Field Trip

A quote by Dolly Parton was said during the presentation; “Find out who you are and be that on purpose.” I think this is what Barb has done with her life. The presentation was a very power representation of the benefits of inclusion. In the last ten years Barb has made leaps in communication skill with the help of technology, she has made many friends and written a book. The question I asked myself way did it take till she was 30 for her to make these strides. Barb was considered mentally retarded till she was 19. It wasn’t until she started working with her “Smiling Shrink” did she began to break these communication barriers.

A portion of the book was read by her SS that described how people should approach people with autism. Give them opportunities to discover, always persevere, remember we are all the same, keep an open mind, empower them, and give chill time. Barb says people with autism have an amazing ability to focus on one life concept at a time and teachers should allow this to happen. As a general educator I want every student to be successful this is a great way to implement a successful inclusive classroom. I love the ways Barb never says we anything silly like “we aren’t that different” but instated emphasizes that are differences are a beautiful thing. Diversity allows for different perspectives and as teacher we need to find what works for our students, maybe, by using some of Barb’s advice so that people do have to wait till they are 30 to be heard.

Appalachian Culture and Schooling

I read the article Appalachian Culture and Schooling written by Eva Thaller. The article seems to be written in to inform the public of current issues in education in the Appalachian Mountains. There are about 20 million people living in these Mountains. In 1990 54% of the population over 25 had neither a high school diploma nor GED. The article addresses why and gives suggestions on improvement.

            In Appalachian Education students are educated “only for the outside world and not for building prosperity at home.” This is an idea I had never thought about. As I was reading through the article the author kept going back to this idea. In the physical setting portion there is a beautiful comparison between the mountains of Switzerland and the Eastern KY Appalachia’s. Pointing out the people of Switzerland became successful by using good judgment about the bad land while KY mountaineers have become poor sitting on rich land. The author also talks about how people of the Appalachians Mountains are taught next to nothing about their own culture or heritage. People are encouraged to leave mountains to find a better life elsewhere. As a reader I kept thinking about motivation. What could motivate these people to value education?

The author suggests some things that could be done to improve graduation and literacy rates. One may to embrace the culture. It is easy for us to forget that dialect can affect reading and learning. As the Appalachian people have their version of an English dialect teacher often correct their language instead of embracing it. The author suggests and I would have to agree, allow children to use their dialect. As a teacher learn how your students pronounce words and teach from there. Applachians need to become familiar with their roots to increase self-esteem and help them learn it is acceptable to stay in the Appalachian Mountains if they choose to.  

This leads to the next point the author made about schools in Appalachia. School and home life are often two different worlds for these children. A lot of time, energy and brain power is used trying to remember rules and social norms not leaving enough space for academics. The author suggests making school life a bit more thing home. Allowing children to speak in their own dialect and tell or write stories how they may at home. She also suggests teachers should have expectations for these children’s abilities and achievements.

Last semester I took CFS 405, a class on professionalism, we spent an entire week on the people of the Appalachian Mountains. Even since then I jump on opportunities to learn more about culture, the people, and educational difference. Therefore, I really enjoyed this article.  Before 405 I never gave a second thought to these mountain people. I was embarrassed that it took me till a junior in college to learn of the poverty, lack of education, and struggles of people who live in such close proximity to me. This particular article really opened my eyes to the fact that these people really have a lack of motivation to graduate because professionals are always saying the grass is greener somewhere else and teacher write students off before they even try to challenge them. I think the author gave great suggestions on how to improve the educational system in the Appalachian Mountains.

If you are interested in learning more there is a great documentary with Diane Sawyer on youTube we watched in 405. It is a 5 part series A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains. Here is the link to part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dXPuh15Vmc

Chapter 3

(3.2) Check out tables 3.1 (p. 75), 3.2 (p. 83) and 3.3 (p. 91) with particular attention to the age ranges you are interested in teaching.  Identify your personal favorite ways that an educator can promote a child’s sense of self, perspective taking, and moral reasoning skills.

 Sense of self:  Provide sufficient scaffolding to make success possible. I love this suggestion. Showing children what they can do with just a bit of help can really push them to try more challenging tasks without the fear of complete failure.

Perspective taking: Talk frequently about people’s thoughts, feelings, and motives. This is something that can be done on a daily basis in a prek classroom. During a read aloud story I feel it is important to stop and inspect the illustrations asking the children things like, “how do you think she is feeling?” or “why is she feeling so sad?” This perspective taking can also be done through interactions saying things such as, “It makes me feel angry when you hit me.” or “remember how you felt when someone took your toy.”

Moral Reasoning: A few of the suggestion I like on this category are using induction, comforting others, and encouraging prosocial behaviors. When young children do misbehave it may be because they do not know it could hurt someone else. An example may be a child hits another child out of frustration or anger, typically its not to hurt the child. As a teacher it would be my job to use induction to show the child it hurts when people hit. Since young children are still very egocentric, it can be difficult to promote the comfort of others. I think the best way to encourage this is by modeling. I could show this by often comforting children with both physical touch and words. Young children often consider whatever they are playing with at the time as theirs. As a teacher, it is my job to help children realize more than one person can use an item. I like the how the book suggests this could be done in a constructivist manner by asking things like, “How can we solve this problem?”

