Ch 10 #9

 How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?

 

I can increase Lisa's self-efficacy by showing her that I have confidence in her abilities and that I know she is capable of working well with others. Lisa will need to see her progress at collaborative group work, so it is important that her peers can provide positive feedback to her. The website I talk about below explains that even at the college level, students are unaware of the progress they make. This is because of past experiences. If Lisa can learn how to work well with others, she will feel better about herself and can have higher self-efficacy, which leads to success in the future.

This is a great website about self-efficacy. Be sure to click the arrows at the bottom because there are multiple pages. At the bottom of each page there are Checks for Understanding to see if you have understood everything. This can be great to help with your CSEL and Personal Learning Theory.
 

Self-regulation with Lisa needs to be modeled because it is apparent she does not know how to control her behavior or emotions. Promoting self-talk, such as, "Ok, am I doing what I am supposed to be doing? Am I staying on task?" are ways for Lisa to check herself. Self-monitoring is important when it comes to self-regulation, so I can give Lisa a checklist and a small timer. Every 10 minutes, the timer will beep, and she will give herself a smiley face is she is working well with others or a frown if she has not been doing what she is supposed to be doing. This way, she has a visual of her behavior and can see what it looks like. 

Emotion Regulation is an aspect of self-regulation and this can help when Lisa gets angry when she doesn't get the part she wants in a project. I can give her a small stress ball that she can use whenever she has negative feelings. We also could have a "cool down" spot in the room for anyone, not just Lisa, to go to when they feel like negative emotions are taking control.

All of these are ways for Lisa to improve her self-efficacy and self-regulation.

PLE #8 Ch 9

Consider your CSEL intervention case study. Are there tools from a behaviorist view for either encouraging productive behaviors or discouraging undesirable behaviors that you could apply to the case? What are they?

There are many tools from a behaviorist view that I could use with Lisa to both encourage productive behaviors or to discourse undesirable behaviors. Before I put my students in their groups, it is important to discuss the correct ways to behave when doing group activities. Making a list on the board and brainstorming ideas about how to treat each other would be a good way for Lisa to see what is expected of her. Once everyone knows the type of behavior that is expected in the classroom, the students will go to their groups.

I will pay attention to Lisa's group and whenever she behaves, doesn't get angry at others when she doesn't get her way, and contributes to the activity, I will praise her and will point out what she is doing that I like. For instance, if she doesn't interrupt a classmate, I will say "Lisa, I like how you are listening to John." This way, Lisa will know the behavior that is attached to the praise.

If this is ineffective, I can meet with her one on one and design a contingency contract. We will discuss the behavior that is inappropriate and decide on what behaviors will be appropriate. We will also discuss reinforcers for the good behavior. For instance, if Lisa can get through the group activity without talking out of turn and without getting angry when she doesn't get her away, if she contributes and helps prepare for the class presentation, she will receive a sticker that she can put on her behavior chart that I will design. If she reaches 10 stickers for positive behavior, she will get a larger reward (such as getting extra time on the computer). Hopefully this reinforcement will help Lisa behave appropriately. Eventually, I would like to take away the reinforcers and hope that Lisa can behave this way on her own.

I could also make this a class-wide token system, and if all of the groups work together and behave, the class will receive points. Every group has to behave in order for the class to receive points. This way, everyone will help each other, and hopefully Lisa will be reinforced as well to behave. Once the class reaches a certain amount of points, they will have a pizza party.

From a cognitive viewpoint, I've been having a hard time trying to think of how I would go about dealing with Lisa. Thinking about Piaget's stages, Lisa is at concrete-operational, meaning that she should be able to realize that other people have viewpoints and their own way of thinking. Perhaps I could use this to show her that everyone wants to have a certain role in the group and that we all need to take turns?

An important aspect of constructivism is that students reflect and talk about their activities. They also set their own goals. Lisa can construct her own ideas about what a good student looks like and how a student should behave during group work. She can construct her own goals and ways she can meet these goals. 

I feel like a cognitive viewpoint has the most deficits because it doesn't really apply to behavior--so if a child is misbehaving, it is hard to figure out how to deal with the child just based on cognition. Behaviorism is a great way to deal with Lisa because, obviously, we are dealing with her behavior and can use conditioning and reinforcement to get her to behave appropriately.

