will fade with time. They may remember for a short while, the placement on the page of certain information they need to recall back for the test. They will remember the set up of the classroom-most likely like any other day. That may be all. If there was a gruesome fact or piece of information that stirred some emotion, they may remember it.

2. How does Mr. West’s use of a Civil War re-enactment engage students’ emotions?

This activity engaged all five of the students' senses, with smells, sounds, eye witness visuals, the taste of campfire cooking, and the feel of the weather, the clothes, the grass under their feet, etc. With all of these pieces of information traveling through so many different routes to the brain, their is bound to be emotion with so many new experiences occurring.

What is the relationship between emotions and learning?

The only way I can think to describe this relationship is through a few examples. One of the most vivid memories I have of learning something at school was in my 7th grade English class. On the first day of class, Mr. Lewnau, after the bell rang, got on top of the desks and started marching around the room, stepping on any route of 30 desks, all the way to his desk where he stood and started shouting weird words like, "around, about, across, beneath, over, on, through..." All my senses were alerted and I was anxious to see what he might do next and was hoping he wouldn't crash. He started stomping around on the desks again and this time, to my surprise, stopped to stand at my desk. He was really tall, and he reached down, put his hands around my head and said, "prepositions! These are all Prepositions!" He then asked a few students to describe his behavior, and everytime they said a preposition, he would ding a triangle instrument. Later, we memorized 36 prepositions, which wasn't all that hard because I had a place for all the information to go.

3. Based on the principles of dual-coding theory, what activities would be effective for Mr. West to use as a follow-up to the re-enactment?

Now that the students have this labeled folder in their brain decorated with rich visual and emotional imagery of the civil war, text book type information will have a place to go--it will fit into the memory of their personal experience that they gained in learning about the civil war. A good follow-up would be to use primary source journals and stories about individuals through children's literature and picture books. That way, their already visual image of their experience will add more life and characters to their knowledge of the civil war.

Case 2: Mr. Dunkin and Mr. Richards

4. Who do you think provides better instruction for his students?

Mr. Richards

Support your answer from an information processing perspective.

The spontaneity of the day's activity, including: drama, video visuals, social opportunities through the group, and even surprise quizzes can all gather the students' attention, which is the first step to getting the information into their memories. In order to keep the students from getting lost, the lesson's must be well organized with "a detailed outline of the class's activities" listed clearly on the board. This type of organization will allow their memories to take the next step to encoding the information and really understanding the material. Having so many different methods of teaching, Mr. Richards is able to create many pathways for the students to later retrieve the information. They can remember the video clip and lecture, or the role-play activity, or the group project so much better than the daily-routine sameness demonstrated in Mr. Dunkin's classroom.

5. How would you expect the students’ learning outcomes to differ depending on which teacher they had?

The students in Mr. Richards' class are more likely to have better attendance because they won't know what's coming. In art class, today, we talked about a synergetic classroom where the teacher used so much dance, drama, drawing, and art that her students were coming to school sick because they were so scared they would miss something fun. Her class had the spontaneity that Mr. Richards' class seems to have. Also, with hands-on, eyes-on, ears-on methods to incorporate lots of the physical senses, there is a much greater likelihood for the students to retain the information and therefore do better on the quizzes or other assessments.

Brain Awareness Proposal

Charis, Kim, Lance, and I are doing a Brain Awareness Project on vision, including mainly eye illusions and the way that sight registers to the brain certain images. Like the old woman or the young woman picture and other visual illusions.

Special Needs Case Study Analysis

Some symptoms of a learning disability that Nathan displays are the following: forgetfulness, like when he forgot to finish his tests and forgot to turn in his homework, and being distracted easily, like not finishing assignments or tests.

Some of the accommodations that Nathan has received in the past include: a diagnosis of a learning disability, 'special services' in his elementary schools through the resource rooms, and medicine to help him calm down.

Some strategies I might recommend would be for him to have a clean and organized work space, a consistent manner of turning in his homework every day, signing a planner-the teacher at school and the parents at home- to stay on the same page(literally-ha), a posted schedule of the daily classroom schedule, and maybe having most of his exams be given orally.

