Barb

I found Barb and Dr. Prislovsky's speech/discussion to be very eye-opening, and I experienced many mixed emotions while listening. I think it is wonderful that Barb has been able to find her voice, and to help give a voice to so many people who live with Autism, but I also became sad when thinking of the many people with Autism who were never able to get their voice out and heard because there was no one there to help bring it out of them. I hope that Barb's story, and her writing will show the world that people with Autism do have voices, and emotions, and passions, and also help people not to feel sorry for people with Autism, but to see the up side to Autism, and to see what Autism has to offer the world.  I found Barb's positive spirit to be extremely inspiring and uplifting. She embraces her Autism and is working to make the lives of all who live with Autism better through her words, insight, and fantastic sense of humor. 

Aboud: Race and Ethnicity

"Modifying Children's Racial Attitudes" - Frances E. Aboud

Aboud has a PhD in Psychology and spent much time focusing specifically on the development of racism in children, which is what this article focuses on. I believe that Aboud is speaking to anyone who educates children, especially at an early age, and also to parents or guardians of young children. In this article Aboud's assumptions include the fact that children are capable of being prejudiced against people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds, contrary to some beliefs that children are not prejudiced, but just curious about people who are different from them. Aboud supports this assumption with research of children of different ages to determine their level of prejudice against people from different ethnic backgrounds. Aboud points out that children between the ages of 4 and 7 show the greatest amount of bias for their own group. She writes that preventative measures are difficult to implement because by the age of 5, most children are already biased. Aboud uses a study by Bigler and Liben to support this point. Bigler and Liben performed a study with children in 1993 and found that the children were unable to recall information about people who did not fit their stereotype, and sometimes even distorted information to fit the stereotype. I have always assumed if a child had some type of prejudice, it was a result of something they saw or heard from their parents, but I was surprised to read that children of parents who showed no sign of prejudice had young children with strong biases for their own racial/cultural group. Although the book does talk about ethnic and cultural diversity in the classroom, and how to encourage appreciation of diversity, it did not directly talk about how to change the opinions of very young students who already have some racist or prejudice beliefs. I am glad that I had the opportunity to read this article because it discusses the most effective ways to change the prejudice opinions children have about other ethnicities into positive opinions. It seems that the most effective solution is to encourage friendships between students of different ethnicities. Aboud points out that friendship provides the necessary context for emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes to occur. 

Ch. 10 QTC

10.1

List 3 of the 5 basic assumptions of the social cognitive theory and provide an example for each.

(lower level- remember, understand, and apply)

10.2

Using the table on page 334, select 3 or 4 of the ways to promote learning through modeling that you think are the most important. Then, provide an example (not given in the table) of how you could use each of them in your own classroom.  

(higher level- evaluate and create)

8.1 & 8.2

8.1 Define the term learning strategy and provide an example of a learning strategy that you have used in the past. (Remember, Understand, Apply)

8.2 Consider your grade level, or content area, and list 2 learning strategies that you can provide your students with for a particular topic (i.e. an acronym for the order of the planets), and explain how these strategies will be helpful to them. (Create)

Chapter 7 QTC

1. Define the terms undergeneralize and overgeneralize, and give an example of each. (Remember and Understand)

2. Select one common misconception from any of the grade levels listed in figure 7.1. Using the suggested strategies, design an activity that will address, and help to correct the misconception. (Create)

QTC Chapter 6

6.1 Lower-Order Thinking Skills

List and describe the purpose for each of the main components in the 3-component model of our memory system. (Remember and Understand)

6.2 Higher-Order Thinking Skills

Select 2 of the theoretical approaches to learning, and explain specific techniques you would use in your own classroom under each approach. (Analyze, Evaluate, Create)

15.1 & 15.2

(15.1) Turn to p. 559 in Ormrod’s text.  Now, imagine that you are meeting with Ingrid’s grandmother today to explain her scores on the recent standardized achievement test pictured at the bottom of p. 559.  What will you tell her about Ingrid’s performance? her strengths? her weaknesses? 

