How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions?
First off, it is important for me to know as a teacher how my students' retrieve and process memories and information. My students will be most likely to retrieve information when they have multiple connections to it. Therefore, I will make sure that my instruction allows for my students to make multiple connections to the concepts we are learning. This can be done through emotional connections like excitement, anger, and sadness. By making an emotional connection to my instruction, it will be easier for my students to retrieve information. In addition, we have learned that wait time during instruction is important. By waiting three-four seconds after I ask my class a question, I am allowing my students enough time to process the question and retrieve information from their memory. Furthermore, by providing wait time I am making it more likely that students who typically don't speak up will (females and minority students). I also know that it is important for me to make learning meaningful because students are more likely to remember information when it is relevant to them and their prior knowledge. To do this, I will make sure what I'm teaching makes sense and I will ask my students to explain their reasoning for their answers and relate it to their lives or tell how it is relevant to their lives. This will cause them to retrieve prior knowledge and make multiple connections to what they are explaining. I will also make sure that my instruction is distinctive and fun. We have learned that we are more likely to remember things that are unique, new, or bizarre. Therefore, I will make my instruction hands-on and engaging so that it sticks out in the minds of my students. I will also use mnemonic devices to make learning concepts fun through the use of songs, rhymes, verbal cues, etc. I know that this trick is effective because I still to this day remember the different mnemonic devices I learned throughout elementary school. Most importantly, I know that practice makes perfect and that students put skills to their long-term memory by practicing them. For instance, during science experiments I will walk my students through the experiment by explaining it while they practice doing it rather than me standing in front of the class and just showing it to them. There are many more ways I will adapt my instruction based on what we have learned about the memory processes, but these are just a few.
Below is an article on 10 ways to enhance students' memory so that they might develop a more efficient and effective memory. It provides excellent information on ways to adapt your instructional decisions and it also provides information you can tell your students to increase their memory. For instance, you can remind your students that information is better remembered when they review materials before they go to sleep at night.
http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/memory_strategies_May06.php
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
PLE #4
What are the essential skills and/or learning outcomes you want your students to know and be able to do that relate to cognitive learning?
There are several skills I want my students to be able to do that relate to cognitive learning. The first skill is that I want my students to be able to construct their own meaning and understanding. In addition, I want my students to be able to assimilate and accommodate new information in order to construct a better understanding of what they are learning. One of the more essential skills I want my students to be able to do is the process of equilibration due to the fact that this promotes more complex understanding and thoughts. Furthermore, I want my students to be able to take their constructed meaning and understanding of concepts and store it in their long-term memory. I think it is important for students to figure out what kind of learner they are and experiment with different strategies in order to find out what helps them to learn and understand most affectively. The earlier students start to do these essential skills, the better.
In addition to wanting my students to be able to do skills that relate to cognitive learning, I also want them to know certain things about cognitive learning to better their overall learning outcomes. For instance, I think it is important for my students to know that they are in control of their own cognitive processes. For instance, being aware of the importance of attention in terms of cognitive learning will cause them to create effective personal learning environments. An example of this could be that my student knows they are easily distracted when they sit near the door or when they sit next to their best friend. In theory, they would then make adjustments to this so that their attention is not bothered. However, I realize how hard this concept would be for elementary students. In addition, I also want my students to know about metamemory strategies and how they effect their learning outcomes. For example, some of my students will not be able to remember what we talk about during a lesson unless they write some of it down. Most importantly, I want my students to know that there are several factors that go into creating affective learning outcomes and the sooner they are aware of these factors the better their learning outcomes will be.
Below is an article on meta-attention for learning disabled and non-learning disabled children. When it comes to being aware of their attention, this study shows that younger children are more inclined to pay attention due to the effects of rewards and that older children are more inclined to pay attention due to their interest level.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1510613
There are several skills I want my students to be able to do that relate to cognitive learning. The first skill is that I want my students to be able to construct their own meaning and understanding. In addition, I want my students to be able to assimilate and accommodate new information in order to construct a better understanding of what they are learning. One of the more essential skills I want my students to be able to do is the process of equilibration due to the fact that this promotes more complex understanding and thoughts. Furthermore, I want my students to be able to take their constructed meaning and understanding of concepts and store it in their long-term memory. I think it is important for students to figure out what kind of learner they are and experiment with different strategies in order to find out what helps them to learn and understand most affectively. The earlier students start to do these essential skills, the better.
