Chapter 7 Learning Log

what:

Knowledge construction can occur during both storage and retrieval. There is a variety of things people can learn from one set of information because different people construct different meanings from the same stimuli or events.

People organize information in different ways. Some times in concepts, a mental grouping of similar things; schemas, tightly organized set of facts related to a particular thing; scripts, schema with a particular order; theories, general understanding and beliefs systems; and world views, general set of beliefs about reality.

Reinforcement is the act of following a response with a consequence. There are many different types. Concrete reinforces, social reinforces, activity reinforces etc.

Reinforcement, however, usually falls into two categories positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is presenting something to in crease a behavior and Negative reinforcement is taking away something to increase behavior. With in this the timing of the reinforcer needs to be as close to a behavior as possible to have an effect.

Shaping: reinforcing successively closer desired behaviors. Shaping is a way to get desired behaviors. What happens at first is that you reinforce any behavior that resembles what you want in the end. Then you only reinforce something that is more close to the end result you want until you get to the point where you only reinforce the end behavior.

Cueing: reminding children of the behavior you want from them.

Extinction: reducing undesirable behaviors. This can be done with a few different techniques. Reinforcing Incompatible Behaviors is when you reinforce behaviors that are the opposite of what you are trying to reduce. For example if you want the students to talk less during work time you can reinforce the student when they aren’t talking. “Jake you are working nice and quietly on your assignment, thank you.” There is also punishment. Punishment is a consequence that decreases behavior such as making the student write sentences for misbehaving like Bart has to do in the opening credits of the Simpsons ( presentation punishment). Punishment can also involve taking away something, like minutes of recess (removal punishment).

So What: Different people will bring different unique prior experience to you classroom which means they will construct different meanings from the things you teach. Students will also extract different meanings because people see and hear what they expect to see and hear. Because when we retrieve information we might have holes in our memory, sometimes we might construct memory to fill in holes.

Different reinforcers will be better for some children than others. As well as different children will be able to delay gratification of receiving a reinforcer the more mature they are. We also need to remember that praise is not always a reinforcer.

Shaping can help us to narrow down behaviors that we want. It is another tool for our teacher tool box.

Punishment is not thought of as very effective. It may sometimes only temporarily suppress a response, but has not been known to always eliminate it. Sometimes what a teacher feels is punishment is actually reinforcing the behavior.

Now what: because people construct different meanings we need to make sure that our messages are clear with out ambiguity. Because children might construct their own memory to fill in holes we need to make sure that information that is difficult to fill in logically is learned well.

Reinforcers need to be used effectively. The desired behavior needs to be stated up front in observable terms. Instead of saying I need you to talk through the halls well, you could say, I shouldn’t hear any talking, everyone should stay in a straight line with their hands to them selves, etc. AS a teacher I need to think ahead to identify consequences that will reinforce the different individuals in my class. Some students may not want praise from a teacher so you would want to reinforce them in a different way to increase behavior. I need to be careful with extrinsic motivations especially since they often loose their effectiveness after a time.

I need to make sure I use punishment only after other alternative approaches have been ineffective. Also, consequences need to be followed through with especially in the case of punishment. If you don’t do what you promise the threat of punishment becomes an empty threat.

Learning Log Chapter 10

What:

• Social Cognitivism is a mix between Behaviorism and Cognitivism.

• Learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to a behavior change.

• Reinforcement has a whole knew role in Social cognitivism.

• In social cog vicarious reinforcement is introduced into a teacher’s tool box of behavior management. Vicarious reinforcement is where one child’s behavior will increase when another child is reinforced for the same behavior. An example of this is proximity praise.

• Modeling is another important aspect of Social Cog

  • Example: Bobo doll experiment. In this experiment the Bobo doll was played with by an adult while children observed. One group of children had an adult model violent behavior when this group of children was introduced to the Bobo doll they were very violent with the doll and got even more violent then the model. A second group of children observed an adult playing nicely with the doll and did not get overly violent with the doll.

