Chapter 5 (p. 137-149)

(3) You have now read several views about intelligence. What do you think about intelligence?

Is it one trait or many? more heavily influenced by nature or nurture? a fixed capacity or a

modifiable ability? Articulate your views in a paragraph of 6-8 sentences.

I truly believe that intelligence is a vast collection of traits.  These traits are greatly influenced not only by nature but by nurturing the individual as well.  If your child is receiving poor nutritional care early on in their childhood and even during gestation then they will present lower IQ scores than individuals that were receiving adequate nutritional requirements (Ormrod 2011).  It is also important to take into consideration what we consider intelligence.  Different cultures view an individual’s intelligence in various formats.  Some view only academic knowledge as intelligence while other cultures view both academic and social knowledge as intelligence.  I really do believe that since we view intelligence in a fluid and crystallized state that there is really no limit to our capacity of intelligence.  The idea that if you don’t use it you lose it is different in understanding how we maintain our supply and reserve storage of our intelligence, but I do truly feel that there is no boundaries for our limit.

Autism is My Prism Not My Prison    

I found it very amazing to listen to the story of Barb and how by using the facilitated communication devices have allowed her to not only communicate but to write her own book on autism.  I do feel that with every disability there is an unspoken gold standard that the world feels like they must play by those rules, but when they have such an outstanding individual like Barb they really need to re-analyze their thinking.  I have read several articles over the controversial views on facilitated communication devices and have watched the movie Autism is a World.  After watching Barb and her “smiling shrink” work together I can see how some people view the output from the FC device as not truly being what the person with autism has to say but some influence from their communicator.  I found it very empowering when they expressed how important it is to let them have the chance to schedule their schedule allowing time to be lost within their autism.  You cannot structure the autism out of the individual but you can structure that individual through and around their autism.  I greatly agree with the use of Dolly Pardon’s quote “Find out who you are and do it on purpose”.  I view everyone as a snowflake; each individual is different in their own way which helps to structure the world into a better place.  If we were all the same then this world would be such a boring place and we need our unique snowflakes to brighten up our days!     

Cultural Differences

It is very important to take cultural differences into consideration when working with the students in your classroom.  What may be considered rude in one cultural setting can actually be considered completely appropriate in another.  One of the most important things to remember when dealing with cultural differences is that the differences you may not always be able to link to certain cultural stereotypes, for example if you are from the some general location and have the same general group as your neighbor but your family was a coal mining family or a farm family you are going to have different cultural roots then other families even within your same general area.

Take a few minutes to reflect on your experience preparing for your presentation.

    •       Provide rationales for your choice of activities. Why did you choose your activities? Did you consider other possibilities before deciding?

·         We thought it would be more powerful to point out how even the littlest difference/interaction from a student could actually be fueled by their cultural difference and each one needs to be taken into consideration in your classroom. 

·         The activities allowed us to not only show how cultural differences came to play a large role in the classroom, but how stereotypes can cause additional damage if steps to understanding there effect are not taken into consideration.

·         Truthfully, there was actually going to be more to the last activity but my husband accidentally ate part of my activity.  The activity was also going to include small bite sized candy bars of various types with different colored sticker dots on them.  I was going to have them open their candy to compare their differences within the same color groups.  This was going to show how even if you may look the same on the outside that the inside can still be different.  This would have been reflected in the image on the handout of the visible culture and the invisible roots.  I really wanted everyone to understand that even cultures have sub-cultures and sometimes those that appear different initially may share similar root structure.  I am just sorry I didn’t have the time to redo that portion before class since my classes started at 8 and I had 3 classes in a row.

    •       Describe how you chose what role each presenter would play in the development and delivery of your presentation. What personal strengths did you consider in the process? 

·         We both had certain items we wanted to focus on.  Catie had some really good experiences at TSD that allowed us to express how these little things can completely alter a classroom setting.  You should never jump to conclusions; you always need to interpreter the situation to understand what started the fire in the beginning.  I wanted to be sure to add in how it could be applied in the classroom to all cultural differences and groups.  We both work pretty well together.  Catie can be a little shy and nervous at times and I can normally keep things structured and on track, but am not great with technology that I have not used before.  

Take a few minutes to reflect on your presentation experience.

