Reflective Journal #8

Description

               The focus of reading and discussion in EDAT 6615 this week was on assessing student learning. Teachers learned how to identify good instructional objectives and explain how they are used and decide what type of evaluations to use based on their purpose for proving if students completed the objective. Teachers learned how to create fair test using a variety of test items and how to use that data to influence intentional teaching. Teachers also learned how to evaluate student work using authentic, portfolio, and performance assessment.

Analysis

               An instructional objective or behavioral objective is a statement of skill or concepts that students are expected to know by the end of some period of instruction. According to research done by Slavin (2012, p. 340), objectives should consist of a performance, condition, and criteria.  Performance is what they learner will do; condition is under which the performance is to occur, and criterion is what will be acceptable for the performance. When planning a lesson, the objectives should be specific to the skill being taught, should be clear in meaning, and should consider all the skills need to perform the task. When breaking down objective into simpler components, teacher will perform a task analysis where they identify prerequisites to completing the objective and components skills and how they will be assembled into the final skill. Objective should be closely aligned with the assessment that is going to be used to measure if they students meet the requirements for completing that objective.

               Slavin (2012, p.346) state that in writing objectives and assessments, one should consider different skills and different levels of understanding. A taxonomy, or system of classification can help teachers categorize instructional activities. Bloom Taxonomy created by Benjamin Bloom and fellow researchers categorized objectives from simple to complex or from factual to conceptual. It considers elements such as knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The use of this systems is to remind teachers to require students to use different types of skills to display learning as they will need these skills. To make sure that objectives cover many levels is to write a behavior content matrix. A behavior content matrix shows how a content of skill will be taught and assessed on different cognitive levels. It is also important to consider the affective objective that relate to attitude and value of the lesson being taught. So why do we need instructional objects? Writing instructional objectives help with organizing planning, guide evaluation and may improve student achievement. 

Evaluations, or assessments are used to formally measure student performance. Teachers use test and grades to communicate student learning. These items let everyone involved in a student’s education know how they are doing. They also let them know what students need to continue to work on to become more proficient in a skill or content. According to Slavin (2012, p. 348) student evaluations served the following purposes:

1.       Feedback to students

2.       Feedback to teachers

3.       Information to parents

4.       Information for selection and certification

5.       Information for accountability

6.       Incentives to increase student effort.

Evaluations for the purpose of feedback let teachers and students know as soon as possible whether what they put into an activity is paying off in success of learning. For student, feedback should be specific so that students can see where to make changes and where to find growth. For teachers, feedback let us know how effective the instruction is and the strengths and weaknesses so that we can make changes accordingly.

        Evaluations as information to parents keep them informed about how their children as performing in school. If parents can see where their students may be having issues in a skill, they can help their child get back on track. Evaluation for information also helps schools decide how to categorize students for special programs.

Evaluation as incentives motivate students to do their absolute best every time.

Student learning is evaluated using formative and summative evaluations. Formative evaluations are designed to tell teachers whether additional instruction is needed and to tell students whether additional learning is needed. These assessments can be planned or made on the fly depending on how they teacher see fit to use them. They can be given oral or written assessments. Summative evaluations are test of student knowledge at they end of an instructional unit. These do not occur as frequents as formative assessments, but they must be reliable and should allow for comparison among students. They should be tied to formative assessments and course objectives.

Other forms of evaluations include norm-referenced and criterion-referenced evaluations. Norm reference focus on comparisons of student’s scores with those of other students. Criterion-referenced focus on assessing students’ mastery of specific skills, regardless of how other students did on the same skills. Criterion-referenced evaluations should be tried to the objectives or a specific curriculum.

Before giving a test, teachers should make sure that the test will reflect what students have achieved. This means that test should correspond to course objectives and with the instruction that was provided. Test do not have to cover every skills or fact but should represent all learning objectives. Test should not include trick questions or questions that are obscure. They should include test items that most appropriate for measuring learning outcomes and should fit the use that will be made from the results of a test. Test should be reliable in the since that they have many items and focus on learning objectives and should reflect students’ true knowledge. The final thing an achievement test should do is improve learning. Teachers should use the results to guide instruction.