In addition to wanting my students to be able to do skills that relate to cognitive learning, I also want them to know certain things about cognitive learning to better their overall learning outcomes. For instance, I think it is important for my students to know that they are in control of their own cognitive processes. For instance, being aware of the importance of attention in terms of cognitive learning will cause them to create effective personal learning environments. An example of this could be that my student knows they are easily distracted when they sit near the door or when they sit next to their best friend. In theory, they would then make adjustments to this so that their attention is not bothered. However, I realize how hard this concept would be for elementary students. In addition, I also want my students to know about metamemory strategies and how they effect their learning outcomes. For example, some of my students will not be able to remember what we talk about during a lesson unless they write some of it down. Most importantly, I want my students to know that there are several factors that go into creating affective learning outcomes and the sooner they are aware of these factors the better their learning outcomes will be.
Below is an article on meta-attention for learning disabled and non-learning disabled children. When it comes to being aware of their attention, this study shows that younger children are more inclined to pay attention due to the effects of rewards and that older children are more inclined to pay attention due to their interest level.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1510613
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Ch. 14 Assessment
Think of a lesson plan from your licensure area. Knowing that assessment is an integral part of teaching, explain at least four informal and formal assessments that you will use in your lesson plan to provide you with feedback and involve the students in assessing their own learning.
As we have learned in class and read in our textbook, assessment is a very important part of being an effective teacher. Assessments allow us to observe a student's behavior or academic achievement and draw inferences from those observations about the student's knowledge and abilities. I know everyone thinks of multiple choice standardized tests when the word assessment comes up, however there are many different ways that teachers can assess their students. Assessments are most effective when a variety of them are used to determine a student's knowledge, abilities, and behavior. As a teacher, I will make sure I use a variety of assessments to observe my students because it is important to remember that my classroom will be made up of different learners who demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
Using a Science lesson plan on friction for a 4th grade classroom that I recently created, I will explain how I would use both informal and formal assessments to provide myself with valuable feedback that I could use to reshape the direction of my teaching and also keep track of my students' learning while involving my students in assessing their own learning at the same time. The objectives of this lesson are that students will discover that friction is a force that resists motion by observing the effects of friction on a moving object, students will discover how lubricants reduce friction between an object and the surface, and students will suggest additional ways to reduce friction between objects.
4 Informal Assessments I will use:
As we have learned in class and read in our textbook, assessment is a very important part of being an effective teacher. Assessments allow us to observe a student's behavior or academic achievement and draw inferences from those observations about the student's knowledge and abilities. I know everyone thinks of multiple choice standardized tests when the word assessment comes up, however there are many different ways that teachers can assess their students. Assessments are most effective when a variety of them are used to determine a student's knowledge, abilities, and behavior. As a teacher, I will make sure I use a variety of assessments to observe my students because it is important to remember that my classroom will be made up of different learners who demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
Using a Science lesson plan on friction for a 4th grade classroom that I recently created, I will explain how I would use both informal and formal assessments to provide myself with valuable feedback that I could use to reshape the direction of my teaching and also keep track of my students' learning while involving my students in assessing their own learning at the same time. The objectives of this lesson are that students will discover that friction is a force that resists motion by observing the effects of friction on a moving object, students will discover how lubricants reduce friction between an object and the surface, and students will suggest additional ways to reduce friction between objects.
4 Informal Assessments I will use:
- Questioning: I will use this type of informal assessment at the beginning of this lesson and during this lesson to gain insight on the degree and depth of my students' understanding of friction and motion. Using questioning at the beginning of the lesson will allow me to see what preconceptions my students already have about friction and motion and what they do/do not already know. This will allow me to adjust the lesson to most effectively meet the needs of my students. Questioning during the lesson will allow my students the opportunity for deeper thinking.
