Hidden Assignment

List 2-3 specific goals you have for this course. One goal I have for this course is to just overall improve my teaching skills. I would really like to know what to say and how to say it to get things into students’ heads. Another goal I have for this course is to just become a better teacher. I’m a little nervous about the middle of this semester, going into the classroom and all, but I’m hoping this class, as well as my others, will calm my nerves and prepare me more. My last goal for this class is to understand why students learn the way they do compared to how the teacher teaches (if that even makes sense). In other words, I would like to know which teaching styles work best compared to those who don’t. I understand that every student learns differently, and each teacher teaches differently, but I would like to learn more about that.
Describe your weekly preparation plan. Be specific. What will you do each day of the week to prepare for this course? What do I do each day to prepare for this course? I like to break my homework up and do a little of each class each day. I consider myself to be very organized when it comes to homework and scheduling, and I have a written schedule I’ve made that tells how much of each subject I do each day. Monday, I go to this class. Tuesday, I do a little homework. Wednesday, I read about half of the assigned reading. Thursday, I finish the homework. Then, I’ve left the entire weekend to complete the reading. Outline the study strategies that you will use to understand the material. It’s hard to say now, because I find that I need to adapt my study methods to how the teacher assesses. I’d have to say that by me reading and doing the assignments, I will be prepared adequately (as far as I know so far) for any kind of assessment. For the midterm written test, I will most likely get a study group together. I really like study groups because it allows me to study not only what is in my head and in my notes, but in other people’s heads and notes.
Explain the process you will follow if you do not understand a topic. I will first go to a peer, because I’ve found that going straight to the teacher can make one even more confused in some cases. If I still don’t understand it after talking with a friend in the class, I will go to the teacher and explain that I am having a hard time understanding a certain concept.
Complete the following statement: I will reach my goals in this course by attending class (both physically and mentally), being honest with myself as far as what material I understand and what material requires more explanation, and giving this class my all.

WebQuest Final Reflection

What? I've learned a lot about all of the four educational research types. I didn't know how different descriptive study was from experimental study. Prior to this, I thought you could relate cause-and-effect correlations through experimental study, but I've found out that you can't. Also, I thought that action research was really interesting. I didn't know there was actually a name for the kind of study where teachers/schools hold about issues around the school. I took many statistics classes and in them we talked about correlations, and by learning more about correlation studies, a lot of the information I learned in those classes were brought back to me.
So what? It is important to know the difference between the different educational research types. As an educator, if you want to find something out about the students or classroom techniques, it's important that you know how to go about finding the answers to your questions. You need to reflect on your teaching and how the students respond to your strategies, and you need to know how to act upon your reflections.
Now what? I need to learn how to carry out studies in the classroom. Now that I am more familiar with the different types of studies, I need to learn what to do with the information that I learned. In my future career, I will incorporate studies in the classroom. The class and I will carry out studies about the class and school (action study) and I will do studies to see which of my teaching techniques work and don't work with the students. Not only will I generate research, I will consume it. I will use the information I gather from my research in the future.

Motivation

1. Why are you here? I am here to learn, to feel, to grow (mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally), and to teach. I believe that every experience that I have while I am alive contributes to some sort of learning, feeling or growing. I think that it is very important to know why you are here, because if you don't know why you are here, how do you know what to do? What goals would you have? Even if I wasn't going to school for Education, I would still believe that I am here to teach. I feel this is one of the most important reasons I am here.
2. What motivates you? I am motivated when I am going against the grain. When I believe something is right for me and I need to do it, I am very motivated to accomplish it, especially when there are people around me saying "You don't need to do that," or "That is a terrible idea". I come from a very opinionated family, and if I set a goal for myself that isn't what they would chose to do, they will definitely let me know how they feel. For some reason, this pushes me to do it and drives me to accomplish it. I think it is because I know that I am doing it for me, and only me, and that way I can feel a higher, more personal, sense of accomplishment.
3. Why do you succeed? I succeed because I am driven. If I lose my sense of drive and begin to push it farther back on my priority list, I don't get it done. If I do get it done, it's not my best effort. I don't need everything going my way in order for me to succeed. If things get rough, I just try all that much harder. I am a very driven person when I want to be, and when I chose which goals I want to succeed in, they more often than not get accomplished, all because of my drive.
4. Why do you fail? I fail because I am not driven and I lose focus. If I get distracted, I chose between ignoring that distraction or giving my undivided attention to it, and when I chose the second one, I fail. I see failing as not achieving a goal you set for yourself. Sometimes, I'm just not capable of succeeding at things. I wanted to be a Dental Hygienist at a point in my college career, and I was so driven, maybe more driven than I had ever been in any other class. I took my prerequisites: chemistry, communications, sociology, and microbiology, and earned a C+ in everything except microbiology: my first F. I tried so hard and failed, because the goal I had set for myself was at least a B- in every class. I took microbiology again and got a C+. This time, I succeeded (in my eyes) because my goal was to not fail again. I decided that Dental Hygiene wasn't for me after all, and teaching was much more rewarding in the long run.
5. How do you need to change your motivations and mindset for this class in order to become a great teacher? In order to become a great teacher, I need to set realistic goals for myself. I need to understand that, for this class, I am learning how to become a great teacher. I need to focus on learning in order for my studnets to benefit from my teaching. If I don't focus on learning in this class, I will have missed out on a huge part of how to be a great teacher.