Slavin (2012, p. 367) states that implementing an alternative assessment system will help avoid problems raised by typical multiple-choice test like whether a student truly knows the information or did they guess. These assessments allow student to show how what they learned applies to the real-world. Students may be asked to keep a portfolio, create a model, or design something to show mastery or certain skills. This is known as an authentic assessment or performance assessment. A portfolio assessment is a collection and evaluation of student samples of work over an extended period. It can take the form of projects, journals or other items depending on the subject. They should have rubrics and can be used to communicate the group of a student over time. Performance assessments require students to demonstrate learning. Students can do or presentations or use technology to create an experiment to help show what they have learned.

Reflection

               Since I stated teaching, I have always used some form of assessment to check for student learning. I have learned over the years how to use a variety of assessment tools and have even found ways to make assessments less stressful for my students by using games, skits, and fun projects. One of my biggest challenges in the beginning of my teaching career was figuring out how to use the data to improve my lessons. While I have learned how to improve my lessons with the data over the past few years, I learned from reading and discussion this week how my data collected can be used to keep parents, students and the school informed on student progress in my class. One thing that I have always been afraid to do is create test. I can honestly say that I have never created a test from scratch because I am afraid of not making a good assessment. What I normally do is use websites that have test question generators and I go through and pick the questions that match the objectives and am assessing. I know what a good question should contain, I just do not want to be responsible for coming up with it.

               At the beginning of the school year, I always inform students and parents what their student’s grades will consist of. Before giving a test, I try to give students a study guide that will reflect how many points they will receive for each type of question they will see on the test. When giving projects or presentations, I am also certain to include a rubric so that students and parents know how points will be distributed. My rubrics are incredibly detailed and have clear distinction from one score to the next. I also make sure I explain the rubric to students so that they are clear on the expectations for each possible grade. Sometimes I even give students a check list to use while creating their project or presentation so that they can check off whether the complete the work with all components to receive the highest grade.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal #7

Description

               The focus of the reading and discussion in EDAT          6615 this week was on effective learning environments. In this module, teachers learned how time impacts learning and how to prevent or manage student behaviors using strategies to prevent and respond to student behavior problems. Teachers also learned how an effective learning environment informs intentional teaching.

Analysis

               We first start by exploring what is an effective learning environment. According to Slavin (2012, p. 272), creating an effective learning environment requires the teacher knowing a set of techniques to create a positive, productive classroom experience. These techniques are referred to as classroom management, that not only allow for teacher to prevent or respond to misbehavior but also allows for the effective use of class time. The best way to start good classroom management is to have effective instruction that is engaging and well-structured in a way that students are motivated and are working at a challenging yet rewarding capacity. Even with planning an effective lesson, teachers must still be prepared to discipline those students who are seeking to be a behavior problem without taking away from the instruction. Good discipline prevents or responds to existing behavior problems to reduce them from occurring again.

               Impact of time on learning is more than the length of the class but the time spent with a student being engaged in the learning. The allot time that we have students in our class can be maximized by using every bit of time given instead of making excuses for time lost. We can also prevent late starts by having a clear start time and by having extra things in place that will lengthen our students engagement in the lesson so that we do not waste valuable learning time by finishing a lesson early. Some other ways a teacher can maximize allotted time is by preventing classroom interruptions, not wasting too much time on classroom procedures, keep instruction at a paid pace, and minimizing time spent disciplining students.

               Engaged time is the amount of time students spend doing assigned work. Engaged time can be different for each student depending on the individual’s attentiveness and willing to work (Slavin, 2012, p.275). Teachers can increase the time that students are engaged by making sure that what they are teaching are interesting to the students, the transitions from activity to the next a smooth, and making sure that all students are paying attention even when doing group work. Teachers also want to be aware not to overdo these things because it can be detrimental to learning in several ways.

               Some practices that are essential to effective classroom management is making sure that teachers start the school year off right by making sure that they have a clear plan to introduce classroom rules and procedures and spend day carrying out this plan until the students are familiar with it (Slavin, 2012, p. 278). Teachers need to also make sure that they spend the beginning of the year working with the whole class even though they may eventually place the students in groups. Teachers also spend time introducing procedures and practicing procedures. Teachers also make sure to respond and stop any misbehavior. Classroom rules should be few, make sense and be fair to the students.