    •       Describe how your presentation most accurately reflected the instructional strategy you used. What criteria of your teaching style did you address?  How might you have improved your presentation? 

·         I think we did well at getting everyone to think about how culture and stereotypes can play a large role in the classroom.  Most students commented on how much they enjoyed learning how the Deaf culture was a lot different than what they expected.  While a few address that they felt a little lost on the stereotyping game since they did not feel like they could follow along with the idea of stereotyping those that where deaf/HH.  I wished we had more time to go into greater detail that allowed more discussion at the end since our technical error delayed the presentation a bit.

·                       

    •       Reflect on your learners’ responses to your presentation. What aspects do you feel worked well, what would you change, and why? 

·         I would have liked to have them add their own discussion as to how they pictured their own classroom being affected by different cultures and stereotypes.  Since not everyone will have a deaf/HH student or Hispanic student then we could have addressed a larger group in discussion.

How is your personal theory of learning demonstrated in your activities and the reactions of your peers? Use specific examples of your teaching as well as peer comments/responses as evidence for your analysis.

·         I strongly believe people will be building upon their current beliefs about cultures and stereotypes, but by allowing them the social interaction they can explore new ideas, theories if you will, of how they will alter their lens and biases.  One student responded with “I am now aware of cultural differences I was not aware of before” and they were pleased that they were “engaged the whole time though multiple visuals and activities”.

·         Also a lot of students remarked about how they enjoyed the video clips (including the ones given outside of class) and they felt like they were able to draw a lot from those resources that then will allow them to alter their own cultural lens and biases. 

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.

You have started to dread your fifth period music class.  It is made up entirely of seniors who are counting the days until graduation and seem to care very little about learning.  Most of the students are obviously members of one clique or another.  Whenever they think your back is turned, they start passing notes and text messaging.  Worse, three boys have started disrupting those engaged in learning.  No matter what you say, they laugh at the students who sing tenor and soprano, especially when they are practicing their parts.  Yesterday, Tony, Jeff, and Morris started rough housing then all three of them refused to sit down and follow the class procedures that the classroom community agreed upon at the beginning of the year. Although you have been using a set approach to handling infractions of rules, you decide it is time to change these procedures.

There could be a few things going on in this situation.  For one theory it could be that the boys are going through cognitive dissonance which Piaget referred to as disequilibrium (Ormrod, 2011, 400).  A second theory could be that one boy is having this cognitive dissonance while the two other boys are in a state of peer pressure and they then follow along with the original instigator (Ormrod, 2011, 76).  At this age and state it appears that the boys are just trying to find where they belong and their method of discovering themselves has produced this current behavior.  The boys may consider themselves to be “cool” by acting in this manner while excluding other students or they could be trying to present themselves as being “cool” in order to impress other students with hopes of being able to join or feel like they then fit in with that other peer group that they are desiring to be a member.  

(3.22) 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.

I really like how they suggest to “give students opportunities to examine and experiment with a variety of adult like roles” (Ormrod, 2011, 75).  If you provide a student with an outlet and help them to see how they can behave in this new manner then they can express their feelings in a better format.  Also I highly agree that you need to “Explore the possible origins of people’s perspectives and motives in discussions of real and fictional events” (Ormrod, 2011, 83).  If you can understand their feelings and where they come from then you can work on altering this structure to better the individual and their presentation of themselves as a better individual.  I would definitely want to address “moral issues in social studies, science and literature” with my students and by “encouraging performing community service” and “having them reflect on their experiences through group discussions or written essays” I think they will be able to have a better understanding about the world as a whole (Ormrod, 2011, 91).    

Chapter 2

(2.1) One of the most cited theories of human development is that of Swiss biologist Jean

Piaget. After reading about Piaget’s basic assumptions (p. 27-32) look with particular attention

at the stage of child development you would like to teach. The other most cited theory of

human development belongs to Russian developmentalist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s theory of

cognitive development leads us to expect greater diversity among our same-aged students than Piaget. Given these two influential theorists’ ideas on cognitive development, how might you

accommodate students who are not yet working at the level of their peers?

(2) Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in

cognitive development. Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range

that you are interested in teaching. Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies

presented for use with your own students.