From this web site--http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p51-adhd.html--I learned that ADD and ADHD are the most common behavioral disorders in American children. ADHD affects as many as 3 1/2 million American children, or as many as 5 % of Americans under the age of 18. That means that there could be as many as 5% of the kids in my class, that may have ADHD, and that statistic doesn't include the percentage of ADD children, which would increase the percentage of those two specific common behavioral issues in the classroom. There are other behavioral disorders that include symptoms of distraction and forgetfulness that could also play a part in the classroom. It is almost expected to have children in each classroom with behavioral disorders.

Course Contract Review

1. What are you doing well? I am completing all my assignments on time. I have made great use of forming study groups, and my group studied over 6 hours for the test together. My brain hurts after every school day, in a growing good way. I think I'm getting smarter in the proximity of becoming a teacher, and I think I'm becoming the student that I talked about in my course contract - the student that uses class work and assignments to their advantage. I believe the information I'm learning can be useful in the future, and if I doubt the relevance of it, then I squeeze it into a method it could be useful in the future. I am getting 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night, which is great. All my class binders are very organized.
2. What are you not doing well? I am not doing the reading as well as I had originally planned to do. I didn't do as well on the exam as I would've liked to because I studied in a more rote memorization type of style rather than an applicable style. I wasn't familiar with the differences between similar concepts. I am struggling with my physical goals, and I am very tired because I'm not working out at all some weeks. I love to cook, but I haven't had time, so eating Wendy's too much is starting to take a heavy toll on my health.
3. Are you making sufficient progress on your goals? I believe my "perception of my role as a student" is definitely progressing towards a much more positive and intrinsic view. My goal to read the book is coming along, but it isn't in the time frame that would be ideal. I've never been much of a reader, so I've made grandiose improvements compared to before, but I still have need for growth in that goal. As for coming out with pieces of work that I am really proud of, I have some ideas for classroom lesson plans and activities that I'm excited about. I plan to start making a journal of all these ideas that are fleeting now, but if I had a place to keep them, I might put them to use. So many people in the cohort have great lesson and activity ideas, so I'm going to make use of these personal resources.
4. List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals. I need to change my eating and exercising habits. I need to improve my motivation to read (my low test score may help encourage that). I need to be prompt to all my classes; I've been late a few times. I need to study for the tests in a more 'applicable' style.
5. How is your motivation? My motivation is increasing as my role as a student is becoming more clear. I can see my motivation for assignments becoming intrinsic as I begin to come up with ways to implement the lessons learned into my future as a teacher.
6. Are you focusing on mastery or performance goals? I am focusing on both mastery and performance goals. I feel balanced in the way I view my grades and my increasing knowledge towards becoming a better teacher. Does anything need to change? Yes. There is always room for change. As it gets harder and more tiring throughout the semester, it is also going to continually get harder to stay on top of things. I think that is when the performance goals will kick in to get me through, but hopefully my under-riding mastery goals will allow me to use the information throughout my future career.

Case Study-- Social and Moral Development

1. The second paragraph lists a number of strategies that Ms. Knowles and Ms. Brophy have tried to teach social skills. Which one do you think might be most effective and why?

These teachers taught children how to go about the process of joining into a social activity. I find this to be the most effective way to teach social skills because it is a direct approach. At first, I thought children's books might be the best way, but after reading a book about a big ugly fish that makes friends by saving the day, there may be a step missing for the children. How could they save their friends from a fisherman's net to make them like him/her? Certainly children's books can teach valuable lessons as the children evaluate what was really being said as the moral of the story, but at a younger age- maybe 3 or 4- I think it is most helpful to explain literal ways to do something. By explaining to shy children how to appropriately ask "Can I play?" or to assertive children, how to include the shyer children, both parties are benefited. The shy children will most likely get to join in the fun and the more confident children will feel like they helped someone out and they will simply have more friends to play with. Teaching children how to take initiative and do something about their desire to play or recognizing someone else's desire to play will positively influence each child's temperament. It also helps the children exercising the recommended skills to become more autonomous.

2. The teachers occasionally use storybooks to promote discussions about social skills and making friends. How might children's literature also help them resolve one of Erikson's stages of psychosocial development?

I think children's books are a fun way to show comparisons to social situations that children are trying to learn, and they can help with the Initiative versus Guilt stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory of personal development. This stage takes place between ages 3-6. By discussing the themes, meanings, and morals of children's books, the attention of the young audience is captured, and there is a flow that sometimes takes place that can be a great preface to a teacher-instructed social learning discussion. Children's books can help children relate to a character in the book and form a greater sense of self-purpose as they see the colorful character succeed in a social situation. This relation between a fictional character could reach the imagination of a child and help them take initiative in their own social interactions.

