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.