Final Learning Log

My personal learning theory is a great big mix of all of the learning theories. (At least according to the test that you had us take!)  All three of my scores were within a point of each other, so I really am a well rounded person.  At least that is what I interpret my scores to mean.  I believe that meaningful well organized learning is important, as well as reinforcement.  Students need to understand why what they are learning is important as well as understand what they are learning.  On occasion reinforcement is acceptable and may help students learn, although it should not occur on an everyday basis.  All students have the capability to learn, it is my job to mediate the learning process.  

One theory that I absolutely adore is the social cognitive theory.  I love the idea of shaping, modeling, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and vicarious learning.  They all seem so natural to me.  They make sense and when I teach my future students I will most likely teach them using the social cognitive theory.  (In fact I am not sure that I will remember any of the other theories, although I will try!)  Social Cognitive theory seems to fall in line with my personal beliefs.    I do enjoy some Piaget's theories.  The idea that there are different levels of thinking also seems to make sense to me.  I remember doing the Piagetian tasks and being impressed with the results that I received.  Children are capable of different types of learning at different points in their lives, so I will also keep that in mind in my future classroom.  

I am excited to implement some of my new knowledge with my future students.  I can't wait to encourage self-regulation and management with them. I love the idea that I can help encourage my students to be productive little individuals! I will try to be consciously aware of which learning level they are at and help to shape their knowledge and learning. Before I obtain my own classroom of students I would like to learn a bit more about behaviorism.  I have a feeling that if I understood it a bit better I might find I have more in common with it than I thought.  (If I understand conditioning a bit better than I might develop a healthy respect for it.)  I am grateful for the new knowledge that I have gained while participating in this class.  I look forward to utilizing this knowledge in my future teaching career.  (Sounds a bit cheesy, but it is the truth!)  Understand how and why my students think and learn they way that they do will prove to be a great benefit to me as a teacher. 

"My Beliefs"

I believe that technology is a necessary part of good curriculum and teaching.  I have no doubt that in the near future every classroom will have a smart board and most students will have immediate classroom access to computers.  I am still learning the in's and outs of all the new technology that is available, but I am willing and ready to learn more.  I am excited to be able to teach in a time period when all of this wonderful technology is available.  

I look forward to learning more about the up and coming trends.  I hope that I provide my future students with a positive and uplifting view of technology.  I am excited to not only teach my future students but to learn from them as well.  My students will be the natives in their learning environment and that is an exciting thought. Without a doubt technology will enhance my teaching abilities by opening doors to educational resources that would have previously been unavailable.  

"Lessons Learned"

It was interesting to take the quiz and read the standards, but the thing that I enjoyed the most was watching the video clips and reading the articles.  I found them extremely informative.  All of that wonderful information helped to reinforce my opinions on our changing society and the fact that "shift is happening."  I am excited to be experiencing this modern uprising.  Technology will and does open up so many doors for so many people.  I love the fact that my future students will be able to utilize web quests and virtual field trips, pod casts and Internet research.  

When it comes to concerns, technological advancement does not concern me.  Individual people, schools, and school districts lagging behind the times do concern me.  My future students will be technological natives. If I am going to teach them in a manner they will understand and respect then I must do it while speaking their language.  When I apply for future jobs I will take the schools technology based learning environment into consideration.  It is deeply important to me that as a teacher I have the support of my employers when it comes to technology based teaching.  It is a new technological era and I am excited to be a living part of it.  

"Strengths & Weaknesses"

I have many various strengths and weaknesses in life as well as technology.  One strength which also happens to be a weakness is my experience working with various forms of technology.  I have always used Macintosh computers as well as PCs, so in many ways I feel I am ahead of my peers.  I am not an expert at any form of technology but, I do have experience with most forms of technology.  I have dibbled and dabbled in various forms, and feel comfortable with  most any program.  I am ashamed to say that on the UNI survey there was only one question where I was able to mark Expert, and that was software applications.  I enjoy experimenting with and utilizing various applications, and it seems my varied experience will prove to benefit me in my future classroom.  I am discovering that although it is beneficial to have a general understanding of various technologies, it would be superior to specialize in at least one of these technologies.  

In my future classroom with my future students I would like to choose one type of computer and help my students to become expert navigators.  I want them to feel completely comfortable and superior with at least one form of technology.  If they have a good grasp on one form then understanding others will be much easier.  I would also like to make sure that my students are properly able to analyze their web based research for authority, accuracy, currency, and relevance.   This is something I have struggled with as I have become more and more integrated with the technology around me.  I want my students to feel comfortable utilizing the Internet for school based assignments, while keeping in mind that all information and resources are not necessarily created equal.   