3. How might children's literature help them develop moral reasoning?

Children's literature can help students of all ages develop moral reasoning by the emotions that books can evoke and the discussions that they can create. Children's books allow students to feel the cause and effect of social circumstances on their own. They can make up their own mind of whether the outcome was something they desire or not and how to obtain it or veer away from it. If the book presents positive emotions, then it will benefit the student in deciding to exercise that positive social characteristic. These books can also promote trust in that they will invite a feeling that the world is reliable and safe.

4. The teachers read the children a letter they claim has been written by their friend Mr. Stone. What are potential cognitive, social, and moral advantages of this strategy? Incorporate ideas from Chapters 3 and 4 in your response.

The teachers could be creating a familiar pathway with having the focal point be a letter written by their friend. Children can relate to letters that come in the mail and a friend that would write a letter. This can set a good foundation that connects with prior knowledge and a small schema. This method also goes along with part of Vgotsky's main theory that thinking is a function of both social and cultural forces. Receiving a letter in the mail from a friend is both a social and cultural aid to helping the students relate to the information coming that may be new for some/most of the students. Some of the responses these teachers may have gotten after explaining that they had received this letter could have been shouted out responses like: "Oh! My mom got a letter from her friend, Susan, yesterday in the mail!", or "I chased the mailman on my bike yesterday! Maybe he had that letter in his car!", or "I wrote my Wish List to Santa and my mom wrote 'Christmas Letter' on the top. I know what a letter is." These are some examples of pathways that have already been formed to help reach a new schema that is being presented to them. Instead of just listing the information of the discussion plainly, this method can allow the students to assimilate and get a good start on the new information coming.

Case Study- Cognitive Development

1. Describe an episode in the case study that demonstrates disequilibrium. Justify your response.
When Amy says, "But...But... when my grandpa died last summer, he went away to heaven and didn't come back. Ringo's still here. If he's dead, he should be going to heaven." Amy wasn't able to connect the death of the fish with the fish's body still there. The new information didn't match up because she didn't have the prior knowledge to make that connection.

Describe an episode that demonstrates assimilation. Justify your response.
When Lucy says, "Do you have to eat in heaven?" Amy responds, "I suppose so, or else you'd be hungry all the time. Lucy then says, "Oh, that makes sense." Amy was able use prior knowledge to make the connection that when you don't eat, you're hungry. She continued the connection to another place-heaven. Lucy understands because of that same consequencial sequence of not eating and then becoming hungry. They were able to make sense of the events in the world, by relating something new to prior knowledge.

2. Identify a possible instance of preoperational egocentrism in the case. Justify your response.
Lucy asks, "Well, do you have to go to potty in heaven?" Amy rolls her eyes, indignantly puts her hands on her hips, and replies, "Of course not, silly! You know our mommies and Ms. Bowman make us go potty before we go anywhere!" Amy showed the inability to consider the world from a different perspective than her own. She assumed Lucy would share her same feelings, and Lucy added to her ego with her "Oh, yeah, I forgot" response.

3. How might a Vygotskian theorist suggest Ms. Bowman address the death of the class pet?
They might have suggested that Ms. Bowman ask Amy and Lucy questions about what they thought had happened and where the fish would go now instead of just assuming the role of telling them how it would be done with a 'proper burial'. A Vygotskian theorist may not have been impressed with the easy response given to Amy's question/thought by telling her that Ringo would go to heaven as soon as she wanted it to. Rather, a Vygotskian theorist would have tried ways in which to assert the social opportunity to create their own(the students) understandings of the world, schemas, and thinking processes. Mediation could have also been a good recommendation for how Ms. Bowman could have handled the situation.

4. How might taking care of pets in the classroom promote students' cognitive development?
They are given responsibility, new social experiences, opportunities to create new schemas, a greater understanding of action and consequence events, and providing a discovery-based learning activity where they combine all their knowledge about the fish as a class and find new discoveries about what they observe prior to any teacher instruction.

