Final Class

I really enjoyed the final class, it was nice to see everyone's ideal classroom.  I liked many of the ideas people came up with and the reasons why. I liked kahoot, I think it was very fun and was another good resource for me. I liked all the technology I learned about  this semester. I liked the blogger and livebinders we used this semester. I also love google docs and the concept map making website. I learned so much about different theories and theorist and I'm really exciting to have taken this class early in my grad career. I liked all the aspects of educational psychology and thinking of ways to incorporate them into my future classroom and future lessons.

The virtual class was so interesting I really learned a lot from everyone's presentations.

I really enjoyed this class. I just kind of wish it was a whole semester long  so somethings wouldn't have been a little rushed.

Integrating Theories of Learning Power Point

Power point 1

Power Point 2

Integrating Theories of Learning into the Classroom

Caitlin Higgins

ED 5410

Professor Smirnova

Summer I 2016

Integrating Theories of Learning into the Classroom

                Educational Psychology is a distinct discipline with its own theories, research methods, problems and techniques to apply in research on learning and teaching (Woolfolk, 2013). Educational psychology is useful in understanding teaching and learning because it is important to understand how children learn and the best ways and methods to teach them to learn. I enjoyed reading in the first chapter about the relationship of students with their kindergarten teacher, predicting their future educational success. I liked reading and learning about what was involved in being a successful teacher, for example: having high expectations, being sensitive to needs and providing feedback. As teachers it’s important to give and teach students the skills they need to know not only about math and science but about how to develop good social and emotional skills. If we know where children are developmentally, we as teachers know the best way to help them and what they need. Elementary aged schoolchildren are developing physically, socially, morally and cognitively, so following academic psychology research you can incorporate methods that have been proven to be helpful. Educational Psychology can also be used in classroom management techniques and for supporting preferred behaviors.

The way a classroom is arranged and the rules and procedures of the classroom are so important for maintaining control and making the most effective use of time. One of the most valuable pieces of information I gained from the readings and my observations, was the importance of setting up a well-organized and structured classroom. It is important that all students know where to find items (pencils, paper and the stapler) and know the rules of the classroom. Establishing this early saves a lot of time and energy that could spent on more important things. It was also really great to see how the teacher I observed set up her class room because the way your classroom is set up is so important, and got me thinking on the aspects of hers I thought were important and how to put my own spin on it. Classroom rules I plan on instituting include: listen and valued each other’s opinions, this is important so everyone is respected and feels comfortable speaking. Other rules include: listen when someone else is speaking, follow directions, and show respect for classroom, class mates and school, these are important to maintain order and have a safe classroom. Other rules include: work quietly and do not disturb others, keep hands/feet/objects to yourself and to have students always raise their hands. I want my future students to always try their best, use kind words and most importantly never give up. I think these class rules will set a class culture of respecting and valuing each other while keeping the classroom safe and managed. Classroom Procedures I think are important are to leave things neatly how you found them, walk in lines in the hallway, respect others and when the teacher, is talking you are listening. I set up my classroom two be really organized and clear. Also I would like to have a schedule on the wall so the children know what they are doing and the order the day will go in. Functional academics would be beneficial to many students because it combines functional skill and academics, and was something I took into consideration when designing my classroom. Systematic instruction would also be beneficial, and used in the design of my future classroom for many students this includes prompts, consequences for performance, and strategies for the transfer of stimulus control.