I find the concrete operational stage to be of great interest.  This is the period where children are starting to function with adultlike logic.  At this state they can also tell the difference between their own perspectives and that of others.  They are still limited though to concrete reality and their cognitive development has not completely developed at this time.

With viewing both Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories I would plan to provide peer tutoring in my classroom.  Since each student is going to be at different levels in different areas they can work together and rotate the role of tutor and tutee.  Also I would be sure to provide various methods in order to teach the same material ideas in order to allow students that may be visual, tactile and verbal learns all equal access to the course materials.  Scaffolding can be a great way to bridge the gaps that a student may have in order to provide them with everything they need in order to grasp the material at hand.

Since I will be teaching science at a high school to middle school level I would be sure to include time in my classes to cover the academic terminology.  Students may have never been exposed to this new terminology before entering my classroom, so attention will be paid to helping them understand the meaning of the new terms and pointing out how to distinguish between that term and similar abstract words such as the difference between velocity versus acceleration.  

Chapter 10

Which of the learning activities/skills can you think of that lend themselves to learning through modeling?

How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?

There are many learning activities and skills that one can learn through modeling. Two of the most important skills in my opinion would be how a student can learn self-efficacy and self-regulation through modeling. When a student can witness a good role model practicing self-regulation that student can open their mind to the idea. If they look up to this individual and can view how self-regulation has improved the over all skills of their role model then the student should be able to take this one skill and build upon it to form their self-efficacy.

Let's say I have a student that is having a hard time focusing in class, for example they are having a hard time staying focused on their assignments. I would point out to the student that their attention span is wandering and set up a focus plan with the student. I would set up a focus plan for the student aiming that for every 5 problems completed the student can then take a 10 to 15 minute break as a reward. This will help the student learn how to self-regulate while working on homework problems. I would also be sure to use classroom activities that the student can participate in and feel good about in order to help build her self-efficacy. Using activities and topics the student enjoys will also help by making the task more interesting which in turn will give a better chance for increasing their self-efficacy.

    

Chapter 9

How would you define successful mastery of your lesson objectives from a behavioral view of learning?

Consider your CSEL intervention case study.  Are there tools from a behaviorist view for either encouraging productive behaviors or discouraging undesirable behaviors that you could apply to the case?  What are they?

Even if I do not plan to focus my classroom material on a behavioral approach there will still be a behavioral agenda underlying all aspects of my classroom environment. When I use authentic activities in my classroom I am still conditioning the students on methods that they can use later on in life. I also hope that by all of my classroom interactions from lab experiments, reports, tests or science bowls can be used to help mold the students into individual's with a strong desire to learn. If my methods work then since learning is a behavior change from providing a long-term mental change from access to experience the students should be able to retain some of the course material. (Ormrod 286)

One behavioral view toward a classroom activity could be from a science bowl. Since I plan to quiz students in a science bowl setting instead of the usual quiz format I think the students should be able to develop their skills to a higher level. This will be a small team effort and each team would not only receive points for all correct answers given but if their team wins they would get to pick an item from the Schrödinger box. They may never know what the reward would be from the box but it could range from 5 minutes of down time, a pass which would allow them to skip one question on the upcoming test without loosing points or a snack price. This activity teaches them how to work together as a team and they will learn that even if work can be hard it can also be rewarding.

I really think that rewarding productive behaviors such as allowing a chance to pick from Schrödinger's box would help reinforce all their good work. Discouraging behaviors may be a little bit more difficult as I would like to have a very positive classroom. Let's say I have a student being destructive during a lab experiment. This student is slamming the cars used for the friction ramps down the ramps excessively hard and recklessly. I would first point out to the student that method is too rough on the lab equipment and they need to handle it with less force. If this does not correct the behavior then the student will be asked to sit out of this lab experiment and just observe unless they would like to alter their current method. If the student decides to sit out and observe then I would contact the students parents to explain what occurred and why the lab grade is reflected a lack of participation in this lab grade. (Side note the student would still be responsible to collect the data from the other students method, do the calculations and report their findings.) If this occurs again I would then plan a meeting with the students parents to discuss the behavior farther.

