Learning Log Ch.7

What?
This week in class we learned about learning construction and how a big part of that is one's meaning behing their knowledge. If astudent doesn't know what a chair is they won't be able to describe one, for example. Learning is a process not something your born with and as you learn new concepts more pathways are made in your brain. Concepts are a way to help us learn what a word,feeling,action is, what it means, and what it does. It also helps one to start organizing knowledge with other similar memories. With the world filled with information different views and theories of that information come along with it. This is where misconceptions come into play and confuse children of the truth. Teachers especially need to be giving factual information and backing it up with primary sources for students to compare. Discovery learning is a good way for teachers to respond to students who don't quite get it. Instead of saying thats wrong , say that;s not quite what I'm looking for its a little different from what I'm thinking of. This way they will want to find out the real answer and not feel shut down. The students then will continue to ask questions and not feel dumb and picked on.
So What?
This weeks topic is of importance to a future teacher , in that everything you say to students is building up their knowledge. You're the one that helps to construct the learning that takes place either good or bad. By knowing that they' re going to have outside knowledge and different understandings you can decide how to best teach. By knowing these basics then you can incorporate them into authentic activities were they really get a different learning experience. This is a part of the syllabus because learning daily and how its constructed is a human behavior, without it we wouldn't function. We then can learn more about what ways we construct knowledge and then experiment with the students and find the ways they learn best. This will make me a great teacher, in that, I will constantly be looking for ways that can help my students get different kinds of experiences out of original lesson material, so that they remember.
Now What?
Lesson Topic: Seasons k-1st grade
Engage: Read the story, A Tree for all Seasons. Ask questions to students about the surroundings of the tree and what's different about them. Does the tree change being outside at different seasons? What happens to the leaves?
Explore: Have students all help to make a classroom weather chart where at the beginning of class one helper can write or draw a picture of the weather that day.
Explain:Studnets would tell about the weather and something they saw or found out. This would come from their seasons journal they keep at school. They would think-pair-share with friend.
Elaborate: Studnets will create their own collage of each season using crafts in class.
Evaluate: Students will show in their artwork and by what describing word they chose to describe each season in collage, what they have learned about the seasons and how they make them feel.

Learning Log Ch.6

What?
This week I learned about learning and memory. That in order for learning to happen there has to be a new experience and that meaning is constructed by the learner, rather than directly from the environment. Our certain beliefs and values are what play the role in making things meaningful to the learner. Memory in our brain literally forms pathways and the younger they're defined the longer you'll remember those memories. All of our memories don't go to one certain place they go to a few. First you need to be paying attention for it to get stored into working memory and then to long term. Once its here it needs to be applied to something else or it will be lost. Make the fact meaningful,connect it with a picture and organize it with other concepts. The model of memory is what taught me the correct process of information into two different categories. The brain has a lot of steps that have to work for things to be remembered. Using almost every part of it mostly the hippocampus ans amygdala are used to store memory ans retrieve it.
So What?
This weeks topic is important for a future teacher.say me, to know for a number of reasons. If I understand how learning and memory come and the strategies that help them move from short term to long term memory students will improve. Students will know some of these strategies and start to apply them on their own. By showing students a wide variety of helpful techniques they can use the one that works best with their learning style. Help them feel more confident with tests and with anything that required memorization. This is included in the syllabus so that we can see how we can understand learning and memory to help our students. This topic will help me be a great teacher by helping me see what level the students memory process works and incorporate them into class. Teach them different ways to organize information and how to retrieve long term memories while interacting with other students doing think-pair-shares.
Now What?
The information that I've learned about chapter six will be important in my future. It will help me know how to help my students retain their knowledge the best they can. By knowing each students learning style and what they enjoy this will help get their attention, which moves information into short-term memory. I need to learn how to respond to children beliefs that are incorrect and how to turn them in the right direction. I want to learn about ways to make lessons meaningful, all concepts organized, and emphasized. I think a lot of this learning will come from practice teaching, but also from reading. This will help me to get my students stretching to their full potentials.

Learning Log, Chapter 3

What?

While learning and reading about chapter three I really started getting interested in development. The factors that determine your sense of self and how you develop to figure yourself out are very important. I learned about a series of steps for social development and they are so crucial in daily life. Eriksons steps are helpful to evaluate which step your at and to help assess others. You can see that this is the way our lives tend to go and that we'll eventually move past a bad stage in life. Every stage has an opposite side to show that in different stages of life things can go either way. The friends and the huge role the play in every childs life is important for each one of them to establish. Children learn so much through peer interactions such as learning to be social and be emotionally supported. If children are unpopular, feel rejected, or are neglected sooner or later their behavior, lack of caring for improving, and attitudes will change. All children should always feel of worth in your care and while you are instructing them. With emotional and social development soon comes moral development. Kohlberg who came up with stages of moral development are good starting points to evaluate students moral behavior. They will be for boys but not girls since he didn't include girls in his study. These stages help give us a backbone for childrens reasoning behind misbehaving or abiding for certain reasons. Knowing your students backgrounds and friends as well as having these stages in mind will help you see why certain students act out the way they do.