Another important aspect I will bring to my future classroom is managing cultural diversity and parental involvement. It is important to have a multicultural classroom that shows different cultural heritages and racial backgrounds. This promotes diversity and allows all students to feel included and important, which I think is one of the most important aspects of teaching and something I will definitely include in my future classroom. Having culturally diverse posters and books in the classroom is important so everyone student feels included and valued. Another important aspect I learned was the importance of parental involvement in the success of a child. It is very important to recognize and remember that all families are different and make parents feel welcome. It is very important to respect families and encourage their involvement in the school so they feel a part of it and like they are working with the teacher and school to help their children succeed. It is very important to have an open line of communication with parents/guardians. As teachers, we must also respect and understand the different kinds of parenting styles.  A parenting style is a general pattern of behavior that a parent uses in rearing his or her children. The first kind of parenting style is the Permissive parenting style. In this style parents are low on maturity demand and control, they may be less controlling in order to stress warmth and child's autonomy. These types of parents may be less controlling because they do not know how to control or do not have resources to control.  These parents see themselves as resources rather than active agents.  Next is Authoritative parenting this style is characterized by emotional warmth, high standards for behavior, explanation and consistent enforcement of rules, and inclusion of children in decision making (Woolfolk, 2013). Then is the Authoritarian parents they provide structure and rules, though they are not always clearly communicated, they are highly demanding and directive.  And they are often not sensitive to child's conflicting viewpoint and expect child to accept their judgments, values and goals without questioning. The last type of parenting style is Neglectful parents they are generally low on demand and control, set few limits and have low attention, interest, emotional support.

I want to teach elementary school aged children. At this age they are going through drastic physical, social, cognitively, morally and emotional development. Play is essential for helping them learn social skills such as fairness, cooperation and allows them to explore in their environment. They are also forming peer relations which is so important to the formation of their self-concepts. At this age they are in the Preoperational symbolic function stage where objects represent other objects in pretend play. They are also in the Intuitive thought stage where they are growing in curiosity and reason. The Moral stage they are in is the Obedience/Punishment stage where rules are absolute and should never be broken. And physically girls are typically  developing faster and weigh more and are taller.

Differentiation in schools is so important to teach diverse learners in such a diverse school system. Differentiation is the concept of teaching in a variety of ways to meet the needs of all your students. There are many ways to go about this including have a wide variety of materials, different teaching methods to help the different learning styles of your students and using a variety of grouping strategies. Different grouping strategies that would be successful include interviews, literature circles and turn and talks. I witnessed some of these in my observations and plan on using all of these strategies in my future classroom because I think it is very important to allow children to learn from each other.

A form of behaviorism that is very useful in the classroom is Operant Conditioning, which is defined as the changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement, which is given after the desired response. There are three types of responses that can follow behavior, these are neutral, reinforcements and punishments.  Neutral operant is a response from the environment that neither increases nor decreases the probability of a behavior being repeated.  A reinforcement, is a response from the environment that increases the probability of a behavior happening again. Reinforcements can be either positive or negative, but both increase a desired behavior.  And punishers are the last kind of response, and are a response from the environment that decreases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Operant conditioning can be used in the classroom to shape performance and can be used in classroom management techniques. Providing feedback can be instrumental in shaping of behaviors or performance in the classroom.  This can be done by the use of affirmation and compliments to give positive reinforcement of good behaviors. Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding. Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant reinforcements can also strengthen behavior. Constructivism is another helpful teaching strategy because it is student centered, has students involved in their own learning and uses higher order thinking skills. Allowing students to work in partners is so important because this is something they will see throughout their school careers and in life. It is important to teach students from an early age that working together is beneficial to see different aspects and ways of doing things so they know there is more than just one way of doing things.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is another important aspect I will take away from this class and with me when I am a teacher. Bloom emphasizes higher order thinking to dive deeper into subjects. More learning occurs when students are asked to design or experiment compared to being asked to list, name or summarize. Another important teaching strategies I learned was Zone of Proximal Development, which is what students can do with help and alone. This can be done by; modeling thought process, use of organizers/starters and doing part of the problem. When using ZPD it is important to give hints, encourage small steps, connect new learning to prior learning and teach vocabulary and give examples. Use of graphic organizers, timelines and charts are helpful in ZPD but should also by a component of the classroom for students to create and reference later.

I thought the chapter on assessment was very helpful to me since it is still towards the beginning of my program. The things I learned in this chapter were things I haven’t yet learned. It’s important to know the different kinds of assessments and their criteria’s and how they are referenced.  There is a formative assessment that happens before and during a lesson. Summative assessment happens at the end of instruction. Authentic tests test skills and abilities applied in real life. Giving formative feedback is so important as a teacher so students know how to improve and what they need to improve on.