- Observation: I will use the assessment strategy of observation during the lesson while students work in groups to complete the activity, since a large part of this lesson is student-led. While students are working in groups, I will walk around and take notes on how well each student performs physical tasks, reflect on a specific aspect of their learning, note specific behaviors when working in groups, etc. By keeping a notebook of my individual observations on each student, I can furnish a picture of student learning over time.
- Write daily or weekly entries in their journals: I will use this type of informal assessment to further expand my students' understanding of the lesson on friction while also tying in a connection to Language Arts/Writing. Our Language Arts lesson for that week or day might be on short stories and poems and so to connect to this skill, I would have my students write about either what life would be like in a frictionless world or describe other ways to reduce friction between objects. This type of informal assessment would provide me with feedback on my students' understanding of friction after learning about it in the lesson and show me what they still need work on.
- Peer/Self Assessments: This type of informal assessment would allow students to evaluate their own learning. These are important because when students are required to think about their own learning, articulate their understanding, and what they still need improvement on, their overall achievement improves. One way I would use this assessment would be the "Two Stars and a Wish" peer assessment strategy. After writing in their journals about friction, each student would be paired with another student and would read to one another what they have written about friction. Each partner must then identify two things the author did well (stars) and one suggestion for improvement (wish). This type of assessment is great because it creates a classroom community and it also allows students to see where they could use improvement while also learning from their peers.
4 Formal Assessments I will use:
- Oral Presentation: For this assessment strategy, I will have my students present an oral presentation to the class on either sports in which friction plays an important role or ways that scientists have used their discoveries about friction to improve transportation. This presentation can be done either with a partner or individually, which allows the students some sense of control over how they are assessed. This will provide feedback on the students' understanding of the lesson and show what they are capable of doing. This type of task is meaningful, thought provoking, and authentic.
- Multiple-Choice Test: While this is not my favorite type of assessment, it will still provide useful feedback on what my students know and still need improvement on regarding the topic of friction and motion. I would use this assessment at the end of the unit on friction and motion to test my students' overall knowledge in this content area. This would show how effective both my teaching and the lesson were on furthering their understanding of friction.
- Conducting an Experiment: At the end of the lesson, I would have my students get in groups and discuss with one another an experiment they could conduct on friction and motion. This could be an experiment that shows how objects have different amounts of friction when rubbed against different surfaces. This type of performance assessment will give me feedback on what my students really know about friction by showing me rather than writing it out for me or telling me. By applying their knowledge of friction to conducting an experiment, I can see their level of understanding they gained from the lesson and adjust my teaching from there.
- Short-Answer Quiz: I will inform my students before starting the lesson that there will be a quiz when the lesson is finished. This type of formal assessment provides feedback on a student's understanding of friction by having them put into their own words what friction is, how friction stops motion, and how lubricants help assist objects in motion. I plan to use this assessment format to provide me with an overview of what my students learned and didn't learn through the lesson. This will give me a guideline of what concepts need to be further explained and worked on before I give my students the multiple-choice test at the end of the friction unit.
Through using these different types of assessment, I can most effectively gain feedback that is both valid and reliable.
This is a link to a great website on formative assessments. It provides a variety of ways for you to assess your students and describes why each type of formative assessment is valuable and useful. I found so many great resources on this site that I plan to use in my own classroom that will provide me with great feedback on my students' progress. I think it is important to utilize all the ways that you can assess your students in order to gain reliable and valid feedback.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Chapter 13: Environments Conducive to Learning
PLE: Based on our readings and class discussion, how will you create a learning environment that is conducive to learning? Now consider you CSEL case study, develop a full continuum of responses for dealing with the misbehavior of your case.
In class last week, we discussed what our ideal classroom environment would be like. I wrote down that I wanted mine to be organized, interactive, literacy-rich with posters, books, labels, etc, structured with the rules and expectations clearly defined, colorful, creative, inviting, comfortable, bright, and flexible. By providing my students with a literacy-rich classroom, I am complimenting my goal as a teacher to instill in my students a love for reading and a motivational drive to challenge my students to increase their reading skills. By having an organized classroom environment, I am modeling to my students the idea of organization, while also establishing structure. In addition, by creating an interactive learning environment, I am complimenting my goal of having my students be actively engaged in the lessons that I teach. In writing these ideas down, I drew from my past experiences when I was an elementary student and what classrooms I loved and remembered the most. My classrooms growing up were colorful and interactive and full of resources and supplies. Classroom management is one of the aspects I worry most about as a future educator. However, this is an important factor in terms of creating a conducive learning environment. After reading chapter 13, I have a clear idea of how I will create a learning environment conducive to learning.