So What?

The topic in chapter three is important for me to know as a teacher, in that each child is developing emotionally and socially each month. Many of these months which they will be in my care. Each one of them will be at different stages and I'll need to know what each stages characteristics are, so I can be of help. I could incorporate into my life different scenarios or stories about bullying or leaving others out. I feel this subject was put in the syllabus because we are learning to teach children, and every childs emotional and social development plays a factor in the way they learn. Knowing about this subject can make me a better teacher by being an advocate and someone students can talk to. Instead of being a teacher that only lectures and doesn't know what is going on in the students lives. I could let them know about how the same things they are going through I went through and be a support. Doing group activities where the teacher picks the groups is a good way to mix up those that hide with people who are more social. They will learn to work in groups and complete projects,each having a certain role, and get it completed. These activities could show them that not everyone is weird and that others have similar interests within the class. Making them learn to like others and themselves will make school and the classroom more enjoyable.

Now What?

This weeks information has a lot of material that I can apply as a teacher. I can be able to see where the age levels of students struggle, and incorporate values assignments that help them view true friends differently. I'll need to keep researching and reading books about development to get a well rounded view of it. Also I can volunteer in classrooms and see how different ages of children act socially and which things are hard for them to get used to. This way I'll get a better look at the ages I could possibly be teaching and start preparing better.

Learning Log #2 and Kim Peek "The real Rainman"

Kim Peek the real "Rainman" is 57 years old and lives with his father. His four brain lobes are fused together and aren't separate. His brain is constantly making connections that don't get sorted into certain areas of the brain. No synaptic pruning occurs, so everything stays in his mind and he doesn't know the depth background. He is remarkably talented and memorized anything from six topics. One is reading which he loves and can remember 98.3% of what he has read in one hour. Another category is music which he just started doing and can play pieces he remembers hearing in his childhood and can hear different instruments. His father want to show Kim to as many people as he can, so they can learn from him and meet an amazing person. Traveling all over the world he went to England and was given an award to become a honorary alumni. This was because he was asked one question to name all of englands monarchs up until the present. He did this and started in the 800's with the Saxons all the way up to Elizabeth. He is inspirational and I really enjoyed going to listen to him.
What?
This week through the reading and in class dicussion, I learned a lot about cognitive development and its function in the brain. It has four main functions first that learning changes neurons and causes more synapses that occur, which make new connections. Changes in the brain allow our minds to have more educated thoughts, which are caused by synaptic pruning and myelination. Many parts of our brain work to together to enable behavior and thoughts to happen. Lastly the brain is contines to remain adaptable and change throughout life. Neuron networks are only strengthened through use, which means, teaching students unique instruction and taking htem new paths that will cause new sparks.
One thing I knew had an effect on students and everyone was if you think of yourself in certain ways, you end up becoming them. We talked in class about fixed versus growth mindset and this ties back to into self-talk and self-esteem. Teachers have a very bug impact that can cause children to have fixed mindsets causing their learning to decrease. We as teachers sometimes think we are helping a student by telling them"You're smart", but in fact its hurting them. We need to tell them how well they improved or did a certain assignment, and this will give them the correct confidence. The confidence to be challenged and acheive greater tasks.
The last thing I learned was that equilibration is important to understand, so you can gage where students levels are. Then use your data to accomodate them and see if they understand what goes next and how to get there.
So what?
Cognitive development, mindset, and equilibration are important for teachers to know about to help them learn in the right ways. Students all are growing cognitively each day and you want to know that they are using them correctly. Your teaching needs to be information that causes dendrites to keep growing. This will happen if each student has been shown that they are hard workers and can accomplish tasks. High expectations will push students and they will be learning more. This is included in the syallbus because these are all major factors that start learning and make it progress. If we are teaching students we want to be of benefit ans that's why we are here. This knowledge will help me to be a great teacher by realizing the best tools and theories that have made children learn and remember more. I will see where they are in the process of equilibration and judge off it.
Now What?
I still need to continue reading about cognitive development and what needs to be happening at each age level. I need to see wher their ZPD is and how to challenge or simplify something. I need to be around children more and see this students learning processes first hand. Scaffolding is also something that I need to understand and the way it works.

Brain Learning Log

What?    

