The End

Wow, the semester is almost over, so this will be my final Educational Psychology blog. I enjoyed learning about education psychology and blogging about it. I liked reflexing what I learned in class and relating it to my own life, and giving my opinions. I hope you enjoyed my blog, as well. I learnt a lot about educational psychology and also I learnt a lot about my views about educational psychology. What I learnt in educational psychology I will be able to take with me into my future career and also other parts of my life. Becoming an elementary teacher is very  important to me and learning about: professional skills, Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development, Vygotsky’s Theory, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory, Erikson’s Stages of Human Development, Kohlberg’s Levels and Stages of Moral Development, IQ, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, diversity in the classroom, gender ideals, special education, learning disabilities, operant conditioning, functional analysis, memory, study strategies, cognitive information, cooperative learning, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, motivation, learn-centred planning and instruction and any other material we learnt is relevant in my life and my future career. Therefore, I can take the information I learnt in this class and apply it for years to come. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and blogging. I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Learning-Centred Planning and Instruction

Learning-centred planning and instruction shifts the learning to teacher centred learning to the student centred learning. It benefits student’s cognitions and meta-cognitions. It is also good for motivation, developmental and social needs and it is good for individual differences. To me this is very similar in student centred learning and I do not really see the difference, as they are both shifting the learning from teacher centred to student/learner centred. They both can use problem or projected based approaches. I think school is gradually moving to learning-centred planning/ student centred learning, as when I was in grade 12 my class was one of the first classes to have a new social studies curriculum, which was more projected based and we taught ourselves the material by doing a project then presenting it to the class. We had guidance for our teacher, but we found the information ourselves. Then the teacher would discuss what we learnt with us. It was more work for me as a student, but I still remember what I learnt in grade 12 social studies. Therefore, I think learning-centred planning and instruction is beneficial for students, as it more interactive for the students and they are more invested in their work.
We watched another TED talk video in class today where Sugata Mitra talked about learner-centred planning and instruction. Here is the video:

Mitra shows how kids teach themselves. Children can teach themselves, but I think they still need the guidance of teachers to teach them what they need to know to function in our society and prepare them for the real world. Children can for sure teach themselves, but it will be things that they are interested in. The children in the video were interested in the computer in the wall and that is why they learnt how to use it. Someone told me when computers and internet came out it was said that computers would replace teachers. Computers and internet have been out for quite a while and we still have teachers and schools. Therefore, I think teachers will never be replaced, but maybe their role will change, as more of the courses will maybe on computers but there will still need to be someone to run the course. Teacher’s roles are also changing by shifting their teaching role to be more of a guide for students and have someone to talk to if they have a question. This reminds me of more of a college level learning, as the instructor is there if you have a question, but the students does the work, as they are finding research for their research papers and they have to read the textbook themselves.

Motivation

Today in class we watched a TED talk video where Dan Pink talked about motivation. It was called “Dan Pink on The Surprising Science of Motivation”. Here is the video:





He stated motivation comes from autonomy, mastery and purpose. When a person is intrinsic motivated rather than extrinsic motivated then they are more likely to do well, as a student I think a lot of my motivation is extrinsic, as I want high grades to get into university, but it is intrinsic, as I want to become an elementary teacher and feel very passionate about it. I have always been an average student. Last year in college I worked hard to get my C’s, but last semester I did very well. I even surprised myself when I achieved the principals list. I worked very hard that semester, as I was very worried about getting into university next year, but I was very stressed the whole semester, and therefore, not very happy. My performance was high, but I did not enjoy what I was doing. I was going through the motions to get the grades. I hope one day I reach mastery in my learning, as I will hopefully look forward to do the work and enjoy it. I think I will feel this way when I become an elementary teacher, because I feel very passionate about working with children. I think the big thing about motivation is being happy. If you are not happy about what you are doing then you are not going to do well and want to do it, as you will have to force yourself to do the task at hand. I hope when I become a teacher I help my students feel motivated in what they are supposed to learn. I think teachers help student’s motivation, as student’s can tell if a teacher wants to be there or not. For instance, I have a teacher this semester that you can tell that he does not care about the class I am in. He tells us what else he has to do and that he is very busy. I feel that my class is on the back burner for him and I feel that is not fair to me and the other students; because the teacher is not very motivated in teaching me, I am more very motivated in the course and learning from him. This course has a lot of assignments and I have trouble doing them, because the teacher does not care, so why should I? There are classes that I can tell that the teacher is passionate in what they are teaching; therefore, I feel more motivated in learning the course material. Since, they are passionate about the material they make the class more engaging and interesting. I hope to do this when I become a teacher.       

Cooperative Learning

I think group work has pros and cons. Working with a group you get different ideas that you would not have otherwise, but it is hard to meet together and different personalities may have conflicts. I think at a college level group work it harder, because teachers do not usually give class time and you have to meet outside of class, but everyone has different schedules and responsibilities. Therefore, it can be very difficult to meet outside of class. In high school group work was easier, because the teacher usually gave class time and the people in your class were usually friends, so it was easier to get together and meet for a project. In college you usually do not know the people you are with until you do the project. In group projects there is usually someone that does not put as much effort into the project compared to the other group members, so group projects can be stressful and unfair in that way. Cooperative learning is also hard, because everyone has different work ethics and different expectations on their grades, so people do not put the same amount of effort into the project, but they get the same grade.

