Group Discussions Form

I thought the overall discussion went really well for all parties. I feel as if our learning community did a very good job in being able to communicate well with each other and participate in the discussion. I felt like everyone was very respectable when it came to others responses and opinions. It was really encouraging to see the entire class getting into the discussions especially when some of them were pretty loaded topics. I was surprised that the conversation flowed so easily. I felt like there were good pauses and transitions and each group worked really well together. I think this could be good to use in class to bring something different to the lesson. It gives students a way to communicate their feelings about topics and also learn to listen, respect, and respond to their classmates. There were somethings I agreed with and disagreed with but I never felt written off, judged, or disrespected. I thought overall it was a great experience.

PLE Field Trip

I went to the Trix Bruce, Deaf performance. I was a little skeptical at first because I do not know any sign language so I didn't know what to expect. The performance was fantastic. She is a deaf woman who tells stories about her life experiences and the hearing world around her. She was able to relate a story to everyone in the room I think even though she was deaf. It just shows that just because a person has a disability in one area of their life doesn't mean they cannot strive in other areas. I think this can be relative to teaching in the classroom. You may have some students that just cannot grasp the subject manner and others who will breeze through it but you have to be able to find a balance between them. It was a really great experience attending this event and she did a great job sharing her story and interacting with the crowd by having her stories interpreted. I felt like she was telling me the story even though she was just acting it out with her hand motions and her feelings not her words.

PLE #6

In order to show mastery in lesson objectives from a behavioral view of learning we have to talk about what that would entail. A behavioral view would be that students actions are stimulated by their environment. In the classroom their are two ways this is done (1) reinforcing desired behaviors and (2) punishing undesirable ones. We use this for both classroom management and for classroom instruction. In order for students to really learn and understand content, they need to be engaged in the class.  By reinforcing effort, we are reinforcing desired behaviors. Since behaviorist learning is directed by stimuli when we reinforce effort and show students that positive outcomes do occur with their own effort, they will feel confident and even self-motivated to learn and participate. So in order to see success in students mastery I guess it would be in their assignment or even in their engagement in class. Giving daily assignments like a bell ringer in the beginning of class rom the previous lesson shows what students were engaged and which students were not. By encouraging them on these bell ringers in may give them an incentive to be engaged.

From a social cognitive view of learning in is understood that this view emphasizes that learning occurs in a social context and that much of what is learned is gained through observation. So in order to show mastery of the lesson plan we must be a good model for the students in the classroom and encourage similar modeling from others within the classroom. Encouraging engagement between students with other students based on subject matter or by encouraging the asking of questions it produces a learning environment where students see other students interacting about the material and hey are motivated to do the same. Even if an answer is wrong, explaining their reasoning or asking how they got to that answer or saying yes that is true but maybe and explain the actual answer rather then discouraging them for their wrong answer by saying they got the wrong answer.

PLE 5

I have done a lot of thinking over the years of what my classroom will look like. How are the desks arranged, what is hanging on the wall, where is my desk? I mean you really cannot know exactly what your class will look like until you have it to yourself but you can plan. I have always pictured my classroom with my desk in the corner sort of out of the way. When it comes to my students and their desks I imagine it in a semi circle, possibly two, around the room. Basically I want an open middle of the room. I want students to feel comfortable in my classroom and in a subject area that does require a lot of lecturing I want to be engaged with the class and to me that doesn't me standing up at the front at a podium looking at straight rows. I think with the classroom being more open students will be more willing to participate and interact with the rest of the class. It would also hopefully remove or put a damper on encouraging bad classroom behavior and students getting lost in the classroom. In regards to the CSEL artifact which includes:
1) A class full of seniors who have already checked out for the year.
2) They are not paying attention and are passing notes, texting and are pretty much done learning for the year.
3) There 3 disruptive students and basically want to roughhouse the whole time.
4) Rules that were enforced are no longer being followed.

Obviously what I would have hoped to have been going on in my classroom is not working anymore. I would have to maybe rearrange the classroom to separate these students. I would also have to change my rules regarding their status in my class. I would threaten walking at graduation because that is a big deal to them and their family. It would be disappointing for a few parties if they were unable to do that. I may also offer them options in regards to what we are learning to make them feel like they have some "control" over the classroom because then the environment of the classroom might go back to be more engaging because they feel like they are learning something different even though it might be two options of what I have planned out in the lesson plan. Cell phones would also be threatened. I understand that texting is part of our society now and everyone does it  but if it gets to the point where it is distraction I have thought of the idea of the "Phone Bowl"  where you have to put your phone in a fishbowl in front of the classroom and can't have it until the end of the class.

PSL 4

There are two main types of motivation. There is extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation is motivation that is caused from factors external to the person that are unrelated to the task at hand. An example of this would be maybe a student not very interested or motivated in math but knowing that math is going to help the student later in life, on a standardized test, to get into college, in the business world. All these things are not direct motivators to the performing the math problem in the moment.

