Course Contract #4

1. Prepare to study for the Praxis exam

2. Learn better self regulation and study abilities; put systems in place to facilitate my own learning

3. Pass the course with a clear understanding of educational psychology, how it will aid me in the classroom and how to apply theory into practice

I am doing basically well over-all. I do feel like I have a grasp of educational psychology and I very much understand and have ideas on how to implement it into the classroom. I have enjoyed it so much that I debate what I have been studying and now am a tad bit flummoxed as to what the next step in my education should be.

Luckily I have been able to obtain more self-regulation. With what the course demanded, I had to stay on top of all aspects and that was good for me -- to recognize the need to implement my study in multiple areas and not just give in to the 'night before' syndrome.

But still I have yet to have had a chance to really prep for Praxis. It was just unrealistic of me to idealize my time management in such a fashion that I could even begin such an undertaking. It will become my Christmas break project, but beyond as something that coexists during the school semester, not so much.

Thank you for this class. It has really opened my eyes beyond the pop-psychology out there into something I didn't realize I enjoyed this much. And if you are still amenable to the idea, I would love the opportunity to t.a. for you in the future.

Personal Learning Theory

PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:

Behavior (adaptation to the environment) is controlled through mental organizations called schemes that the individual uses to represent the world and designate action. This adaptation is driven by a biological drive to obtain balance between schemes and the environment (equilibration). Personally I find this a very applicable theory when dealing with young children but I do not agree with the idea that individuals will automatically move to the next cognitive stage as the biologically mature.

VYGOTSKI’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:
Vygotski believed that we encode and represent our world through language (language is a symbolic system by which we communicate, it is a cultural tool – history and culture are transmitted through language), our thoughts are based on language – “inner speech”). Social Interaction plays an important role in the transformation and internalization processes (Social plane – development first takes place on a social plane where children observe parents and imitate, Internal plane – as child becomes more competent, information becomes internalized). Vygotski also was interested in human intellectual development (ZPD, scaffolding; instruction precedes development. Instruction leads the learner into the ZPD).

ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT:
Erik Erikson explained eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late adulthood. In each stage the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds on the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.

KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT:
The theory holds that moral reasoning, the basis for ethical behavior, has six identifiable developmental stages, each more adequate at responding to moral dilemmas than its predecessor.

GOLEMAN’S EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:
The model introduced by Daniel Goleman focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance. Goleman's model outlines four main EI constructs:
1. Self-awareness — the ability to read one's emotions and recognize their impact while using gut feelings to guide decisions.
2. Self-management — involves controlling one's emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.
3. Social awareness — the ability to sense, understand, and react to others' emotions while comprehending social networks.
4. Relationship management — the ability to inspire, influence, and develop others while managing conflict.

Goleman includes a set of emotional competencies within each construct of EI. Emotional competencies are not innate talents, but rather learned capabilities that must be worked on and can be developed to achieve outstanding performance. Goleman posits that individuals are born with a general emotional intelligence that determines their potential for learning emotional competencies.

INFORMATION PROCESSING:
Theoretical perspective that focuses on the specific ways in which learners mentally think about, or process, new information and events. People are selective about what they process and learn, meaning is constructed by the learner; rather than being derived directly from the environment.

KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION AND HIGHER-ORDER THINKING:
"The knowledge construction process relates to the extent to which teachers help students to understand, investigate, and determine how the implicit cultural assumptions, frames of references, perspectives, and biases within a discipline influence the ways in which knowledge is constructed within it.” Higher-order thinking is a concept of Education reform based on learning taxonomies such as Bloom's Taxonomy. The idea is that some types of learning require more cognitive processing that others, but also have more generalized benefits

BEHAVIORISM:
The learning perspective (where any physical action is a behavior), is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things which organisms do — including acting, thinking and feeling — can and should be regarded as behaviors.

SOCIAL COGNITIVISM:
Social Cognitive Theory, used in psychology, education, and communication, posits that portions of an individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. Based on the ideas that people learn by watching what others do and that human thought processes are central to understanding personality.

GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES:
• To what extent will knowledge about individual and group differences enable us to draw conclusions about particular students?
• What do we mean by the term intelligence, and how can we promote intelligent behavior in all of our students?
• In what ways are students from various cultural and ethnic groups apt to be alike and different from one another? What implications do their differences have for classroom practice?
• In what ways are males and females alike and different? What can we do to provide equitable educational opportunities for both boys and girls?
• How can we accommodate the unique needs of students from lower socioeconomic groups?
• What characteristics can help us identify students at risk for school failure, and how can we help these students achieve academic success?

MOTIVATION:
Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation may be intrinsic or extrinsic. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, morality, or avoiding mortality.
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MY OWN TAKE:
I have attempted to derive what I feel my take on learning theory is. I have come to the conclusion that there is no one conclusion. Within almost all aspects of these theories there are positive and negative attributes. I can conclude with almost complete certainty that I completely disagree with behaviorism. I don’t like comparing our abilities to animals nor do I think people should be treated in such a fashion that forces them into compulsion by signifiers. It makes me feel (and I know this is extreme) like many fascists of our time and all the compulsory actions that have lead up to human genocide.

Based upon my own readings and natural inclinations, I find myself siding with many aspects of Vygotski intermixed with social cognitivism. I find myself gravitating towards methods of emotional intelligence intermixed with the ideas that we can only find our own intrinsic motivation after building a social network of support. Then at this point our actions turn inward into image recognition and ultimately to language based semiotics.

As individuals we natural put our understanding into codes based on a frame of reference built upon personal experience. If we can create and connect pathways to this knowledge (recognizing learning methods and natural inclinations), then perhaps we have a stronger push towards higher order thinking. I still feel like this is scattered thinking and I apologize for this truth.