One Website that I have found to be immensely informative when trying to analyze my sources has been the Cornell University library.  Specifically their instructions on critically analyzing information sources.  I like the idea of comparing web based research to research done in a physical library.  It helped me to understand the basics of verifying research.  It is a great site and I will highly encourage my future students to browse through it. A second way that I might be able to improve my weakness's would be to browse through the website kidinfo.  This is a great site that I have stumbled across.  It is full of kid friendly information pertaining to various computer programs.  I would love to be an expert in using either a PC or Mac.  This site can help clarify some of the basic operations for me.  It is also a kid friendly resource that I could direct future students to.

Technology Article #2

A second type of technology that I am super excited about is the idea of interactive educational games.  I love the idea that students can play computer games (which they love) and benefit from the process!   There are countless websites that provide free educational gaming for students of elementary school age.  One site that I have spent some time on is apples4theteacher.  

Apples4theteacher is such a fun site.  It has a plethora of educational games.  Specifically it has a great selection of math games for elementary school students.  In my future teaching I would like to change my students negative connotations of mathematics.  One of the ways I can successfully do this is make math fun for them.  What better way to make math fun than through computer gaming.  I love the idea that there are free computer games available for teachers and students alike.  

Learning needs to be fun, modern technology fills that need.  The students I will be teaching are natives of the technology world.  If I don't chose to teach them on their level and in their language I will lose them.  I want them to succeed and have wonderful learning experiences.  In my future teaching career I will be utilizing the free educational gaming world. It is the perfect medium to reinforce knowledge and insight that I would like my students to gain.

Technology Article #1

I am so excited about my new discovery.  Earlier this year I was fiddling around on the Internet and I stumbled across a website entitled Plymouth plantation.  The website is awesome!  It has a lot of information about the original plimoth plantation.  From the home page  you can click on educational programs, and from educational programs you can click on online learning center. This allows the user to experience "You are the Historian, Investigating the First Thanksgiving."

"Investigating the First Thanksgiving," is a neat experience.  It takes the general public and allows them to have a first hand experience with something that occurred long ago.  It also allows an individual to visit a place which may not be accessible otherwise.  It is a fun and free technological experience. I love the idea of taking my future students on a virtual field trip.  Taking a class of students on a field trip back East is simply not feasible, but having them take a virtual field trip to the Plymouth plantation from the school computer lab is a wonderful alternative.  

I love the idea of virtual field trips.  There seem to be so many available for those willing to search them out.  I am thrilled that in my future teaching career I will have the opportunity to give my students first hand experience through technology that they may not be able to access otherwise. 

Learning Log Ch. 10

Last chapter blog!  (No seriously, if you are going to give weekly assignments, this is the way to go.)  

This week our class focused on chapter 10, the social cognitive theory.  At the beginning of class we discussed how the social cognitive theory is basically a combination of theories.  We were able to view clips of the bobo doll experiment.  The experiment reinforced some of the information that I had previously read in chapter 10.  Specifically, that individuals learn by watching others, although, learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to a behavioral change. We talked a bit about reciprocal change, and how they cycle of change can go in either direction.  We also discussed the power of expectation along with scaffolding and shaping.  Shaping helps students to acquire and maintain certain behaviors.  The last thing that I would like to mention was our discussion on exploration.  We talked about various topics that are encompassed under exploration: modeling, self regulation, self efficacy, and vicarious learning. 

The social cognitive theory is full of wonderful information.  This seems to be the theory that I understand and relate to the best.  I like the idea of shaping.  I also seem to understand the concepts of modeling, self regulation, self efficacy, and vicarious learning.  I think all of these various concepts and ideas are simple and understandable.  

I look forward to utilizing these theories in my future classroom.  I want to shape my students behavior so that they are able to reach self regulation.  I want my students to have high self efficacy, and I hope that they will be able to learn vicariously when situations arise.  I would like to learn more about this theory, it seems to be the most useable and realistic theory we have encountered. 

Learning Log Ch. 9

So the big "tada" for class was on Behaviorist Views of Learning.  I feel like the majority of focus was spent on positive and negative reinforcement.  We spent a lot of time defining positive and negative reinforcement along with punishment.  We also touched on classical and operant conditioning.