I would first tell Ingrid's grandmother that Ingrid performed very well in some areas, but struggled in other areas. Before showing her grandmother the computer printout or Ingrid's test performance, I would explain the layout of the form. I would then show her Ingrid's scores, and go through the results of each subject individually with her, so that she was clear about Ingrid's performance. I think its very important to make sure Ingrid's grandmother understands the meaning of a percentile, so when she sees a 57 for Ingrid's Math Concepts percentile, she does not assume this is a failing score, when it is actually average. After explaining each individual score to Ingrid's grandmother, I would ask her if she has any questions. I would then tell her that Ingrid performed extremely well (well above average) in Reading Comprehension, Science, and Social Studies. I would also tell her that Ingrid is right on track for her performance in Math Concepts. I would let the grandmother know that Ingrid is slightly below average in Math Computation and Spelling, but that this is only one test, and is not the be all, end all of Ingrid's academic performance. I would let her know that there are activities that they can do at home to help improve in the areas of weakness. 

(15.2) Even though this is not a criterion referenced test, if Ingrid’s grandmother asks you what she could be doing at home to help strengthen Ingrid’s skills, what will you suggest? Provide at least three areas where the grandmother could help Ingrid.

First of all I would refer to Ingrid's performance in class and on other assignments to make sure that they line up with her performance on the standardized test. If she was struggling with math computation and spelling in class, I would suggest ways for her grandmother to help her with these subjects at home. For spelling, I would suggest that she selects (or I could provide) a short list of words each week for Ingrid to practice spelling at home. I might also suggest that Ingrid's grandmother ask her to spell random words that they come across during normal, daily activities to give Ingrid more spelling practice. I would also suggest that they read together because the more words Ingrid sees, the more familiar she will be with correct spelling. For math computation, I would provide some practice problems for the grandmother to work on with Ingrid. Perhaps, I could also suggest some type of math game that they could play to improve Ingrid's computation skills in a fun way that doesn't seem like extra work. 

Kaitlin Boling 14.2

14.2 Consider norm referenced assessment and criterion referenced assessment. Are there advantages to both? Are there disadvantages?

In my opinion, both types of assessment have advantages and disadvantages. I think that the advantage of the criterion referenced assessment is that is gives a more clear picture of whether or not a student actually understands the material whereas norm references assessments do not provide as much information and do not give as clear a picture of students' full understanding of a topic or concept. I think that the fact that norm referenced assessment measures broad skill areas can be good in a way because it will show that students understand main ideas or the big picture, rather than small components of a topic, but this can also be a disadvantage because it will not show if a student understands the details of a concept. If I had to choose one or the other, I think criterion referenced assessments are better in that they can tell us what students already know before we teach a lesson. Another disadvantage of the norm referenced assessment is that is compares students' scores to norms rather than considering each child's individual abilities. 

Kaitlin Boling 14.1

14.1 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.

I have chosen a third grade math lesson on the different types of angles that I sort of stole from my mentor teacher that I am placed with for 422 (hope that's ok!). 

I would start with an informal pre-assessment to find out what my students already know about angles. I would do this by having a group discussion in which I ask students questions about angles, including the different types. This discussion will allow me to gauge their current level of understanding so that I do not waste time teaching them concepts they already know. 

I will then move on to an authentic assessment in which students are assigned to make different types of angles (right, acute, and obtuse) using pipe cleaners.  During this activity, I will walk around the classroom observing students. I will ask them to describe what type of angle they have made and also explain how they know. 

After the authentic assessment, I will give a quiz in which students will identify have to draw angles, identify types of angles, and match drawings with the angle name. When students complete the quiz, they will grade their own work using their notes, text book, and help from other students. 

My last step will be to give a formative test on the subject, and I will use the results to tell me if I was effective in my teaching methods. If there are still concepts of the topic that my students do not understand, I will revisit the topic in a more effective way.