Intrinsic motivation is motivation that is driven by a student on the inside. This is being motivated to do a task because you know you will get some benefit from it. Raising your hand to show that you have mastered the topic or give yourself some self gratification. It is not very hard to motivate someone who is intrinsically motivated.

There are a few theories that play along in motivation that but I think it is important to know the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, especially in regards to your students.

Expectancy x Value theory-can I do this x why should I do this?
Expectancy in a task is usually based on past performance and how well you did or did not do and how you are probably going to approach the task this time. Also must know that the task is important and it is going to benefit you in some way. I know for me this theory sometimes works for me because maybe I have a bad test, well my motivation in the subject is down, especially if i have prepared and now I don't think that I will pass. But knowing that this test is important, and it's a different test, and if I do well it will bring my grade up from the last one helps me refocus.

Goal Theory-setting goals in order to stay motivated. General goals, time goals, or orientation of the goal are three ways. A student can set their own goals or a teacher can do it for a student or even the class. Sometimes laying everything out and showing what is expected by what time or what should be accomplished by a certain time can help students stay on track. I know I really enjoy having deadlines and time crunches because it gives me less reason to procrastinate.

I would probably use Goal theory in my classroom in the future. I think like I said above having goals and deadlines set out it gives students a way to organize and stay on track. Even on a daily basis you can set up the goals or the guidelines for that specific class period so students know what to expect and what is expected from me and also from them.

PSL 2

Informal assessment vs Formal assessment

• Informal-an informal assessment includes your own judgement of situation. If gives you an idea of what a student does or does not know based on their words or by their actions. A way to use an informal assessment would be by asking questions about a lesson and continuing the conversation in order to explain the missing pieces. It is important to be able to notice the missing pieces before you continue to move on. Formal-would be the opposite of this and actually planning out a way to see if your students grasp the material. You could use a bell ringer at the start of class asking a simple question about the topic you just learned or even the topic coming up to see what they do or do not know.

Paper-Pencil assessment vs. Performance assessment 

• Paper-Pencil assessment would be given in the form of a test or a quiz in order to test the knowledge that has been gained or not gained from the lessons. This can show if there is a concept that some students do not understand or that the majority of the students do not understand. It is good for the students and for the teacher to reflect on the material and how it was presented. Performance assessment would be having the students take the material that they have learned and present it in their own way. You can use an open form for this like an oral report, a powerpoint, posters, videos ect. This gives students a way to not only express themselves but to still be learning and testing their knowledge without the traditional test. I think with history performance assessment would be good because sometimes people think that history gets boring and its just memorization, but being able to present information you get to be creative about a subject.

Standardized Test vs. Teacher-developed assessment

• Standardized test-is basically a test that is developed by a higher educational power that tests students abilities and assessments equally for all students. A way to use this in the classroom would be just to see where your students are compared to others in your class but like for me as a History teacher there is not usually a standardized test that covers history unless you are taking the AP exam. Teacher-developed assessment would be better in a history classroom or any classroom really because this shows you how your student is performing with the everyday tasks that you are teaching rather then robot questions designed for the masses. You can see how hard a student works, how they learn, what they understand, and what they don't. You can observe that and not see what percentage they are in comparison to others.

Criterion-referenced assessment vs. Norm-referenced assessment

• Criterion-refereced assessment would be showing mastery of a certain subject area. Papers or assignments or even tests on the specific material shows the mastery of a subject by their performance score. This is good because you need to test your students of the subjects at hand. The norm-referenced assessment shows how your students compare to other students, whether it is in the class or it is in other schools. This does not show what they understand but just how well they stack up against people in the same age category. 

Traditional assessment vs Authentic assessment

• Traditional assessment is basically like tests and quizzes to measure knowledge and thats good for any classroom but also authentic  assessment is using their skills with real life experiences. Writing a resume to build writing skills but also to develop their business skills and prepares them for real life experiences. 

PSL 1

I am pretty excited about taking this course this semester. I am ready to start on the path towards Education and this is my first "real" class in doing so. This class should be really beneficial to all those involved and it is going to be a really interesting semester because of all the different types of teachers this class contains. The idea of an open classroom is very exciting. In a college atmosphere sometimes that gets lost with a professor who just wants to lecture all the time. In an open classroom you get to hear many different opinions, some similar to your ideas and some maybe totally the opposite but you learn to listen and gain a different perspective and try to see where they are coming from, which is a lot like teaching in a classroom I suppose. I am looking forward to using the tools developed in this class to move forward in my career as a teacher. The topics "Classroom management and Critical Thinking" and "Learner Diversity" really stand out to me and those topics I think, along with the others of course, are going to give me a better understanding on just exactly what it is like to go from the student to the teacher and being able to see how I have learned and how others have learned.