What?
I think that students can learn through any of the theories and definitely through a mixture of the theories. In the quiz that we took I was most closely aligned with cognitivism, more specifically though i feel that social cognitivism is the theory that helps students to learn most effectively. There are so many facets of social cognitivism that are part of the other theories and i feel that it is just the right balance of behaviorism paired with the ideas of cognitivism.
So What?
This knowledge will affect my classroom practice in every way possible. This theory is so large and involves the mental, emotional, and academics of the students. In using this theory i will have to remember that i am constantly a model for my students and the way i behave will help to shape their behavior. I also have to remember to use modeling during my instruction, especially cognitive modeling. The behaviorism part of this theory includes vicarious reinforcement/punishment. I have to remember that my students will see the way i respond to behaviors and will change their own. If they see someone being punished for a behavior and then see someone else do the same thing and not be punished the students will feel that they could do that same behavior and not be punished. I don't want my classroom to be on an equal basis, but built on the basis of equity, that each student is getting what they need. To do this studtents will have to understand that punishments and reinforcements might be different for every student, but that certain behaviors are innapropriate whether they are able to see the punishment or not. Another way that using this theory will affect the way i teach is that i will be trying to help my student build their self-efficacy and then help them learn to self-regulate.
Now What?
One of the steps that i need to take to be able to use this theory in my classroom is simply just remembering all the parts of it. Its nice that i have this blog that i will be able to look back on and remember all of the parts of social cognitivism or constructivism and be able to implement them in my class. I also want to learn more about the most effective ways to model and when to model. I think that with the more experience that i have as a teacher that these things will just come, especially if i am putting forth a concerted effort to remember that one way i reinforce a student will change behavior of other students. Earlier i stated that i wanted my reinforcement to be equitable and not always equal. To be able to do that in my classroom, my students would need to be able to understand that difference and be able to ask me anytime about why i did what i did. I think that even stronger than the vicarious reinforcement, this will send a message to the students that everything in life may not always be fair, but that they need to worry about themselves, they need to focus on their own goals and abilities and not always worry about how others are being punished or reinforced. By doing this i would hope that the students will be able to gain a respect for their fellow classmates and that they will all be able to understand each other a little better. These goals may seem a little out there for me, but this is what i am hoping for, this is what i am hoping to implement. I think that it is important to let the students know what is going on and why we do the things that we do. Most students will respect that and that will help our class to be able to have that safe, trusting environment.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Chapter 10 - Social Cognitive Views
What?
Social Cognitivism is a theory that is a combination of cognitivism and behaviorism. It defines learning as a process that may or may not lead to a behavior change. Basically it is that people learn by observing others. Within social congnitivism, we learned about modeling, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and vicarious reinforcement/punishment.
So What?
So why is this important? I think that the main way anybody learns is by watching others around them. Along with the vicarious reinforcement/punishment, we really do learn from other successes and failures and will change our behavior when we see the outcome of other's behaviors. This is important to us as teachers because through the reinforcement of 1 student the behavior of your entire class can change. The previous example also has to do with modeling. If we model things with our students they will be able to better perform their tasks. What i really liked was the congnitive modeling. It involves bemonstrating how to thing about the task adn how to do the task. Basically the teacher talking aloud about the mental process they follow as they complete a task. One more thing that i wanted to touch on was self-regulation. This is so important because when a student learns to self-regulate they have taken the learning into their own hands. They can set goals for themselves and they are able to reinforce and reward themselves. This is a crucial skill for students to learn because they won't always have somebody there reinforcing their behavior or their work, so learning to do that by themselves will help them to be a better student and help them prepare for that time when they don't have a boss, a mom, or a teacher reinforcing their work.
Now What?
Anyone can see why the points of social cognitivism would be so important to a teacher, but the thing is, is that you actually have to implement it in your classroom. Without even realizing it, the students automatically learn by modeling and by vicarioius reinforcement. One thing though that we will mentally have to make sure we as teacher do is that the modeling and example that we are showing is a positive one and that we are always using correct behavior. We also have to make sure that we are taking the time to do the cognitive modeling and building students' self-efficacy because that will help our students to be more self-reliant and to be better students and learners.
Social Cognitivism is a theory that is a combination of cognitivism and behaviorism. It defines learning as a process that may or may not lead to a behavior change. Basically it is that people learn by observing others. Within social congnitivism, we learned about modeling, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and vicarious reinforcement/punishment.
So What?
So why is this important? I think that the main way anybody learns is by watching others around them. Along with the vicarious reinforcement/punishment, we really do learn from other successes and failures and will change our behavior when we see the outcome of other's behaviors. This is important to us as teachers because through the reinforcement of 1 student the behavior of your entire class can change. The previous example also has to do with modeling. If we model things with our students they will be able to better perform their tasks. What i really liked was the congnitive modeling. It involves bemonstrating how to thing about the task adn how to do the task. Basically the teacher talking aloud about the mental process they follow as they complete a task. One more thing that i wanted to touch on was self-regulation. This is so important because when a student learns to self-regulate they have taken the learning into their own hands. They can set goals for themselves and they are able to reinforce and reward themselves. This is a crucial skill for students to learn because they won't always have somebody there reinforcing their behavior or their work, so learning to do that by themselves will help them to be a better student and help them prepare for that time when they don't have a boss, a mom, or a teacher reinforcing their work.