An analogy that was mentioned for positive and negative reinforcement was a hot air balloon.  I liked the comparison to hot air being positive reinforcement; something that is added which increases behavior.  And the comparison to the sand bags being negative reinforcement; something that is taken away which also increases behavior.  It is important for me to remember that the behavior that is increased isn't necessarily negative nor is it necessarily positive, It could be either. I also liked the idea that punishment is the taking away something wanted.  Classical conditioning is an involuntary response that results from the pairing of two stimuli, and operant conditioning is a voluntary response that is usually followed by a stimulus.

All of the things that we talked about are good to be aware of when teaching in my future classroom.  I think the thing that I will most focus on is the reinforcement.  I want my students to understand positive and negative reinforcement.  I want them to reinforce their own behaviors.  Hopefully by understanding what fuels student behaviors I will be better equipped to deal with my future students.

Reflection #15

So web quests are still cool but a little bit tricky to pull off in PowerPoint. I am grateful that some of my group members are PowerPoint savvy, because I am not! I am great at photo shop etc. . . but PowerPoint is not my strong point. (Granted, I am getting better.) So we worked today on our quest and we are finally working out all of the kinks. We have been working separately on all of the various elements required, but today we decided to google doc the whole thing so we can compile all of our work.

It appears to be a pretty neat quest so far. Hopefully it continues to be neat-o. I need to work a bit more on the two aspects that were assigned to me. I have the last two sections on the teacher page that I need to work on. Process and Resources, I am kind of on a standstill till some of the other members post their information. A lot of what I will post depends on what they post. Well, so far so good. Positive thinking, this web quest assignment will turn out great! (Even if it still makes me nervous, new things usually do.)

Reflection #14

Back at school!

So this was our first technology class since we have been in field. We learned about webquests. I thought I understood what a webquest was, but turns out I was a little bit foggy. I am excited to be working on a webquest, hopefully it will turn out great.

I like the idea of giving students an assignment/task, and then helping them to accomplish that task by use of the web.

A webquest involves two main pages a student page and a teacher page. They are almost like mirror reflections of each other. (Both containing similar information.) The student page contains links to Introduction, Task, Process, Evaluation, Conclusion, Credits, and Teacher Page. The teacher page contains links to Introduction Learners, Standards, Process, Resources, and the Teacher Page.

Webquests are cool, and I am excited to look at webgarden, and see what it has to offer.

Reflection #13

I was just told that my reflection for my technology interview needed to be posted as a blog. Ooops.  I have the reflection done so here it is.

This technology interview was enlightening.  Westside elementary school seems to lack technology that I assumed they would have, yet they have technology that I assumed they wouldn't.  I am shocked that they don't have any Apple computers in the school, but I am thrilled that they have two computer labs plus one traveling lab.  I am surprised that they don't have wireless Internet.  I am glad that they will be getting wireless Internet in the near future. To be limited to wired Internet is ridiculous in this day and age.  

This Experience has greatly affected  me as a teacher.  I am going to be very careful when applying to various schools and districts.  I want to make sure I am in a school and working for a district that supports modern technology.  I want to work for a district that provides laptops and wireless Internet for their teachers.  In order to be the best teacher possible, I will need support from my employers.  One aspect of that support will be technologically based.  

I am excited to use technology in my future classroom.  Technology opens countless doors for not only teachers but students.  Technology is the future.  Students need to be comfortable learning from and using technology.  I want my future students to succeed in their lifetime endeavors.  To succeed they must be comfortable with technology.  I surprise myself by admitting that I am excited about technology, I can't wait to become more fluent in various aspects of it. 

Reflection #12

Last Friday my  husband was in a motorcycle accident on the freeway.  He had surgery on Saturday, and came home a few days ago.  (It happened while he was on duty, so the police department has been both concerned and helpful!  Our LDS ward has also been great with bringing meals this week, etc...) 

Needless to say my last week of field has been interesting.  It has been challenging to balance my school obligations with my family responsibilities.  I was able to teach my last two lessons on Monday and Tuesday of this week.  They went very well.  The kids had a blast, and things went according to planned.  On Monday we set up the teams for the Classroom Olympics, and then on Tuesday we had the students participate in the Classroom Olympics.  

We assigned each student to one of the five Ancient Greece City-States.  That became their team for the Olympics.  They were required to take on the role of an Ancient Greek citizen and act accordingly.  They did awesome!  Both lessons were super fun.  Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to reuse all of the lesson plans I have created, because they turned out great!

Well, I need to head out the door to take my husband to see  his orthopedic surgeon.  Wish us luck.  With luck I will find a way to make it to classes next week.