I think constructivism would be the best way to go about classroom management in my classroom because it involves both behavior and learning. Students need to know why they are behaving a certain way and need to be involved in ways they can change their behavior. Having students involved in the process helps them learn more. If Lisa can construct goals that she wants to attain, she will be more likely to follow through because she played a part in creating them. Also, with constructivism, I can look at her background knowledge to see if there are reasons why she is misbehaving during group time (perhaps her parents don't give her enough attention at home so she acts out in school, or she could be used to getting her own way at home and thinks the same should happen in school.)

All of the theories have positive aspects, but I think constructivism is the most effective in the classroom.  

I liked this article because it talks about both constructivism and behaviorism, comparing them, and discusses real-life examples in the classroom based on a video of preschoolers.

PLE #7 Ch 8

To teach my students metacognition skills in the classroom, it is important to model effectively these skills. For instance, in Reading class, I can talk to my students about how it is impossible to remember every little detail in a story--our brains cannot hold on to that much information at once. Because of this, it is important to pick out the main ideas of passages. This is something that will take practice, so for the first time we do this, a student will read a page and we will stop as a class and discuss the main idea of that page. I will write on the board what the students think the main idea is. We will continue to do this until the passage is finished. The students will be able to learn the process of picking out of the main ideas and will see how it is easier to remember what you read when you pick out the key concepts.

It is also important for students to be able to stop when they are reading and ask themselves if they understood what they just read. It is so easy to read something and not know what you read. Students need to be able to realize that this can happen quite often, and that by stopping periodically and asking questions can help you stay on track. To teach this, I will model this practice while we read together as a class. I will stop after I read something and say out loud, "Let me check to make sure I understand what I just read." This way, students can see what a comprehension check looks like and will learn the importance of it.

Problem solving skills are especially important in the classroom. If students do not know how to go about solving a problem, they will not be able to succeed. An important problem solving skill is writing down important information needed to solve the problem and possible solutions/approaches to the problem. For example, if a student is solving a math word problem, he/she needs to write down all the elements of the problem that will be needed to solve it. If the problem says something like, "Molly has $1.00. A candy bar is $.20 and a tootsie roll pop is $.30. How many of each piece of candy can Molly buy? Is the more than one option?" The student needs to write down the total amount Molly has to spend, the amount of each piece of candy, and the options. In the beginning, I can give them fill in the blanks for this so they have some structure, but by the end of the unit the students should be able to do this on their own. This will teach them organization when dealing with problems with more than one answer and will let them see their thinking process.

These Problem Solving Skills can be beneficial to both you and to your students.

PLE #6 Ch 7

In order for my students to fully master the content of my lesson, which is Vocabulary, they will need to do more than just memorize the definitions. This will not stay in their long term memory and they won't learn how to use the words in sentences. So, I will need to give the students activities that require them to dig deeper and to see the meanings of the words, how they are used, and when they are used.

I will provide my students with newspapers and magazines that contain these words. They will have to search for the words and will see how the words are used in real life and why they are important to know and recognize. They will cut out what they find, such as the words themselves, picture, synonyms, etc. and glue them on a poster board. This is an example of students individually constructing their ideas. When they are finished, each student will present their poster to the class so everyone can see how the words have been used. The students will also have to use their own words when discussing vocabulary words, and this helps them stay away from rote memorization.

Another activity my students will do is charades. This is a fun, interactive game that will allow me to see if my students really understand the meanings of the words. The students will be entertained and will not even know they are learning what the words mean. This is an example of group construction because they are coming up with their own ways to describe/act out the words and their peers have to guess what the word is.

Making learning active and based on the real world will help the students fully understand the meanings of the vocabulary words. They will come up with their own ways to describe their words, and will be able to remember the words better because of this.


You can explore this website to see more ways to use constructivism in the classroom.

PLE Ch 6

 How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions?