Now What?
Anyone can see why the points of social cognitivism would be so important to a teacher, but the thing is, is that you actually have to implement it in your classroom. Without even realizing it, the students automatically learn by modeling and by vicarioius reinforcement. One thing though that we will mentally have to make sure we as teacher do is that the modeling and example that we are showing is a positive one and that we are always using correct behavior. We also have to make sure that we are taking the time to do the cognitive modeling and building students' self-efficacy because that will help our students to be more self-reliant and to be better students and learners.
Chapter 9 - Behaviorist Views
What?
This week we learned about what the behaviorist views are and how they are used in the classroom, including conditioning and stimulus.
So What?
Understanding the views of behaviorist is very important because it helps us to figure out what our view is and that will change the way we run our classroom. Behaviorism is a lot of things that i didn't even realize. A lot of the things that we do in our daily life and that we will do in our classrooms include that behavior modification. Without even realizing we do it, we offer rewards and praise for the actions that we seen and we may punish or withhold that praise to show our dislike of a certain action. Because the students we are teaching are in the Industry vs. Infereiority stage, they want to please their teacher (and they also want rewards) so they will do whatever they need to to get that praise or that reward.
Now What?
Now that we understand the views of behaviorists we can apply the principles in our classes the way that we see fit. I completely agree that token economies and rewards should not be given in an academic/learning situation. It really does undermine motivation and can create major problems. I want to be able to help my students motivate themselves instead of, in a way manipulating their motivation and having it be extrinsic. I also agree that the behaviorists' theories do work and have validity, but that they should be used maybe on a personal level instead of in a group contingency, or maybe as we discussed in class that they should be used for classroom management. Knowing about behaviorism really helps us to understand motivation a little more deeply than we had already discussed, this will be so important in our classrooms because that motivation and the source of it affects everything that goes on in a class.
This week we learned about what the behaviorist views are and how they are used in the classroom, including conditioning and stimulus.
So What?
Understanding the views of behaviorist is very important because it helps us to figure out what our view is and that will change the way we run our classroom. Behaviorism is a lot of things that i didn't even realize. A lot of the things that we do in our daily life and that we will do in our classrooms include that behavior modification. Without even realizing we do it, we offer rewards and praise for the actions that we seen and we may punish or withhold that praise to show our dislike of a certain action. Because the students we are teaching are in the Industry vs. Infereiority stage, they want to please their teacher (and they also want rewards) so they will do whatever they need to to get that praise or that reward.
Now What?
Now that we understand the views of behaviorists we can apply the principles in our classes the way that we see fit. I completely agree that token economies and rewards should not be given in an academic/learning situation. It really does undermine motivation and can create major problems. I want to be able to help my students motivate themselves instead of, in a way manipulating their motivation and having it be extrinsic. I also agree that the behaviorists' theories do work and have validity, but that they should be used maybe on a personal level instead of in a group contingency, or maybe as we discussed in class that they should be used for classroom management. Knowing about behaviorism really helps us to understand motivation a little more deeply than we had already discussed, this will be so important in our classrooms because that motivation and the source of it affects everything that goes on in a class.
Chapter 7 - Knowledge Construction
What?
We learned about knowledge construction, which is a theory that involves students construction their own knowledge. We focused a lot on social constructivism which implies that students will construct knowledge together.
So What?
This is important because it is a much better and more effective way to teach. Students will learn more if they construct the knowledge themselves. Sometimes it can be harder to implement these types of experiences with our students, but they are so worth it because they learn better.
Now What?
Now that i understand what social constructivism is i can use it in my classroom and allow for students to help each other figure out things for themselves. There were a few things that promote construction, they include: experimentation, presenting experts' perspectives, emphasizing conceptual understanding, promoting classroom dialogue, assigning authentic activities, scaffolding theory constructions, and creating a community of learners. Now that i know about these ways to help students effectively construct knowledge i will be able to use them in my classroom to create good learning experiences where the students will gain a real understanding of what they are learning and they will also be able to continually learn and stay interested in their education.
We learned about knowledge construction, which is a theory that involves students construction their own knowledge. We focused a lot on social constructivism which implies that students will construct knowledge together.
So What?
This is important because it is a much better and more effective way to teach. Students will learn more if they construct the knowledge themselves. Sometimes it can be harder to implement these types of experiences with our students, but they are so worth it because they learn better.
Now What?