The first aspect I will tackle when creating a conducive learning environment will be the arrangement of my classroom. I want to arrange the students' desks in a way that encourages student interaction. For example, I plan to arrange the desks in small groups to facilitate working together as a classroom community and plan to rotate the groups around so that my students learn how to work together with all of their classmates. By having my students work together in groups and as a whole, I am promoting a sense of community and belongingness, showing my students that they are all important and valuable members of the classroom. The classroom climate is also important in creating a conducive environment for learning. Therefore, I will be sure to regularly communicate my caring and respect for my students as people. This can be done by greeting them at the door each morning with a warm smile or complimenting them. I also want to establish a goal-oriented environment for my students where they are motivated to master subject matters. While it is important that my students know I am in charge of the classroom, I also plan to give my students some control over class activities. This could be done by allowing my students to set their own deadlines for assignments or allow them to choose how they want to spend their class time after they have completed their work. Choices could be activities on the computer or reading a book from the class library. Overall, I want to create a loving and comfortable environment for my students that has organizational structure to it. I want my students to respect me as I will respect them as individuals. Most importantly, I want my students to constantly be engaged in productive, worthwhile activities.
Regarding my case study, I have come up with a full continuum of responses for how I would deal with Lisa. After noticing that Lisa's small group is having a hard time staying on task and completing projects and that Lisa is the catalyst for her group's problems, I would first go over with the entire class the proper behaviors that they should be exhibiting when working in groups with their peers to reinforce how cooperative small groups should work together so that I am not singling out Lisa. I would then remind them that if I see group members not cooperating with their group that they will put a mark by their name on the classroom behavior chart. If this reminder did not change the way Lisa acted in her small group, I would try putting Lisa in a different small group and monitor this group more than others to see if a change in scenery for Lisa would change her behavior, maybe the peers in her prior group just weren't the right fit for Lisa's personality. If this still did not change Lisa's behavior, I would then pull Lisa aside to discuss her misbehavior and also just talk with her to see if I can get to the root of the problem. I would also remind Lisa of how I expect for my students to behave in small groups. If this still did not work, I would then have a meeting with Lisa's parents to inform them of Lisa's behavior and find out if there might be a particular reason Lisa is acting this way. I might also ask the advice of another teacher in my grade level to see if they might have some ideas on how to handle this situation without identifying that the student I am referring to is Lisa. My last response if none of the above responses worked would be to involve either the guidance counselor or the principal. I would let them know of the different responses I have already tried out to fix the situation and then let them decide how this case should be handled.
Building A Classroom Community (click on link)
This link is a great article on how to build a classroom community. The article states the importance of classroom communities because students who feel a sense of identity in a group are known to be the most successful in school. Creating this classroom community is vital to establishing an environment conducive to learning and this article provides great steps on how to accomplish this task. This will be especially beneficial for me as a new teacher.
In class last week, we discussed what our ideal classroom environment would be like. I wrote down that I wanted mine to be organized, interactive, literacy-rich with posters, books, labels, etc, structured with the rules and expectations clearly defined, colorful, creative, inviting, comfortable, bright, and flexible. By providing my students with a literacy-rich classroom, I am complimenting my goal as a teacher to instill in my students a love for reading and a motivational drive to challenge my students to increase their reading skills. By having an organized classroom environment, I am modeling to my students the idea of organization, while also establishing structure. In addition, by creating an interactive learning environment, I am complimenting my goal of having my students be actively engaged in the lessons that I teach. In writing these ideas down, I drew from my past experiences when I was an elementary student and what classrooms I loved and remembered the most. My classrooms growing up were colorful and interactive and full of resources and supplies. Classroom management is one of the aspects I worry most about as a future educator. However, this is an important factor in terms of creating a conducive learning environment. After reading chapter 13, I have a clear idea of how I will create a learning environment conducive to learning.
