Barb

Like many others, I have little experience with or knowledge about autism.  Going to this presentation, put on by Barb and her "Smiling Shrink," has helped me better understand and appreciate autism and the people that struggle with it and other disabilities..  Going into the presentation I did not really know what to expect.  Before I watched the videos I expected the presentation would include Barb getting up and talking about autism and advocating for people affected by autism.  I was picturing a Temple Grandin type character.  After watching the videos I knew that the presentation would be a little different since Barb could not speak on her own.  I thought maybe the whole presentation would be done by her typing out responses that a computer would read.

The presentation was much different than I expected.  Although Barb was able to type out her thoughts and communicate, it takes her quite a bit of time to do so.  She gets her thoughts across well and has a great sense of humor in her responses.  I was honestly surprised at how comfortable she seems around people.  I was also very surprised by the little language that she does use.  I expected her to not be able to produce any sound, when in reality she just has no control of her voice.  Reading and hearing her writing makes it clear that she is a very bright individual that has a lot to share with the world.  She has a very positive outlook, despite her disability, that is very inspiring.

After the presentation I did what I always do when I want to find out more about someone: I googled Barb Rentenbach.  I found her website and blog and read more about her.  Along with this, and the job posting that Elizabeth sent us, I learned that she is a very active lady that loves to be social.  She lives in her own house and has many of the same wants and needs as everybody else.  She seems very happy with where she is in life, and wants to share her life with others.  I really appreciate her being so open in sharing her story and building activism for people living with autism.  They are important in this world.  They have their ways of bettering others and the world around them.

As I go away from this experience I hope to always remember the things that I learned from Barb.  People living with disabilities are people too, and have many of the same wants, needs, and fears as the rest of the world.  Although they may appear to be incapable of doing anything, many of them are very intelligent and can change the world if they are given the chance.  As I start my career as a teacher I want to always remember that all of my students have something to add to the classroom.  They can all learn and can all make a difference in the world.  They may need a little help getting there, and will have to find their own positive way to do it, but they can make a difference.

Eliot: The Myth of Pink & Blue

As soon as I saw this article title I knew that I wanted to read it.  I have often wondered about where the whole pink is for girls/blue is for boys idea came from.  Exactly how did it become uncool for a boy to like pink?  When was the last time you saw a baby girl dressed in blue?  Why do people go as far as to associate color with sexuality?  These are questions I often wonder about.

This article discussed the gender/color equation, but it mainly focused on the gender gap on educational performance.  I have often heard, even in education classes, that boys are better at math and girls are better at reading.  Until now I had never really looked into this or asked why.  I have been led to believe that it just innately happens.  I like how the article approaches the subject, and the ideas that it gives as to why there is a gender gap in education.  I was also particularly glad to see its suggestion that more men go into elementary education.

The author opposes the idea that girls and boys have significant brain differences.  By examining data the author has found that there is more difference in brain activity among boys and among girls than there is between boys and girls.  To combat the idea of brain differences the author looks at how the environment effects students actions and opinions.  I could not agree more with this idea.  I think children would act much differently if they were not continually influenced to like or dislike something based on their sex.  This goes from toys to school subjects.

As a child I never particularly liked pink, or wanted to play with dolls, but on the contrary I never cared much for super heroes or action figures either.  I loved playing with Legos and building houses.  I wanted to be an architect for most of my young life.  I once asked for a doll house, not because of the dolls, but because it was a life size model of a house!  What more could an aspiring architect want?  After much searching my mom found me a doll house that matched the stable they had already bought me prior to this.  The stable seemed appropriate for a boy to play with, why wouldn't the house be appropriate?  After I got the house I did not play with it much.  It wasn't because I didn't like it.  I did not play with it because I was afraid others would think I was girly if a played with it.  Looking back I wish I would have kept the house and played with it more.  As almost all children do, I was influenced by gender stereotypes.

