Today was the final day of classes and I came to realize something. Leaving my posts until this last weekend was a huge mistake. Looking back at them now I can see it more clearly. When a teacher gives us an assignment to do throughout the entire semester, don't just leave it until the last weekend because you'll realize that it really isn't as good as it could have been if you actually did it throughout. When doing it through the semester a lot more thought goes into it than if you leave it last minute. Then again, that goes with anything that we do through our lives. It's kind of like saving money for a vacation. If you save through a longer period of time you'll have more money to go with and be more secure that way but if you spend everything you get until the last pay cheque before you leave then you're just asking for a world of trouble!
I can say that I enjoyed this semester and I'm really looking forward to the rest of my schooling! I want to thank my professor Robert Nellis for making this an exciting semester and I just want to say that this blog assignment is kind of fun. It gives us a chance to be ourselves and work through everything on our own. This actually helped me get a better understanding of what we learned in class. Thanks again!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Might I Intervene?
I was just reading over my last post on how to manage the classroom and found that I missed a really big part of it. How do we as teachers intervene without causing more chaos than is already present? Well, there are 3 levels of which we can intervene. The first is a minor intervention. This consists of non-verbal communication, keeping the activity moving, proximity, re-directing, giving direct instruction, being assertive and providing students with choices. The second level is the moderate intervention and this only includes time outs. The last level are the serious interventions. This level consists of the really extreme cases of suspension and expulsion.
I know in my grade school years I never got suspended let alone an expulsion. I never really got in that much trouble actually. Which is kind of surprising looking back at how I acted throughout elementary school at least. I don't think I was exactly the "picture perfect" child most parents want to have. Whenever I did get in trouble it was pretty minor. The biggest consequence I think I ever had was a trip to the principles office in high school
I'm going to try and incorporate these 3 different levels into how I manage my class because I don't want to do something really extensive when it's only a little trouble. That's where we have to use our best judgement and decide where we stand with a lot of things and how we choose to handle them.
I know in my grade school years I never got suspended let alone an expulsion. I never really got in that much trouble actually. Which is kind of surprising looking back at how I acted throughout elementary school at least. I don't think I was exactly the "picture perfect" child most parents want to have. Whenever I did get in trouble it was pretty minor. The biggest consequence I think I ever had was a trip to the principles office in high school
I'm going to try and incorporate these 3 different levels into how I manage my class because I don't want to do something really extensive when it's only a little trouble. That's where we have to use our best judgement and decide where we stand with a lot of things and how we choose to handle them.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
That's Not Very Motivating...
This is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. In this chart there are 2 different groups - growth needs and deficiency needs. In the growth needs there is knowledge and understanding needs, aesthetics and beauty, self actualization and self-transcendence. Growth needs move towrads fulfillemtn of ourselves and it's not based on survival but enrichment. Deficiencey has physiological needs, safety needs, love and acceptance needs and self esteem/respect. Deficiency needs have to occur or the student will have a negative impact on learning, growth and development.
I want to talk about this because I find myself struggling with this also. Motivation really gets to people and I want to try and illustrate different types of motivation. If we're not doing something for one reason then maybe we should look at it and do it for another reason. One option for motivation is helpless orientation. This is a reason for success. Another option to motivation is the performance orientation. Performance orientation is focusing on what the final result will be and trying to work towards the right result. The last option is mastery orientation. This is what happens when you don't focus on the outcome but trying to be the best to satisfy ourselves. I find that I fall into the third option. I am a very competitive person and I get great pleasure out of success.
If I Remember Correctly...
Memory. What is memory exactly? Is it just something that happens or is there more to it? Well class, there is a lot more to it than you know! There are three types of memory. Sensory memory, short term and long term. I'm sure you have all heard of short term and long term. Most likely you have heard of these terms having something to do with memory loss. Such as amnesia. Amnesia is a loss of long term memory. At this point you may be wondering what sensory memory is. Well I'll tell you. Sensory memory is the first few seconds of information being taken in. In my life I have suffered from minor short term memory after getting a really big concussion in my first year of rugby. I got knocked in the head and was out cold for I don't even know how long. I don't exactly remember what happened but I got told the story by my entire team. I just know that when I woke up my rugby coach, which just so happened to be a doctor, was slapping me making sure I could wake up and then going to the hospital. I remember everything after that but before I got knocked out is kind of fuzzy and I can't recall it as well. I guess this is called interference theory because something is affecting my ability to remember what happened.
I'm not entirely sure how I am going to use this knowledge in my classroom. What I do know however is that when I start teaching I'm going to have an awesome story to tell the kids. I'll end up telling them eventually because I have a scar above my right eyebrow that is kind of hard to miss when my hair is short. So I'm sure I'll get asked about it and I'll tell them the epic tale of how it all happened. Hopefully after the story I'll be able to give them a moral so it's not just a story of me getting cranked in rugby.