Learning about learners with different needs and that have differences was my favorite part of the book. I want to be a special education teacher so finding new way to help of future students was really interesting to me. It is important that special education class are not “lower level classes” because then the students are not learning what their peers are learning and may be ill prepared for high school and college. A disability is an inability to do something and a handicap is a disadvantaged imposed on an individual (Woolfolk, 2013). It is important to remember as a future special education teacher that disabilities and handicaps do not limit what a child can do it just may change the way they need to learn or process information.  Special education is specially designed instruction that meets the unusual needs of an exceptional student and that might require special materials, teaching techniques, equipment of services.

I will take away with me many things I learned in this class. I’m happy I took this class early in my program to use the information I learned as a foundation for the rest of my classes and in my future classroom. Learning about educational psychology really breaks down and explains the foundations of child development and the best ways to teach children based on their age and development stage.  I will take with me the techniques, strategies and information I learned with me and apply them in future classes and with my students. I learned a lot about different technologies and media resources, this was very important and will be another item I carry with me and use for the rest of my life.

References

Hallahan, D.P., Kauffman, J.M., & Pullen, P.C. (2011). Exceptional learners: Introduction to

                special education (12^th ed.). Boston:  Allyn and Bacon.

The IRIS Center. (2008). Collaborating with families. Retrieved from http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/fam/

Leffert, N., Lerner, R.M., & Scales, P.C., (2014) Developmental assets: A synthesis of the scientific research on adolescent development. (2^nd ed). Minneapolis: Search Institute

Woolfolk, Anita (2013). Educational psychology. (13^th ed.) Needham Heights Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon.

Automated Basic Skills

Automated Basic Skills:
automated basic skills- are skills that are applied without conscious thought. The are basic and domain-specific strategies. (Woolfolk, 2013).

Stages:
1. Cognitive- Following steps/ directions guided by declarative knowledge.
2. Associative- Combining individual steps into larger units
3. Autonomous- Where the whole procedure can be accomplished without much attention

Teachers need to provide opportunities to practice these steps. They can not be something we assume children know how to do or were previously taught how to do them. As teachers and future teachers we must give students the pre-requisite knowledge and the opportunities to practice these skills, while providing feedback and help to move students through these stages. (Woolfolk, 2013).

Creating a learning environment

Create:

Class setup:

Classroom Rules:
1. Listen and valued each others opinions
2. Listen when someone else is speaking
3.Follow directions
4.Show respect for classroom, class mates and school
5.Work quietly and do not disturb others
6. Keep hands/feet/objects to yourself
7.Always try your best
8.Raise your hands
9. Use kind words
10.Never give up!

Class procedures and routines:
Routine:
1-Children arrive 2-put away bookbags 3-attendance 4-do now-collect homework/worksheets 5-lesson 6-activity 7-quiet work 8-lunch 9- independent reading 10- lesson 11- activity- 11- lesson 12- homework

Procedures: Leave things neatly how you found them. Walk in lines in the hallway. Respect others. When the teacher, is talking you are listening.

Evaluate:
Source: Sieberer-Nagler, K. (2016). Effective Classroom-Management & Positive Teaching. English Language Teaching, 9(1), 163-172.

Summary:Classroom management is supposed to save time, by explaining the rules and set up of a classroom early on, so more time can be spent on important things like reading and learning. On the first day of class the rules should be established, "if you need paper or a stapler you can find them here" and " you do not have to ask me for them". Getting these procedures in early will save you a lot of time and students will also know what is allowed and expected from them. I really liked the quote from the article, "It is possible the most difficult aspect of teaching for many beginning teachers is managing students’ behavior. The time a teacher has to take to correct misbehavior caused by poor classroom management skills results in a lower rate of academic engagement in the classroom. Effective classroom management involves clear communication of behavioral and academic expectations as well as a classroom environment conducive to learning" (Sieberer, 164). Setting up classroom management strategies early will help run a better classroom and give your students more structure.

Teachers blogs:Stephanie. I'm a 5th year teacher living in Colorado.
Link:
Who is the author and the web site? Stephanie. I'm a 5th year teacher living in Colorado, who previously taught 1st and 2nd grade.
 