  • People follow models. They especially can learn academic skills, aggression, and interpersonal behaviors.

• Another important part of Social cog is Self regulation

  • When we behave in a particular way we observe how our environment reacts—reinforcing some behaviors and punishing others.

  • The following type of techniques arise when self regulating.

  • Goal setting

  • Conferencing

  • Self instruction

  • Self evaluation

  • Self contingency

So What: Knowing that people’s peers can effect what students think and how they behave can be used to a teacher’s advantage, especially when it comes to classroom management. One type of social management technique is a social contract where a group is rewarded or punished based upon individual behavior. But it’s also important to note that when children are expecting a reward and they don’t get it it takes on the form of a punishment. When we promise something we need to follow through unless we change the conditions later on.

Modeling can be used a technique to help students achieve more in their studies or behavior better. An observer can acquire new behaviors; increase or lessen certain behavior based upon the reinforcement a model received. Students may also display more frequent behavior after seeing someone else not get punished for it.

Self regulation is another very important tool for people coming out of social cog. To help children with this we need to remember that students need to be cognitively able to achieve goals, they need to motivated, students expectations need to be realistic, and students need high efficacy to make things happen.

Now What: Knowing what I do about social cognitivism there are a number of things I need to implement in my classroom. Knowing that models are important in children’s behaviors, I need to choose good models to expose children too. It would be especially good to expose students to successful models from diverse cultural backgrounds and to models who have become successful despite disabilities.

I also need to give students challenging tasks and communicate confidence in students’ abilities to achieve that task. I may sometimes need to adjust task difficulty to students’ existing self –efficacy levels then gradually increase the challenge. Show students how students of similar ability have, with reasonable effort succeeded on a task

It’s important that children do not compare them selves with others it’s better that they compare themselves to themselves. It’s better to Minimize student awareness of classmate’s performance levels.

Self regulation is a very important principal to teach in the classroom. It can be promoted by encouraging students to set their own goals and monitor their own progress. Giving children a chance to learn on their own can be rewarding. Giving students assignments where they have a lot of room to choose their own topic, use of time etc. Show students how to use checklists etc. Being a good model of self regulation and asking students to evaluate their own performance.

chapter 9

Chapter 9

What:

Behaviorism

Learning: semi permanent change in behaviors can be seen through what people do/say. This can be measured, but different measure better using different tests so the measurements are not always accurate.

There was a man with bilateral hippocampus damage who as a result had no short term memory. A Group of people went to visit this man on a regular basis. When the people went to introduce themselves to him one particular person always had a buzzer on their hand. After a few days of getting introduced to these same people and getting buzzed he actually flinched before he shook the hand of the person with the buzzer. (this sort of disproves some of behaviorism)

Behaviorism is like a Black box we don’t know what’s going on in the brain unless we see a behavior from it.

Assumptions:

-influence of environment: a person is conditioned by their environment to act certain ways

-focus on observable events: Behaviorism thinks the brain is like a Black box we don’t know what’s going on in the brain unless we see a behavior from it. Responses people make given stimuli.

-learning as behavior change: learning is changed behavior due to experience. If you explain something to your students, you ask them if they have any questions and no one says they do, you don’t really know if they understand or not.

- similarity of learning principles across species (if a dog learns that way, so does a kid)