If we build a community of learners and use the ideas of scaffolding, we can take our students to the next level. Again by giving recognition for abilities and creating moments of expanding experience, confidence should engage intrinsic motivation. It is our job as a teacher to use multiple methods of presentation and activity to engage the student. Tedious lecture will result in tedious and mundane responses.

Course Contract Review #3

1. What are you doing well?

I am finally on top of the assignments and dates and such. So I feel like I am on par with the schedule. Finally. So glad that the assignment inventory is turned in for better or for worse.
2. What are you not doing well?

I am just not making the time to go through the supplementary materials you have given us on the course website. This is ridiculous of me. I need the supplemental material to make sure I understand the concepts in order to take the tests, do the assignments, and begin the preparation for praxis III.
3. Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?

I do feel like I am understanding application in the classroom (now let’s see if I can maintain these ideals when I actually finally get there). I am working on self regulation but I find that when my life turns insane (as it always does) I go back to my old bad habits and they are bad habits). I am not spending any time at all in preparation for Praxis. I started out creating online flashcards for the future and have sense dropped it all together. Ridiculous.
4. List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals.

I need to catch up on my Praxis study. If I keep it up now it won't be as horrid come later. I know that my Christmas break will be fully spent in catching up when really I'd like the down time with my kids. I also need to not allow myself to let go better study tactics. I have to exercise before I sit down (especially if reading is involved). I also have found I learn better in the mornings around 9-11am. I get more done and I comprehend and retain the material in such a way as I cannot otherwise. The hard part is my three year old. Such is life.

Ch. 10 Case Study

1. Which teacher in the scenario demonstrates vicarious reinforcement? Justify your response with an example from the case study.

Mr. Kessinger is using vicarious reinforcement. Prior to his altercation with Robin he chastised Micki for admitting the truth that he didn’t know the answer to his inquiry. He followed this up with further humiliation when Micki tried to reason a response. So by the time it reached Robin, she was already nervous. Perhaps she knew the answer, but with Micki being treated substandard before her, the stakes became higher and so did the tension. She ultimately referred to her notes and was even more humiliated for having the answer but not having it committed to memory. After class she was blustered up by other students in the class who felt the teacher demeaning. These student too recognized what was being taught by Mr. Kessinger and are likely to not participate to the fullest of their ability due to fear and intimidation. Mr. Kessinger has now created an environment or perpetuated mediocrity due to his lack of discretion and teaching skills.

2. Is Mr. Kessinger considering reciprocal causation in his class? Explain your response, including all aspects of reciprocal causation in your reasoning.

Based upon his reinforcement and vicarious punishment encouraged and engaged in within the classroom, Mr. Kessinger is completely ignoring the ideas that behavior and environment are all intertwined with the individual themselves and therefore are cyclical in nature. Robin will not perform again which will affect his teaching environment and therefore the behaviors of her clique of friends who will retaliate in support … he has destroyed any credibility he might have previously had in favor of anger and distress.

3. Which self-regulated learning process is Robin engaging in when she creates her concept maps? Explain your reasoning.

It appears that Robin might be engaging herself within Attention Control. Possibly not, but you can argue tat she created a concept map for the very reason that she knew she couldn’t regulate so many facts and dates together so wanted to interlink the ideas into a better form of note taking. She is already self-motivated enough to enhance her study and now needs the added form of recall and focus found within the complexities of a concept map.

4. How do you think Robin's self-efficacy has been affected by this experience? Be specific about which self-efficacies have been affected and justify your response with examples from the case study.

If individuals are more likely to engage in activities they believe they will be able to execute successfully, then Robin will no longer engage in class and not prepare. She put in great deals of effort and persistence (as evident by Ms. Yamashita’s praise). She wanted to learn, wanted to have greater understanding and knowledge. She wanted to achieve a sense of security (hence the detail in the concept map and the very idea of creating a concept map to link ideas and concepts together). This day will be considered a failure for Robin (again as evident by her running out of Ms. Yamashita’s class). Self-efficacy is based a lot on our ability to trust ourselves, feel successful and receive positive cues and message from others. Robin watched failure in Micky, watched an ineffectual teacher attempt to communicate through the basest of means, and ended up with low self-efficacy. She never again makes notes and has lost a sense of achievement and trust in herself. One teacher at one moment has broken this student for a very long time.

2nd Annual UVU Arts in Education Conference

What:


This was the 2nd Annual UVU Arts in Education Conference entitled ‘Connections’ held on Friday, October 23rd, 2009. It was a series of presentations with 2 breakout sessions to choose from and attend therewith. The focus seemed to be about drawing and finding connections between literature and the arts. How would one or could one use literature to express themes, to motivate and above all magnify the subject matter via the focus of the creative process itself.

So What:

So within the scope of education there will always be reading content. Is there a way to make core more accessible and longer lasting to our students? Of course. I personally attended the Dance – Books in Motion and Drama – Using Theatre and Drama as Educational Resources and Teaching Tools breakout sessions. These were both primarily geared towards elementary education but the theories are approachable in secondary education as well. I didn’t feel this was a weakness in the conference. I did feel that it put emphasis on creating a healthy standard in our children from a young age so they can potentially have a broader and richer environment from the beginning. I also learned about obtaining grants as a teacher to pursue the addition or hands on learning in conjunction with core curriculum. The ideas presented by the faculty at Reese Elementary was heartening; to realize that it might be possible to gain approval regardless of NCLB to use visual culture as a frame of reference to teaching a larger curriculum.