Till then Adieu.

Reflection #11

Today we taught our first lesson.  It was our technology integrated lesson.  We have been prepared for a while, our lesson plan has been written for a few weeks and we felt that everything was good to go.  

But, then the drama began.  Yesterday we obtained the projector that we were going to use to present our power point.  We wanted to do a trial run before our actual lesson, and boy am I glad we did.  We couldn't get our computer to hook up to the projector. (We lacked the proper connector.)  

We thought we would solve the problem by burning the power point and using one of the schools computers to show the presentation.  We then realized that the computer the school provided did not have a power point program; so that wasn't going to work.

After brainstorming we figured that we might just have to scrap the presentation.  But then good things started happening.  Late last night I came across the cord that we needed to piggy back our computer into the projector.  

Early this morning we tested it out and it worked great.  We went on to teach our lesson, the kids loved it.  I was surprised that our presentation really did gain and keep the students attention.  It was a smooth lesson, and I don't think we would have changed a thing.  the kids were involved, active listeners, and on task.  what more can a teacher ask for? 

I am looking forward to the lesson that we will teach tomorrow.

Reflection #10

Hello again,

I have now been doing field for a week.  (One down, two more to go!)  I have been enjoying the experience.  I might regret admitting this, but it is way better than regular school.  

It has been nice to be around young students, it is refreshing to remember why I have an interest in teaching. 

We haven't done any student teaching yet, we start on Tuesday.  I am looking forward to that.  I think that it is going to be a lot of fun.  Our first lesson that we teach is going to be our technology enriched lesson.  We have a really cool PowerPoint introducing Ancient Greece that we are going to show to the students.  It should be a lot of fun.  My only concern is with the teacher obtaining the projector we will need to show the presentation. Hopefully she takes care of that and things go smoothly. 

Moving on to a technology related aspect of field...For the next two weeks the students in our sixth grade class will spend forty-five minutes per day in the computer lab practicing their typing skills.  Crazy!  I am glad that they have the opportunity to work with computers and practice skills that they will rely on for the rest of their lives.  

Hopefully I enjoy this coming week as much as I have enjoyed this previous one.  

Stay tuned for my next exciting entry on "Field Work Week 2"

P.S. I am anxiously awaiting a grade for my digital story!  I am curious as to whether my teacher likes it as much as I do!

Reflection #9

In class today we turned in our digital stories. It feels good to have ours turned in. I think that we did a great job, and I am excited to see what kind of grade we get.

I have already finished the website assignment so I didn't really need to work on that today. Although, all of the sudden I am missing some of the pictures that I posted under student of the week so I will probably make sure that those are showing up before I call it good to go.

We discussed all of the things that need to be done during field and all of the blogs (5) that will need to be done the week of final. I feel as if I have a good grasp on what needs to be done and when it needs to be done by, so no worries there. I enjoyed class, it was a good review, and hopefully I will be able to stay on top of my field assignments.

Till next week
Adieu

New Study Strategy

I am not sure what I wrote down that I was going to do, but what I ended up doing was utilizing some of the things that I have learned for this class when creating a lesson plan for curriculum design.

By integrating some of the methods and philosophies from psychology into my curriculum design lessons I was able to cement the knowledge into my long term memory while learning how to pull it forward into my working memory. For example as I created a lesson plan for a first grade class I tried to keep in mind that the majority of the students would be in Piaget's preoperational stage and may not understand abstract ideas.

I have learned that I need to integrate new knowledge into my everday life and other classes. This will help me to make the connenctions that are necessary in order to store and retrieve information in the future.

Learning Log #6

Chapter 6 was the focus for the day. We discussed cognitive development and terms such as memory, storage, encoding, and retrieval. We went over the model of memory in detail.

The model of memory begins with information input, then goes on to sensory register, where information is placed into short term (working) memory or lost. Next comes the encoding process where information is stored in the long term memory (or lost). Once it is placed in long term memory it can later be retrieved. Metacognition is thinking about thinking and metacognition underlies the entire model of memory.

Knowing how the brain processes information will be highly beneficial as a teacher. It will help me understand how students transfer information, thus enabling me to teach in methods that encourage information to be transferred. It will also help me to encourage effective study strategies such as organizing, elaborating, and summarizing.

Reflection #8

It seems like it has been a while since I have posted, but I guess it has only been a week. Our digital story is completly finished, which is great, so I only had to work on a single assignment this week.