Course Contract Review

Review your course contract from the beginning of the semester. Answer the following questions:

1. What are you doing well?I have completed all my assignments by the scheduled due date. I spent adequate time on all the assignments, reading, and studying for and taking the exam.
   
2. What are you not doing well?I did not stick with the 30 minutes of reading a day that I originally thought would be a good idea. I completed the reading, but it was all in one sitting. I did not complete all the homework by the Monday before class, but once I did an assignment the day before.
   
3. Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?I think my goals to become an intrinsic learner are developing more than they have in the past, but my main sight of mind is getting a good grade. I kind of like having the grading system to keep me in check. I like knowing what I have to do to learn the material in the best way and setting a goal of getting an A in the class helps with that.
   
4. List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals. In order to meet my goals, I need to modify my self-expectations. Some of the things I wrote down to achieve my goals were out of reach for me. They were kind of like me saying on a Tuesday, 'Oh, I'll start my diet Monday and work out every day starting Monday, and I'll start doing everything perfect then.' It's got to be a progressive process towards better organization and intrinsic learning. So, these are the modifications I need to make: Physical goals-7 hours of sleep is just fine. Working out at least once or twice a week will be a big stride for me, so I'll set that as my starting goal. My weekly preparation plan: I should do the reading all in one sitting, not by increments. I just work better that way. I should try to complete the homework assigned by my classes on the day they are assigned, with group projects and reading assignments being exceptions. I'll have to do double work for a little while, but I think it will help me stay better organized having just had the class and then doing the work for it while my ideas and organization are fresh. Those are my modifications to my plan. I also may start a Google calendar if I can get comfortable with it.
   
5. How is your motivation? Are you focusing on mastery or performance goals? Does anything need to change? My motivation is fine. I think I am focusing on mastery and performance goals. I am constantly thinking about my future and worrying about how to prepare to be an awesome teacher, so when I do the assignments to reach performance goals, I am thinking in an 'improve-myself' mode that will help me reach my life mastery goal of becoming an awesome teacher. I don't think anything needs to change with my motivation. I just need to get more organized so I can be totally confident in all my classes.
   

Educational Neuroscience

What? - What is the individual you chose currently researching?

Marilee Sprenger. She is an expert who internationally provides professional advice about educational neuroscience(Educational neuroscience consultant). She has taught at all levels from pre-kindergarten to graduate school. She is an assistant professor at Aurora University, and she teaches courses on brain compatible strategies and memory. For the past fifteen years, she has been involved in raising student achievement using brain based teaching strategies, differentiation, and memory research. She assists schools, teachers, and regions internationally to develop skills that will promote higher achievement.

So What? How does this person's research have to do with education?- Professor Sprenger is able to get teachers to gain an in-depth understanding of the brain structures that influence memory so that the students can have better recall for daily classroom instruction, tests, and overall learning. Sprenger gives a seven-step approach on how to gain this kind of deep memory learning skill. On her list, one of the main keys to implementing learning into long-term memory is by teaching to pathways in the brain that are already connected. By connecting the students' prior knowledge with the new knowledge being taught, teachers can facilitate a greater attention span in their students and a better overall recall. Also listed, by having reviews and assessments, the students' can have the information organized in a way that will assure greater recollection. Education is all about teachers and students. The ideal relationship between them would be to have the teachers be able to explain and relate new information to students in a way that makes sense and is processed deeper than short term memory for completion of performance goals. Sprenger has researched, like many others, ways to be more effective in this relationship.

Now What? - How might you use this person's research in your future classroom?

Based on Marilee Sprenger's research, namely the seven step approach to better memory recall, I could take into consideration many of her insights to improve the outcome of my future classroom. I can take her expertly researched advice into my teaching philosophy to fulfill my role in becoming a great teacher. Part of becoming a great teacher is researching methods and techniques to allow students the opportunity to grow and learn the very most. I especially like these few of her seven steps and would like to understand better how to incorporate them into my teaching style: Structure a framework to show students what is important to remember, connect new content to students' prior knowledge, and use multiple rehearsal strategies that provide students with ways to retrieve stored material. Already, I have begun to see similar ideas come into my teaching philosophy like the ones mentioned in Sprenger's suggested teaching approach. As I continue to focus on these ideas and come up with more ways of how I can create a positive learning environment for my future students, I will better be able to improve, as educators must continually do.

Motivational Blog

Motivation Blog

Why are you here (in the teacher education program, in this class, at UVU)?