Classical Conditioning: involuntary ex/ raising our hands
Pavlov
Unconditioned stimulus (food) = Unconditioned response (salivation)
Condition stimulus (bell) + Unconditioned stimulus (food) à Unconditioned response (salivation)
Condition stimulus (bell) = Conditioned Response (salivation)
Many times the Unconditioned response and the Conditioned response are the same.
Operant Conditioning: voluntary
Skinner
-antecedent stimulus, behavior, reinforcement
Reinforcers
Note reinforcers are unique to each student.
These tend to kill intrinsic motivation —try to use tokes for stuff the HATE
Make reinforcement a surprise
Make contingent on level of quality
Practical Reinforcement (in order of preference)
-self praise –praise – attention – grades & recognition – home-based reinforcement – privileges –activity reinforcement – tangible reinforcement – food
Reinforce the group: -group contingency –token economy
Shaping: -break tasks down, attain criterion
Eliminating Behavior:
-reinforce incompatible behaviors (ie/ if the child talks a lot reinforce when they don’t)
-cueing
-don’t be afraid to tell students what you are doing (I am ignoring those who are not raising their hands to be called on)
- “extinction burst!” beware (things will get worse before they get better)
-extinction procedure
Punishers: unique to each student, use only when reinforcement fails, DON’T do in front of OTHER students
Forms: -verbal reprimands – response cost (loosing reinforcement)- logical consequences – time out – in-school suspension
Ineffective forms: - physical punishment – psychological punishment – extra class work – out of school suspension – missing recess
Potential Punishers: - temporary – may distract student from behavior – negative emotional response – aggression – does not illustrate correct behavior

So What: Behaviorism is very popular among teachers because it can be measured without taking brain scans etc. There are flaws in it though as show by the man who no longer had short term memory. From the basic assumptions Behaviorism has we can deduce educational implications. From the assumption of the Influence of the Environment we learn that the environment of the school and classroom is very important for learning.
  Conditioning is something that as teachers we will use in the classroom, although it is more revered to as training. We train children to know the routine we have in our classroom. We train children to walk quietly down the halls. Behaviorism outlines how this is effectively done through reinforcement. There a lot of different ways to go about reinforcing behaviors has we learned in chapter 9. You can take give the student something or take something away to reinforce behaviors. Reinforcing is going to be a big part of managing classes and it's important that it's as effective as possible. to DO this one needs to specify desired behaviors at the beginning, identify consequences that will really be reinforcing for the specific student, only use extrinsic reinforcers as last attempt, make repose-consequence contingencies explicit, and be consistent!!!
Now what: Since we know that behaviorist assumption are important for learning in the classroom I can take this one step further by implementing the knowledge I have to better my teaching. Since we know that environment is important I need to create an environment where children feel safe and comfortable. If I can encourage good behaviors by praising students (especially ones who need more help) on their desirable behavior I will create a positive environment students will want to learn in. It's important to note that especially with Young children the consequence needs to come as close to the behavior as possible in order for the reinforcement to be effective.
  It will be important for me to examine all the students I have and especially the ones who need the most management, to see what is truly reinforcing and punishing so that I can be effective. When the class isn't behaving how I want them to, it will be important for me to step back as the teacher and figure out what I am doing wrong and what undesirable behaviors I might be enforcing.

Oct. 27 learning log ch 6 continued

what
Cognitive psychology has some basic assumptions. These are that cognitive processes influence what is learned.

People are selective about what they process and and learn-- it's virtually impossible to interpret everything the body senses.
Meaning is constructed by the learner, rather ten being derived directly from environment. This happened because learners are combining new information with what they already know.
Prior knowledge and beliefs play a major role.
maturation helps with cognitive procedures
people are involved in their own learning-- you must be an active participant.
Memory starts with the sensory register where input is received and close to it's original form. The sensory register has a large capacity, but it doesn't stay there very long. After the sensory comes the working or short term memory. To get there a person must pay attention to the stimulus. attention has a limited capacity "the cock tale party phenomenon." People can usually only attend to 2 or 3 automated tasks at a time. It's important to remember that paying attention is a mental process, not a behavior. Working memory does the "mental work." but information only lasts about 5- 20 seconds, which is why we have to repeat things over and over (maintenance rehearsal) Movement from working memory to long term memory usually involves making connections to other things. When stimulus makes it to long term memory its encoded in different ways.