Now What:

Because of the grant knowledge, I can begin (at least in theory) to create ideas of how to approach content in such a manner that would gain attention and therefore funding. I know the arts budgets are almost nothing in most schools across the U.S. so if I can come up with an idea that is both easy to implement and that would reflect clear indicators of progress, I would in essence be beginning my journey towards emulating Ken Robinson. That was the fault of the conference; a lack of concrete adaptability. But that is the job of the teacher. How do you use music to teach and aid mathematics, how do you use movement to engage the mind and help a physical awareness of language beyond the superficial, how do you teach history and engage in dual-coding? That is my job. Mainly I am grateful to know that funding does exist even with budget cuts. Just as an inkling to a beginning of a thought, perhaps treat the classroom as one would approach a non-profit arts organization.

Chapter 9 Case Study

Ch. 9 Questions:

1. Does Mr. Kessinger's class represent a community of learners as defined in Ch. 7? Why or why not?

This feels like a given no. Basing on the simple aspects of a community of learners we can easily rule out diversity, value in multiple discussion, coordination between teacher and student, multiple potentials of resources (both other students and notes), teacher guidelines …

2. Does Mr. Kessinger utilize presentation punishment or removal punishment with Robin? Justify your response.

Mr. Kessinger uses presentation punishment as he reprimands Robin in front of the class, changes what should have been an acceptable and praiseworthy action and makes it a negative approach to learning, and then in essence tells the class that note taking is bad and unacceptable behavior in the class. He mocks his student and makes the environment massively uncomfortable. Then of course in the end you have the sheer fact that Robin never takes notes again.

3. Explain Robin's reaction in Ms. Yamashita's class from the perspective of classical conditioning.

If we relate Robin to Pavlov and the famous studies of the dogs responses you have a clear and simple understanding of Robin’s reaction. She did a remarkable job and was punished for it, therefore when she does yet another remarkable job and the teacher begins to respond, she doesn’t even hear the words, just assumes s negative, and takes off. She has now been conditioned to believe (at least for the time being) that what she had done was negative and would always meet with punishment and shame.

4. How might Ms. Yamashita encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future? Include behavioral concepts such as shaping, reinforcement, etc., in your response.

Upon Robin’s return Ms. Yamashita could begin with praise. Without singling Robin out at first she could say that a singularly exemplary student had something worth sharing with the class, then asking Robin for her concept map she could show it and continue to teach from the material Robin had present. Also she could continue this positive reinforcement by having Robin teach (if she’s willing) her approach to study. Putting Robin as an example would hopefully shape a more positive environment. As well, she could give time in class for the students to work independently towards personal study giving credence to the praise and secondary reinforcement to the expected work response.

Ch. 6 Case Study Analysis

Case 1: Mr. West wants his students to truly understand Civil War battles. He engages the help of a local Historical Re-enactment Society and assigns each of his students to the Union or Confederate side. His students join the re-enactors from 7:00am-7:00pm for a full day of activities which include a long march (complete with rudimentary battle gear), setting up camp, cooking over campfires, scouting territory, and engaging in a historically representative battle.

1. After participating in this activity, what do you think the students will remember? How might those memories differ from those students would have if they only read about the Civil War in their textbook?

I think they will take away a very concrete perspective on aspects/realities of war. They won’t likely remember dates, but they might take away ideas of battle preparation, tactics, heightened emotions … These re-enactors typically take what they do seriously and preserve the historical aspect as much as possible; gratefully you can depend on accuracy and not as much attempt at correcting misinformation as one might otherwise assume.
The moment or day in the life that the students were involved in will far more likely last longer in their memory than sitting in front of a text or a film and learn to regurgitate blanket facts. This also might translate into active involvement where the students initiate going to the memorization side of things and the text because they were emotionally engaged in the first place. Then they might want to participate in the study with more focus and more self motivated tactics. If this happens, one could easily assume that retrieval will be quicker because of the dual learning tactics.

2. How does Mr. West’s use of a Civil War re-enactment engage students’ emotions? What is the relationship between emotions and learning?
 
I just mentioned it (again should read all the questions before answering them), but, you are creating concrete pathways to memory and retrieval. You aren’t just studying in text but in physical form. Being a part of things, hardships, emotive pulls, the physical action, can create yet more stimuli. It is long past the short term and certain aspects of the movement will create long term reflection. I wonder what those who were in the Confederate vs. the Union side would take away from perspective in the long term. I wonder if they understood more what each side was fighting for based upon their experience. This takes RAD teaching to another dimension (as long as its tied back together in the classroom in detail). I would assume, but don’t know the research behind it to reinforce my thought process; I assume that the activity should stimulate the brain and positive emotion. Being more personally involved, more personally engaged, would hopefully put the student in greater control and be equipped with a greater sense of self. Having a more positive self should trigger more connections to memory and the brain. So activity mixed with emotive connection should (in theory) engage the amygdala; removing the fear in the learning process and opening the body up to trust and automaticity.
 
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?
 
I admit that I know very little about dual-coding except what was briefly discussed in class and a bit of scanty research on the internet. From what I can gather, this interactive learning process for the kids isn’t true dual-coding. There is a single aspect of participation, but there is no instruction or written or opposite to enhance the immediacy of the learning. But, in a follow up, if Mr. West were to have taken pictures of the kids and juxtapose those with images and text and movie clips from history while lecturing on the subject matter, this itself would be true dual-coding and in such a socio-cultural manner that I believe it would hit an emotional connection with the participating students. Cognitive abilities would be tapped. With a visual and oral communication, also a time line graphic handout or something along those lines might be helpful for reference – especially if the graphic organizer were connected again to what the students saw in the visual lecture, this would increase the learning and aptitude of the students.