This week I worked on my class website. It was a lot of fun. It has a main page with my picture, info about me, and contact info. It also has a pages with a calendar, students of the week, announcements, technology in our classroom, and homework assignments.

This was a great assignment, and it helped to cement the process of a making a site in my head. Every teacher I know has a class website, and I am sure that when I begin teaching I also will have a class site.

It is beneficial to parents as well as students to know what is going on, and have a central place to go when looking for information.

Reflection #7

FINISHED! At least, I think that our digital story is finished. We might try and work on the audio a teeny bitty bit. But, we might not. So we are basically done!!!! Yay just in time for fall break. To have this assignment done, makes me so excited that fall break is beginning to seem like spring break!

Seriously though, I really enjoyed this project, making a digital story is fun. I can't wait to use this in my future teaching career, but also in my life. (Family movies, stories, etc...)

Although we didn't use photo story to do our digital story, I think photo story is cool and I might try it someday. One thing that has really impressed me is how easy all of the different programs are. They are so universally user friendly. Who knew! Well hopefully, we have accomplished our goal, and you enjoy our digital story!

Learning Log #5

So class was fun as always. We talked a lot about different stages that children go through. The thing that stands out the most for me was the method of memorizing that we learned today. The first step in the process was to memorize the numbers one through eight using visual representations of different items.

1-bun
2-shoe
3-tree
4-door
5-hive
6-sticks
7-heaven
8-gate

The next step was to take the items and tie them in to the knowledge that we were trying to memorize. For example

1-Bun-Trust and Mistrust, we visualized holding a child in one arm while eating a sticky bun in the other. When letting the child taste the bun, we are developing trust, when not sharing we are developing mistrust.

Hence, we used the list to find examples for remembering all of the knowledge that we were trying to memorize. To wrap things up, I am super excited about this method and can't wait to utilize it with the upcoming test!

Reflection #6

Goodness Gracious! Today was a crazy day in class. We had been working on our storyboards, and I thought that we had a good grasp on what we were going to do. We had started to figure out our narration, music, and images and the order and flow that we wanted them to follow, but then we thought we would switch topics. BAD IDEA

We are now back to our original plan and things are flowing much smoother. We are to the point where we have gathered our information and have a general outline of the order we would like to present our information. We are super excited about our digital story, and have high hopes that it will be awesome! Our digital story is something that ties directly into a lesson plan that we have previously created for our social studies class. It is neat to learn how we can tie technology into our future lesson plans. It really is a great way to enhance curriculum. I am looking forward physically beginning our digital story. The preparation is done, and now the fun begins!

Piagetian Tasks (Learning Log #4)

This was such a fun assignment. I chose do the Piagetian tasks with my three year old daughter. She was excited to help me with my homework and I was excited by the opportunity to involve her.

The first task I chose was to form play dough into balls of equal size. I then asked, do these balls have the same amount of clay? My daughter readily agreed that they did. At this point I smashed one of her beloved play dough balls and asked if they still had the same amount of clay or does one have more than the other? My daughter stated that smashed one had less then the ball, because it was short and not tall.

The second task that I did with my daughter was aligning two sticks of the same length in front of her. I then asked are these sticks the same length? My daughter stated that they were. After she stated that they were the same length, I moved one of the sticks to the right and left the other in place. I repeated the question. This time she stated that they were not the same length, because one stuck out further than the other.

The third task that I did revolved around equal amounts of water. I placed two short cups with equal amounts of water in front of her and asked if they contained the same amount of water? She agreed that they did. Then I poured the water from one of the short cups into a tall, thin cup and asked if they still contained the same amount of water? She stated that they did not, and when I asked which cup had more water she pointed to the tall thin cup.

These tasks show that my three year old daughter is in the preoperational stage of development. Her answers reflect lack of conservation. She is still at a stage where she confuses changes in appearance with changes in amount. (Combine this with her fierce sense of equality and you get one crazy household!)

Extra Credit Time Article

Fertile Minds is a very interesting article. I am not very knowledgeable about how the brain works, so it was a little bit hard for me to understand everything that this article was talking about. (Although I do feel that I understood the majority of the article.) The beginning of the article discussed how the brain of a fetus begins working before it is fully developed, more so it is necessary for the brain to begin working in order for the brain to develop. This is such a mind blowing idea. My initial thought is that this information makes the question of when is a fetus actually living, much more difficult to answer. (Or easier depending on who is asking.)