Chapter 8 Consider a lesson plan you might use.  Which metacognitive skills/abilities are involved as students gain facility/knowledge in this domain? Think of an activity or lesson component that explicitly teaches one or more metacognitive and one or more problem solving skills. Well if I was teaching a basic science class in an elementary school one experiment I could use is more chemistry based on how chemical bonds behave. During this experiment the students would pour their milk in the the container and add their choice of food coloring dye and before we start the first method I would have the kids think about what they think will occur when adding a simple soap covered Q-tip into the center. I am sure that the kids will come up with some very good ideas for the reactions. Then as the student does the first experimental trial we will see and compare how the results related to their ideas. Now this can be ran in multiple trials with different variables and each time the student can make a new hypothesis as to how the solution will react. Just because they witnessed one trial does not mean that every trial with different types of chemical makeups will follow the same behavior pattern. So some students may have the illusion of knowing. Any basic physic lesson can be presented in a format that allows the students to view the equation and address the question in hand. Students will be able to use declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge. So first they will be able to decide what portions of the question is what they are looking for in order to pick the correct equation. After they can access the problem and pick which equation they think would work in order to produce what they are needing to find then they can work through as they remember how the process had been shown in classes before. By a student being able to think about the current situation and recall previous knowledge they will be able to work through the problem in a step by step process. So the students can think about how they should think about solving the equation while accessing previous knowledge in a second thought process.

Chapter 8

Consider a lesson plan you might use.

Which metacognitive skills/abilities are involved as students gain facility/knowledge in this domain?

Think of an activity or lesson component that explicitly teaches one or more metacognitive and one or more problem solving skills.

Well if I was teaching a basic science class in an elementary school one experiment I could use is more chemistry based on how chemical bonds behave. During this experiment the students would pour their milk in the the container and add their choice of food coloring dye and before we start the first method I would have the kids think about what they think will occur when adding a simple soap covered Q-tip into the center. I am sure that the kids will come up with some very good ideas for the reactions. Then as the student does the first experimental trial we will see and compare how the results related to their ideas. Now this can be ran in multiple trials with different variables and each time the student can make a new hypothesis as to how the solution will react. Just because they witnessed one trial does not mean that every trial with different types of chemical makeups will follow the same behavior pattern. So some students may have the illusion of knowing. Any basic physic lesson can be presented in a format that allows the students to view the equation and address the question in hand. Students will be able to use declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge. So first they will be able to decide what portions of the question is what they are looking for in order to pick the correct equation. After they can access the problem and pick which equation they think would work in order to produce what they are needing to find then they can work through as they remember how the process had been shown in classes before. By a student being able to think about the current situation and recall previous knowledge they will be able to work through the problem in a step by step process. So the students can think about how they should think about solving the equation while accessing previous knowledge in a second thought process.

Science Humor

SAVE FRED!

(from an NSTA Convention presentation by Marlene Their from California)

Introduction
We all solve problems every day – from little problems like what to wear to a dance, to bigger problems like which high school should I attend. Different kinds of problems require different problem-solving approaches.

One problem can often be solved in more than one way. What do you do when you are faced with a problem?

Challenge
How can you and your partner solve a problem?

Materials
For each pair: 1 gummy worm, 1 gummy life preserver, 1 plastic cup, 4 paper clips

Save Fred!

Poor Fred! He was sailing along on a boat (your plastic cup) when a strong wind blew it upside down. Fred (your gummy worm) ended up on top of the upside-down boat. Unfortunately for Fred, his life preserver (your gummy life preserver) is still trapped under the boat. Your job is to place the life preserver firmly around Fred’s body, but you must obey three rules:

1. Fred may not fall into the “sea” (onto the table) more than two times; if he does, Fred “drowns”.

2. You may not injure him in any way.

3. You may use only the four paper clips to move Fred, the boat, and the life preserver. You may not touch anything except the paper clips.

First, you and your partner need to work out a plan.

Write your plan here as a procedure:
Did you make any changes to your plans?

Write your changes here:

Be ready to share with the group how you saved Fred!!!!

Songs for Physics Newton's Laws of Motion Friction Songs for Astronomy Planets

Chapter 7

Make a list of the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the content of your lesson through a constructivist approach.

Which of these learning activities/skills lend themselves to student’s individual or group construction? How might you structure learning activities that lead students to discover these skills/these principles?