The first aspect I will tackle when creating a conducive learning environment will be the arrangement of my classroom. I want to arrange the students' desks in a way that encourages student interaction. For example, I plan to arrange the desks in small groups to facilitate working together as a classroom community and plan to rotate the groups around so that my students learn how to work together with all of their classmates. By having my students work together in groups and as a whole, I am promoting a sense of community and belongingness, showing my students that they are all important and valuable members of the classroom. The classroom climate is also important in creating a conducive environment for learning. Therefore, I will be sure to regularly communicate my caring and respect for my students as people. This can be done by greeting them at the door each morning with a warm smile or complimenting them. I also want to establish a goal-oriented environment for my students where they are motivated to master subject matters. While it is important that my students know I am in charge of the classroom, I also plan to give my students some control over class activities. This could be done by allowing my students to set their own deadlines for assignments or allow them to choose how they want to spend their class time after they have completed their work. Choices could be activities on the computer or reading a book from the class library. Overall, I want to create a loving and comfortable environment for my students that has organizational structure to it. I want my students to respect me as I will respect them as individuals. Most importantly, I want my students to constantly be engaged in productive, worthwhile activities.
Regarding my case study, I have come up with a full continuum of responses for how I would deal with Lisa. After noticing that Lisa's small group is having a hard time staying on task and completing projects and that Lisa is the catalyst for her group's problems, I would first go over with the entire class the proper behaviors that they should be exhibiting when working in groups with their peers to reinforce how cooperative small groups should work together so that I am not singling out Lisa. I would then remind them that if I see group members not cooperating with their group that they will put a mark by their name on the classroom behavior chart. If this reminder did not change the way Lisa acted in her small group, I would try putting Lisa in a different small group and monitor this group more than others to see if a change in scenery for Lisa would change her behavior, maybe the peers in her prior group just weren't the right fit for Lisa's personality. If this still did not change Lisa's behavior, I would then pull Lisa aside to discuss her misbehavior and also just talk with her to see if I can get to the root of the problem. I would also remind Lisa of how I expect for my students to behave in small groups. If this still did not work, I would then have a meeting with Lisa's parents to inform them of Lisa's behavior and find out if there might be a particular reason Lisa is acting this way. I might also ask the advice of another teacher in my grade level to see if they might have some ideas on how to handle this situation without identifying that the student I am referring to is Lisa. My last response if none of the above responses worked would be to involve either the guidance counselor or the principal. I would let them know of the different responses I have already tried out to fix the situation and then let them decide how this case should be handled.
Building A Classroom Community (click on link)
This link is a great article on how to build a classroom community. The article states the importance of classroom communities because students who feel a sense of identity in a group are known to be the most successful in school. Creating this classroom community is vital to establishing an environment conducive to learning and this article provides great steps on how to accomplish this task. This will be especially beneficial for me as a new teacher.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Motivational Theories
Learning about the different motivational theories has been really interesting this past week, especially when applying them to myself as both a student and a future teacher.
The first motivational theory that I find helpful is the Expectancy versus Value Theory. This theory is helpful to me because it explains why I expect a lot out of myself when it comes to school. This is due to the fact that I have always been successful at school throughout my academic career and because of this, I have built a high self efficacy. Therefore, it is easy for my expectancy of my performance to be higher than my peers. This is both good and bad for me. It is good because I expect that I will always perform on a high level in school. This expectancy pushes me to work hard and perform to the best of my ability. This expectancy is also bad because it makes me more vulnerable to feeling like a failure when I do not perform to the high ability that I expect myself to. In addition, I have also realized that value plays a role in my motivation. Value can be high or low due to importance, utility, interest, and cost. For example, my freshman year of college I struggled through the class Anthropology, even though I absolutely hated it, because it was a means to my desired goal of graduating and therefore it had the value of utility. This theory, as a whole, will affect my students because they are more likely to engage in a particular subject area or behavior if they have an expectancy of success while also finding value in the subject area or behavior. Value affects the choices my students will make which contributes to their effort and achievement due to their expectancy of success. As a teacher, it is my job to show my students that what they are learning in school has a high value while also building their expectancy of success at that particular subject.