I enjoyed that the article discussed that we have the ability to alter the connections or lack of connections in the brain if we work quickly while the brain is still young. The article also touched on the fact that it is no longer nature or nurture yet a combination of both. It discussed the new discovery of the CREB amplifier, which connects development before birth with development after birth. One statement that I enjoyed reading was "Nurture works through nature." What a wonderful thought.

The article mentions repeatedly that the human brain before the age of 10-11 is extremely resilient. It also hits hard on the fact that parents and caregivers play a crucial role in infant brain development. Lastly the article touched on windows of opportunity. It stated that the biggest growth spurt a brain experiences ends by the age of 10. I loved how the article closed by stating an example concerning a brilliant criminal mind and a gift for mathematics, it stated that the two personalities vary simply because of their personal experience in the early years of life.

Reflection #5

In class this week we focused on narration and storyboarding. We discussed how our digital story needs to have a strong opening and closing, and follow a format that presents information clearly. I learned that there are three goals when creating a digital story, they are to inform, influence, and touch. Through the use of narration, music, and images these three goals can be met. A digital story contains various elements. Some of these elements are point of view, dramatic question, emotional content, economy, pacing, voice, soundtrack, types of communication. The element of voice consists of three types, they are narrative, informative, and persuasive.

Moving on, I want to touch on storyboarding. Storyboarding is the process of organizing images, text, motion, interviews, and music. As I storyboard it allows me to visualize how my story will be put together. My personal storyboard contains/will contain images, narration, music, transitions, and citations. Storyboarding can be a wonderful aid in the process of creating a digital story.

I am so excited to use digital stories in my career as an educator. One way that I might use digital stories with my students would be as an assignment, what a great way to see what students know. I might also use it to set up a lesson, or hook my students on a certain topic. I could also use it to enhance previously created lesson plans, give them an extra touch. There are countless ways that digital stories can be used in the education process from both the side of educator and student. Digital stories are a wonderful medium, that I am thrilled to be learning about.

Reflection #4

Today we were introduced to creating a digital storybook. I am really excited about this assignment, a little bit nervous too. I am not the most technologically savvy person, so this will be a learning experience for me.

From what I understand a digital storybook is another way for us to present information. (In my opinion one of the best ways to present information.) I think that digital storybooks will be an awesome way for me to introduce different topics to my students. What a fun way to let them have an overview of what we will be learning.  

While in class I had the opportunity to view an Internet site entitled www.digitalstories.org, it was an interesting site with a lot of information.  It had some really good examples of what a digital storybook is.  I enjoyed the opportunity to view various examples of digital storybooks. 

My focus for this week has been scripting my digital storybook.  Scripting goes hand in hand with designing.   My first goal was to choose which standard and objective I want to teach. 

After choosing my subject area, I have been sorting through various images, music, and information that I would like to share.  The intent of my digital storybook is to engage students in the learning process by sharing factual information in an unemotional manner.  I am excited to be learning about this teaching method and have no doubt I will find it a useful skill in my future classroom.  

Learning Log #3

We touched on so many different things today I am not sure what topics to write on. I guess I can start with the definition of Intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to apply prior knowledge and experiences flexibly to accomplish challenging new tasks. I learned a lot about different types of intelligences, such as fluid, crystallized, and distributed. We spent a good chunk of time discussing Gardner's multiple intelligences. (Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Spatial, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist.) We also discussed IQ tests and, the fact, that they were originally created to help assess which individuals may need help in their learning.

All of the things we talked about today are topics that I will visit time and time again as I continue on into the field of education. In my future classroom I am sure that I will deal with students with various intelligences and learning styles.

By understanding my students various intelligences and learning styles I will be better equipped to help them learn. As a teacher I want to understand my students strengths and weaknesses, their challenges, and gifts. If I am aware of who they are and how they learn then I can help them to become successful students.

Reflection #3

Today we learned about making a Google site! (Website) Totally fun. So I have been trying to decide what the difference is between a blog and a Google site. I have come to the conclusion that a Google site is something that you set up and tend not to alter very often, whereas a blog is something that is continually evolving.

I am having so much fun learning about all of these different things and I can think of countless ways to utilize them. How fun would it be to have a classroom website where I can post links to different things that might interest the students. It would also be really fun to have the class site include a basic picture and small bio about each student in the class along with a link to their individual blogs and information needed to contact them. We could make it a closed site that only they could access for security issues. Then the kids in the class would only have to remember one on line site in order to find and connect with any other student in the class. Combine this with smart boards and we would be set to go!