Retrieval
Getting things from long term memory seems to be a process of following a path way of associations. ex/ going down memory lane. It's there fore easier to remember later if in storing it, it's been connected to something else in long term memory. If it is connected logically it will be much easier to find later, like if you keep things in a nice file cabinet.


so what
Cognitive psychology tells us that there is something going on in the brain. It can be measured and things and be stored there. It is a just a matter of trying to figure out the best way to store things and the best way to get the information back out. because we know about cognitive psychology we can study the way people learn and the way things are stored and retrieved in the brain. we can do this in a number of ways especially through brain scans and he like. The more we know about these things the more efficiently and effectively we will be able to teach.

now what
We need to be regularly monitoring students understanding. To make sure students are paying attention we need to ask questions to test under standing, or put class room materials to use. mostly we want to create a stimulating class environment where people WANT to pay attention. WE need to keep limited capacity in mind when teaching. It's hard for kids when too much information is presented at a time. We may need to repeat the same idea several times for children to be able to pay attention and store it in their long term memory. We need to help students know what is important to remember by giving guidelines and omitting unnecessary detail from lessons.
since retrieval is difficult at times we need to increase the chances of retrieving information. To do this we should try and make multiple connections to information. Practice the information enough that you reach automaticity. This can be done by routinely incorporating basic knowledge and skills into a variety of meaningful and enjoyable activities. Retrieval cues are things like mnemonic devices or other helpers like looking a t a map. Recognition tasks are easier than recall tasks.

Oct 20 leraning log ch 6 intro

In this lesson we started out learning about the brain.

question

synapse: junction between two neurons that allows transmission of messages from one to another. usually described as a GAP

"learning involves strengthening existing synapses..."

learning = strengthen gap

just how exactly do you strengthen a gap? isn't a gap the nothingness in between two somethings? i guess it's really a connection though. I clearly need to learn more brain physiology.

Personal and Social Development: CH 3

what

Personality is something you are born with that can be modified some through environments. Temperament is how you react to things, this can be changed. "... brain circuitry ... is... malleable" therefore "temperament is not destiny."

Sense of Self encompasses two parts, self- concept, self- esteem. Self concept is how you see your self in regards to characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. Self- esteem is judgements and feelings about oneself. There are about eight different components that may affect different people's sense of self more and less strongly. How smart in school, how skillful of an athlete, how good is behavior, how attractive, how do others like me, have good friends, how romantically appealing, how successful? we also need to know the different way students will view themselves through out their development. Childhood- concrete optimistic, Early adolescence: - imaginary audience (every one will notice) - personal fable (you don't know how I feel, invincible), Late adolescence- multi faceted.

Erikson's Psycho Social Crisis: how people view them-selves, how erikson saw it

1 trust v mistrust

2 autonomy v shame and doubt

3 initiaive v guilt

4 industry v inferiority

5 identity v role confusion

6 intimacy v isolation

7 generativity v stagnation

8 integrity v despair

Kohlberg moral development:

1. preconventional, punnishment avoidance/ obendiance ( if I cheat I'll get in trouble) and exchange of favors (you can copy off my test if I can copy off of yours tomorrow)

2. Conventional, goodboy/ goodirl and law & order

3. post conventional, social contract and universal ethical principle (dr. martin luthar king, civil disobedience)

Gilligan notes the weaknesses in Kohlberg's reasearch (too many boys studied).

boys -rights and autonomy - noninterference - rules girls - relationships and interdependnece - empath and compassion - situational (it depends)

Goelman Emotional Intelligence: because emotions can "get in the way" emotional intelligence is very important in deciding how "successful" we'll be in life. Emotions affect all other abilities.

-knowing one's emotions - managing emotions - motivating oneself - recognizing emotions in others - handling relationships

*people with good emotional skills are more likely to be contest and effective in life

*people who can't get at least some control over emotions deal with inner battles that affect other aspects of life.

Marshmallow test:

Children were put in a room with a marshmallow. they were told that they could eat the marshmallow if they wanted, but if they waited until the tester came back, they could have two marshmallows. The researchers followed these students to see what kind of people they would be later on in life. The students who were able to wait for the tester to come back had a lot more desirable personality traits and academic scores.

so what

emotional intelligence(EQ): Recognizing that emotional intelligence exists and affects our lives tremendously, considerations for EQ needs to be implemented in classrooms. Classrooms need to be places "where students feel respected, cared about,and bonded to classmates, teachers, and the school it self." Teachers should integrate EQ into their curriculum, be and example of good EQ behaviors, notice and take advantage of EQ teaching opportunities, value EQ in students, create opportunities for EQ reflection, keep a journal of my EQ and encourage students to do it.