The other motivational goal I found both instructive and helpful was the Goal Theory, especially in the area of learning goals and performance goals. As a whole, goals drive our motivation whether they are short-term or long-term. Goals give you something to work towards and accomplish and can possibly raise your sense of expectancy and value towards a specific behavior. Last week in class, we looked at learning goals and performance goals. Learning goals, known as mastery goals, are the desire to acquire additional knowledge or master a new skill. Performance goals are the desire to demonstrate high ability and make a good impression. Prior to last week's class, I was not aware of the distinction between different types of goals, goals were goals in my eyes. However, this theory is instructive and helpful in making a clear distinction between the two and the ways they affect one's motivation. This theory will affect my students' motivation in several ways. For instance, if my students set learning goals for themselves, they will have the motivation to engage in activities that will help them learn. This includes paying attention in class, learning from their mistakes, and realizing that learning involves trying hard and continuing to persevere even in the face of failure. In addition, my students will benefit from performance goals if they are combined with mastery goals. Performance goals by themselves can be less beneficial to my students' motivation. For example, as learners, students will exert only the minimum amount of effort to complete a task, may be tempted to cheat in order to get good grades, and prefer short, easy tasks. As a teacher, it is my role to pick-up on characteristics of this type of goal and use it to my benefit in order to motivate my students. For example, I can post the highest or best work on the bulletin board. This will increase my performance goal students to work hard to get their work on the board in order to look competent in the eyes of their peers. I can also remind my students of the importance of good grades for success. On the other hand for my learning goal oriented students, I can insist that they actually understand a subject matter rather than just simply memorize the material. I can also have my students make short-term concrete goals to increase their motivation to learn.
There are several other motivational goals but, these two types of goals are the ones that stuck out most to me and were the ones I was most able to relate to as both a student and a future educator. While researching about motivation in elementary children, I came across the website "KidsHealth" (click to view website). This article on "Motivating Kids to be Active", made an interesting connection between being physically active and motivation. It discusses the importance of kids being physically active and how this directly affects them being academically motivated, alert, and successful. In addition, physical activity can also build self-esteem, which plays a part in motivation to learn. I found this particularly interesting because as a teacher, I can create lessons that involve forms of physical activity in the classroom because when kids enjoy an activity, they are more likely to want to engage in it and do more activities like it. I think this article made a vital connection between living an active lifestyle and the benefits its brings not just physically, but cognitively and its application to motivation.
The first motivational theory that I find helpful is the Expectancy versus Value Theory. This theory is helpful to me because it explains why I expect a lot out of myself when it comes to school. This is due to the fact that I have always been successful at school throughout my academic career and because of this, I have built a high self efficacy. Therefore, it is easy for my expectancy of my performance to be higher than my peers. This is both good and bad for me. It is good because I expect that I will always perform on a high level in school. This expectancy pushes me to work hard and perform to the best of my ability. This expectancy is also bad because it makes me more vulnerable to feeling like a failure when I do not perform to the high ability that I expect myself to. In addition, I have also realized that value plays a role in my motivation. Value can be high or low due to importance, utility, interest, and cost. For example, my freshman year of college I struggled through the class Anthropology, even though I absolutely hated it, because it was a means to my desired goal of graduating and therefore it had the value of utility. This theory, as a whole, will affect my students because they are more likely to engage in a particular subject area or behavior if they have an expectancy of success while also finding value in the subject area or behavior. Value affects the choices my students will make which contributes to their effort and achievement due to their expectancy of success. As a teacher, it is my job to show my students that what they are learning in school has a high value while also building their expectancy of success at that particular subject.