               Some strategies for managing routine behaviors will include prevention, Nonverbal cues, praise of correct behavior that is incompatible with misbehavior, praise for other students, verbal reminders, repeated reminders, and consequences.  Nonverbal cues and praise of good behavior are normally enough to get students on task but in the case, it is not, verbal reminders can help diminish misbehavior over time. The teacher must make sure that they are consistent in the expectations of proper behavior. Students misbehavior can be maintained if the teacher gives too much attention to the behavior or if they can gain approval from their peers. Releasing a student from completing unwanted assignments can also maintain misbehavior because they will observe that the way to get out of doing something they do not want to do is by misbehaving. When these strategies fail to work, they teacher can seek behavior modifications that will help change behavior over time by identifying target behaviors and reinforcing those, establishing a baseline for targeted behaviors, selected things to help reinforce good behavior but also selecting punishments for bad behaviors. As the misbehavior become more under control, the teacher can reduce the frequency of reinforcers.

               For more serious behaviors, teachers can seek prevention programs that allow students to have a role in the function of the class. This includes letting them tutor another student or leading activities.  Teachers will also need to identify the cause of misbehavior to better help students manage them. Teacher should also continue to remind students that they expect to follow the rules and making sure that students report to school to maintain good behaviors. Requesting family involvements in minimizing misbehavior is also crucial as they will play an important role in helping with the creation of a behavior plan once they have been notified too many times of unwanted behaviors. Other students can help with decreasing misbehavior by being peer mediators to help their classmate solve a problem. Last of all, there should be a school-wide policy to combat bullying.

Reflection

               This chapter reaffirmed some of the things that I have been practicing in my classroom the past few years. Having good classroom management strategies have always been the difference in a teacher being and effective teacher or being a noneffective teacher. I have seen teachers who have had great content knowledge and even great lesson plans, but you would not know that because the students were always so unruly or inattentive to the teacher. I have even had teachers say that they did not want students to fear them, so they were more relaxed on their classroom rules. While all of that is nice, I have always known that once you condition students to believe that there are not consequences for good or bad behaviors, you will have lost control of your classroom for the duration of the year. To me, respect of classroom rules and expectations lead to students becoming more engaged because they respect you and want to hear what you are saying. In that moments when you have established respect, now all you must do as the teacher is make them excited about learning so they will stay engaged and paying attention.

               I have witness time and time again the destruction teacher discipline plans because of lack of school support even when the rules mimicked those of the school. I have also been a teacher who tried to maximize my students engaged time but fall victim to unwanted disruption by my colleagues and administrators for things that were not dire. I believe that everyone in the school need to be on board with maximizing student allot time and engagement time to minimize unwanted behaviors.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal #6

Description

               The focus of the reading and discussion in EDAT 6615 this week was on grouping, differentiation, and technology. Teachers learned different types of grouping to help students achieving on different levels. Teachers learn how to differentiate instructions for diverse learners and how to use technology efficiently in the classroom. We learned about programs for students placed at risk of academic difficulties.

Analysis

               Slavin (2012, p. 214) describes a school learning model, QAIT, that shows critical features of high-quality lesson and how they interact to enhance learning. QAIT is an acronym that describes the quality of instruction, appropriate levels of instruction, incentive, and time. When examining quality of instruction, we observe the activities people picture when they think of teaching. The most important part of this aspect of teaching is whether the items being presented to students follow and order and is organized in a way that it makes sense to the students. The presentation of the lesson to the students must be visually appealing and engaging so that students will remember what is being taught. Appropriate levels of instruction refer to the ability of the teacher to differentiate instruction or group students so that it meets the needs of the students that are being taught in the class. While it may seem appropriate to give every student work that is catered to them individually, the problem comes in when the teacher is having to grade all those different assignments for their students. Grouping them can also present a problem of students being able to stay on task when the teacher is not working with their group. The teacher should be aware of these possible issues so they can deal with then accordingly. Incentives are encouraged because they provide motivators for students to learn. Some students are naturally motivated through curiosity to learn and sometimes that incentive must be provided from the teacher (Slavin, 2012, p. 216). Not every subject will be interesting to all students so that is where school praise, feedback. Certificates and other awards come into play. The last element of QAIT is time. The quality of instructions paired with the time given to ensure that students can learn the information is especially important. This time depends on two factors, allotted time and engaged time. Time on the clock and student time spent engaging in the subject are important but can both be affected by how well the teacher manages their class.