Seriously, I really enjoy learning about these different technologies and cannot wait until I have my own classroom and can utilize them in an educational setting. Thanks for providing instruction and answering my many questions!

Intelligence Tests Assessment

IQ test

I enjoyed taking this test, and received a higher score than I had expected. I found my results interesting. My results stated that my biggest strength is general knowledge and my biggest weakness is mathematics. I love math and have always done well with it, I never would have assumed that it would be classified as one of my weaknesses. I was also surprised to see that my scores in all nine categories were extremely close, only separated by a few points. I feel that the results are most likely valid, because I have no reason to think otherwise. (Not to mention, who doesn't like to feel smart!)

Multiple Intelligence Test

I have to say that I also enjoyed taking this test. This is the second multiple intelligence test that I have taken in the last few weeks. The results of this test lined up perfectly with the results from my first multiple intelligence test. I have four main multiple intelligences that are equal across the board, they are linguistic, logical, interpersonal, and musical. From here things begin to vary. My second form of intelligence is kinaesthetic, followed by visual/spatial. My fourth intelligence is intrapersonal, and my last intelligence is naturalistic. I feel that these results are utterly valid, especially considering that this is the second test of this type I have taken recently and the results are exactly the same. (Kind of cool!) I also find it interesting that my main intelligence is tied between four individual intelligences.

Reflection

Both tests provide interesting and useful information. I might consider using the multiple intelligence test with my future students, if they show an interest in having an official idea of how they learn best. Knowing their personal learning style is something that may help a student throughout their educational experience. It can also be beneficial to their educators.

Although the IQ test may be beneficial, when applied to students, I feel that it's negative effects outweigh the positives. I would not use the IQ test with my students. A student's IQ is irrelevant to their education. Regardless of how intelligent or unintelligent a student is they should be held to a set standard. I also worry that if a child were to be aware of their IQ it might alter their self confidence and/or personal expectations. Children should feel that they are capable of accomplishing what they set their mind to. If a child's intelligence is labeled than a cap is put in place as to what they might achieve.

Learning Log #2

Today we focused on cultural and ethnic differences in the classroom. A few of the topics that we focused on were cultural mismatch, dialect, personal space, IRE cycle, wait time, worldviews, stereotypes, visual-spatial ability, socioeconomic statues, at risk students, and gender schema/differences.

I feel that all of these topics are extremely important because, they are topics that I will be likely to encounter at some point in my future teaching career. All of these topics greatly affect children and the way that they are able to learn, the way that they should be taught, and the way that other students interact with them. Teachers need to understand and respect cultural and ethnic differences. They also need to teach their students to understand and respect cultural and ethnic differences.

As I teacher I want to make sure that I understand my students differences. I want to understand where they are coming from and why they are the way that they are. I will be willing and able to collaborate with the parents of my students so that they are provided with a learning environment that will maximize their potential. I want my students to not only embrace what they share in common but also what makes them unique. Students need to know that to be different is ok. Life experiences can shape us but ultimately we decide who and what we will become. My students will learn that they can overcome obstacles, human nature is resilient and my students will know and respect this inert ability.

Reflection #2

Today we learned about "Google documents," and "Google chat." Both of these things were mentioned in our previous class, but today we got an in depth, hands on lesson. (If I understand correctly "Google chat" is a instant messenger, and "Google doc's" is a wiki. Google doc's is a wiki, because it is a place where multiple individuals can collaborate on one document all at once.)

Class today was a great learning experience for me. I have never used a Google document/"wiki" before and this was a neat experience. I appreciate someone taking the time to show me how and what to do when using these Google features. I think that Google documents work the best when not all collaborators are working on the document at the exact same time. In class today I noticed that when all individuals are working at the same time it can not only get confusing, but information may be lost due to multiple people submitting their work at the same time. If multiple individuals are going to be working on the document at the exact same time Google chat is a great way for them to communicate. By using Google chat to communicate with each other it leaves Google documents reserved for work only.

I am excited that we learned about Google documents today, because I have a group project due on Monday and we are going to use Google documents to put together our handout. The plan is for each of us to contribute our individual sections and then collaboratively tie them together. Google documents is perfectly suited to our group, we are all busy individuals and by using this wiki we are able to accomplish something that would prove to be much more difficult otherwise.

I have no doubt that in my future career as an educator I will utilize instant messenger's and wikis in order to not only communicate with students but also with other educators. What a great way for us to share ideas and collaborate in the classroom and workplace. These Google tools allow busy individuals to correspond with each other when other options are unavailable or simply not feasible.