How does this author describe a classroom management issue? She has a whole section of her blog on her classroom management and organizational set-up. She said the most important component in classroom management is having a clean organized set-up because this will help maintain order.

How does this author's situation compare to that of the article you read? The blog and the article I read are similiar, but I think Stephanie is the voice of a real teacher, where the article was written by professors or researchers. They both have good tips but I enjoy reading from the point of view of a real teacher and their experiences, compared to a researcher.

Does the teacher use effective classroom management? There are many bins and shelves for organizing. The walls are full of student's work and posters but looks so neat! The classroom looks so clean and looks like it fosters learning. She uses a lot of techniques I am learning about in all my classes, including: sentence strips, reading corners and model centers!

Relate:
Classroom Flyer

5 Blog Questions

The blogs are assigned for you
Make sure to reflect on 5 of the following questions after reading and referencing our text book (when the appropriate chapter is assigned and in the summary). E.g.:

1)   What is the role of educational psychology in understanding teaching and learning? How can we use research to understand and improve teaching?

Educational psychology is useful in understanding teaching and learning because it is important to understand how children learn and the best ways and methods to teach them to learn. I enjoyed reading the first chapter that talked about the relationship of students with their kindergarten teacher predicting their future educational success. I always liked reading what was involved in being a successful teacher, for example: having high expectations, being sensitive to needs and providing feedback. As teachers it’s important to give and teach students the skills they need to know not only about math and science but about how to develop good social and emotional skills. If we know where children are developmentally, we as teachers know the best way to help them and what they need. In elementary school children are developing physically, personally, socially, and cognately, so following academic psychology research you can incorporate methods that have been proven to be helpful.

2)   Describe, in detail, Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development.

Kohlberg’s Moral Reasoning contains six different levels of how children develop moral skills. Level one is Preconvention Morality and is contains the two earliest stages. Stage one is Obedience and Punishment is when children see rules as absolute. In stage two Individualism and Exchange children begin judging decisions based off individual needs and off different points of view. Level two is the Conventional Morality and is contains stages three and four. Stage three is Interpersonal Relationships refers to the “good-boy or good-girl” orientation that has to do with living up to the expectations of others. Stage four is Maintaining Social Order which takes into accounts society’s view of what is right and wrong.  Level three is the Post conventional Morality contains stages five and six of moral development. Stage five is Social Contract and Individual Rights this is when rules are followed because they are the law. And lastly, stage six in Universal Principle and is the final step of moral development. In this stage morals are decided based off the universal ethical principles and abstract reasoning (Woolfolk, 2013).

3)   According to your text, what does intelligence mean? How is intelligence measured? What should teachers know about intelligence? Have you ever known someone "really smart"? What were they like? Was everything "easy" for them?

Intelligence is defined as the ability to learn from our past experiences and acquire knowledge, and to use resources to adapt to new situations or to solve problems. (Woolfolk, 2013). Intelligence is usually measured through IQ test and other standardized test. These tests are normally norm references or criteria referenced. Norm references are the average performance of all who have taken the test. Criteria referenced means it is compared to pre-established standards (Woolfolk, 2013). Teachers should know that there are different types of intelligence and that there is not a set label or image of what is looks like. Intelligent students normally only mean the gifted and talented students and often students with disabilities are left out of this category because they do not fit the mold of what many people and teachers consider intelligent. Students with special gifts excel in some way compared to other students of the same age. There is much debate how giftedness or intelligence should be measured by. I have known someone that was “really smart”, I don’t think it was that they already knew everything but that they always wanted to know more and do things in a new way. I don’t think everything was easy for them but they kept trying and thought of innovative ways to go around a problem. I think intelligent people like working together and building off of other people. They are normally good at communicating on topics that interest them and dive deep within subjects.

4)   Discuss Token Reinforcement Programs that apply to the classroom.