I am here to become a teacher. I ended up at UVU because I couldn't get into BYU. I am in this class as a part of fulfilling the requirements of the elementary education program. But much more than all of that, I am here, at this time in my life, in this place- Utah-, at this University - in this Education program to make something great of my life by learning to give the gift of knowledge.

For the first 3 years of college, I couldn't decide what I wanted 'to be or not to be'. At first, becoming a writer sounded like it would be perfect for me. After traveling down that road for a brief time, I realized I was too intimidated by all the other English majors and writers that were a lot more experienced and just all around better than me. So, I started a blog to fulfill that passion. I love art and I love making creative gifts for people. So, I took a sculpting class, but I just couldn't get the dimensions of the 'head' project exactly right, so after passing the class, I vowed to stay away from sculpting. Besides, my hands smelled like clay for weeks after the semester had finished. I loved math all through Jr. High and High School. I understood Algebra really well and loved doing the homework for it. Then I took Math 1050, not once, or twice, but three times. I guess 3rd time's the charm because I finally passed, but it scarred me for life, and I knew math was in no way the major for me.

I took a break from school because I was so frustrated with not finding the 'perfect major' for me. I found a job at an elementary school working for a sixth grade teacher as a teacher assistant. I absolutely loved it and I loved how much the kids seemed to appreciate me and need my help. For every child's birthday in the class, I painted a banner with their name on it to display for the day in the room. In that way, I fulfilled my art passion. I was able to teach creative writing every Wednesday and I brought in tons of examples of my own writing. I also had the students brainstorm with me and we came up with a creative short story on the spot. I was in heaven. For my math passion, I was able to tutor some students in math and I also took up some more reading and math tutoring at the Lehi Literacy center. I was falling in love with teaching one subject, one student, one day at a time. I then went to Spain on a study abroad and as I took classes on learning to speak Spanish, I realized how much I really loved to learn new things. And to be a teacher, you must be a learner. By the time I got back from Spain, I was more than ready to start full throttle into the Elementary field.

What motivates you?

When I can look back in my life on the most shaping moments of my 'mold'/character, I can see the people and places that most positively effected me, and I want to be apart of that for someone else. I like to think of every child as a mound of beautiful and individualized unique clay. They all have their own color and their own initial shape and that shape will harden after time and become the inner core of their mold. While they are young and fragile, their little molds are precious while they are still adjusting and shaping themselves into the most comfortable them. The shape can be added onto with colorful play dough and other materials as their life goes on. Their starting mound, once it hardens, is their foundation for their character.

My 'Allyson-mound' has been added onto with bright and vibrant colors of play dough from teachers, mentors, and leaders. It has been shaped by experiences, and it has been refined by self-discipline learned extrinsically from my parents and learned intrinsically from personal experiences and natural consequences. It has been polished and painted by dreams and goals. But the foundation remains deep within-unchanging- in the ever growing beautiful mess of my mold.

This is the case for every student. The younger they are, the more susceptible they are to having their inner core of their mold squandered and squashed by the leaders they look up to for guidance and knowledge. Or their characters are helped and aided to become sturdy foundations with no cracks or crevices unfilled, unreached, or unrecognized. Every human has innate psychological needs, and the needs that are met help shape the core in the best way for that individual. This clay model analogy goes along with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs by demonstrating the importance of satisfying the basic needs in humans before attempting to satisfy more sophisticated needs.

What motivates me as a future teacher is thinking about students each having this fragile character that they need help shaping. This mold will be permanent. The excess play dough can be removed and reapplied with different material colors and accessories more appropriate for maturing age, but their core character and self efficacy will be the foundation upon which everything else builds- upon which their future builds. Facilitating a positive environment and attributing basic needs like: safety, acceptance, competence, and autonomy, will in great part be upon the shoulders of the teachers. This motivation and realization goes beyond learning facts and lessons, but it is learning those while learning the things that will allow each child to build their own life in the most positive, confident, and successful way.

Why do you succeed?

