Chapter 7 Learning Log

What? Students are always adding to and modifying their understanding of the physical and social world they live in. Their knowledge is that of their own because they must individually create their own views of the physical and social phenomena. Their knowledge and beliefs are also influenced b y their environment and experiences. Every student constructs their own unique view of the ideas and events they encounter in and out of the classroom. Their views may be both good and bad. They can be good because their understandings are equally legitimate. However, they may interfere with growing socially. It is our job as teachers to make sure they interpret the world around them in ways that will benefit them.
So what? It is important to know this information because teachers need to know that there are common misconceptions that the students have due to their age. There are many ways of promoting conceptual change: identify existing misconceptions before instruction begins, look for and then build on kernels of truth in students' existing understandings, convince students that their existing beliefs need revision, motivate students to learn correct explanations, and monitor what students say and write for persistent misconceptions. It is important to know these ways of promoting change because the students need to be corrected when they have misconceptions.
Now what? In the classroom I will know what to teach and in what way because of the misconceptions the students have. They have their schema, which we learn about in a lot of my classes this semester, and I will be able to help my students use their schema to altar it with the correct information. If I overlook what my students know prior to me teaching the units, their schema would stay the same and they wouldn't learn anything because they would be building off of the wrong information while they are learning. The best way to do this is by scaffolding and walking the students through this step by step so they aren't confused when the teacher tells them that what they've thought all along was wrong, and what's right is completely different than that they thought.

Chapter 6 Learning Log

What? Long term memory had infinite capacity, but short term memory and attention has limited capacity. No matter how interesting something may be, we can only learn so much so fast, and we can only retain so much information in our short term memory. In order to learn something efficiently, you need to give the learning process your undivided attention in order to retain that information. That is, you must mentally focus on it and temporarily make it the center of your cognitive world. Then, you need to make it meaningful. If you don't think it's important or there's no reason to remember that information, the brain will not recognize it as a priority to remember it.
So what? It is important to know this information because teachers need to know why it's important to remember things, and how students can remember. If we as teachers know how students can remember information, we will be able to teach in a more effective way. If we teach our students ways to remember information and teach them why it is important to give their undivided attention to the lessons, they will be able to use those skills in the future when they need to remember even more important things like for college or their jobs.
Now what? In the classroom, I will be sure to always emphasize the importance of understanding information, and I will let my students know over and over again that if they don't understand what's going on in the unit, they must come and meet with me so we can get it into their long term memory and they can recognize it as important. I will not only emphasize this in my words but also in my activities, assignments and assessment practices. I will do my best to make learning meaningful so my students will be able to feel success more often and be able to actually learn how to learn.

Temple Grandin Presentation

I really enjoyed the presentation by Temple. I once knew an autistic boy back home growing up, and he had several qualities that made him different from the other kids I knew. He always had to tuck in his shirts and wear his socks high because he hated the feeling of anything touching his skin. Socially, he had a hard time understanding situations. The way Temple talked and dressed reminded me of how my friend talked and dressed. I found it interesting that she is so knowledgeable, and her qualities mirrored those of my friend's.
I thought she was a fascinating person, and she was so smart! I really liked that she knew a lot about teaching autistic children, because as she shared her knowledge with us, it calmed me because I am actually a little nervous about getting autistic children as students mainly because I hope I handle them and their differences the correct way. She repeated a lot of things that I learned in my Exception Students class last semester. She said that it isn't a good idea to all of a sudden change things, like the room's layout or the schedule of the day. Autistic children don't adapt well to change in any manner, whether it be having indoor recess or making science before reading for a day. She advised that we take the child aside in the morning and tell that child that today will be a little different and it is nothing to get worked up over, and just make sure they understand that there will be changes in that day. I think this is the part that makes me the most nervous about having autistic children in my classroom.
I'll be honest here, I'm vegetarian and so the fact that she's all about the slaughterhouse scene doesn't put her high on my favorites list. But, other than that, she's an amazing speaker! That's totally off topic, and yes, she was very interesting to listen to!

Brain Reflection

What? I learned so much about the brain. The jigsaw activity helped a whole lot. I especially like that we used the jigsaw activity because we learned about it in Social Studies Methods, but being able to experience it first-hand makes it easier to use the strategy in the classroom. I learned that the frontal lobe controls emotions and judgement, as well as personality and facial movements. The parietal lobe controls movement, orientation, recognition and perception of stimuli. The occipital lobe is associated with visual processing (occipital is an eye-related word), and the temporal lobe has to do with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech. The cerebellum controls regulation and coordination of movement, posture, and balance. So, if someone were to damage their cerebellum, they may have a hard time balancing or sitting up straight. The amygdala is associated with memory, emotion and fear. The hippocampus is necessary to convert short-term memory into long-term memory storage.
So What? It is important to know the parts of the brain because it is your brain! It is the most magnificent organ in the body that controls everything you do and makes up who you are. In the classroom, it is important to recognize that there are students whose brains may operate differently than others' brains, and it's good to know that a student who had damage done to their frontal lobe may have mood swings or act differently than they did prior to the injury. It is also good to have this knowledge because students can come up to you and ask you about why things work the way they do in the brain. You could give them a sentence or two of an explanation, and tell them to do some research on the rest of the information and present it to the class because it would be a neat thing to find out. I think that by doing this, the student would get very interested and be driven to do research about the brain.
Now What? Even though I got so much more out of the lesson than this, I can use the jigsaw strategy in my classroom now that I have experienced it first-hand. I understand the strategy much more now and I see how effective it is when it is put to use. My students will really be able to benefit from it, and I can apply it to any subject. Now that I have learned about the different parts of the brain and what they do for the human body, I will be able to become more familiar with its functions. If I am teaching the students how to memorize, like teaching the different strategies to use while studying, I can emphasize that they need to store it in their temporal lobes. I always feel it's important to review different studying techniques with the students, and during this, I can incorporate what I know about the brain.