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Case 2: Mr. Dunkin and Mr. Richards, teachers at the same school, are debating in the teacher’s lounge about who provides the best type of organization for the students’ learning. Mr. Dunkin lectures and assigns reading and chapter problems Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays he gives a short answer exam. In Mr. Richards’ class the students never know what will take place on any given day until they arrive in class and look at a detailed outline of the hour’s activities on the chalkboard. His class engages in mix of role-plays, lecture, videos, group projects and demonstrations. Mr. Richards occasionally gives surprise quizzes and his unit tests can include true/false, multiple choice, short answer, or essay.

4. Who do you think provides better instruction for his students? Support your answer from an information processing perspective.

Before anything else, I think both teachers are missing the point. I think to be effective and well rounded you need to engage with the teaching of Mr. Richards but with the organization (as per student awareness) of Mr. Dunkin. That being said, I would prefer to participate in Mr. Richard’s coursework. So for this argument I will easily and readily side with our second teacher Mr. R. His tests are more varied, his activities engaging and attempting to reach more students than the typical (and proven to be poor in the long run) course breakdown. If we just go to memory system ideas, Mr. R is giving sensory input. He is helping the brain take thoughts and force them to short term memory. Not knowing anything else about his course work we can’t assume how effective he is. But if he can gain students attention, he can focus stimuli to register for longer periods of time. Because he has outlined on the chalkboard, the students have some idea of what to expect so they are not completely caught completely unawares. If Mr. R build on prior knowledge, and offers activities that are varied as is represented, then the students have options when it comes to selection of processing. They are also given more of an opportunity to construct knowledge and have moments of maturation. They are actively involved in their learning which holds them accountable.

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


I expect that Mr. R’s class will be more engaged, so therefore personally involved and likely will end up with better test scores. Mr. Dunkin’s class might initially score better on their weekly exams, but the long term and automacity will not likely be there. If you look forward to class, or at least know that you won’t be bored, your mind is actively engaged. If you know that you will be lectured at by a talking head, it’s easier to turn off and zone, not gather any new information, have a severe lack of meaningful learning, and waste your time in a classroom every day for the length of time you are stuck in such a tedious learning environment.

Course Contract #2

1. What are you doing well?
I love assimilating the materials. I find it very enjoyable to go through concepts and ideas and map them out or study them out far beyond what we are given in such a broad class when we don’t have time to specialize.

2. What are you not doing well?

I am not using my time correctly. Due to demands in my home and with ill health (not an excuse but a reality that I have pneumonia and have very little energy lately); I have not prepared and stayed on top of what I need to. I am behind and will catch up tonight and over the course of the next few days to make sure I am prepared before coming to class on Thursday. I can’t get comfortable being late. That will pile up in the end.

3. Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?

I am not spending enough time each week reviewing what is required for the Praxis exam. This needs to be addressed. I am trying new techniques for study and preparation though. I have enjoyed giving a few new ideas a forefront and it is interesting to see what sticks and what I end up tossing away rapidly as an interesting foray. I do feel like with my outside reading, I am coming up with ideas on how to implement ideas for better overall student learning. Granted until I can actually attempt these changes I won’t know. But I am gaining more ideas on how to teach effectively than I had before coming into the course. So in that respect I am feeling successful.

4. List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals.

I did not give adequate time to prepare for this exam. It was my fault. I misread the dates listed on the website (even though they are very clear) and confused it with another course. I am sure I will do well in the other class’s midterm  I need to fix my printer so I can again make sure I am consistently up to date with what is due when and when I need to sit down and prepare for each item. I need a better checks and balances system.

 

Ch. 3 Analysis Questions:

1. From a social development standpoint, how might we explain Laura's preoccupation with her appearance? In particular, consider this statement by Laura: "I don't want people to think I'm a geek!" Include information from Erikson's theory and social development in general in your response.

As discussed in class, you can easily begin to see the mythology of adolescence surrounding Laura. She is seemingly obsessed with appearance feeling it damaging if she is not perfect. She is developing that sense of self. At this moment she is defined by her physical appearance. She needs to give nothing short of perfection to feel like she is perfect. If hair or dress is flawed than perhaps she herself feels inadequate. Laura is obviously seeking to find her identity. She is still branching out of the struggle between being industrious vs. the jump to who she really is. She is using her visual representation to mark the beginnings of what she thinks she will become. The problem I see is that she is stuck feeling her imaginary audience judging her in home room. But her counselor branches out and gives her identity through the role of debate. So as she continues her need for presentation she can now consider academia. If she still feels under the allusion of personal fable, perhaps this can be harnessed in a good way and she will practice her critical thinking abilities as well as her hair.

2. In suggesting that Laura join the debating class, Ms. Watkins is hoping to pique an interest in classroom subject matter by capitalizing on Laura's desire to be the center of attention. What two other strategies might the school faculty use to motivate students who seem to be more interested in social matters than in academic pursuits?

There is nothing as horrid as peer pressure. What if the popular kids at your school were also academically on board? If this is the case, you could easily use them to help teach, to counsel and to (as Vgotsky would recommend) to help aid in the growth through mentorship. If the popular class were to influence even a few others by these methods, you would hope that some percentage would want to rise through the ranks of the social ladder so ever present in school by focusing their attentions on the work at hand.

Also as presented in the class, rather than some of the other recommended and required electives offered, give a class in management or psychology where you focus on personality and motivation. Make it fun to explore options rather than a tedious waste of 2 weeks your junior year. Help with the skills needed to better understand self and study habits, and you could pique interest in social sciences and harness that same ‘fun’ into better students. Also, do this by no later than sophomore year so the students have time to implement and try out all the new ideas being given them.