I suppose I succeed because I want to. I learned early on in school that I didn't want to be the 'stupid kid in class'. That goes along with innate psychological need to be competent. I liked how it felt when I did well, so I try to succeed, and I often do. I have been lucky enough to have been born with ability. I can use all my senses and I can access all my physical abilities to learn. I succeed because I choose things I know or at least believe I can do well at. I use effort to succeed. I wasn't born very athletic, so I hung a quote on my bedroom wall that said, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." I hung that on my wall so I could remember that I wasn't born with incredible athletic talent; therefore, I needed to put in an immense amount of effort into training and practicing in order to keep up with the rest of my sports team.

Why do you fail?

I fail when I don't believe I can succeed. When I feel like others look down upon me or find me inept, I shut down mentally, and though I may be capable, I make myself be incapable. Maybe not enough effort was put in to the task and the task may have even been quite difficult, so I started to struggle and fall behind. Maybe then my confidence was sabotaged, and I was left feeling like I was luckless. Finally, maybe I felt so low that I thought whatever 'it' was wasn't worth the effort to try because someone wouldn't notice my efforts or my efforts wouldn't equate to anything of worth to anyone else. My personal failures tend to be based on if I receive the proper praise and confidence from others. It is something I have worked on all my life but still struggle with.

Do the goals in your course contract reflect mastery or performance goals?

The goals in my course contract are performance goals to reach ultimate success in my future classroom. The assignments given by the professor are mastery goals for the students, else why would we have assignments as part of the course curriculum-it's to help each student master the skills needed in the real world/career. So, by setting personal performance goals to succeed at the assignments given by the course expectancies, I will reach the mastery goal of becoming a more knowledgeable and a better teacher.

What does this say about you?

I trust my teachers and that the work I am doing to pass the class is helping me become what I am being educated to become- an educated and GREAT teacher.

How do you need to change your motivations and mindset for this class in order to become a great teacher?
In order to become a great teacher, I must put the effort into my classwork that supports the belief that this class will genuinely be helpful for me in my future classrooms. I need to put the work into my assignments to come out with things that will be valuable to me in my future profession as a teacher. More than just the assigned work, I must see opportunities to improve on my personal weaknesses or struggles and read extra or work on something extra in order to improve. Instead of capitalizing on what I'm already confident in, I want to focus on what I am unsure about so that I can make my overall teaching capabilities all powerful tools.

Hidden Assignment

Educational Psychology

Course Contract

Goals for this course:

1. I would like to improve the perception I have of my role as a student. (The ah-ha moment where I start to learn intrinsically.)

2. I would like to really read the textbook.

3. I want to come out with pieces of work that I am really proud of and excited to put in my portfolio.

Weekly Preparation Plan:

I won a planner at the Elementary Ed Orientation that I plan on using to keep track of assignments and due dates.

I'll also make a copy of the class assignments chart to put in the front of my binder.

I plan on completing my homework no later than the Monday before each class. Whether at 7 Pm after work or during a break at work.

I have a work study position at the school, so every other day, I'll plan on reading for 30 minutes from the assigned reading while at work. I'll revise my reading plan to fit each reading assignment length.

Another place I can complete my reading assignments is at the gym on the treadmill while I walk.

I will prepare to understand the material and succeed by doing the following:

I. Physical Health

a. 8 hours of sleep each night or a nap if necessary

b. Maintaining a clean environment for studying

c. Eating healthy and eating breakfast

d. Working out at the gym at least 3 times a week

II. Mental health

a. Keeping an organized planner to keep my mentality of school focused and very clear

b. At least 5 hours of service a week to allow my focus to reach outside of my own little realm.

c. Visualize success

d. Positive thoughts about all aspects of my life

III. Studying Tools

a. Organization

1. Flash Cards

2. Acronyms

b. Notes

1. Use pictures on the sides

2. Use lots of VISUAL learning approaches to notes

If/When I don't understand any topic:

I will review any topic I don't understand through the pod cast and the text book. I can also understand the topic more thoroughly through search engines on the internet, classmates, group study sessions, and meetings with the professor.

I will reach my goals in this course by staying on top of the assignments listed in my planner and doing my reading at the times in which I have set aside to complete it. I will reach my goals by starting today, which is the first day of class. I will maintain a positive vision of my future successful outcome in the class from beginning to end. I will think of this class as more than a grade, but I will aim for an A to motivate me to complete all my work well and on time. I will try to do each assignment with a the end goal in mind - not the grade- but the day I have my own classroom. I will try to implement the new strategies I learn into my Teaching Philosophy and readjust and improve upon what I already have learned.