               In the next part of the chapter, we observed different types of grouping models. The first model, known as between-class ability grouping allow students to decided what level class they take. If the are in a difficult class, they can choose to switch to a less difficult course or vice versa. This type of grouping makes the classes less homogenous and often occur in middle, junior high and high schools. In elementary school, you may observe the within-class ability grouping. This model divides groups according to their reading level but teachers have said that it is more important to accommodate students individually so more individualized computer-assisted programs are being used (Slavin, 2012, p.217). According to Slavin (2012, p. 217), sometimes the benefits of grouping students are outweighed by the other problems individualizing instruction can cause. If the difference is in learning rate, it is suggested that ignore those differences and proceed with providing additional help at the end of the lesson, giving an extension to complete work, or providing enrichment materials.

               A solution to grouping students based on ability is providing differentiated instruction. Differentiated instructions emphasizes that all students can reach high standards, but some may need tailored assistance to do so (Slavin, 2012, p. 222). Some example of differentiated teaching would be teaching the same topic to all students but choosing different levels of math problems for the students to complete based on their level of comprehension. It can also be providing some students more time to complete an activity or allowing then time to redo an activity before giving them a final grade.

               Peer tutoring is another way that teachers can help students learn. One type of tutoring is cross-age tutoring. This type of tutoring involves a younger student being tutored by a student much older than them. This type of tutoring is recommended more often than same-aged tutoring because an older student is more likely to know the content better than someone their age. Other tutoring involves a whole class tutoring younger grade levels. Same- age tutoring is easier to organize because they are on the same grade level and may have the same schedule.

               Tutoring can also be done by adults but may be associated with a cost unless done during the school day using a school aid. Slavin (2012, p. 223) reference a reading program called Reading Recovery that provides specially trained teachers to first graders who are not reading adequately. This program has been shown to increase student levels of reading with long-lasting effects. You can also enlist adult volunteers to assist with tutoring.

               There are some programs that can help students who are at risk. The first program is the compensatory education program, which supplements the education of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Head Start was a program to provide pre-k for disadvantaged kids and Title I is a program that gives school extra funding to provide programs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Early intervention programs unlike programs that focus on remediation after a student has fallen behind, seek to work with children before the fall behind. These programs include infant stimulation, parent-training and other services for kids ages 0-5. Early intervention programs can help parents work with their children from birth and know what to look for developmentally. Comprehensive school reform programs are a school-wide approach to providing research base strategies to every aspect of schooling.  After-School and summer school programs are meant to enrich students for help students get extra help, but funding and research has shown that this only work when they are planned properly. After-school programs must be centered around academic extensions instead of sports for it to work.

               Technology is another way to assist students that are working at different levels. Computers and tablets can be used to create and delivery instruction. Interactive whiteboards and clickers can used to engage students and get immediate feedback on student mastery. Teachers can use technology to enhance multimedia content in the classroom to support the learning of different contents. Teachers can also use the internet to find resources to support teaching and learning. Students can also use technology to readily access skills and complete them at their own pace. Students can also access drills and practice programs that provide immediate feedback as opposed to waiting to get feedback from a worksheet submitted to the teacher. Using technology to individualized instruction can also allow students to use online tutoring programs and instructional games to help with mastery of a topic. The positives for technology use in the classroom are the flexibility of learning. Students can use assisted technology if they have physical disabilities, access to internet at school allows for students to be on the internet at the same time, and bring your own device programs further assist in students being able to work at their own pace and transition more easily from working at school to working anywhere. Some of the challenges with technology is setting limits for it. Teachers are faced with preventing cyber-bullying appropriate cell phone use and safety and security of the students. Students will need to be trained on proper use of technology before being allowed to use it.

Reflection

               One of the things that I appreciated about this chapter was the details about grouping students and differentiating instruction. Over the past few years of being a teacher, I have found technology to be my best friend when it comes to differentiating instruction. I even use it for grouping changing my student work groups without having to move their seats because they can use the chat feature and whiteboard feature to communicate thoughts and ideas. I even proposed and rallied for the school creating a bring your own device policy so that I would not have to relay on the computer lab technology to my students.