3. From the perspective of Kohlberg's theory, in which stage of moral development is Laura? Justify your response. How might Mr. Marcalescu help Laura to advance her moral reasoning?

Laura is very much found in conventional morality. She is making decisions on what she thinks will be most pleasing to those around her. The easiest factor in her environment to change is her personal appearance. She can control her clothes, her hair, and her makeup. She readily gives up pleasing the norms of school for the norms of the society of her peers. That is the stronger force at work in her environment. Because home room is mostly a waste to begin with, she can forgo the pressures normally felt in pleasing the class and teacher at hand and now instead she can devote this same time to peer pressure. Yet when she is given the opportunity to please both the social needs and the schools, she accepts readily. She is very much in Good boy/good girl. She is thinking very little of her own needs and her own future and stuck in the here and now.

Mr. Marcalescu will have to help with rationales. Can he expose Laura to more models of behavior and thinking? Does he engage other members of the class as well? If he can keep them participative and interested, he will help switch the dynamic of peer pleasing and help trigger the understanding of Law and order. She needs to be on time. Being on time allows her to participate in an environment where her opinions do matter. She can matter both in physical presentation and in her thought representation. By the very definition of a debate class, Mr. Marcalescu will be able to push bounds of typical reasoning. He opens Laura up to an idea of pollution and environmental concerns. If he continues the discussion Laura will better be able to see both sides, to understand cause and effect and rational her thoughts on a higher level than the basic appearance she initially presents.

4. In what ways might a debating class contribute to students' cognitive, linguistic, social, and moral development?

Ironically I think I keep unintentionally answering or beginning to answer the following question in the one previously stated. This just goes to prove why it’s important to read over an entire assignment before beginning it.

Yet in response, debate is a fantastic forum for growth.
Cognitively we deal with iinformation processing. Obviously Laura is not prepared to see the bigger picture at hand and therefore lives in her small world of thought. After continual exposure, she will be able to at least experience other ideas and when she is ready, jump to multiple conclusions with the first representation of a new content.

Linguistically speaking, Laura has to have multiple opportunities both to present and to listen to others. As well she needs to her those older and more experienced than her present a side of thought. In this manner of scaffolding, she will learn terminology and ideas and ways to express coherent thought.

Socially one can develop a conscious knowledge. Thoughts can be formed with those around you in mind. Thoughts can also be formed in regards to better understanding and finding common ground with those you discuss.

Morally, debate gives her a place to express in what should be a safe environment. She should be able to explore ideas and sides without having to take and suffer moral consequences (I use morality here as one who is religious might as in arguing the bible over atheism). You can discuss ideas without being forced to believe one way or the other. In regards to the other use of morality; she can learn what the right approach to take socially is, she can understand political statements and then perhaps why hard decisions have to be made. It’s a safe ground to experience new concepts and form opinions.

Course Contract #1

1. What are you doing well?

So far I have had no problems keeping up with the reading and supplemental information on the websites. I have been able to pace myself well – thank goodness to at least get through everything in an attempt to better understand the content.

2. What are you not doing well?

I had hoped that there would be more time for me to approach teaching ideas, going through praxis material. There really isn’t. This comes in to time management outside of this course. I had scheduled myself a bit too thin this semester.

3. Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?

I suppose yes and no. I do discuss concepts and ideas with others. I am able to ask questions and have begun reading and studying materials presented by others in the field. The problem is that I am spending more time doing this than on what is asked for me in this individual course.

4. List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals.

I need to let go of some of my extracurricular reading (i.e. presented theorists) so I can spend more time making sure I really do understand the content thoroughly. I need to leave ample time to review notes, course materials, and supplemental to make sure that when I leave this course I am prepared to study for praxis III on my own.

Development Case Study - Chapter 2

Ch. 2 Analysis Questions:




1. From the perspective of Piaget's theory, in which stage of cognitive development is Laura? Justify your response.



Just for fun I believe that one could argue that Laura is still in the concrete operations stage but likely on the cusp of change. She is able to think logically to a degree. She recognizes that air pollutants are a huge issue and so focuses her thoughts on one stream – that of gasoline. She has some deductive reasoning where she counters her teacher on his points by continually backing up her one thought (people should exercise more because they are over-weight). But she lacks abstract connective thought. She can’t see the bigger picture and the larger ramifications which keep me from placing her in the formal operations stage. But it is also true that because of her egocentric speech, she exhibits moments of preoperational egocentrism. Yet on the same point, she does use basic deductive reasoning skills to validate her claim. It appears that there is just dissonance in her environment rather than pure egocentric speech issues.



2. How is Laura's reasoning affected by her knowledge base--that is, by what she does and doesn't know about pollution?



When someone makes a claim that in order to fix pollution you should destroy thousands of livelehoods, upset the balance and economy and increase rodent infestation, they obviously are just parroting something they have heard. Is gasoline increasing pollution? Yes, of course it is. But it isn’t the only contributing aspect. Laura couldn’t argue alternative fuel or clean coal, she just says simply to eliminate that which she sees as an obstacle (just as her hair must be just so and her makeup). Things need to be simple and stream-lined.



3. By posing a series of questions, Mr. Marculescu continually challenges Laura to reconsider her thinking about the pollution problem. What are potential benefits of this strategy? Use terminology from Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories in your response.