A sense of self impacts actions, we need to know what influences this. 1 previous performance, behavior of others, group memberships and achievements. It would be good for teachers to understand where their students are developmentally.

Moral reasoning is also something that develops. Depending upon where a student is in their moral reasoning is going to depend on how you will be able to reach students. For example, telling students that they will get in trouble if they cheat may be enough to scare some students from doing it. Some students may need to be expalined that when you cheat you are getting someone elses grade and you can be proud or happy with a grade you haven't earned your self. Still other students may need to understand that you shouldn't cheat because tests arn't important anyway, it what you learn. These different level of reasoning are things teachers will run into and inorder to help children to understand or to learn we should be able to appeal to these different levels of moral reasoning.

now what:

emotional intelligence:

when teaching and in my own home I need to be conscientious of what type of emotional lessons I am teaching. Growing up for me, emotions were very chaotic. This may be partly why I struggle with emotions even now. I need to establish the places in my life to include/teach important emotional skills. Emotional coaching is one thing which would be good to implement. This is done by talking about feelings, not being critical and judgemental, do emotional problem-solving, and teaching alternatives to unwanted behavior. Working on emotional skills my self, now, is going to help set a precedence for them in my areas of influence.

moral development: it will be important to give reasons that somebhaviors are unacceptable, encourage perspective taking empathy and prosocail bhaviors, expose studnets to numerous model of moral behavior, engage studetns in discussions of moral issues related to academic subject matter, get students actively involved in community service.

learning log: chapter 2

What
We learned about the brain and theories about Piaget, Vygotski, and Language Development.
We learned that the brain has neurons which are made of: dendrites (input) , soma, axon (out put), myelin sheath etc. and is connected to another neuron by a synapse. The Dendrites receive information for the neuron and in drawings looks like the branch-like parts of the neuron "tree." The Soma is the body of the tree. This will send out impulse to other neurons through the axon. The axon and other neurons don't actually connect, there is a gap between them called the synapse which electricity "jumps"across. The myelin sheath is a fatty substance around the axon it helps lubricate the axon to help information travel fast and well.

Piaget: - Sensorimotor stage: child is focused on now - Preoperational stage: objects beyond child's immeadiate view, not logical yet - Concrete Operations Stage: adult like logic about concrete things - Formal operations stage: logical reasoning about abstract ideas

Vygotsky: -through both informal conversations and formal schooling, adults concey to children the ways in which their culture interprets and responds to the world-every culture passes along physical and cognitive tools that make daily living more productive and efficient. -thought and language become increasingly interdependent in the first few years of life - children can perform more chllenging tasks whenthey have the assistanve of someone more advanced and competent than they are. Zone of proximal development (zpd): range of taks person can persofmr wth others but not alone. - challenging tasks promote maximum congitive growth -play allows children to strech themselves cognitively.

Linguisgtic Development

SO what
brain anatomy: So there are physical "things" inside your brain that can cause you to act, be, do things, a particular way. For example people with particular diseases may be a lot more prone to them because of the workings of the neurons and their neurotransmitters. This is also important because when we are young we have more neuron connections then when we are older. When we are young our body goes through a "pruning process" where some connections are cut back if they are not needed as much.

Piaget: although the time periods which Piaget labeled with his differnt stages are not always true, it is true that I will be dealing with children that have various levels of cognitive development.