Now that i understand what social constructivism is i can use it in my classroom and allow for students to help each other figure out things for themselves. There were a few things that promote construction, they include: experimentation, presenting experts' perspectives, emphasizing conceptual understanding, promoting classroom dialogue, assigning authentic activities, scaffolding theory constructions, and creating a community of learners. Now that i know about these ways to help students effectively construct knowledge i will be able to use them in my classroom to create good learning experiences where the students will gain a real understanding of what they are learning and they will also be able to continually learn and stay interested in their education.
Chapter 3 - Personal & Social Development
What?
In moral and social development we discussed Erikson and Kohlberg's stages. We also learned about students' sense of self and how to promote social interaction within our classroom.
So What?
Knowing about Erikson and Kohlberg's stages is very important to us as teachers because it really gives us good guidelines about what we can be expecting from our students both socially and morally. I learned that most of my students will be in the Industry vs. Inferiority stage and this will be crucial to me as a teacher because the way i encourage my students and the type of instruction i plan can really help them to develop a stronger sense of who they are and help them to feel that industry. Knowing about moral development is also important because i feel that we have a responsibility as teacher to help our students to become moral and ethical individuals.
Now What?
Now that i know a little more about moral education, in my class i will address moral situation and like discussed in the text, will help the students reason at higher moral levels than they might have otherwise. This can really help the students to grow and will help them to be able to reason through their own situations when they run into problems.
In moral and social development we discussed Erikson and Kohlberg's stages. We also learned about students' sense of self and how to promote social interaction within our classroom.
So What?
Knowing about Erikson and Kohlberg's stages is very important to us as teachers because it really gives us good guidelines about what we can be expecting from our students both socially and morally. I learned that most of my students will be in the Industry vs. Inferiority stage and this will be crucial to me as a teacher because the way i encourage my students and the type of instruction i plan can really help them to develop a stronger sense of who they are and help them to feel that industry. Knowing about moral development is also important because i feel that we have a responsibility as teacher to help our students to become moral and ethical individuals.
Now What?
Now that i know a little more about moral education, in my class i will address moral situation and like discussed in the text, will help the students reason at higher moral levels than they might have otherwise. This can really help the students to grow and will help them to be able to reason through their own situations when they run into problems.
Chapter 2 - Cognitive/Linguistic Development
What?
This chapter contained a lot of information on how the brain works and how we organize what we learn. It also talked about Piaget's stages of development and Vygotsky's principles of ZPD and scaffolding.
So What?
This is so important to us as teachers because we need to understand students previous schemes and be able to teach in a way that they can effectively accommodate or assimilate the information that we teach. This also gives us a basic understanding of how the brain works and will help us to understand cognitive disabilities.
Now What?
Now that i know this information i actually have to use it. I will definitely remember the principle of ZPD and Scaffolding because in my field experience i was able to see what a huge difference that it can make. A lot of the students were not working in their ZPD and there was not proper scaffolding in many of the activities. This was a major problem because the students didn't learn anything. They just floundered and goofed off because they weren't being challenged correctly and they didn't understand what they needed to do.
We also learned about Piaget's stages and this will be important to me now because the students that i hope to teach will just be able to see other points of views and will be able to hypothesize using variable. These are just a few of the things in Piaget's stages, but knowing all of these items can really affect the way that i design my instruction and will help me to design instruction that will be approprate for the level that my students are at.
This chapter contained a lot of information on how the brain works and how we organize what we learn. It also talked about Piaget's stages of development and Vygotsky's principles of ZPD and scaffolding.
So What?
This is so important to us as teachers because we need to understand students previous schemes and be able to teach in a way that they can effectively accommodate or assimilate the information that we teach. This also gives us a basic understanding of how the brain works and will help us to understand cognitive disabilities.
Now What?
Now that i know this information i actually have to use it. I will definitely remember the principle of ZPD and Scaffolding because in my field experience i was able to see what a huge difference that it can make. A lot of the students were not working in their ZPD and there was not proper scaffolding in many of the activities. This was a major problem because the students didn't learn anything. They just floundered and goofed off because they weren't being challenged correctly and they didn't understand what they needed to do.
We also learned about Piaget's stages and this will be important to me now because the students that i hope to teach will just be able to see other points of views and will be able to hypothesize using variable. These are just a few of the things in Piaget's stages, but knowing all of these items can really affect the way that i design my instruction and will help me to design instruction that will be approprate for the level that my students are at.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
New Study Technique
I can't even remember what technique I wrote down that i was going to work on. But i went to study for our test with Bobbi and Toni and Toni suggested that we use concept maps becuase that was the one she had chosen. So we all got out our paper and discussed the different topics for essays and all drew our own little bubble maps for the different topics. I have always hated doing this, i'm more of a numbered and bulleted lists kind of person, but when i was writing my essays i found that writng the imformation in a different way than is was used to was really good becuase in addition to trying to remember the lists from my notes i also had these little bubble maps popping into my head and i was better able to recall exactly what i needed to know. I think that i will continue to do bubble maps for my reviews because it helped me to connect the information while still reviewing the way i would have before.
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