Research Study

I have always been interested in children's literacy, so I chose to focus on that topic for this assignment. While searching on the Internet I stumbled across a website entitled "reading horizons." This website is geared towards phonetic reading instruction and the positive effect it can have in the classroom.

On the home page is states that "Literacy programs in any setting—from public and private schools to family literacy centers to correctional facilities—thrive on the solid phonics foundation provided by these time-tested, research-based programs." When I saw that the homepage mentioned that this program was "research-based," I immediately thought this would be worth looking into. I ended up viewing a research study that was conducted at Huntington Elementary school in Huntington, Utah.

The study focused on 21 first grade students for 4 months. The students were tested using the state core reading test. They were tested once before being taught with the Discover Intensive Phonics program and once after it had been implemented. The post assessment showed that students were scoring at or above 90%.

The information provided regarding this research was not as thorough as I would have liked. The test group that was used for this study seemed relatively small, but then again the Huntington study was one of many. For a quick overview of the results it was more than adequate. It did explain the testing procedures along with what test was used. It also showed where each individual student tested before and after the program. Based on all of the information that was provided, I would feel comfortable assuming that the results are valid.


(Who knows, maybe I will impliment the Discover Intensive Phonics program in my future classroom!?!)

Learning Log #1

There are four main types of research. They are descriptive, correlational, experimental, and action.

• Descriptive research describes a situation. With descriptive "you get what you see." Descriptive research is mainly beneficial when used as a foundation for other types of research. The conclusions derived from descriptive research contain qualitative and/or quantitative information. When working with descriptive research it is important to remember that it is not correlational or cause and effect.


• Correlational research shows how things interrelate. It can show how different things affect other things. (Whether they change each other or not.) This type of research is great at showing the strength of relationships, but it doesn't explain why relationships exist.


• Experimental research allows conclusions to be drawn which can be proven. It shows cause and effect relationships. Experimental research is a bit more complex than the other forms of research. There must be a control group and at least one test group in order to provide a reliable study. Often quasi-experimental research is done in place of true experimental research. (A semi-experiment is much easier to perform than a true experiment.)


• Action research is research done by teachers and other school personnel. It is research aimed at specific problems and situations that reside in individual schools and classrooms. It can take any form and is extremely personal. Although, it can be time consuming and labor intensive to perform action research, the results can be extremely beneficial due to the fact that they are unique to an individual school and/or classroom.

As an educator it will be important for me to know and understand the various types of research, there strengths and weaknesses, and the results that they provide. I want to know the best ways to encourage learning in my students, research will help me to discover the methods that will work best for myself and my students.

Research is a crucial tool that is at my disposal, and as an educator I want to utilize that tool and make the most of it. If I take the time to learn from the past as well as the present then I will be maximizing my teaching ability.

Reflection #1

Today I was asked to post a reflection on technology and how I might integrate it into my future classroom.

This is a totally loaded question to ask. I could go from tangent to tangent concerning my opinion on different types of technology and how I might integrate them into my classroom.

I am loving all of the different things that are available through the Internet. Some of the things that pop into my mind are the things that we touched on in class today, G-mail, blogger, and facebook, just to name a few. All wonderful resources that can be used interactively with a class.

What a great way for a teacher to stay in touch with her students outside of the classroom. It is also so important that students in this day and age understand how to utilize the wonderful technology that is available to them. So often technology is viewed as something that attributes to antisocial behavior, but with all of the things that are available (previously mentioned) technology can be used as a way for students to stay social and interactive while connecting through a learning opportunities and assignments.

All in all, I am excited for technology and the ways that I will be able to utilize it in my classroom. I am enjoying learning about new technologies and the ways that I will be able to utilize them in my future career.

Motivation

Why are you here?

I want a college degree, and I want to make a difference. (Soooo sappy, but true.) I want children to know and believe that they are special.

What motivates you?

My children!
My goals. The knowledge that I can and will achieve my goals.

Why do you succeed?

I refuse to fail. I want to succeed. I want to set an example for others. They too can overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. We can be whatever we want to be!

Why do you fail?

I allow myself to believe that I am unable to succeed. (I try to avoid this type of thought process.)
When obstacles arise, failing to forge the path needed for success.

How do you need to change your motivation and perspective in order to succeed in this program and become a great teacher?

Remember that I can do hard things. Just because something is hard does not mean it is not possible. Remember to enjoy and learn from the journey. The goal is important but the pathway to the goal is crucial.