Vygotsky's theoreies are not attached with an age so it's not as if one or more of his ideas will specifically apply to the age group I will teach. Vygotsky does focus on culture. Different cultures are going to have their learners pay attention to different stiumli.


now what:
brain anatomy: because the children I will be working with will be going through a brain pruning stage in their life, I need to make sure I get as many neuron connections being used as I can so that fewer connections will be pruned back.
Piaget: I need to make sure that when I teach things, I can reach students on all cognitive levels and not expect reasoning beyond their abillity, but challenge their cognitive abaility to help them grow.
Vygotsky: Vygotsky focuses a lot on how the older generations help the new learners. After learning about Vygotsky's theories apprenticeships and guided paticipation become more important to me.

questions/having trouble with
schemes- how piaget uses them pg 29, 31 piaget

bias

Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for European American compared to African American.
The table below shows the percentage of other online test takers receiving various test results, so you can compare yourself with other people. Your results have been corrected for the order in which you performed the dual category associations.
Test Result
% of Test Takers
Strong automatic preference for White people
48%
Moderate automatic preference for White people
13%
Slight automatic preference for White people
12%
Little or no automatic preference
12%
Slight automatic preference for Black people
6%
Moderate automatic preference for Black people
4%
Strong automatic preference for Black people
6%
If your test results showed a preference for a certain group, you may have a hidden, or unconscious, bias in favor of that group (if your results were "inconclusive," click here). The results of more than one million tests suggest that most people have unconscious biases. For example, nearly two out of three white Americans show a moderate or strong bias toward, or preference for, whites, as do nearly half of all black Americans.
Implicit associations are often at odds with our conscious attitudes and beliefs. This does not mean that one is more accurate than the other. Rather, it suggests that we can have two unique evaluations of the same concept -- one conscious and the other unconscious. If you are surprised or concerned about your test results, or if you would like to know more about the Implicit Association Test, please visit Frequently Asked Questions About the IAT.

Your data suggest a moderate association of Male with CAREER and Female with FAMILY compared to Female with CAREER and Male with FAMILY.
An IAT result suggests an association between "male and career" when responses are faster to the dual category "male pronouns and career-related words" (and "female pronouns and family-related words") than to the reverse. Results suggest an association between "female and career" when responses are faster to the dual category "female pronouns and career-related words" (and "male pronouns and family-related words") than to the reverse. Associations may be described as "slight," "moderate," "strong," or "little or no preference."
The table below shows the percentage of other online test takers receiving various test results, so you can compare yourself with other people. Your results have been corrected for the order in which you performed the dual category associations.
Test Result
% of Test Takers
Strong association between male and career
40%
Moderate association between male and career
15%
Slight association between male and career
12%
Little or no gender association with career or family
17%
Slight association between female and career
6%
Moderate association between female and career
5%
Strong association between female and career
5%
The gender IAT often reveals an automatic, or unconscious, association of female with family and male with career. These associations are consistent with traditional gender stereotypes that a woman's place is in the home rather than the workplace (and vice-versa for men). If your test results showed a stereotypic association, you are not alone: The results of more than one million tests suggest that most people have unconscious associations (if your results were "inconclusive," click here).
Implicit associations are often at odds with our conscious attitudes and beliefs. This does not mean that one is more accurate than the other. Rather, it suggests that we can have two unique evaluations of the same concept -- one conscious and the other unconscious. If you are surprised or concerned about your test results, or if you would like to know more about the Implicit Association Test, please visit Frequently Asked Questions About the IAT.
To take the Implicit Association Test again, please choose a test below:

Learning Log Sept. 22

What: In class we learned about different types of intelligences. Gardener's theory is very popular when it comes to lesson planning. There are nine different intelligences: interpersonal, intrapersonal, kinesthetic, naturalist, linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical.

Linguistic: writing, making arguments

Logical-Mathematical: solving math problems, doing proofs, testing hypotheses

Spatial: mental images, drawing

Musical: musical instrument, composting work

Kinesthetic: dancing, playing, performing

Interpersonal: reading others moods, work in groups

Intrapersonl: work alone, self knowledge

Naturalist: plants, applying knowledge to nature

So What: Gardener's theory of multiple intelligences is important because it describes ways that children learn well. Some one

Now what: We are taught to try to include all kinds of different intelligences in our learning strategy. For example, someone with musical intelligence may like to learn things through learning a song and someone with kinestheic intelligence would like to move while learning to enhance learning. Now it is my turn to make sure I try to include all these intelligences into my planning as a teacher.