I plan to use a large amount of authentic activities through a constructivist approach in my classroom. For instance when approaching the subject material of Newton's laws of motion there is a large amount of hands on experiments I could do in my class room. If I decide to use the egg drop with parachute design the students can observe first what happens to the egg without the parachute. Then when provided with the materials they can set forth to design their very own structure (with some guidance depending on the grade level) and then we can set forth to test these structures. The students can record their data and any flaws that are discovered can then be redesigned. Students will be able to learn what forces are applied on the object and structure. Another activity dealing with Newton's laws of motion can help students understand why people wear set belts. Students can make a figure out of clay and place this on a little cart that will represent a modern day car. Students can record their findings for this experiment with different variables such as ramp (hill) incline and velocity. Students can view how the figure is unseated in different styles depending on the speed of the car at the point of the collision. Students will then be able to learn about the coefficient of friction. Maybe my students will use the information they have learned from these authentic activities to go into the field of science and engineering or maybe it will just supply them with a better understanding of how things work in the real world. For younger students this simple experiment may even help them understand why their parents ask them to wear a helmet when ever they go horseback riding, bicycling or when playing contact sports. A large number of life lessons can be taken from a few well thought out science experiments.  

Chapter 6

What are the essential skills and/or learning outcomes you want your students to know and be able to do that relate to cognitive learning? 

I really want my students to be able to come away from my class with a large number of cognitive processes that they can pick and choose from in order to have the best access to all materials. Good memory skills will help them build a foundation upon which they can begin building the structure of their knowledge which they will be able to place into storage. I would be sure to experiment to see which different methods would allow for my students to retain the materials better. Whether using acronyms, mnemonics or basic memorization a student should be able to find a style that works best for them. I remember reading an article years ago that had stated what ever type of environment that you study for an exam in should be the same state of environment in which you should take the exam. During the presentation the other day when we were discussing the drivers ability to access material acquired and produced in a range of environments it really made me think of this older article. Also I hope to be able to have my student using some critical thinking skills. If they can learn to take what they have learned and apply it in another setting then I think I have done a fair portion of my job.

How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions?

I plan on doing my best to keep all of my material presented in a fun and interesting fashion. As long as I can keep the students interest in the material and provide them with different methods in order to remember the processes then we can work toward applying this processes to real world problems. I will be sure to provide a large amount of visual aids along with physical interactions. I strongly believe that any time a student can physical take part in an experiment or some portion of the material being covered then they will have a greater chance of retaining that information for access on another day.

On a side note lets see how your mind thinks. . .

http://www.perthnow.com.au/fun-games/left-brain-vs-right-brain/story-e6frg46u-1111114517613

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?

If grandmother asks you what she could be doing at home to help strengthen Ingrid’s skills, what will you suggest?

I would want to be sure to point out how well Ingrid is doing in her reading comprehension and science course material. She really is excelling with above average scores with these two subject areas. I would then move toward pointing out how Ingrid does need to work a little harder in her spelling and with her math computation, but I would be sure to point out that she is doing pretty well in her ability to understand the concepts in her math course material. Ingrid also is showing some great skills in her social studies courses and is once again excelling to an above average range. I just feel that even though you are talking to the grandparent's, parents, guardian or the student you never want to apply a steady stream of focus on one end of the spectrum and you really never want to start out with all the focus on a negative directed content. I think by starting off with the excellent work she has been able to do that I can then have a good relationship started with the individual (parent/grandparent etc) so they will start off with good positive thoughts which can open the atmosphere in order to go into greater detail about what subjects we really do want to work on. I also do feel like we need to use the sandwich effect. Start with the good and a little bit of tart filling and then finish it back off with some additional good things. I never like to force negative items but reenforce positive items. Therefore I would move from the areas that need work and move back to another good area that she can perform very well in. This shows that even though she needs work in some areas she has all of these great skills that she can be proud of and with a little bit of extra focus on the rougher areas then she will be able to feel as comfortable with those subjects as well as the others she has already mastered.