Token Reinforcement Programs in the classroom improve student motivation and to manage behavior. Students who are motivated and engaged are more likely to learn, so using token reinforcement in the classroom to reinforce or reward positive behaviors will make it more likely to occur again in the future. In token reinforcement it is used as a system of collecting so many of something in exchange for something later. You must first know what behaviors you want and want you want to change. Once target behaviors are established you must find out what is reinforcing to each student in order for the reinforcement to be affective. It is also important to define the behavior clearly to the student so they know exactly what is being asked of them. Token Reinforcement can be praising students, sticker systems, prizes for so many stickers collected. Tokens should not be thought as currency and should be given more than one at one time or for one behavior. And it is important to never taken away tokens students have earned, you must only not give any for undesirable behavior (Woolfolk, 2013). I think Token Reinforcement Programs are especially helpful in the special education classroom. It clearly sets desired behaviors and gives reinforcement right after the behavior. It is similar to operant conditioning, which is consequences, rewards and punishments after a desired response or behavior.

5)   Does anxiety promote or inhibit learning? Should anxiety be used as a stimulus for learning?  

Anxiety inhibits learning and should not be used as a stimulus for learning. In the classroom you want students to feel safe and comfortable because this in the best environment for them to learn. When students are anxious they are less like to perform well. Test taking can cause anxiety and limit the performance on tests. When we are anxious attention and focus are decreased. Students must feel calm and safe about learning. During my observations I observed a practice state test being administered, the teacher played alpha waves for her students during the test. Alpha waves are calming and it is similar to the music played during yoga which is supposed to calm students and make it easier to focus.



References
Woolfolk, Anita (2013). Educational psychology. (13^th ed.) Needham Heights Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon.

Field Work Task 6/7

Task 6-

Since me observations were at the end of the school year, I observed and witnessed many assessments being done. Assessments test what the students know and have learned over the course of the year. I observed an incident of learning when a boy who was not a native speaker of English was mispronouncing words wrong that had the ending “ght” before reading the teacher reminded him the ending and the sound it makes and when reading out load he pronounced it correctly. He then went on to finish the passage and pronounced the “ght” ending correctly three more times! You could see the light bulb going off in his mind and you can tell he really understood it in that moment. She also gives them prior knowledge and information they might need. Before reading a passage about a falcon, she didn’t assume all students knew what a falcon was. She asked how knew what a falcon was, almost all students except 5 knew, so she had students explain to each other what a falcon was while she looked one up on the internet. The teacher I observed used positive and negative reinforcement in her one on one lessons. Positive reinforcement is presenting a motivating or reinforcing stimulus after the desired behavior, making it more likely to happen in the future. A negative reinforcement is when a certain stimulus is removed after a behavior, this makes future behavior increased because of removing or avoiding negative consequences. Positive reinforcement that I observed was the teacher giving students five minutes of free play after completing an activity. She also awarded students for completing all assignments for the day with stickers and stickers for good behavior. Negative reinforcement I saw was when she took away an eraser that was starting to distract a boy, so he would be able to focus again.

Tasks 7-

When I asked the teacher ways the help her and her students remember concepts and new material she said mnemonics, notecards and concept maps. It’s important to show students different ways of remembering and studying so they can find the one(s) that work best for them. One student I asked said writing down the same thing over and over again helps them remember. Another said visualizing and making a picture in their mind helps them remember. I think uses multiple approaches is so important to make sure students are learning all ways to remember. This can include utilizing their sensory memory that allows them to use their five senses, perception which allows the students to assign meaning to a stimulus and teaching students to look for relationships and patterns. The teacher I observed ( Ms.R) said it appeals students remember the material better in subjects they are most interested in. This makes senses because when students are interested and engaged their going to want to learn and remember what they are learning. If they are not interested they will just be passively learning instead of actively learning.  Making learning fun is also important, getting kids up and learning will be more memorable to them then just reading something out of a text book. This is especially true in subjects which as art and science. Bringing the material to life in any way possible will help students remember and be excited about learning. She recommends beginning teacher to learn about their students and their interest to better help them remember the information better. As an example she said if a student really likes music you can put the information into a song or a rhyme. It has to be something they enjoy or are good at which will give them the extra confidence to remember and want to remember.