The other motivational goal I found both instructive and helpful was the Goal Theory, especially in the area of learning goals and performance goals. As a whole, goals drive our motivation whether they are short-term or long-term. Goals give you something to work towards and accomplish and can possibly raise your sense of expectancy and value towards a specific behavior. Last week in class, we looked at learning goals and performance goals. Learning goals, known as mastery goals, are the desire to acquire additional knowledge or master a new skill. Performance goals are the desire to demonstrate high ability and make a good impression. Prior to last week's class, I was not aware of the distinction between different types of goals, goals were goals in my eyes. However, this theory is instructive and helpful in making a clear distinction between the two and the ways they affect one's motivation. This theory will affect my students' motivation in several ways. For instance, if my students set learning goals for themselves, they will have the motivation to engage in activities that will help them learn. This includes paying attention in class, learning from their mistakes, and realizing that learning involves trying hard and continuing to persevere even in the face of failure. In addition, my students will benefit from performance goals if they are combined with mastery goals. Performance goals by themselves can be less beneficial to my students' motivation. For example, as learners, students will exert only the minimum amount of effort to complete a task, may be tempted to cheat in order to get good grades, and prefer short, easy tasks. As a teacher, it is my role to pick-up on characteristics of this type of goal and use it to my benefit in order to motivate my students. For example, I can post the highest or best work on the bulletin board. This will increase my performance goal students to work hard to get their work on the board in order to look competent in the eyes of their peers. I can also remind my students of the importance of good grades for success. On the other hand for my learning goal oriented students, I can insist that they actually understand a subject matter rather than just simply memorize the material. I can also have my students make short-term concrete goals to increase their motivation to learn.
There are several other motivational goals but, these two types of goals are the ones that stuck out most to me and were the ones I was most able to relate to as both a student and a future educator. While researching about motivation in elementary children, I came across the website "KidsHealth" (click to view website). This article on "Motivating Kids to be Active", made an interesting connection between being physically active and motivation. It discusses the importance of kids being physically active and how this directly affects them being academically motivated, alert, and successful. In addition, physical activity can also build self-esteem, which plays a part in motivation to learn. I found this particularly interesting because as a teacher, I can create lessons that involve forms of physical activity in the classroom because when kids enjoy an activity, they are more likely to want to engage in it and do more activities like it. I think this article made a vital connection between living an active lifestyle and the benefits its brings not just physically, but cognitively and its application to motivation.
Monday, January 14, 2013
First Day of Class
During the first Educational Psychology 401 class, we discussed several things. We first go to know each other and listen to why each of us decided to go into teaching. This was a great part of class, because it was inspiring and uplifting to hear everyone's thoughts on what led them to go into teaching. In addition, we heard about what led the interpreting majors to pursue a career path of interpreting whether that included teaching or interpreting in the medical field. It was fascinating to hear about their reasons for going into this field and the expectations they have for themselves in this career. The overall feel of the class was comfortable and relaxed, which made it easy to express my opinions and openly have conversation with my peers.
My objectives for this course are to obtain a thorough and better understanding of educational psychology. I am looking forward to enhancing my knowledge on how/why students learn and develop throughout the educational process as they grown and mature into adults. I would also like to learn about the different behaviors that children portray and the reasons such behaviors exist in a learning environment.
My concerns for this class are being able to thoroughly understand the reading enough to demonstrate my knowledge on the subject matter in class, especially since each of the chapters in the book are pretty lengthy and loaded with informational material. In addition, I am also concerned class participation. I always make a conscious effort to participate in class discussions, but fear that sometimes I might not understand the concept well enough to discuss it and therefore won't receive participation points for that particular class. As a whole, I am looking forward to the experiences that this class will bring and the information it will provide me with that will foster my growth as a future educator.
My objectives for this course are to obtain a thorough and better understanding of educational psychology. I am looking forward to enhancing my knowledge on how/why students learn and develop throughout the educational process as they grown and mature into adults. I would also like to learn about the different behaviors that children portray and the reasons such behaviors exist in a learning environment.
My concerns for this class are being able to thoroughly understand the reading enough to demonstrate my knowledge on the subject matter in class, especially since each of the chapters in the book are pretty lengthy and loaded with informational material. In addition, I am also concerned class participation. I always make a conscious effort to participate in class discussions, but fear that sometimes I might not understand the concept well enough to discuss it and therefore won't receive participation points for that particular class. As a whole, I am looking forward to the experiences that this class will bring and the information it will provide me with that will foster my growth as a future educator.
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