This week in class I've learned what the reticular activating system was and how it is so important, because it is what effects if you remember or not. It also effects motivation, learning, and self-esteem, which are all very important to be having go on if a child is to learn. I never knew or heard of synaptic pruning and found out that it is when synaptic connections weaken or degenerate. It seemed that synaptic pruning would be a bad thing but it isn't it helps clear them aside, so functioning synapses can move faster. Without learning about the brain teaching can't work well you need to know what is going on and how each child makes connections through their preferred process. While having in class lecture I learned a new skill used for teaching and it's called RAD. R stands for reticular activating system, A stands for amygdala, and D stands for dopamine, which is a feel good transmitter. Researchers have said this is a good formula for students to learn the most. Their reticular activating system, memory, and the chemical release all need to be used in order for the technique to work. Some strategies that help use this technique are physical activity, music, fun, peer interaction, and using the students prior knowledge. Through instructing students their brains can be molded and changed to act smarter.

So what?  

This topic of the brain is important for me to know about, as a future teacher, in that each student will have a brain that learns differently from all the others. I'll need to incorporate different learning techniques into lessons, so each child progresses. Also since brains can be molded I want to help them by teaching correct principles and not molding them the wrong way, or creating bad habits. If we should use prior knowledge and include experiences where they are fully emerged and then their high level thinking skills will grow. The brain is include in the syllabus to teach us its importance and how everything in teaching comes back to the foundation, the brain. This will help be to be a better teacher, because I will make sure each child understands concepts even if their way is different then others. I want each child to love learning, not get lost, and believe in themselves.

Now What?

I will use this information about the brain in future teaching to look back every time and learn something new. I need to relate it all back to my classroom and students so that they understand how they learn. I will continue to read information on the brain and about how children learn best. The RAD teaching technique fascinates me and I want to read up on it and find how it is working and what type of teachers instruct it best. I want to include this technique someday in my classroom and I'll will try to research more about the brain and its amazing abilities.

Final Reflection Blog: what? so what? now what?

What?

I have learned that educational research is important in all aspects. It tests areas around you as a teacher and it is constantly giving up to date information and facts. Descriptive research is just studying current situations in and about where you live. It shows the way things are and is the first step in any scientific process. Correlational research is a research where two items are compared. It is a research that is used in everyday life. You can see which variable out weighs the other and look at their differences to see why. You can see the information given and predict why the outcome is what it is. Even though the problem isn't shown and you can't see why it's there.

Experimental research shows that different variables have a cause and effect. And usually one variable is changed and has an effect on the other. In scientific research it is documented in graphs or charts. Unlike any other it has a direct starting and ending point. You have to realize that other factors can play a role and may be the reason the research turn out a certain way. Action research is the one out of the four that relates directly to any teacher. It helps find reasons for issues at school and how they can be fixed. This will in turn effect the students work, learning, and school atmosphere.

So what?

I  feel that the importance of what I've learned about educational research is mostly in how I'll apply it. You can use it when you need to write research papers or give a speech about statistics. It plays a big part in our world and its good to know each type of research and what each one shows. This way you can look a chart and say "Ok they are comparing these different stocks based on their interest rate." If you want to stay up to date with the news of this world we need to know educational research. Action research is increasingly important since it deals with the field I want to be a part and make a difference in. By reading and studying it will help me as a teacher be more prepared and cautious to certain circumstances. We can also do our own action research if we have a stirring problem and record notes in our class journals. Not just about our students, but about our lessons and if they are helping them to grow or make the problem worse. Also with different management techniques and which ones they respond to all these things are important to apply to you and your future classes.

Now What?

As I reflect about what I need to still learn about educational research it's hard for me to gage. I don't know everything that is out there and of what benefits they could be to me. I think I need to learn a lot more about action research, because I know it will benefit me when I become a teacher. I need to try and find connections that can apply to me and the future schools I work at. It would be good information to know before choosing where you feel you should teach, and its data on the environment and school background.

Why am I here?

 I'm here at UVU because I wanted to be away for my college experience, but still be close to home. I feel the reason I'm doing elementary education is because of my love of children and desire to help them. Ever since I can remember, I have had a connection with children and feel they start to trust me immediately. With service being one of my passions, I have seen children who don't have the opportunity to go to school to learn. I've seen how this affects them socially and environmentally. This has sparked something inside of me to help children love to learn and reach their potential. I believe we have the opportunity to become anything we can imagine.

What motivates me?

I am motivated by focusing on others and helping people feel loved, by seeing single mothers with children getting degrees, and by wanting children from all walks of the earth to succeed in learning to help themselves and their families. Love and the excitement that children have are the things that motivate me.

Why do I succeed?

I succeed because I'm constantly pushing myself and won't stop. I have a hard work ethic and like the feeling of completing something difficult. My upbringing and the values I've been taught also play a role. Serving others and not expecting something in return makes me feel I've done some good.

Why do I fail?

I fail through fear, vulnerability, lack of self-esteem, and not thinking I'm qualified enough.

How do I need to change my motivations and mindset for this class in order to become a great teacher?

I feel I need to be able to trust my instincts and know that I can eventually become a great teacher. I also need to remember that after putting in hard work and personality it will be worth every minute.