Teachers and parents need to be aware of gender stereotypes, and strive to combat them when possible.  After all, there really isn't anything wrong with a girl playing with a monster truck or a boy loving the color pink.  As a future male elementary teacher I see that I am already going against a gender stereotype in itself.  I think I will be more prepared and aware of gender stereotypes because of my perspective and experiences.  Most importantly I hope I am able to show my future students that anyone, regardless of gender, can be good at any subject that they want to be good at.  One way that I want to do this is to show my students successful individuals across various jobs that have went across gender stereotypes.  I want to avoid labeling my students by their gender.  I want to give them all the tools to be good in whatever subject they will naturally be good it.  I do not want to hold them back by only giving them the tools to be successful in the subjects that boys or girls are traditionally good in.

Chapter 3

(3.1) Personal and social development can have a major influence on both individual student learning and the learning environment as a whole.  Identify a case from the CSEL guidelines* that you would like to address in your paper.  Then, examine the possible developmental factors that could be influencing your target student(s) or classroom in the case study.  Consider all dimensions of personal and social development, including cognitive, language, social, emotional, and moral development. *CSEL guidelines can be found under CSEL Artifact. Cases are included at the end of the document. Choose the case that best suits your desired grade level.

It has been one month since the school year began and most of your 25 kindergarten students know class procedures, such as the schedule of learning activities, where they are supposed to be for each learning activity, where they are supposed to keep their personal items, and how they are expected to move about the room and the school building in order to ensure a productive learning environment.  Then there is Willard.  He must ask 20 or more times a day, “Teacher, when can we go outside to play?”  In addition, he often does not stay where he should to work on a given learning activity.  Instead, you find him wandering around the room and getting into other children’s personal things.  Three times this past week you looked up just in time to see Willard walking out of the classroom without permission.  Some of the other children in your classroom community have started making fun of Willard.  Others are beginning to become less engaged in their learning. 

Although I am in the Elementary Education program, I decided to choose the Early Childhood case study since my certification will go down to Kindergarten.  In the case it appears as though Willard is having a very difficult time adapting to the ways of Kindergarten.  His actions are starting to affect others, so some action must be taken to assure that Willard starts to follow direction more carefully.  There are many different possibilities as to why Willard does not follow directions and stay on his tasks.  

• It is possible that Willard is behind the rest of the class in cognitive development and simply does not understand that he is supposed to stay in his area and do as the teacher says.  I think this possibility is very plausible.  If this is the case the teacher would definitely need to work more closely with Willard, and may have to look into some form of outside intervention in the future.
• Another possibility is that Willard is an English Language Learner and does not understand his teacher's instructions.  I do not think this is very likely though because in this situation Willard would probably be able to pick up on what he is supposed to do by watching other students.  If he is still learning English the ELL teacher will continue to help him as needed to get him up to par.
• Another possibility is that Willard is socially insecure and does not want to be around others in the classroom.  He may be getting up and walking around to get away from others.  It could also be a specific student that is triggering Willard's response.  We do not have enough information to know if this could be the case.
• Similar to the social problems above, it is possible that Willard is experiencing emotional hardships in his life because of a bad home situation.  If this is the case it could be that Willard is just wanting attention and acting out may be his way of getting that attention from the teacher.  If this is likely the teacher needs to make sure and give Willard attention in ways that do not require him to disrupt the classroom.  The teacher needs to give Willard attention for positive interaction and engagement to show him that attention can also come from good behavior.
• Another possibility is that Willard may be disobeying because he lacks proper moral development.  While this is possible I think it is unlikely in this situation since getting up out of ones seat and leaving class does not sound like a moral issue.

(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.

The suggestions that the book offers for grades 3-5 are really helpful.  For sense of self I really like the books suggestion to focus students' attention on their improvement over time.  I really like this because it takes some of the negative attention away from a student having a bad day. If looking at improvement over time every student will have something to be proud of.  For perspective taking I really like two of the suggestions.  I love the idea of asking students who are studying historical events what the characters may have been thinking.  I also like the idea of solving problems by looking at things from the opposite perspective.  I sometimes surprise myself when I look at conflicts in this way.  For moral reasoning I cannot agree more with the suggestion to discuss with students the importance of rules in making a better classroom.