Chapter 3 Learning Log

What? I learned a lot in the reading. I learned that social interaction is critical for everybody to grow and develop. Relationships play a huge role in developing social skills. Conversations about controversial topics and moral issues help you to gain a more greater perspective on things and help you to gain a more advanced moral reasoning. When punishment is accompanied by induction, perspective taking and moral development are promoted. As teachers, it is important that we communicate with our students the rules of behaving in the classroom, as well as at home. It is also important to show love so the students gain respect for you as their teacher. We need to allow the students to interact with others to explore themselves and others, especially if cliques are present in the classroom. Children are more likely to make gains in moral development when they think about the harm and distress that certain behaviors cause others. Classroom discussions of controversial topics and moral issues appear to promote increased perspective taking and the transition to more advanced reasoning.
So What? It is important for me to understand these concepts because I will need to understand and know how to deal with certain issues in the classroom, such as cliques and unusual social interactions. It is important to know the pros of social interaction and the steps of moral and social development because, that way, I can promote it in the classroom to help my students grow. There are many ways I can encourage moral behavior and development in the classroom. I can give reasons that some behaviors are unacceptable, encourage perspective taking, expose the students to numerous models of moral behavior, and get the students actively involved in community service.
Now What? In the classroom, I will be able to develop lesson plans around helping the students develop and learn about morals. It is very important for the students to know their limits, both in and out of the classroom. That way, I can encorporate this by having the students come up with the rules of the classroom. I still need to learn about how I would apply these techniques in the classroom, that way I can be able to assess the students' development properly.

Extra Credit: Kim Peeks

Today I went to an assembly where Kim Peeks spoke, accompanied by his father. It was an amazing experience to see him in person and to hear what he had to say. At first glance, Kim Peeks did in fact appear mentally retarded. With his thick glasses and playful antics, he seemed almost like a child. However, when words came out of his mouth and he enlightened the audience with his philosophies and stories, I felt mentally retarded! He blew my mind, and I'm assuming the audience's as well.
Here are some interesting facts about Kim Peeks. At nine months he was diagnosed as mentally retarded due to the fact that the two lobes in his brain had formed together. At the age of three, he utilized the dictionary, and at 14 he graduated high school. He can play 85% of all classical music on the piano that he heard between ages 3 and 6-1/2 perfectly from memory. Until the movie "Rain Man," he was severely mentally retarded. Then, Dustin Hoffman told his father to share him with the world. And he did just that. Kim Peeks has touched several lives with his wit, charm and knowledge.
I noticed that he played with the microphone and covered his face a lot, like a child would. He also rarely spoke directly into the microphone; his father had to tell him to do so. He groaned a lot and interupted his father while he was speaking.
Kim's greatest words today were "Everybody's different."

Chapter 2 Learning Log

What? I learned about the different parts of the the body that are involved in making memories and learning. When a child learns, new synapses are formed and strengthened between neurons. I also learned about Piaget and his stages. He believed that children went through stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Through these stages, children grow in their learning through their perception of what is around them. Vygotsky was also in the reading. He had theories of his own about cognitive development. His beliefs are about the importance of society and culture in promoting cognitive development. Vygotsky was more involved in observing the students when they interacted with themselves and other students, as well as adults (teachers). Overall, Piaget and Vygotsky introduced possibly the most important factors in cognitive development when it comes to acquiring language.
So What? It is important for me to know these things as a future teacher because it is important to know where in cognitive development my students are so that I am able to adapt my teaching methods to be able to get through to my students. There will be diversity in my classroom in the students' cognitive development, so I need to know what to do in order to properly teach the students. If I can teach all of my students equally, despite their diversity in cognitive learning, I will be a much better teacher than if I couldn't.
Now What? I will be able to use the different methods suggested by Vygotsky in my classroom, such as apprenticeship, scaffolding, guided participation, and many others. I will also be able to assess my students adequately now that I know what to expect from that at certain places in cognitive development. Now that I have learned about Vygotsky's theories, I have many new techniques I can apply in the classroom to assess where in the cognitive development my students are.