Farewell Online Psychology of Learning

Farewell Online Psychology of Learning

     I don't even know where to begin when thinking about everything that I learned in this class. I truly believe that the most I could say is thank you. This course helped to open my eyes to so many possibilities and obstacles in understanding learning theories that I probably wouldn't of been able to overcome on my own. I must admit that this course really was a lot of work though. It reminded me of the same anxiety that I felt while taking Social Studies Methods, but I knew with just the time and determination, I would be able to successfully complete everything. I'm still nervous about taking Science Methods two semesters from now, but I know that I can do it just like how I conquered Social Studies Methods and Psychology of Learning. Out of this experience, I commented on one of my colleagues' blog three times because I did not have access to the others. 

• Paul's Blog

     A bit of advice for learners who are going to take this course, do not wait to do everything until the end. I can not stress this enough. This is not any ordinary online course. There is a lot of work and it is very time consuming, so I suggest that you use your time wisely and keep your head in the game. To bring this class to a closing, take care and thank you Dr. Smirnova for this wonderful experience and making my first online class a memorable one.

Becoming a Montessori Fanatic

Becoming a Montessori Fanatic

    Thanks to this course, I am now a Montessori fanatic. I love the concept behind the Montessori learning theory and I can't imagine myself discussing anything else for a learning theory. Montessori is interesting and I really am glad that I picked Maria Montessori to talk about. I am actually considering on training to become a certified Montessori teacher because I am just that interested in this learning program. I think that student's learning at their own pace and working on themselves as learners is a remarkable approach that most teachers should take into consideration or at least read about. 

My Screencast Presentation

     The video above is the screen cast that I recorded of myself sharing my presentation on Maria Montessori and the Montessori learning theory. I liked creating this presentation because it was not only something I was familiar with, but something that I was excited to talk about and share my feelings with others about. I actually showed this presentation to my co workers at the day care that I worked at and we are considering on using some of the materials for our students. I actually made a sensory board for our toddlers and they love it!

My Fieldwork Experience at Hillcroft Day Camp: A New Inspiration

My Fieldwork Experience at Hillcroft Day Camp: 

A New Inspiration

     I have absolutely without a doubt have found a new found passion at the Hillcroft Day Camp. It's way more than just any camp than you could ever expect. The people there are a family and they take care of each other. What else is really interesting about this camp is that most of their staff members are certified teachers from around the world. They have faculty members that are from other states, Germany, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. The work that they do with the students is truly remarkable and if I knew that camp was like this as a child, I would of wanted to actually go. I used to be afraid of going to a camp, but now I wish that I would have. I am considering to go and apply for a job here next summer.

     While at the camp, I observed a teacher who was in charge of Folk Art here at the camp who gave me a tour and taught 3rd and 4th graders for the time frame that I was there. She is from an older school house out in Massachusetts that was built in 1923 and according to her, I quote, "We are lucky if we have light in our classroom, let alone internet access." I thought that this was interesting, but she did mention that they were hopefully trying to get a new building created. Below are my tasks that I engaged in while observing: 

Task #1:  Interview a teacher on: What effective teaching principles s/he follows to reach every child in his/her classroom. What latest research s/he is referring to in his/her teaching design. In what ways the research on effective teaching empowers teachers' continued learning process? Record the answers and interpret the results from the point of view of the reading materials about effective teaching and the research methods. 

• The effective teaching principles that the teacher that I interviewed follows to reach every child in her classroom are incorporating a lot of visual aids, differentiating instruction all around the classroom, and taking breaks between lessons such as lecturing for only ten minutes before introducing a structured activity revolving the lecture to give the children a break. She believes that these are the three top effective principles of teaching that she uses in her classroom. These principles that the teacher mentioned relate directly to the course text in chapter 14 with regards to the characteristics of an effective teaching. According to Anitia Woolfolk, the characteristics of an effective teacher revolve around clarity, organization, and warmth and enthusiasm. Just by spending those few moments observing the teacher, I was able to conclude that she retained all of these characteristics. 
• She mentioned that the latest research that she refers to in her teaching design and style are the aspects of technology and how it can be integrated into the classroom. She noticed how technology is constantly growing and it is not going to go anywhere, so she is hoping to get one to one ipads for her classroom or for her school district. She also brought up the good fact that technology is expensive and with the socioeconomic diversity intensity at her school, it is difficult for the students to use and have access to the wonderful concepts of technology. 
• She stated that "Research helps to a degree, but I don't think that some are the best or useful." She expressed the dislike for research because the school follows the research in order to make themselves look good, but she emphasized that the importance should be based on the children's learning. 