I'm not entirely sure how I am going to use this knowledge in my classroom. What I do know however is that when I start teaching I'm going to have an awesome story to tell the kids. I'll end up telling them eventually because I have a scar above my right eyebrow that is kind of hard to miss when my hair is short. So I'm sure I'll get asked about it and I'll tell them the epic tale of how it all happened. Hopefully after the story I'll be able to give them a moral so it's not just a story of me getting cranked in rugby.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Go On...
You know, we really have no idea what teachers go through on a day to day basis. So far we have only been mere students. We have seen how teachers handle these kind of students and we never really put much thought into it. Maybe until high school but I know that I didn't think about it a whole lot. Special education is in every single school. There is more to special education than we know that. In education psychology we learned that special education has myths. One of them is that some people think there are two different types of learning and others think there is only one way of learning. What we don't realize is that there are a variety of ways to learn and it's our responsibility to provide said instruction in different ways to the students.
One question brought up in class was "how was it that we chose that there are people who are inferior?" Now, being that I may not be as smart as others I don't know if I would use the term inferior. I strongly believe that people learn at different paces and some may not understand the material at all. Take math for example: right now I can't do math to save my life but I know many others who could do it no problem! If I were to work at it and practice it then I may eventually get it. That's because I learn at a different pace than others. There is something that we can do as teachers to help this though. We could modify content, process and products. We can do this only through student readiness, interests and learning profiles. By readiness I mean we have to find out where the student is at and what their potential is. We should give them a number of opportunities to excel! Carol Ann Tomlinson was largely involved in the processes and the ideas in different instruction.
I hope you like the picture because I got a good laugh when I saw it! Not at her but it kind of looks like she's trying to scare people through a computer screen acting like a tyranasauras rex!
One question brought up in class was "how was it that we chose that there are people who are inferior?" Now, being that I may not be as smart as others I don't know if I would use the term inferior. I strongly believe that people learn at different paces and some may not understand the material at all. Take math for example: right now I can't do math to save my life but I know many others who could do it no problem! If I were to work at it and practice it then I may eventually get it. That's because I learn at a different pace than others. There is something that we can do as teachers to help this though. We could modify content, process and products. We can do this only through student readiness, interests and learning profiles. By readiness I mean we have to find out where the student is at and what their potential is. We should give them a number of opportunities to excel! Carol Ann Tomlinson was largely involved in the processes and the ideas in different instruction.
Speed of Light!
Ladies and Gentlemen! Red College is proud to present an Educational Psychology picture - Individual Progress Plan!
Sorry to disappoint you but there really is no picture.
At this point you're probably asking yourself, "What in the world is this individual progress plan?" Well, it's like this you see. An IPP can be a collaborative working document. This could be available for all students, teachers, parents or anybody who wants it. Things could be asked on it such as: what are the needs of the student? What are we going to do to help the student meet their need? And how are we going to know if the student has met the needs the set forth? I think something like this could be a very important tool for teachers. This way, the parent knows what is going to happen throughout the year, the students know and can hopefully set a desired need and can work to achieve it and the teacher has a good foundation to plan their lessons accordingly with the students needs. Of course with anything to do with helping a teacher teach what they teach, there are some requirements to achieve an IPP. I will list them below. Beware, there are more than you have seen yet! Look below:
1. Specialized assessment data
2. Current level of performance and achievement
3. Identification of strengths and areas of need
4. Measurable goals and objectives
5. Procedures for evaluation progress related to IPP goals
6. Identification of coordinated support services
7. Medical information
8. Classroom accomodations
9. Planning for transition
10. Review of progress related to IPP goals
11. Year-end summary
12. Informed parent consent
Now keep in mind that this isn't just a short time process. Oh no. This can take all year! As teachers we should be prepared for it because this will actually help us in our careers!
You know, I kind of feel bad for getting your hopes up with the whole picture thing. So I decided to give you a picture!
Sorry to disappoint you but there really is no picture.
At this point you're probably asking yourself, "What in the world is this individual progress plan?" Well, it's like this you see. An IPP can be a collaborative working document. This could be available for all students, teachers, parents or anybody who wants it. Things could be asked on it such as: what are the needs of the student? What are we going to do to help the student meet their need? And how are we going to know if the student has met the needs the set forth? I think something like this could be a very important tool for teachers. This way, the parent knows what is going to happen throughout the year, the students know and can hopefully set a desired need and can work to achieve it and the teacher has a good foundation to plan their lessons accordingly with the students needs. Of course with anything to do with helping a teacher teach what they teach, there are some requirements to achieve an IPP. I will list them below. Beware, there are more than you have seen yet! Look below:
1. Specialized assessment data
2. Current level of performance and achievement
3. Identification of strengths and areas of need
4. Measurable goals and objectives
5. Procedures for evaluation progress related to IPP goals
6. Identification of coordinated support services
7. Medical information
8. Classroom accomodations
9. Planning for transition
10. Review of progress related to IPP goals
11. Year-end summary
12. Informed parent consent
Now keep in mind that this isn't just a short time process. Oh no. This can take all year! As teachers we should be prepared for it because this will actually help us in our careers!