               Another thing that I have used a lot of in my class is the peer tutoring. I have seen great benefits of peer tutoring but after reading this chapter, I have also become intrigued with the idea of different age tutoring. Since I am the math department lead for a school that has K-8^th grade, I can see the benefits of having the older students tutor the younger students. I think by implementing a program such as that at my school would bring about great success in our students.

               I think it is particularly important that teachers know where their students are academically and how fast they progress so that they can provide them with every chance of success. I have always been a teacher who allowed my students to teach me how they learn best. If my students are aware my expectations for submitting work, I have never bother with being strict on how they learned the material I was teaching. Whatever strategies and tools that will allow them to be successful is okay for them use if they have been approved by myself or the school.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal #5

Description

               The focus of the reading and discussion in EDAT 6615 this week was on a Student-Centered and Constructivist Approaches to Instruction. Teachers should know how to use cooperative learning effectively in the classroom. They should also know how to teach their students problem solving and thinking skills. Teacher need to observe how student-centered and constructivist learning influence intentional teaching.

Analysis

               Constructivist theories of learning explore the idea that learners must individually discover and transform complex information if they are to make it their own (Slavin, 2012, p.188). Learner compare new and old information obtain and revise the information when it no longer works for what they need it for.  This theory allows for students to be active learner which helps during student-centered instruction when the teacher is expected to only guide students through the instruction by letting students come up with their own ideas about a topic instead of the teacher controlling what information they take from the lesson. Four principals were derived from Vygotsky’s ideas of social learning: social learning, zone of proximity cognitive apprenticeship and mediated learning. With social learning, students learn through interactions between their peers and teachers. Zone of proximity refers to students being able to acquire information that they may not know from those that they have access to. According to Slavin (2012, p.189) children who are working together will be working at slightly different levels so all of them can share information that will help each other learn. With cognitive apprenticeship, a learner gradually because an expert interacting with and expert. This is the nature of the interaction between the student and the teacher. Mediated learning involves fully immersing a student into a topic instead of building up knowledge by teaching them tiny bits of information at a time. This learning is to take place using real-life, authentic learning.

               Next, teachers examine the constructivist approach to reading, writing, math and science. In reading, teachers use a reciprocal approach to teaching where the teacher introduce a set of questions to a small group and later a student is ask to take over with asking the questions and then passing it to another student. The teacher modeled the behavior that they wanted the group to demonstrate while working together. They also participate in questioning the author to help them understand a story. Another reading approach is concept-oriented where the students are given content goals, a choice on what they read, hands-on activities, a variety of informational texts, and collaboration among students (Slavin, 2012, p. 195). In writing, students work together to plan, draft, revise, edit and publish pieces of work. By doing this, students are helping each other with ideas to make their work better. In math, student work in small groups to solve a problem posed by the teacher. Students work together to decide which strategies are best to use when solving the problem. In science students engage in hands-on investigation.

               In cooperative learning, students work together in small groups to help each other learn. Some methods of cooperative learning involve student teams-achievement division (STAD), cooperative integrated reading and composition (CIRC), jigsaw, learning together, peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS) cooperative scripting and informal cooperative learning structures. In all these methods, each student takes on a role with their small groups to so that they are helping each other learn with little interaction with the teacher. According to research, cooperative learning is favored if recognition or small reward is provided to groups that do well and there is individual accountability (Slavin, 2012, p.202). If those two essentials are being met, there will be substantial positive effects on achievement.

               When it comes to problems solving, the teacher can teach students to use a series of steps or the can use incubation time, suspension of judgment, conductive climates, problem analysis, the application of thinking skills and feedback to find a solution. The teacher can teach thinking skills through a structured program that uses techniques that students can use in any situations.

Reflection

               As a teacher, I value the learning and interactions that take place when my students are learning from each other. In using constructivist learning in my classes, I have gotten a chance to learn things from things from my students along with them helping their peers solve problems. Allowing my students to learn from each other is helpful to me as the math teacher because there are so many ways to solve a problem. When I lecture, I may only have time to teach one or two methods for solving a problem whereas, if I have students who know other methods, when I break them down in there small groups, they are helping other solve problems by showing other methods that helped them learn to solve a particular problem. Sometimes, I will even go back and ask them to teach me the skills if I think it will help other students the next time I lecture.