Task #2: Interview 3 to 5 (or more) people asking them to name three characteristics of intelligent people. Summarize their responses and present the findings digitally. Summarize and publish the results in your blogs.

 

    To the right are the three responses from three different view points from three different people. I found it interesting that the teacher's responses were more in depth with understanding the intelligence level that a teacher should have. The parent's responses relied on how they would see an intelligent person to be when they think of an inspiring person and someone who is ready to engage. The child's response relied on what they see in the environment around them such as getting good grades in school or like the president being an intelligent leader.

Task #3:  Observe a classroom and discuss with the teacher how s/he is using the child development characteristics in her/his lesson planning and teaching.

• From what I was observing in the classroom, the teacher relied on the children's fine motor skills and their ability to comprehend and follow directions. The teacher also emphasized the importance of always having more than just one media to show to the students. For example, during the art project, the teacher modeled every step, showed pictures, and used language in which the students were able to simply comprehend because they were familiar with it. The teacher also emphasized the importance of being organized when engaging into child development aspects because the teacher should know exactly what is being done at what time or if they need to accommodate their lesson to suit the other students' needs. 

Task #4: Observe the teacher paying attention to the individual need of students and blog about your observations.

• During my observation, I noticed how the teacher focused on all of the students evenly. She walked around the tables and constantly asked the students how they were doing or complimenting on their work. The teacher also made herself available whenever the students requested her attention or assistance. She was up and ready to help. The teacher also made sure that all of the students had access to all of the materials needed for this lesson at any given time. 

Task #5: Observe and record your findings about the children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Does the teacher develop lessons based on their cognitive, etc. needs and characteristics?

• By observing the 3rd and 4th graders, I could observe their cognitive, social, and physical development. The students were all at their given age level. They were able to understand the directions, socially interact with their peers and caregivers, and their fine motor skills were age appropriate. The teacher develops lessons plans, but not to what they can and can't do. The teacher does lesson plans according to their ages. The youngest group she teaches at the day camp is 3rd graders. 

Task #6: Observe the classroom and record/note: Each time an incident of learning occurs (when and how). Provide specific examples/evidence. May be you will prefer keeping a journal for 24 hours and note every time an incident of your own learning happens. Be ready to  blog about and share in your blog. If in class, ask how the teacher uses reinforcement (positive/negative) and if s/he uses punishment. Record, blog, and share.

• Every time that an incident of learning occurs the teacher congratulated the student on their accomplishment. An example of an incident of learning was when the student was able to visually show that learning had occurred was when the student shouted "Look! The mod podge makes the paper look smooth as long as I move my finger smoothly." This was when the teacher reassured the student and said "Yes! Good Observation! That's what the mod podge is meant to do." 
• When asking the teacher about positive and negative reinforcement, the teacher explained that for positive reinforcement, she directs the praise to the class as a whole. She doesn't usually praise individuals for their success, but she would rather present to the class about something that they did together successfully. When it comes to negative reinforcement, the teacher mentioned how she follows a 3 strike policy based on class rules that is decided at the beginning of the year through class voting methods. 

Task #7: Interview your teacher and students:

• Ask both your teacher and students, what helps them remember the concepts, new material.
• In what subject students quickly remember the material and why. 
• What they would advise you as a beginning teacher to learn to do to help them remember the information better. 

Compare the answers of the students to those of the teacher. Provide your insights in the blog and be ready to share in your blog. 

• When interviewing the teacher, the teacher stated that the way that she believes that students remember new concepts or new materials are by music or song, formative assessments, do now/exit tickets, and using multimedia approaches when teaching new material. The teacher mentioned that she believes that science is the subject that the students quickly remember because they build real world experience through application and experiments. A piece of advice that the teacher told me to learn to do as a new beginning teacher is to incorporate multimedia purposes and examples of applications for all subjects. She also mentioned to use a variety of assessment and instruction reinforcement.
• When interviewing one of the students, the student said is taking notes and seeing visuals. The student said that the subject that they quickly remember the material and concepts is Social Studies because they make connections to their real life experience and because they are learning about the countries' past experiences. The student exclaimed that I should not give too much information at the same time as a new teacher so that other students can actually remember the information. 