I actually love the idea of “Mind Mapping”. Mind Mapping was a concept that I was introduced to by St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf through one of their wonderful online webinars (which I highly suggest for any individuals that would like to focus their classes on students with any type of disability, whether deaf and hard of hearing or another disability category as I feel this topics can be altered for other students). With Mind Mapping you would sit down with the student one to two times a year (what ever works best with your classroom goals) and point out areas that the student can preform well in as well as the areas that they need to work on. You present the material in a drawing with the students picture with directions coming off to “things I am good at” and then “things I need work on”. You talk to the student about how they feel on these topics that you have included on both ends of the spectrum and you also ask for their input on to what they feel like they are good on and what they could use more work on as well. I really think that having this Mind Mapping with a parent/grandparent/guardian could also help all of those involved in the students learning process see what areas need additional focus and what areas they can feel good about themselves.

Now with planning certain tasks for what they can do together at home I would first like to find out what type of time they currently spend on helping her with her homework. There is a very good chance that maybe the person that is helping her at home either doesn't have time or does not feel capable of being able to help her with the areas she is having trouble with the material. Maybe no one at home is a good speller. If this is the case then I would point out that if they have access to the internet at home then they could use an online spelling game such as http://www.kidsspell.com/ or similar in order to allow her additional support. If they do not have access to the internet then I could send home spelling sheets and game cards so that whoever is helping her can see how the letters are arranged in the word and check her spelling. With the math computations I would suggest the same format. There are wonderful free online games that can be found at http://www.softschools.com/math/games/ and any time learning can be made fun I really think students are going to put a lot more effort into the work of studying and practicing.           

Chapter 14

(14.1) Think of a lesson plan from your licensure area (feel free to use the same topic you used for Chapter 6, 9 & 10). 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.


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

In my opinion both tests would have disadvantages to my students. Since my students will be deaf and hard of hearing the norm referenced assessment may try to compare them to hearing individuals which will of course be able to perform better on tests that are presented in written English format. I truly cannot see the advantages to either since the criterion referenced assessment would have probably been giving in written English and even if not compared to the students peers as the norm referenced test the criterion referenced may not take into consideration that the student may not know what the written word truly means, but when the word is signed to the student they can tell you everything about that word. So for my students their test results may actually come back with scoring that does not truly reflect what they have learned in my classroom.

Chapter 14

As I reflect upon the question regarding information on what four informal assessments I would use in my classroom the only thing that comes to mind is “SweeTart’s”. You may wonder why in the world “SweeTart’s” would even come to mind in any question regarding what my classroom assessments are, but if you really think about what an informal assessment truly is then the oxymoron such as “SweeTart’s” will fit perfectly into your train of thought. Since informal assessments are the results of a teacher’s spontaneous reaction in their classroom setting made by the daily observation of how their students preform over day to day processes. Now if I were to ponder and imagine that I am currently in a classroom setting with my students and we have been covering a certain material for a few days then I may think up a very practical way to let the students show me how much they have learned so far on the subject material. Say we are working on gravity and acceleration . . . maybe I would surprise them with a group competition. Maybe I would break them up into four small groups and hand them supplies to make an egg parachute and cradle. . . or if we are working on thermodynamics maybe I would let them team up into groups and attempt to build a container that would “keep the heat” and the best preforming container for either project would win some type of reward whether an extra 15 minutes of free time, bonus points for the test or the chance to drop Newton’s Apple which could be set up like plinko. Maybe I could even do a pop quiz and call it the “Whiz Quiz” or even have some type of mini game show activity and call it “Archimedes Challenge”. Then again if I had all of this planned and organized would it really fall into the category of being an informal assessment? “The world may never know”


Well I am sure I have rattled on enough about informal assessments and I should really start to focus on what types of formal assessments I would use in my classroom. Since formal assessments are preplanned I will be sure that my students can clearly understand what is required of them and when these events will take place during class. I always remember one teacher I had in elementary school that always wore a pair of red suspenders on test days. Even though he told you in advance of when the test was he would make sure to wear the suspenders in order to remind you before class that it was in deed “test day”. I always remember this being a fun and interesting way to interact with the class. Since I will be working with deaf and hard of hearing students I am going to plan on offering a few different types of formal assessments. Of course I will have the regular written tests but if a student has trouble reading written English I would be available to sign the questions to those students. I also plan to have a hand’s on lab type assessment. This will not be the normal do your experiment and write down your results since some students may have issues with the written English language. I would like to set this up where students can learn to write lab papers but also present the results in a class presentation type of format. This will allow the student to sign their results in their native language. I would also like to arrange a science bowl format interaction for students to go up against their classmates on the current material. Once a week I would like to have the students pick a vocabulary word from the class material on a Monday and then on Thursday explain to the class what the term means and how it is used in our class. This will be very helpful since English will mostly be their second language and even though they have a good language base these terms will be new words that they have never been exposed to before entering my classroom.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

1. Based on our readings and class discussion, how will you create a learning environment that is conducive to learning?

Now consider your CSEL case study. Develop a full continuum of responses for dealing with the misbehavior of your case.