               When I use student-centered learning, I always see and improvement in my students. They accountability component of it helps because I will observe students who are not normally willing to participate in class working because they do not want to let their peers down. I will also see an increase in test scores because some students will continue working together even after school so that their group is prepared for the lesson the next day, especially if it is a continuation.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal #4

Description

               The focus of the reading and discussion in EDAT 6615 this week was on an Effective Lesson. Teachers should be able to define and describe how to teach a lesson using direct instruction. Teachers should also be able to look at when holding a discussion is important and how to use best practices to teach for transfer of learning. Teachers should also know how effective lessons inform teachers of what students have learned.

Analysis

               Direct Instruction is used to describe the moment in the lesson when the teacher transmit information directly to students through a clearly defined set of objectives as effectively as possible. Teachers use direct instruction to teach well-defined information that all students must master. For a lesson to be considered direct instruction, it must:

-          State learning objectives and orient students to the lesson,

-          Review prerequisites,

-          Present new material,

-          Conduct learning probes

-          Provide independent practice,

-          Assess performance and provide feedback

-          And provide distribute practice and review.

According to Slavin (2012, p. 161) the structure of direct instruction can vary from subject to grade. Teacher of older students could take days to complete all components of direct instruction where teachers of younger student may complete all the parts of direct instruction in one class period.

               When presenting a lesson, the teacher should first state the learning objectives. By doing this, teaching and learning becomes clear and students know what to expect for from the outcomes of the lesson. During this time, you also want to orient students to the lesson by a positive mental set, or attitude of readiness in student (Slavin, 2012, p.163). This can be done by using phrase such as: “I am ready to get down to work” or “I am eager to learn the important information the teacher is about to present”. Slavin(2012, p. 163)  also notes that this is best done immediately when the class period begins and suggest that students are required to be on time for class so that the seriousness of purpose is not lost by starting class late. Teachers must also not forget to spike their students’ interest during this part of the lesson to make it relevant for them to learn by making the necessary connections.
               The next task of the lesson is to review prerequisites. This part of the lesson is important because it gives the teacher the opportunity to use this time to link mastered skills to new skills. Teachers can also use this period to see if students did not master a need skill that is requires before moving forward. If that is the case, teacher can spend time in this area before moving on to the new topic.

               After moving past the review portion of the lesson, teachers can began discussing the meat of the lesson which is the introduction of new material. This part of the lesson must be clearly organized, and teacher should note subtopics and important elements in the lesson. Teachers should bring up the important parts of the lesson as many times as possible so that students become familiar with it. The important parts of the lesson should be clear and provided effective explanations. Slavin (2012, p. 167) states that worked examples help to establish strategies that help explain your thinking at each step. Examples are useful for student to have when reviewing material after class has ended. As previously discussed in Chapter 6, teachers should provide visuals that will help students maintain new material in their long-term memory so that they can readily assess it in the future. Teachers must remember during this time to not let the lesson get dry by providing a variety of ways to keep students attention but being careful to not overdo it. The last important part of this portion of the lesson is making sure that the lesson is paced in a manor that does not overload students by trying to complete a lesson too fast.

               In the next part of the lesson, the teacher will use learning probes to check for understanding and misconceptions. This can be done by asking questions or assigning a written explanation of the lesson. Teachers must remember to provide students with enough time to answer questions about the lesson and set up methods for calling order to answer questions. By setting up a calling order, teachers can ensure that all students are given an opportunity to answer a question whether they volunteered on not. Teacher can also use the coral response method. All students can answer a question that only has one answer.

               Independent practice is the part of the lesson where students work on their own to practice the skills learned during the lesson. Slavin (2012, p. 171) states that independent practice is most critical when students are learning skills and helps students rehearse knowledge on their own. Teachers must remember to not assign seat work until the student shows that they have acquired enough information to complete the work on their own. Independent practice must also be short and give clear instructions. Students should be allowed to complete this work uninterrupted and should be monitored while completing this work. Teacher must also collect this work and grade it so that students do not lose interest in submitting their best work.  

