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.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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.
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.
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