Task #8: Observe your FW classroom (or give examples from the previous visits) and determine what elements/principles of constructivist practice you observed. Jot down your observations and reflect on the findings in your blogs providing supporting evidence from the textbook. 

• The main element that I noticed for constructivism was that throughout the experience, the teacher enforced the use of hands on activities. The students were always actively creating something. The students were able to focus on their individual projects and how they were able to construct the final product. 

Self-Testing Assessments

Self-Testing Assessments

     When I used to think of self-testing, I used to think of my teacher telling us to take a test, then letting peers grade it before handing it in to the teacher for the teacher to finish doing the initial grading. This is something that I was not exposed to in this course. The self-tests that we took were just like check for understanding check points which is something that I completely agree with and would prefer to even use in my own classroom. 

I really did enjoy taking all of these self tests specifically because it was a simple approach to testing my knowledge without feeling the need of test anxiety as if it were going to affect my grade. I always get nervous before taking tests. With these types of tests, I felt absolutely comfortable and in my own comfort zone. I didn’t feel an ounce of test anxiety and I was very thrilled about that.

I didn’t find any tests to be specifically challenging, but I did find that a specific test type of question was a bit more difficult for me to comprehend. The types of questions that were difficult or educationally challenging for me were the questions that had specific case scenarios. Personally, I always think that those types of questions are easy for me, but then I notice that I get stuck between two choices and I usually pick the wrong choice which stimulates my second guessing myself. The questions that were enlightening for me were the questions that were accompanied with unique definitions because most of the time, I agreed with those definitions. I really think that these types of check for understanding checkpoints or mini self tests are perfect for a course designed like this.

Here is the link to my e-folio, click on the Self-Tests tab and it will take you to mini reflections on something that I liked about each test. 

No Child gets Left Behind in the World of Teaching

No Child gets Left Behind in the World of Teaching

Chapter 14 Reflection

     Throughout all of my education courses, the debate of what makes an effective teacher has been tossed around in class discussions. Anitia Woolfolk mentioned that the characteristics of an effective teacher revolves around clarity, organization, warmth, and enthusiasm. I agree with all of these characteristics and traits of what is expected from an effective teacher. I also think that the amount of knowledge for teaching that the teacher has is also another major impact on effective teaching. I enjoyed reading about the different teaching approaches specifically because I engaged into some of these teaching approaches throughout my field work experiences in past semesters. An example would be in my Social Studies Methods course, we had to create and teach three lessons: direct, inquiry, and collaborative. The technology differentiation section of this chapter was also very intriguing considering that it touched on one of my favorite subjects, assistive technology. 

Should the promotion of self-esteem be a part of the curriculum?

    Self-Esteem should always be a part of the curriculum one way or another. Self-esteem is a major concept in every person's life, no matter how old they are. Self-esteem is also a major concern in society today so it should be promoted at some point in the curriculum. Self-esteem could be integrated into the curriculum through books and activities at some point throughout the year, it is up to the teacher to decide. 

Many agree that strong self-esteem is essential, but what role should teachers play in promoting self-esteem?

     In promoting self-esteem, the teachers should be the motivators to support the students with their self-esteem and how they are as a person. The teachers should encourage the students to be themselves and to be proud of who they are.

In terms of learning, what should self-esteem be based on? 

     Self-esteem should be based on how the student perceives themselves as a person, a learner, a student, etc. Self-esteem relates directly to the student and their opinion of themselves.

In what ways should teachers use praise to promote self-esteem?

     Teachers should use praise to promote self-esteem by encouraging the students with positive feedback and motivational praises that gives the students a reassuring feeling or a motivational boost with their self-esteem.

There are so many more questions, but above are just a few honorable mentions that I believe are significant to teaching and promoting self-esteem. 

Editing a Lesson Plan

     Order Out! Lesson found using Awesome Library. This lesson states a clear statement of the topic and provides a brief objective as the purpose of the lesson. It also lists the materials that are needed for this lesson with a six step procedure for carrying out the lesson. This lesson has no method listed for evaluation of success throughout the lesson. This lesson also does not list many accommodations, only variations of the lesson with very minor adjustments. To accommodate the individual differences of gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in this lesson, everyone is given an equal opportunity with all of the materials and support from the teacher. This type of lesson is not affected by the individual differences that are listed above. When it comes to language, everything can be posted in a variety of languages according to the individual differences that are present in the classroom. To professionally and reassuringly include all students, I would be sure to make sure that every child has the materials needed and know the instructions of this lesson whether the directions need to be modeled or explained more in depth for clarity. 