It appears to me that Mr. Marculescu is using scaffolding. He is guiding his student by questioning her thought process to see the larger ramifications of her suggestions. He is hoping to broaden her view and representation of an issue by taking into account multiple aspects and scenarios. She needs to have a cognitive apprenticeship so she can not only acknowledge the issues at hand but be able to look from vantage points and both sides before arguing one side or another. It also appears that once Laura can learn these basic truths she will be building her proportional reasoning ability. She doesn’t see the fault in a mother biking to work, with all her children, running back and forth between school, day care and proximital distance. She doesn’t understand why the vast amount of workers in NY city commute and how destroying the transit system would raise property values passed the breaking point. As Piaget put it, she is experiencing vast disequilibrium; unable to associate her ideas with new schemes playing on the same subject. She compensates by pushing everything back to her original point and not being willing to waiver. Eventually, the more the teacher pushes the more likely Laura will be to eventually find equilibrium not merely by going back to her original proposition but by making connections to find harmony out of dissonance.



4. How does this scenario represent Piaget's and Vygotsky's conceptions of play?



Laura is debating with her teacher as though she is on the same reasoning and thinking page as he is. This is not to say that she can’t be, but she clearly is not. Play is discussed in the text where the child always believes they are above their average age, ability and behavior. Laura is clearly pitting herself as adult using simple but explicit rules that as the teacher acknowledged his interest in what she had to say, she therefore has the right to believe her thoughts to be flawless. She still can learn reasoning and strategy skills. This will likely come after she is more comfortable in the environment and the rules are clearly defined. But she will come again and again and learn through play and observation of others to act a certain way.

AROUSAL AND THE OPTIMAL LEVEL OF STIMULUS IN THE CLASSROOM

Multiple Intelligences Project

As an inspiration for this project, I am proposing a modified use of presentation styles from two sets of documentary films: “La hora de los hornos” and the “Qatsi Trilogy.” “La hora de los hornos” (The Hour of the Furnaces) is a three part documentary film created in Argentina in the 1960s. It was a film developed with specific intentions to evoke discussion and debates. Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino were trying to create a new kind of non-narrative filmic style that used an interplay and juxtaposition of images with title cards, narration, soundlessness and motion overlapping to create or spark reflection and critical analysis – in essence, to help create a kind of democratic forum of teaching.

Similarly, the “Qatsi Trilogy” (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi) by Godfrey Reggio combines visual-spatial stimulus with musical stimulus to evoke reflection and thoughtfulness. As they say on their website, “Not for the answers that might be given, but for the questions that can be raised…” was the project created.

I am proposing a project that uses media in a similar vein to the above examples to raise questions, teach principles from our text, and access such multiple intelligences as visual-spatial, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and linguistic. The subject of “arousal,” the ongoing need for either physical or cognitive stimulation, would be my intended focus. I would juxtaposition video footage from online and other sources, interspersing footage with pictures, and overlapping layers of music and dialogue with title overlays and different sections. The idea is to demonstrate different kinds of stimulus that our students receive in their home and personal lives and in their classrooms. I would seek to have three different multi-tasking videos at once on three different screens with three different projectors in a meshing of stimulus and arousal. The full purpose is to ask the questions: “What is the optimal level of arousal?” and “What activities are most likely to help keep students sufficiently aroused that they have little need to look elsewhere for stimulation?”

For further detail, see the following clips:

The Hour of the Furnaces:



The Qatsi Trilogy:

Multiple intelligence Test

Cool Brain Research

I chose to look at Diane Watanabe. I have to admit she was hard to research. Her name came up attached to many conferences I would love to go to. She was ‘associated’ with many Dana Foundation projects, but almost never specifically cited.

What?

Diane Y. Watanabe, EdD, former Co-Director, Institute of Learning, Teaching, and the Human Brain, Division of Curriculum and Instructional Services, Los Angeles County Office of Education; Consultant on the arts, cognition and the brain.

It seems her specialty (at least as related to her speaking work) is in applying brain research to classroom practice. She is part of LACOE (Los Angeles County Office of Education). She also has a connection to The Dana Foundation (http://www.dana.org/) and partners regularly with neurobiologist Dr. Terrence J. Sejnowski. She helped in the research and writing for Gordon Shaw’s Keeping Mozart in Mind. In 2006 I found where she had presented her research on understanding how the brain works in a GATE student.

She is speaking in the conference, "Learning & the Brain The attentive brain: Using brain research to enhance attention and motivation in students May 6-8, 2010 (http://www.edupr.com/index.html)

She previously spoke at the same conference where the focus was: The Creative Brain: using brain research on creativity and the arts to improve learning. (This conference I really wish I could have attended).

As prepared by lehigh valley arts council:

http://www.lvartscouncil.org/education/artlinks_winterspring07.pdf

Diane Watanabe focuses on "brain research concerning learning research-based strategies for raising student achievement in all subject areas

[She] emphasizes approaches for actively engaging students in reading and learning.

[Her] curriculum and instructional professional development specialist in modeling and analyzing interactive teaching/learning strategies that maximize classroom productivity for K-12th grade.

[She] centers on the importance of the arts in human brain development; impact of arts on habits of mind and lifelong learning; and research-based teaching strategies.”

So What?

Well, to state the obvious, Watanabe seems to meld/bridge the gap between using the arts and critical research to develop new approaches to teaching and retention. Her research is very practical. She works for LACOA and lectures on implementation. She is considered to be a consultant, which means she physically goes into a space and works with those involved to create something that wasn’t there before. She is a specialist in her field of applied brain study as related to arts and retention. If we can understand how the brain works and more specifically, how to enhance the brains natural patterns of learning, we could harness this huge force for change. We would educate not simply lecture. We could cater to our students in a way that we have yet to have touched. Meld the ideas of therapy and emotional health and cognition with increased learning ability and long term retention. We come begin to improve depression, hopefully create a ground-work of stability, so that kids can focus on the lesson at hand rather than the personal turmoil in their personal lives.