Note: I am not sure I totally buy into all the intelligences Gardener talks about. I think some intelligences may just be strong interest--- so if someone is extremely interested in music then they will learn better if music is some how connected.

IQ tests etc.

IQ Test results: 115
I think these results are pretty close to being true. I used to have a propensity to work really, really hard so, in grade school (elementary, middle, and high school) I performed a little better than just above average. I never understood things quite as fast as the rest of the "advanced" kids, I had to work harder than them to get similar results, but the desire to do well kept me afloat. My desires kept me in circles of kids that were more than above average. This drive to succeed and do well influenced me till around 2004 when I hit a wall. Since then I have not worked as hard at things and as a result I think my IQ is very fitting.

I was surprised at the length of the test. It seemed a little short to me. I thought there might be a few different sections testing ability in other ways. In my more in depth analysis the test said that classification was my biggest strength then math, spacial, logic. Classification knowledge, according to the website, helps you make connections between items to give you a good general knowledge of different subjects. My greatest weakness is short term memory and general knowledge was low also. I agree that I do not have very good short term memory. I have a very difficult time memorizing things. Based on these results I think the test is generally accurate. Due to the length and variety of testing, however, I wonder if it is very through.

I am glad I took this test. This has encouraged me to work on my weaknesses. The thing that scares me about taking this test is that I don't want to use my 115 score as an excuse. I want to excel and I don't want the score of 115 in the back of my head telling me I can't be better.

multiple intelligence results:
Tied 1st (20 points): Linguistic, Interpersonal
Tied 2nd (14 points): Music, Logical
Tied 3rd (11 points): Visual/Spatial, Naturalistic, Kinesthetic
Last (9 points): Intrapersonal
my special code: dt1gs8cmn68469hqt

Don't you find it strange that I score highest on Linguistic in the multiple intelligence test, but I don't in the IQ test? This is very typical of me. I prefer the subject of English more than Math, but I always scored higher in math on standardized tests. Interpersonal is a very good description of one of my intelligences. I do much better when I am working with a group. My first years in college (the first time I went), I had many classes with people I lived around and I did very well. As my schooling went on (sophomore, junior) I had fewer and fewer classes with people I knew and I as a result worked less and less with others. I also did worse and worse in school.

The music score was a little surprising for me. I know I have always been good at remembering songs and that songs I could remember have helped me in educational settings on different occasions. I never thought to put it at the same level as logic. This is a good insight in to the way I learn and I want to use it to my advantage. I wonder about my intrapersonal score. I feel, for me, it is lower than other intelligences, but I don't think it is any less than spatial and kinesthetic. When I took this test I was feeling under the weather and wonder if that may have affected m

Reflection:
Using an IQ test on my students scares me. I never want to identify a test score with a student and think that is all they can achieve. Through my own experience in grade school I know that we can do far better than the score an IQ test gives us. Through support and hard work we can achieve many successes. Despite my idealistic thoughts, I know I will be prone to labeling, "good reader," "struggling Reader," "smart Kid," "troubled kid." I hope that through self discipline, education, and experience I will be able to reach closer to my idealistic goals of what a good teacher can be.

The thought of using the multiple intelligence test in my future classroom never hit me till now. I feel this test might be useful someday. If I had all my students take the test, I could get a better idea of how to reach students. I could also teach students how they learn best. I could also look at my class as a whole to see the best ways to teach the students most of the time, some of the time, and every once and while.

Learning Log for Sept 15

First off I really liked the activity of describing the different pictures of children. That was really fun! It was also a really good illustraition of what we actually due when children walk in the room.