               The last part of the lesson is to assess student performance and provide feedback. Assessments can come in the form of asking questions, looking over independent work, playing a game with clickers, or using a quiz format. Results should be provided to the students immediately so that that can use them as a tool to study therefore increase what they know on the formal assessment. Assessments not only inform students of their progress but also inform teachers of if they can pick up the pace on teaching or if they need to go back over commonly missed strategies or information.

               By providing practice or review, students increase the change of retaining information by practicing the skills over again.

               It has been shown that direct instruction does improve the teaching of certain basic skills, but much is not known about how and when direct instruction should be used (Slavin 2012, p. 176).

               Transfer of learning can not be assumed to be acquired after one lesson. If a student memorized the information, it is less likely that they will be able to use it in a new situation The variety of circumstances will determine how well a students is able to use the information in a different scenario. According to research done by Slavin (2012, p. 178), enhancing transfer happens later in the lesson once the student has been introduced to the new concept. The teacher will do this by providing different examples in which the concept can be used. By teaching student to recognized commonalities between different problems, you can also help students learn to transfer learning.

               The final thing is how discussions can be used in teaching. Discussion allow for students to ask questions to gain clarity and to allow teacher to observe misconceptions. Discussions can increase understanding, allow student to appreciate new material and change an individual mine about a topic. In a whole class discussion, the teacher plays a less dominant role. Their jobs are to encourage students to form their own ideas and prevent dead ends. In a small group discussion, each member should play a role in the group so that the group stays on topic.

Reflection

               My first-year teaching in public school, I was expected to follow the direct instruction model. I found it challenging in the beginning because I assumed that I was required to complete all parts of direct instruction in every class period. My challenge with using the direct instruction model was that I had been poorly trained in its use.

               After reading this chapter, I can see how using this model could benefit my students and myself. By having enough time to pace out lesson and make sure that I have time to review with my class, I can follow this model with feeling rushed and without rushing my students. I am almost certain that in the past, that poor knowledge of this model has been the reason why I was not always able to provide my students with enough situations in which the skills I had taught could be applied.

               Now that I know that pacing is an important part, checking for understanding and reviewing material is also possible, I think I can increase effective learning and teaching in my class. I am excited to again use this model in my class in private school to see how my students grow even more.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal #3

Description

               The focus of reading and discussion in EDAT 6115 this week was on Cognitive Theories of Learning. Teachers should know the know how the brain work and what factors affect whether we remember or forget information so that we can provide our students with strategies on how to study so that they can remember what they are being taught. We also need to know how they brain work so that we can use cognitive teaching strategies to help our students learn.

Analysis

               When looking at how memory is stored, Teachers must first observe how information processing works. When person experience a stimulus from any of the five senses the memory passes through the sensory register. Most of the information stored here is lost immediately but the stuff that matters gets passed on to the working memory. In the working memory, we try to make sense of any new stimuli so that we can link it to things we already know. If the new information is found to be useful to us, we store it in our long-term memory.

               According to Slavin (2012, p. 123), the learners control the learning process at each stage. The process is called the executive process because learners are consciously or unconsciously deciding what items are important to them due to the connections, they associate the new material to. Slavin (2012, p 123) notes that the executive process is important because it determines what a person is interested in. Teachers need to know that external incentives or punishers can increase their student’s motivation to learn (Slavin, 2012, p.123). If a student thinks that they are better in one subject versus other subjects, they will put their mental energy in preparing for the class that they know they are better in. That class will be easier for them because the student is already prepared to make connections to the new material making it easier to learn.

               According to Slavin (2012), a lot of information is gathered from the senses in the sensory register. As previously stated, most of this information will not be retained. In this part of the memory, the only information that will be retained is what a person deems most important and even though the brain will only be focusing on that information at the time, it is still collecting other information from the senses during that time. Basically, if people want and try to retain information during this time, they must be focused on it. Another thing that a teacher should do is make sure that they make it clear what they want their students to focus on and try not to overload them with too much information because it will make it harder for them to study. Attention is limited so teachers should use cues to indicate what information is important and try to connect learning the important information to an emotion.