Now What?

I fully admit that unfortunately I couldn’t find transcripts from her speaking engagements. I did find write ups about her accomplishments and outlines for conferences and workshops. I have to base most of my assumptions from those sources.

As I mentioned before, if we understand the brain and how to use multiple techniques to create a solid environment for learning and development, we could improve as teachers. I would want to study her techniques, go to her lectures, put into practice her ideas and mold them to what the individual needs are to my current classroom. I would love to study the before and after (and hopefully the after really is forthcoming). Long term we could see if GPA’s improved, if personal behavior improved, what choices and schools did these kids choose after graduation, did they graduate … all questions one could ask after examining these ideas in years of study. Of course in the short term you could gage classroom attentiveness, retention, test scores, participation … all signs that the students want to learn and to grow rather than are forced to attend.

Off topic:

How does one become such a specialist to be asked to speak and teach in these forums, to actually be wanted to implement change? That would be fantastic (especially in my love for the field of the arts).

What? So What? Now What?

What?

We went through the 4 types of educational research. They were as follows:

Descriptive: It describes a situation. They allow us to draw conclusions about the way things are at the current moment. (You cannot change circumstance and environment).

Correlative: It looks at the relationships, or possible relationships, that exist between things. It specifically highlights the extent to which two things tend to be together or change together. Key works are “…emplies”. (You cannot change circumstance and environment).

Experimental: It is meant to be a study where the experimenter has a hand in the results of the study, manipulating at least one of the variables to see what happens, measuring the effects of those changes. This is the ONLY research method in which you can change the environment.

Action: Research conducted by either teacher or other faculty to address issues in their own schools.

So What?

For whatever reason I am struggling with these principles. Not in theory but in practicality. The first two are so subjective that you would think most people would dismiss the information gathered as impractical since it can only be applied to a very small subject matter. Experimental research, where are at least you control circumstances, requires that the outcome of your research be duplicated without ‘help’ from the researcher in the future. If what is studied and gathered in the controlled environment cannot happen naturally outside of the control space, then what is the point in being able to rely on experimental data? And then we have action research. Unlike the others, at least this is pertinent. But then I struggle with what happens to a classroom if they are a study group. Yet, this makes more sense to do research that the individual can use and benefit from and share with peers who teach in a similar environment.

As based on our scenarios, it seems that most research is presented as a scare tactic (as in the day care-aggression line of thought). I am sure there are children who do react violently after day care, but you then can argue nature vs. nurture or perhaps age cognition and genetics. It seems so open-ended. I have a hard time seeing how most of these methods can be used without bias. Scenario 4 seems the most likely and genuine IF the presenter stated that she recommended the use based on her experience alone and not on any other qualitative measures.

Now What?

This also causes confusion for me. Because of my fears when it comes to bias, I am hesitant to make any assumptions. I need to learn more about their practical application. Obviously they are used. Why? How? How can you go through the process, make assumptions, find connections and present a conclusion and feel confident that the answer reached has grounding in fact? This is what I want to learn. I am curious as to what studies I have ‘bought into’ without recognizing what methods and tactics were implicitly employed for the best possible reaction.

As a teacher and observer, I need to be aware of patterns. I would like to study action research and how best to implement such for learning and development without sacrificing the students of the class. I assume that we all need to learn and grow from ourselves and our co-workers. We are stronger when we can develop beyond our current state of being, and this is a continual maturity. To remain stagnant is to be a mediocre teacher.

Course Contract

Educational Psychology
Course Contract

List 2-3 specific goals you have for this course.

     1. Prepare to study for the Praxis exam
     2. Learn better self regulation and study abilities; put systems in place to facilitate my own learning
     3. Pass the course with a clear understanding of educational psychology, how it will aid me in the   classroom and how to apply theory into practice

Describe your weekly preparation plan. Be specific. What will you do each day of the week to prepare for this course.


     IN GENERAL
-Read the material.

-Look up and USE the supplemental materials given.

-Discuss with my husband and other friends and family who are teachers about how they use/see/feel about the current theory we are studying in their day to day observations.

-Write ideas down (journaling/blogging/sketching) from material presented. Essential look at it from the point of view (or attempt to) of teacher and administrator. How do the two meet in the middle?

     DAY to DAY
-I cannot promise to look at the material every day. That would be dishonest from the beginning. I lead a very full and tremendously busy life. I can commit to fulfilling all assignments early (preferably before the start of the next school week) so that I can spend the rest of my time in working on the retention side of the learning process.

-Thursday evenings are a great time for me to prepare to study. My husband doesn’t have class, I don’t typically work. I can ready myself by doing our weekly racquetball game followed by yoga. If my body is stretched my mind shouldn’t balk at the idea of sitting down and I am usually more aware and able. I can then use the time when my children are asleep to go through the material in a quiet environment.

-Fridays I can attempt the ‘Reduce’ side of the 4 R’s. Make outlines, summaries, discuss with others, and begin assignments.

-Saturday I will continue on this stage with a bit of Retention.

-Sunday I will likely put it all away except for personal writings to give myself a break.

-Mon-Wednesday I will prepare myself more with simple attempts at Retention. This would be where more discussion and study of theory and applied theory would realistically take place.

-Wednesday night would also be a good time to Review one more time the materials presented in effort to be prepared for discussion in class.

Outline the study strategies that you will use to understand the material.