In class we learned about cultural and gender differences. I was a little blown away by facts about Native American Indian culture. I really want to learn more about different cultures in the US so I can be a more effective teacher. Some of the stories in the book were shocking, for example when the Native American Indian boy was gone for days and no one went to look for him until he was needed. When we looked at gender differences we found that there arn't many. It was interesting in the group activity when the game itself was a little gender biased by using such terms as "fireman" and "garbageman."

In order to be an GREAT teacher I need to be sensitive to different cultures and to gender differences. I need to understand the needs of different cultures, but treat boys and girls the same. Teaching seems like such a delacte thing. It seems like you are always on a tight rope.

I am very interested in learning more a about any way that could help me teach a child. Some day when I have people from another culture in my class that I am familiar with, I hope I will take the time to learn about their culture. I also hope to treat boya and girls the same.

Learning Log: Sept. 8

What, So What, Now What?
Theories: We did a group assignment where we talked about what would be on different kinds of maps. From this we drew that maps don’t always show everything and are not the same as reality. The analogy here was that Theories are like maps. They can help you a long the way as a teacher, but are not the same as reality, not the same as being in the situation. Theories can be helpful; it is best to find out when it is good to use a particular theory.
Studies: We learned about different kinds of studies: Correlational Study, Experimental Study, Descriptive Study, and Action Study. These studies are all good for something, but they all have draw backs too. Studies/research is really hard to do for education. The only way to prove something well is to conduct an experiment, the problems is with education you really can’t conduct many experiments because you are using human subjects. Because of this studies need to be looked at more critically. How was the study conducted and by who? It is important that I learn to use a critical eye when listing to the latest studies for education, because in reality they may be way off base.

Changing mind Set: We all have preconceived ideas. These ideas can be difficult to change. I need to work on being open minded, it will help you be a better teacher
A teacher needs to Believe: how much impact they have and be sensitive to that, social and emotional lessons are not in a difference curriculum, all students wish to succeed, students learn more when basic needs are met, parents are our partners. I will be a better teacher if I can implement these beliefs.

1st post

Why are you here?
The biggest reason I went into teaching is because I wanted to share love with children. I wanted to love the children who have lots of love in their lives and especially the children who have less love in their lives. I am apt to believe that without love my future job will not feel satisfactory, my students will not learn as much, and they won’t like school as much. Love will be the foundation for my classroom. This, however, is a very vague idealistic thought. How will I show love for the children? How can I teach, what are the methods I can use? I am hoping that my next 4 semesters at UVU can help me answer these questions.

What motivates you?
I am motivated by a challenge. If someone says something is difficult, I want to do it. I am very stubborn in this way. I like a little competition. I am motivated by my heart. When I feel there is a good cause out there, I want to fight for it. I am motivated by duty. I will do things that I feel are supposed to be done, b/c someone has to do them. I am motivated by people I respect and want to impress or make happy.

Why do you succeed?
I succeed when I am motivated. When I think it's worth succeeding in, I'll succeed. If something seems unimportant than I tend not to try as hard. Even if I get an A in a class or a B if I thought it was a waste of time and I didn’t put any effort in to learning, I don’t consider this a success; I consider it a waste of time. Again, I succeed in things I feel are worth it.

Why do you fail?
I fail when I take too much on my self and expect perfection. I have to give my self time to play, do my duties, and educate myself. If I can't find time to do all these things I tend to break down. It's been a long time since I feel like I have "failed" in something. But when I did "fail" I had ignored a major part of my self. I had to recover from that. I didn't like that set back. I did learn a lot during that time, but it was at great cost. I also “fail” when I don’t learn.

How do you need to change you perspectives and or motivations in order to succeed in elementary education perform and become that great teacher?
I need to be willing to do what I will ask my students to do. I need to learn that if I think it would be a waste of time for me to do the assignment, then it is a waste of time for them to do it. I need to learn for my self why certain assignments my teachers give me are important instead of having a bad attitude towards them. I need to learn not to be so critical. I need to be more open minded. My ideas are not always the best ideas. Others ideas may be better than I give them credit for. I need to be willing to try new things.