My Experience with Create, Evaluate, and Relate in Chapter 14

Create: Teaching From Different Perspectives

Evaluate: Online Lesson Plan Objectives

• Lesson Plan Using Coupons to Teach Applied Math
• Shop 'Til You Drop: Food for Thought
• Cutting Costs with Coupons

How would you categorize the objective? Is this a cognitive, affective, behavioral, or psychomotor objective? How do you know?

     I would categorize the objectives for all three lesson plans as expanding the knowledge of budgeting and money while incorporating discounts through coupons for real world situations. These objectives are cognitive objectives specifically because they involve with the thinking process and being able to interpret the circumstances for this task. I know this because of how the rest of the lesson plan flows with the aspects of achieving the objective. Each lesson plan is unique, but they ultimately want to experience a similar outcome. 

Relate: Reflective Practice

Here is the link to my daily reflection template.

Building an Effective Learning Classroom Enviornment

Building an Effective Learning Classroom Environment

Chapter 13 Reflection

     This chapter was very informative about creating a positive learning environment for any age group. I really must emphasize the importance of procedures and routines as well as rules in the classroom. These three concepts are major when establish a firm classroom management system. It's important to create and maintain a classroom management system that the students can comprehend and construct familiarity with. While reading over the bullying and cyberbullying section, I actually stopped and reread what I was reading because it is something that interested me very much. In past classes, I actually created a workshop/course that revolved around making a cyberbullying safety box for your age group in your classroom. It was a class final project, but it is something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. 

Constructivism Rap!

     What can I possibly say about this rap? I can honestly say that I love it! I used this rap in a presentation about constructivism that I used last semester in one of my Information Technology courses and it was a big hit among my peers. This rap helped me to develop a confident understanding of what constructivism is. This tune is catchy and in the classroom, I believe that everyone would join in and start singing the song after a few seconds in. 

My Experience with Create, Evaluate, and Relate in Chapter 13

Create: What's Your Classroom Like?

Class Setup

     The desks are set up vertically in a way that the students can see the Smartboard since the Smartboard is the primary source of visual representation and tool for teaching. The Learning Center tables are where there will be different activities according to what is being taught within the length of time. I set up my classroom like the floor plan above because I believe that students should be seen in every aspect of the classroom. I also believe that there is no need for a teacher to have a desk in Elementary School. As the teacher, I will constantly be engaging with the students and there will never be a moment where I am sitting down doing nothing. 

Rules for the Classroom

     My classroom would have a set of rules like the images above. I would assume that 3-6 graders would understand the basics of the classroom rules like raise your hands, but I would reinforce the basic classroom rules with any grade lower. 

Procedures and Routines

     For this classroom, all of the procedures and routines would be reinforced and strictly applied during the first full month of school. It's difficult to teach a routine, but with practice makes perfect. There would be a set class time schedule that will correspond with procedures and the daily routine of the classroom. The transitions would occur during the change of subjects or when leaving to lunch or a special like art and music. The transitions would not be time consuming once the students get the hang of the routine. 

Here is a link to classroom procedures that I would follow in this classroom.

Evaluate: Classroom Management

Malinger, A. (2015, Feb 01). Future teachers gain insight for the classroom. University Wire Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.opac.msmc.edu/education/docview/1650042933/4FDF5769125B4274PQ/1?accountid=28089 

• The author of this article is Alyson Malinger. The source of this article was gathered from an Educational Database on Proquest that is linked to the Mount Saint Mary College Database. This article is about the Armstrong Teacher Education Program that revolves around awarding teachers for positive effective classroom management. This article lists what other teachers and educators say with regards to classroom management such as "you create a community in your classroom..." and "don't be afraid to try new things..."

Teach, L. (2016). WeAreTeachers: Don't Be Like Me: 5 Giant Mistakes I Made My First Year of Teaching. Weareteachers.com. Retrieved from http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2014/07/28/don't-be-like-me-5-giant-mistakes-i-made-my-first-year-of-teaching 

• The author of this blog is anonymous, but their user name is Love Teach. The source of this blog is posted on a website called We Are Teachers. The teacher in this blog listed the top five mistakes that they made in their first year of teaching and most of them relate to classroom management one way or another. One of the ways that their mistake related to classroom management would be being afraid to be firm with students. The teacher also did not ask for help which can benefit and strengthen classroom management by reaching out to other teachers. Comparing to the other article, this author did not know how to handle classroom management as much as the educators of the Armstrong Teacher Education Program. The teacher is learning to use classroom management and has learned from their mistakes. 