2.1, 2.2

(2.1) One of the most cited theories of human development is that of Swiss biologist Jean Piaget.  After reading about Piaget’s basic assumptions (p. 27-32) look with particular attention at the stage of child development you would like to teach.  The other most cited theory of human development belongs to Russian developmentalist Lev Vygotsky.  Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development leads us to expect greater diversity among our same-aged students than Piaget.  Given these two influential theorists’ ideas on cognitive development, how might you accommodate students who are not yet working at the level of their peers?

As an early childhood teacher the theory of constructivism is the one most relate to when teaching young children. The first two of Piaget’s assumptions mentioned in the books are the foundation of constructivism: Children are active and motivated learners and children constructs rather absorb knowledge. Piagets suggests that children construct their own beliefs and understandings from their experiences. A child who is not on the same level as his peers simply may not have had enough experience to develop schemes. It is my job as a teacher to provide challenging activities and learning areas that give children the experiences they need to develop more complex schemes.

These opportunities with in the classroom, according to Piaget, should put the child in disequilibrium. Figuring out how to put a child’s mind in disequilibrium can be done by exploring Vyhotsky’s zone of proximal development. The ZPD is defined by what the children can accomplish with some assistance. Providing activities above or below ZPD indicates not much learning is taking place. This is either because the activity is too easy or too challenging. Each child has their own ZPD. I think to help a child catch up to their peers, I must start figuring out the child’s ZPD and find ways for the child to consistently be in disequilibrium. Slowly, they children will catch up.

 

(2.2) Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in cognitive development.  Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range that you are interested in teaching.  Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.

As a prek teacher one of most important things I can to do for language and vocabulary development is read to the children. Reading book allows them to hear words that may not always come up in conversation. It is also helpful to hear the words and see them in the context of the picture book. To promote listening skills in preschool, I would have a lot of conversations with the students. At first they may want to interrupt but with simple reminders such “it is my turn to talk, when I stop you may have a turn.”  As a preschool teacher I would adapt the suggestion of giving corrective feedback. I would not correct the child but instead model the proper way to say the word. An example of this may be a for year old telling a story about when he “goed” to the store, I may respond by saying “oh, when I go to the store I…” or “When I went to the store I..”

Case Study #1

Case Study #1 "One of your 4th grade female students is very well developed physically and looks as if she is 15 instead of 9 years of age. Today you heard a group of 5th grade boys commenting on her body in a lewd and humiliating manner. Two other teachers also heard these comments but blew them off as "boys will be boys," and "she needs to get used to it."

I want to start off by saying even though these are 5^th graders, this is still sexual exploitation. The comments are lewd, humiliating and should not be put up with in any form!  I can prevent these types of behaviors by having a zero policy for them. As a teacher, it is my job to make students feel like school is a safe and comfortable environment. I can do this by providing proper supervision and interfering when needed. In this situation, I think interference is necessary. I would immediately confront the boys informing them their behavior is offensive, inappropriate, and it will not be tolerated by any means. I will also make the boys aware of the consequences that will be taken if it happens again.  I would document the incident (stating what the boys said, what I said, and the other teachers said), informing their 5^th grade teacher, and putting it on file with administration.

I also feel it is important to talk to the girl about what happen.  I would not pressure her or insist she talk but I would make myself available for her if she ever felt she wanted to talk. Without acknowledging how this situation made her feels my fear is that she will “get used to it.” No one should ever have to deal with being sexually exploited

Tish Cooper 10.1, 10.2

Lower-Order Thinking (Understanding, Recalling): Define and explain the three characteristics of effective modeling (pg. 331-332). Give an example of each.

High-Order Thinking (Creating): When using modeling to teach academic skills it is important to not only teach how to do a task but how to think about a task (cognitive modeling). Create an example, for your classroom, of how you might model the thinking process.

Tish Cooper 8.1, 8.2

Lower Order Thinking (remembering, understanding): In your own words define transfer. What are some factors that may affect transfer?

Higher Order Thinking (creating): Depending on the grade level you will be teaching, what are 2-3 specific strategies you could use promote transfer in your classroom?

Tish Cooper 7.1 7.2

Higher-level (creating): Describe and design a problem or project based learning activity you may use in your own classroom.

Lower-level (knowing, applying): In your own words define a concept. Then, give an example of a concept that children may undergeneralize or overgeneralize.

Tish Cooper 6.1, 6.2

6.1 Lower-Order Thinking: The text explains that attention is not a behavior but a mental process. When mentally paying attention, information is moved working memory.  What can we do, as teachers, to help maintain our students’ attention?

6.2 High-Order Thinking: Meaningful learning allows a connection to be made between information already stored in long-term memory and new information. What are 3 forms of meaningful learning? Give an example of how you may use each in your classroom.