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].