Relate: Your View of Classroom Management

Motivational Session

Motivational Session

Chapter 12 Reflection:

     This chapter is without a doubt my new favorite chapter that I have read so far. Motivation is super big in my eyes. I passionately believe that all educators should be highly motivating to all of their students no matter what. Scolding should not be the number one "fixer upper" for situations. Instead of complaining or always asserting what the students do wrong, the students should be praised for what they did accomplish. I greatly enjoyed reading about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It is remarkable to see each developmental step on the pyramid of exactly what types of needs there are what should be mastered before others. 

It's Smarter to Travel in Groups!

     It's always smarter to travel in a group for several reasons. It's always safer when traveling in a group anywhere. It provides a comfort zone where as something more serious can happen when you are alone. I would use these series of video clips in my classroom when talking about team work. Team work is a major priority in my eyes especially when collaborating to achieve something. It's important for students to understand the concept of team work and what it means to be a team member. 

     I like the concept of the padagogy wheel, but I do feel that it is too complex for teachers to just look at and refer to. It is very detailed and I don't think that it is something that I would directly refer to, but I do think I would try to find something simpler to look at instead. I do like the action words and the adverbs that are linked to the padagogy wheel because those are typical words that you would use throughout the write up of a lesson plan. I do like the technology twist that accompanies the terms by listing apps that would be appropriate for each term on the wheel. It is nice to know that there are apps that are directly tied into the padagogy wheel.

The Flipped Classroom

     Although I can see why many people like the ideas of a flipped classroom, I beg to differ. I'm not a major fan of a flipped classroom specifically because I am the type of person that likes to directly have hands on interaction with my instructor face to face on assignments. I also see myself as a visual learner, but I need to have the person in front of the classroom. I tend to see myself as that type of learner. That is why I was nervous about taking this course because I knew that in an online class, the majority of the class sessions would be like a flipped classroom and I didn't think that I would be successful, but I think I am doing well.

My Experience with Create, Evaluate, and Relate in Chapter 12

Create: Images of Motivation

Click here to view my presentation, Enjoy!

Evaluate: What's my Motivation?

Who is the character, and what is his or her primary goal?

     The main character in this movie is named Paulie. He is the green parrot that is on the front cover. His primary goal is to be reunited with his owner as a child. 

Analyze the character's motivation from two different perspectives. (Humanistic and Sociocultural)

     On the humanistic spectrum of motivation, Paulie is very similar to a human because he speaks and knows exactly what he wants. He is very smart and is inspired to return to Marie as he over comes the obstacles that stand in his way. On the sociocultural perspective, Paulie is inspired by his desire to be around Marie once more so his environment also has an impact on his motivation.

What kind of attributions would this character make if he or she were not able to achieve his or her goals?

     The type of attribution that this character would make if he did not achieve his goal would be to lose hope. Paulie always kept in his heart the devotion to his owner and promised that he would fly back to her one day when she was a child. Paulie kept his hope up and never gave up when it came to finding Marie.

Relate: Beliefs about Knowing

     What makes an effective teacher? Do teachers just give up when the going gets tough? No! An effective teacher is a teacher who never gives up on what they believe in or their students. Teaching is not something that just comes easily or something that can be mastered with in a few years of college. Just because someone has a degree that states that a person has met all of the requirements to become a teacher, does not mean that they are an experienced, amazing teacher.

    Teaching tactics are always changing and a terrific teacher must always be up to date with the latest material and technology. Teaching is not just about presenting facts to children, teaching is preparing children for the future and help children to be successful in their future careers. A teacher must be understanding and willing to do what is necessary to teach all of their children in their classroom. No child should ever be left behind no matter what the circumstances may be.

    The main key to being a magnificent teacher is to accommodate to any of the child's specific needs. Every child learns in a different way, so it is up to the teacher to help and understand what is necessary to teach the child and assure that the child will be successful. I believe entirely that it is the teacher's job to teach the child no matter what. A teacher should never walk out on a child or turn their back on a child just because the child does not understand the lesson, is slow at learning the lesson, or because they have some sort of disability that prevents them from learning in a certain way. Every child deserves a chance and in my classroom, every child will be given a chance and will never be told other wise. I will strive to teach every student in my classroom. As long as I am a teacher and my students are in my care of my classroom, they will be shown that they can do it. I will never give up.