In my opinion you should never put a limit on a child’s ability to learn. As in the example's used in Ormrod's book (Ormrod 460) “Mr. Durocher's” students may be completely quiet and obedient, but they are not allowed or encouraged to stretch their knowledge beyond the basic classroom material. Children learn by asking questions even if they are not relevant to the current topic. If a teacher limits the child's ability to ask questions that are only relevant then this restrictive environment will not only limit the student's ability to grow intellectually, but it will discourage the student from being as interested in the class or coursework at hand. I would rather have to redirect students back to the material being covered and allow their minds to expand then to forbid them the access to grow as individual's. I plan to keep my students engaged with class projects, activities and group discussions. I am a strong believer in making learning fun while keeping each individual's energy direction in an outlet that will be productive yet still enjoyable.

Your classroom climate is a very important factor and you need to remember it is long term. Therefore if your classroom gets off on a wrong foot and goes “cold” even if you turn the “heat” up with adding interactive activities it will still take the climate some time to recover and warm back up to a liveable level. You don't want to freeze your student's but you also don't want to over heat them! So having a nice warm environment that students can feel comfortable in by being able to ask questions, interact with other classmates, have some free will with their projects and listen to the teacher in a format that catches their attention will produce a better outcome in the long run, even if it does take time to get the thermostat set.

Now some times there might be that one student that adds ice or fire to your climate, but that is ok and normal. If this occurs you need to find a method that will work best for climate control. If you need to assign seats in order to place the ice closer to warmer individual's this could work, but keep in mind that some times the warmer individual's (depending on your age range) may not understand the transition and that could alter their chemistry. You really do not want to take your Potassium and then add it into water do you?

If this ends up being the case for your class you will need to readjust your rearrangement in order to supply oil for your Potassium before the reaction can occur. All new teachers will have some reactions here and there but if you can view possible reactions before the environmental reaction can occur then safety measures can be taken to limit the damage to your environment (such as removing all flammable items that could add fuel to the fire).

Chapter 11

1.      Consider the theories of motivation that we discussed in class.   Which theories of motivation are most helpful and instructive for you?  How can they enhance motivation and affect your students? 

Since I am going to be a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing I am really going to need to take multiple motivational theories and alternate which ones I will be using depending on the student’s needs.  First off I am going to need to take the time to learn what will fuel my students.  As Maslow’s Theory points out (Ormrod 373) if the physiological needs are not first met then it will be difficult to build upon the sandy foundation.  If the students are hungry then they will not have the ability to focus on the materials at hand.  I want to be sure that my students feel safe and that they can trust me in order to fully be able to function in class.  Knowing they can ask questions in class and not worry about feeling insecure will help to get all course material flowing.  Since my students are going to have more obstacles to overcome then hearing students there will be many chances for the flood waters to start bombarding our building blocks and if the foundation is not solid then at any moment our castle could use some repair.  Once the students feel like they belong we can finally work towards building their self-esteem.  Deaf and hard of hearing students that have parents that are not fluent in Sign Language (whether ASL or a Signed-English format) will have low self-esteem to start with before even loading them down with new terminology and classroom theories.  With building their self-esteem and helping them to see how they can excel beyond what others think someone that is deaf or hard of hearing should be able to do, then my students will have a chance to view the great potential truly inside of them! 

I would truly hope to have some students that are fueled by intrinsic motivation, but understand that a fair amount will probably be more of an extrinsic motivational route (Ormrod 364).  Just depending on what style brings the most out of my students will alter either a rewards or goal motivational plan.  I would hope to be able to get the students’ parents involved and aim towards also letting science projects work as self-esteem builders.  If you can motivate and show a student how much fun science can be then many doors will begin to open.  Once a door is open then the possibilities will be endless!