Knowing how the mind works when it comes to memory processes is very important when it comes to my instructional decisions. If students make a connection with existing knowledge or with a variety of contexts, he/she will understand and remember. For example, when teaching a concept in math, it would be wise to relate it to a previously learned concept. When teaching multiplication, if we are learning: 3x4=12, then I would write on the board: 3+3+3+3=12 so they can see it in a way they already know.
When teaching history, having students relate current events to past events will help them make the concept more concrete. It can be hard for them to understand something that happened centuries ago, so making it more present can help. Also, personal relationships to subjects studied can help them remember and learn. An example from class was to relate Romeo and Juliet to their own life experiences, such as disagreeing with parents or wanting to do something that is not allowed.


To prevent information from decaying, it is important to post vocabulary words and math concepts on the wall in my classroom so students can see these words everyday. I will want to refer to these words/concepts as often as possible and will connect them to new ideas so the information won't weaken in their minds.

If students are emotionally involved with their learning, they are more likely to remember it. If we are learning about something sad, like the Holocaust or Pearl Harbor, they will be able to recall more. If there is a sense of excitement with a new concept, students will be involved and want to learn. If an activity is engaging and fun, students will be unlikely to forget what they learned.

This blog has some tips and ideas from a teacher on how to get your students engaged so they can remember more.

PLE Chapter 6

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? 

In my classroom, I want my students to be able to think about subject matter in ways that will help them remember. Asking them to provide examples allows each child to come up with their own example, and this will help them remember. I also want my students to be able to pick out the most important things to learn and to understand why they are important. Obviously, a student cannot remember everything he/she reads or hears, so picking out important things is important. I could give them guiding questions when they read a story so they can see what kind of questions will help them find the main ideas. Eventually, I want my students to be able to come up with their own questions.

Students need to make sense of the concepts I am teaching. Relating such concepts to their experience will help them make more sense of it. Having group discussions allows for the students to discuss and express their ideas/experiences. They will also learn a lot from each other. 

I want my students to recognize their attention span and to realize when they are zoning out. This is difficult to do, but it is important for the learner to commit as much time as possible to a concept in order to learn it. I want my students to be able to catch themselves when they get off task and be able to get back on task. 

Last, I want students to come to conclusions on their own. I don't want to teach at them; I want to teach with them. If I force ideas on them and make them spit back certain answers, they will not learn. They need to construct ideas in their head and come up with solutions on their own. They will be able to do this throughout their lives and will be able to learn a great deal more. 

This is a video of a professor from the University of Sydney talking about deep learning and how if we throw too much information at students they won't learn it. It's not the most exciting video because it's a video of one of his lectures, but if you listen to what he says you will learn a lot for your classroom! :)
Deep Learning

PLE #4: Ch 14: Assessment

In the 4th grade class I am observing in Elementary Education 351, the students are learning about using context clues in stories to figure out the meaning of an unknown word. They are also learning about comparing and contrasting.
I would begin the lesson by perhaps giving a pretest involving context clues to see if students know how to use them. I would also have them list similarities and differences of two animals, such as a cow and a horse. This way I know where to begin with my lesson.

Throughout the unit, I would use informal assessments, such as observations of who is participating and who seems distracted. I would randomly call on students so I can see if they are understanding how to use context clues and similarities/differences. This is a simple way to evaluate who needs help and who understands.

I believe working in small groups is very effective. I would assign the students to read certain passages together and to come up with definitions of certain unfamiliar words. I can go to each group for a few minutes and have discussions about the passage and see how they are doing. Afterwards, we can come back as a class and discuss the meanings of the unknown words and how we used clues to figure them out.

Creating visuals was always important to me when I was in school, so I will try to implement this in my classroom. I would have each student create a Venn diagram to compare two objects. In the 4th grade classroom I visited today, they were learning about creatures that live in tide pools. So for this example, I would have students compare and contrast two creatures that are found in tide pools.This way they can see how they are related and how they are different. I can use these visuals to assess who understands how to make Venn diagrams.

An end of the unit test is important so I can see who has mastered the lesson. I would create a test that does not require rote memorization, but rather requires my students to use the knowledge they have gained in the lesson and apply it. This end of the unit test will allow me to see who is ready to move on and who still needs to work on the material.

This is a link to a website called Teacher Vision. It contains sources and links to other websites that have tips for students on study skills and how to prepare for a test. This would be a good idea to look at and create a tip sheet for your students (kind of like what Sarah and Colbi did in class on Tuesday.)