You know, I kind of feel bad for getting your hopes up with the whole picture thing. So I decided to give you a picture!
Rolling forward...
You know, there are a lot of stereotypes in our world. Not only our world but our own culture. I think the biggest stereotype in our culture is the stereotype for men and women. This is also another thing that I learned in psychology class as well as sociology. But in this class we've gone through a little more than the others. For instance: the gender roles and the expectations for how we will think, act and feel. Through gender development comes 4 points. One is biological development and this explains the differences in male and female brains. For example, the corpus callosum is thicker in females brains than in males. Secondly, there is social learning theory that was developed by Albert Bendura. His theory was that when a boy watches his father he starts to enforce his fathers influence. Not only that but a young boy or girl learns from observing, imitating and modeling their father or mother. Thirdly, cognitive development developed by Lawerence Kohlberg. This development is based on gender identity, stability and constancy. The last is the gender schema theory. In this theory, a male or female learns their gender schema from TV, peers, family or parents. Children eventually adapt to their gender cultural expectations. As they adapt their brain changes over time and this is called plasticity.
In the beginning of this post I talked about the gender stereotype but never really connected it to the subject. A stereotype is a fixed conventional idea about a gender. For example - women being terrible drivers. This is a stereotype. Now granted, there are stereotypes that shouldn't exist at all because whether we like it or not, we are living in a changing world. I mean, look at the past 100 years. A lot has gone on! Because of every war, the women have had to step up to the plate and take on jobs that men couldn't do because they were off fighting in the war. After the Great War, in the 1920's, the womens rights movement came to pass and that gave women almost equal power as men. But, I digress. One stereotype that shouldn't exist is a woman belonging in the kitchen. Fact is, some of the worlds greatest chefs are indeed men. Stereotypes will never die out. I know i've personally stereotyped a women or two on account of their driving and most guys do. I'm not saying I'm right in doing so but it's something i've grown up with in this culture. Especially from being from a small town you really don't have a lot going on that you can joke about. But a stereotypical joke is kind of funny once in a while. I've gotten a little off topic now... I'll go back.
A gender bias is favouring sexes. Unforutnately, I have had one or two teachers that definitely favoured gals rather than guys. This made it incredibly difficult to get good marks and make it to where I am. Being a teacher we have to learn to not favor either gender. We should be equal to both boys and girls! We should be good role models for our students because whether we like it or not, we are making a small difference in their lives. We should be teaching all students respect of all things! Now a student may have a sexual orientation that we don't really agree with. Thing we have to learn is that we're living in Canada. We are all free to bat for whichever team we like. We shouldn't promote whatever orientation a student may have but we also can't limit it either. To all teachers out there and soon to be, good luck and make the right choices!
In the beginning of this post I talked about the gender stereotype but never really connected it to the subject. A stereotype is a fixed conventional idea about a gender. For example - women being terrible drivers. This is a stereotype. Now granted, there are stereotypes that shouldn't exist at all because whether we like it or not, we are living in a changing world. I mean, look at the past 100 years. A lot has gone on! Because of every war, the women have had to step up to the plate and take on jobs that men couldn't do because they were off fighting in the war. After the Great War, in the 1920's, the womens rights movement came to pass and that gave women almost equal power as men. But, I digress. One stereotype that shouldn't exist is a woman belonging in the kitchen. Fact is, some of the worlds greatest chefs are indeed men. Stereotypes will never die out. I know i've personally stereotyped a women or two on account of their driving and most guys do. I'm not saying I'm right in doing so but it's something i've grown up with in this culture. Especially from being from a small town you really don't have a lot going on that you can joke about. But a stereotypical joke is kind of funny once in a while. I've gotten a little off topic now... I'll go back.
A gender bias is favouring sexes. Unforutnately, I have had one or two teachers that definitely favoured gals rather than guys. This made it incredibly difficult to get good marks and make it to where I am. Being a teacher we have to learn to not favor either gender. We should be equal to both boys and girls! We should be good role models for our students because whether we like it or not, we are making a small difference in their lives. We should be teaching all students respect of all things! Now a student may have a sexual orientation that we don't really agree with. Thing we have to learn is that we're living in Canada. We are all free to bat for whichever team we like. We shouldn't promote whatever orientation a student may have but we also can't limit it either. To all teachers out there and soon to be, good luck and make the right choices!
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