I do feel that some of this is redundant. I have always naturally been very successful in school. Although I am a horrible test taker, my writing is strong, my ideas followed through and I love theory (especially applied). I am not worried about anything beyond my ability towards retention. I am interested in what is on Praxis III vs what is necessary to actually become a better teacher. Is there a dichotomy between the two matters? Are the test subjects mutually exclusive to teaching practices? Or perhaps the better question is one of practicality. With government and local restrictions requiring seemingly unnecessary and pointless actions, is it improbable to implement that which would make for a better education (I admit I am jaded since much of my family are teachers and professors in the State of California).

I wonder, and I know this is all off topic, if Educational Psychology is considered to be a bit of a joke to practicing teachers. First I will start by saying I love psychology and the study of it. I am slowly working on my Masters/PhD in Drama Therapy so I obviously love the study. But I wonder if you have psychologists and sociologists who study and prepare - who come up with great ideas and then are thwarted. One: does the government approve and support the grand idea? Two: do teachers balk and scoff at theoretical approaches to teaching from those who aren’t ‘teaching’ in a K-12 setting? Does this make the psychologist frustrated? I admire and would love to emulate someone like Ken Robinson. But do you continue the course for change because you believe in it or do you ever want to give up because of the short-sightedness of others? Just a thought.

Sorry that wasn’t specific to answering the question. I will attempt to now. I want to look at some of the study strategies you have listed. I especially like the idea of timed reading and blocking off sections and rephrasing up to that point. I want to look up and learn other ideas for note taking to see if I can’t find a better method. I am sure there are many that far outweigh any I have been using in the past and it would do me good to work towards a new goal. Concept mapping itself seems to me a fascinating study. Even if it doesn’t help me out per say in this course, the guides themselves would be an interesting circle in conceptualization.

Explain the process you will follow if you do not understand a topic.

I typically begin with research. I will start with generalities and encyclopedias, then I move on to 'clinicals.' Once I have reviewed there I move to discussion. My husband and I love bantering things back and forth and finding a way to apply an idea – then it becomes visual and kinesthetic. If I can see and participate in the process I can better understand (like reading allowed a text makes one slow down, discussion and actualization force mental connection and better retention). If this still doesn’t work, I will make phone calls to other teachers and educators to see if they can clarify. I will bother you for further examples since therein lies the import of any idea; in many ways its manifestations and occasionally its practical use.

Complete the following statement:

I will reach my goals in this course by focusing my goals, attempting to lessen the amount of time wasted in my life with trivialities, and by not procrastinating.

Nothing like an autobiography

I am an aspiring artist, writer and strong Ken Robinson supporter. I would love to continue on his work but more along the parallel side of drama therapy in education as a method towards emotionally healthy and focused kids. It’s vague, it’s not fleshed out, it doesn’t translate well to the written word, but somehow makes sense inside my head. To begin what I would like to do in the end, I need to teach. I need to gain experience so I can figure out where the states of things are for myself (not just from reading and most assuredly not from test scores).


I belong to a group of screenwriters where we all share bits of our thoughts and scenes. The other day we all wrote biographies. Here is some of what I included (I thought it would summarize me a bit easier than if I attempted to write anew).



Sort of an introduction:

When I finally publish (that implies that I will someday be able to actually wrangle a decent to possibly moderately fabulous agent who can help me secure the contract with Faber and Faber, Harcourt and even possibly Scholastic and Vintage/Random) I don’t want my author bio to say this:

Alisha Hagey is the author of a lot of rubbish. Most of it has ended up in the bowels of her computer (i.e. flushed with all the other waste bi-product of an unfulfilled life). She has been the finalist of no competitions, won no accolades and in general has nothing but her moderate wit to recommend that you pick up this bit of drivel rather than a proven author or even the latest NY Times best seller list worth of trite but popular vampire lore. For 7 years she has tired ceaselessly to be a mother, wife, full time employee, and chef. She went to Brigham Young University earning a completely useless bachelors degree in her beloved field of theatre directing and film art directing. Yet because of the baggage of family she has not been able to finish a master’s degree or work professionally in the field of art. Her greatest achievements were received even before attending college as her resume is rather impressive (pre 1998). Currently she lives in a tiny apartment with no pets (much to her 5 years olds chagrin) in Provo, UT.

How was that? Interesting? Engaging? Would you read my work? Not likely.

But that was an introduction to who I am. I am a mother, wife, writer, artist, therapist, and amateur photographer. I am slowly but surely working towards a clinical psychology degree focusing on drama and movement therapy. I write and every now and then am published in free press info. I blog, occasionally. My dream would entail being nominated for a Tony, being a recipient of the Newberry Honor title, possibly (and never likely) up for consideration for the Pulitzer and of course, to be asked to speak at TED (not just junior associate member, but full on accepted). I would love to own my own theatre company (not run it, just start it and direct from time to time) so I could then devote my time to a community outreach program using drama therapy.

My personal blog address is: http://alishahagey.blogspot.com/ I admit it is full of my family, but occasionally there is something from me.

Currently I am working on a play entitled Lachrimae (really the title is in progress). It all came about when I read some clinicals for EFT (emotional-feeling-therapy). It got me thinking about a couple my husband met and unfortunately never found out the outcome of the stressor. Right now, the play is abysmal. I could post what I have done, but it is more free form than tight. I have also periodically been working on a bit of adolescent fiction based around the Japanese folktale of Tokoyo. This is also hugely changing because I just don’t see this in Japan. But story comes, dialogue comes, but again, I need to flesh out and map out what I am writing. Then last week my daughter said something that got me thinking of an adult fiction piece with the title, “The Shopping Cart Graveyard” that I thought might be a fascinating exploration of contemporary spending patterns, the modern society and Wal-Mart. But that’s too obtuse and I just like the visual. Perhaps that would work better as a series of photographs.