               Once the information gathered is deem important to the person, it moves into the working memory where we hold limited information that is being taught. As soon as a person stops thinking about something, it learned our working memory (Short-term memory). Slavin (2012, p. 125) states that one way we can keep information in our working memory is to say it over and over. This repetition of memory is called rehearsal and students need to learn this skill because the longer a person rehearse, the greater the chance of the information leaving the working memory and entering long-term memory. Without rehearsal of information, it can only last in the working memory for 30 seconds because once the working information is crowed, information because lost.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal #2

Description

               The focus of reading and discussion in EDAT 6115 this week was on Behavioral and Social Theories of Learning. I observed how model behaviors influenced children’s behaviors. These model behaviors can be reflected in real-life or on a children’s television show. Parents and Teachers must decide which behaviors they do not want students to acquire and how they will address unwanted behaviors from children.

Analysis

               Learning takes place in many ways. It can be intentional, like when a student acquires new information in class or unintentional like a child reaction to a needle (Slavin, 2012, p. 98). To help parents and teachers teach appropriate behaviors to children, we must observe those how certain behaviors affect our children. When we look at behaviors observed and practice in the classroom, I think about how classroom/ behavior management in a classroom is one of the key components to teaching and learning. In the Peppermint Patty video, Peppermint Patty exemplified behaviors that were distractive to the learning environment and she could continue to distract the class without any consequences. Peppermint Patty was not given any consequences for disrupting the class which, consequences could strengthen or weaken certain behaviors. Not having consequences for unwanted and wanted behaviors can shape the class because not only will the student involved in any given situation be affected by their behavior but they will socially influence the behaviors of other student who are learning what the teacher or their teachers may deem as appropriate behaviors.

               Often times when teaching, I like to encourage positive behaviors with praise. This type of behavior is known as an extrinsic reinforcer and is often used on students who may not exemplify wanted behaviors with encouragement. While you will have these students in your class, you will also have students that are self-motivated to have good behavior which is known an intrinsic reinforcer.

               We also have to look at the things that influence certain behaviors in children. Slavin (2012, p. 110), points out that students must learn to use stimulus discrimination to determine what behaviors are appropriate in different situations. Talking and screaming while playing a game outside would be an appropriate behavior in that moment but talking and screaming while playing a game in the classroom may not be a wanted behavior because the students can distract other classes on the hall. Providing students with cues to help enforce certain behaviors will help them maintain those behaviors while also keeping in mind your expectation of them for when certain behaviors are expected.

               In Social Learning Theories, a behavior is modeled, and student learn from those experiences on how to behave in certain situations. In Bandura analysis of observational learning, it involves four phases: the attentional, retention, reproduction, and motivational phases (Slavin, 2012 p. 112). In experiment of the Bobo doll, some children observed a model beating on a bobo doll which is called the attentional phase. In the retention phase, they placed the student in a playroom with the doll to see if they would mimic the same behaviors observed. In the reproduction and motivational phase not only did students mimic the behavior but also created their ow ways to beat on the doll.

               Which brings us to the final point which is aggression in a children’s television show. According to the video on Bandura and Social Learning Theory (), televised aggression has four major components: it teaches aggressive styles of behavior, weakens restraints over aggression, desensitizes and habituates viewers to human cruelty and shapes viewers images of reality. These are all things to consider when allowing children to view certain programs on television created for children. They may model behavior that our children may want to mimic in real-life which could result in negative consequences.

Reflection

               This concept of behavior and social learning theories is important to me because not only do I want to make sure that I am responsible modeling and expecting positive behaviors in my students, I am also a parent and had not realized how much violence my child may have been exposed to from watching cartoons, which I though were innocent enough to not have to sensor. This concept made me feel that more than ever, it is important that I know what my students are exposed to on T.V so that I can be on the look-out for how those thing may influence my students behaviors in the classroom. I only found positive aspects in learning about these two theories. I learned how my cues as the teacher influence behavior in my class and I also learned about reinforcers and how they impact my students. I would often feel like having to motivate a student to show good behaviors was tiresome and pointless because I felt like my influence on a child in the classroom would be wiped away as soon as the student walked into their home environment where certain behaviors were acceptable. I learned that I should keep doing those things so that students can use discrimination to help them learn when certain behaviors are appropriate. This concept has enforced in me setting clear goals and expectations for behaviors in my classroom and has also encouraged me to sit my own child to observe and provide feedback on the things that she watches at home.

References

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

(2013). Bandura and Social Learning Theory [Motion picture].