Abuse--Case Study #2

Case Study #2
You were a student teacher at a local high school 5 years ago. During this time, Cara went to the same high school although she was never one of your students. Tonight, you are dancing at a local club and Cara asks you to dance. Cara is now 23 and you are less than 5 years older than she is. You and Cara really hit it off and you think you could have a meaningful relationship with her.

Response
This case is a really challenging situation.  Some may say that it would be nothing but harmless considering the time that had passed since the student teaching and the relationship.  Still, others may find it inappropriate because of the fact that she did happen to be a student during the student teaching.  My first thoughts were that this relationship would not cause any problems.  The more I think about it I can see where going on with the relationship would take very careful consideration from both the teacher and Cara.

From looking at the scenario I am unsure whether or not the guy who had previously student taught is currently teaching and whether or not it as at the school that is mentioned.  If he is not teaching I believe the relationship could be appropriate.  There would not be students, their parents, or school personnel to discuss the situation with if a problem or questions were to come up.  Still, it would probably be best if the teacher contacted an administrator at the school and let them know about the relationship.  This way they would be aware if anyone were to raise questions about how long the relationship had been going on to the school.

If he were currently teaching in the same area, or even in the same school, I believe the relationship could be appropriate, but it could potentially lead to some questions and accusations from others.  Before continuing with the relationship he would be best off to talk with both the administrators at his current school and the school in which he did his student teaching.  To protect himself he could get something in writing saying that all parties involved were aware of the situation, and that nothing inappropriate had went on while he was in the same school as Cara.

These are my opinions on the situation, but I could certainly see how someone else may look at this situation completely different.  If less time had passed, maybe only two years, I think I would probably feel much differently myself.  Also, if Cara had actually been a student of his I think there would be more things to consider.

Tyler's Chapter 10 QTC

Lower-level (understanding and applying)
1.) What are some ways that a teacher might hinder a student's self-efficacy?

Higher-level (analyzing, evaluating, and creating)
2.) Think of a situation in which a teacher's lack of self-efficacy could seriously hinder a student's learning in the classroom?  Could it potentially hurt the student later on in life?

Tyler's Chapter 9 QTC

Lower-level (remembering and understanding)1.)  In your own words, describe why it is usually a bad idea to give extra class work as student punishment.

Higher-level (applying, analyzing, and creating)
2.)  Imagine you are teaching a fourth grade self-contained classroom.  One of your students, Joey, is continually disrupting the other students in your classroom.  Today you saw him get up out of his seat and walk around the classroom when he was supposed to be doing an assignment.  While up he walked by three different student's desks and shoved their books off of their desks into the floor.  How should you punish Joey?  Should you use a presentation punishment or a removal punishment?  Think of three different effective punishments for Joey.  Be specific and creative!

Tyler's Chapter 8 QTC

Lower-level (remember and understand)
1.)  What does it mean to be creative?  What type(s) of thinking does it require?

Higher-level (create)
2.)  Study the four types of critical thinking at the bottom of page 276.  After doing this choose one of the types and create your own situation needing that form of critical thinking.  After posing the situation explain why it fits into that type of critical thinking and explain the correct response to the situation.

Tyler's Chapter 7 QTC

Lower-level (remembering and understanding)
1.)  Explain the difference between undergeneralizing and overgeneralizing a concept.  List an example for each.

Higher-level (analyzing and creating)
2.) Study the chart on page 238 that lists common misunderstandings and the strategies to combat them at different grade levels.  How might a misconception be detrimental to student learning in a classroom?  Could it lead to other students having the same misunderstanding?  Choose an age level and give a more in-depth example of a misunderstanding and explain how it could be troublesome to learning in your classroom.  Then explain how you would focus your teaching to clear up this misunderstanding.  Feel free to use real life examples from your personal experience.

Tyler's Chapter 6 QTC

Lower-level (Comprehension)
1.) How useful is repetition in the learning process?  Is it most helpful in the long or short term?

Higher-level (analysis and evaluation)
2.) Study the chart on page 187 that gives ideas for getting and keeping students' attention. Choose two strategies that you want to use in your future classroom and then create an example for each showing how you might implement the strategy into a lesson. 

Chapter 15

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? 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? 

I will first explain to her grandmother that these are only the results of one standardized achievement test, and that we should not only look at these scores in evaluating Ingrid's learning and progress.  I will then explain to her grandmother that these scores are not showing the percentage of Ingrid's correct answers, but are instead comparing her scores to those of her peers.

I would then go over each individual score with Ingrid's grandmother and explain to her that none of her scores are really that low.  The only two that fall into the below average category are very near the average category.   It is possible that Ingrid was just having a bad day that day or was not very engaged in the test.  I will tell her that even though Ingrid does have a few low scores, she also has three scores in the well above average category.  It appears as though she is really strong in reading comprehension, science, and social studies, which are all really important subjects.  Her low scores in spelling and math are nothing to be that concerned about it, but more closely monitoring her progress and activities in these subjects may be a way that I could help both Ingrid and her grandmother feel better about her low test scores.  

From the results it is impossible to see exactly where Ingrid is struggling in math and spelling, but there could be some at home activities that Ingrid may find helpful in the future.  I would suggest that Ingrid's grandmother go over math concepts with Ingrid at home, and try to find real-life problems that involve math that could help Ingrid improve her computing skills.  A suggestion for improving Ingrid's spelling may be to work with her with flashcards or some other sort of activity in which she can study words and learn how to make and spell them out.  I would also offer some good online games and activities for Ingrid and her grandmother to work on that may be helpful for both her math and spelling abilities.  In closing my conversation I would assure Ingrid's grandmother that I would closely monitor Ingrid to make sure that she is not falling behind, and will ask her to keep in touch with me if she has any more concerns.  I would stress the fact that she has done well in other subjects, and may just need a little push to bring up her scores in the other subjects.

Tyler Brown Chapter 14 Responses

Chapter 14

(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.

My example lesson plan is going to focus on the solar system in a fourth grade class.  Since the solar system is a big topic and covers a whole chapter it would take up about a weeks worth of science time at least. On the first day I would start out my lesson with an informal assessment by asking them about what they already know about the solar system. This will help me to guide my teaching about the solar system to them.  After we have went over the chapter and I have taught them about the solar system I will use another informal assessment on day two and check to see how we'll they are understanding the material by asking questions to the whole class.  If they are doing well with it I will tell them that we are having a quiz the next day. The quiz will be a formal assessment that will let me know how well each individual student  is understanding the material. On day four I will attempt to clear up any misunderstandings I have noticed on the quiz and instruct them to get in groups and create models of the solar system. This will be another way for me to assess how well they are receiving the material. Finally on the fifth day I will give the students a formal assessment, probably in the form of a test with a few different types of questions, to shoe their mastery of the content. Along the way they will have had chances to see where they needed more understanding of the solar system and I will have had time to look at all assessments and clear up anything they are struggling with earlier in the week. 

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

Criterion referenced assessments tell us exactly what a student knows in comparison to a predetermined set of goals or standards. Norm referenced assessments use questions and scoring to compare a students performance with that of his or her peers. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.  Criterion referenced assessments are really good in that they show how well an individual student is mastering content and shows exactly where they are doing well on and where they still need improvement.  Criterion referenced scores can also be used to compare students. A disadvantage of criterion referenced assessments is that they do not show different levels of mastery, and do not show students that are way above or way under average in the same way that norm referenced does. Norm referenced assessments are good in that they compare a students to one another and allow for great differences in scores with varying difficulty of questions. A disadvantage to norm referenced assessments is that they do not show the exact areas or questions that a student misses.