I think I would evaluate cooperative learning in my classroom by getting the students to do a group evaluation and a self-evaluation, because a group evaluation would give me an idea on who did what. A self-evaluation would also give me an idea on what the student thought they did. I would give them questions to answer as a guide line for them, so the evaluation process would be easier. Then get them to give a mark out of 10 for example. This would help me as a teacher on what mark I should give each student.

School is becoming more project based learning, as it is more interactive. I think it is a good thing, as it gets the students to problem solve and think outside the box, but it is harder for teachers to mark. I did many group projects throughout my schooling. Some were good experiences and some were not. I remember in grade seven, I did a group project. We were put into groups randomly and I just happened to get into a group with all boys that were friends. I ended up doing a lot of the work and there was some conflict between me and the boys. Sometimes it is good for the students to make up their own groups depending on their age, as disagreements can occur, but then there is always the chance someone will feel left out if they did not get into a group. Sometimes it is also good for students to try to work with people they do not usually work with. Some teachers give an option to do the project alone, as some students like to do the work themselves, as they can work on it on their own time and not worry about meeting with people. There are many careers that you have to work with people and problem solve, so learning that skill in school is a very useful thing.

A successful cooperative learning would be a project that everyone works together nicely, as everyone works hard to try to do well. Everyone is social, as they talk through ideas. There is an individual assessment as well as a group assessment. The teacher gets the students to think about what they learnt and what happened during the project.

SQ4R

SQ4R is a reading comprehension strategy. SQ4R are the different steps:

S is for survey, as you scan over the text you are going to read.

Q is for question, as if you question what you are surveying then you are more active in your learning.

R is for read.

R is for recite, you say the content out loud, as you may be able to understand it better.

R is for relate, relating the material to what you already know which makes it easier to understand.

R is for review, repeat the survey process again.

I think this process it better than just reading the information, as when I read my textbooks I do not comprehend what I am reading. I am just reading and have no idea what the textbook was talking about. By pre reading, reading, and post reading it makes the information “stick” better. You will be able to understand the information. Here is a link to a website that outlays the SQ4R method out nicely: SQ4R is a reading comprehension strategy. SQ4R are the different steps:

I think teaching this strategy to children would be great. Some children read a textbook, but have no idea what they are reading, so doing this in your classroom may be useful for some students, but other students may find it very tedious and not useful for them, as they understand the information when they just read it. I think this is a great method to use through and I will try to use it with the rest of my schooling.

William Ury: The Walk from “No” to “Yes”

Today we watched a video in class called “The Walk from “No” to “Yes”” where William Ury did a TED talk about conflict. Here is the video:

I felt that Ury’s message is a very simple concept, but may be hard to do in a conflict situation. If a person is mad at you it may be hard to sit back and think about the situation and what to say. Ury stated that the “secret to peace is the third side and the third side is us”. I think what he meant by this is that a third person can be there to not pick a side, but help resolve the situation and help the two people come to a resolution. Ury also stated that when you are in a conflict you should “go to the balcony”. I think this means that when you are in a conflict you should take a minute and breathe and think about what you are going to say so you do not regret anything. I think I will be able to use this with my students, my colleagues, family, my school, and my community, as when I am in a conflict I could go to the “balcony”, so I do not say anything I regret and think about the situation and cool down. In a classroom situation I think the teacher is there to be the third side sometimes, as they are in a neutral position and trying to get the students to resolve the conflict. I remember in elementary school my school try to teach students how to be the “third person”, as we had conflict mangers. Conflict mangers were grade 5 students that were “working” during recess and if students had a conflict they would go to the conflict mangers to resolve the problem. The goal was to get students to resolve their own problem instead of asking the teachers. Something you need an outside perspective to help you resolve the problem. My only concern with this is that the third person should not pick sides they should just be the mediator on the situation, but sometimes people pick “who was right” and that does not help the situation.

Study Strategies

The other day in class we were talking about memorizing and study strategies. We were asked: how do you study? What is your process? Does it differ depending on the subject? How do you feel about the results?

I usually read over my notes and try to quiz myself afterwards. It sometimes changes depending on the class and how the class in structured and what the tests are like. I feel like I can improve my studying techniques, as I feel like I do not have the best studying strategies. I found it helpful when my classmates stated what they do to study they said they:

·         Use flashcards

·         Read over their notes then highlight important points

·         Rewrite notes

·         Map concepts

·         Associate and connect concepts to something they already now  

I found these ideas helpful and maybe I will try these ideas in the future for my tests and finals coming up.

Memory

We watched a video in class the other day where Andi Bell was able to memorize 5 decks of cards. It was pretty amazing here is the video:

Here is the video where he explains how he did it:

Andi was able to do this, because he related the cards to a picture and visualize the card being in that place. This is called the Location method or the Loci method.

I found another person, Ron White who was able to do the same thing. He is a two time national memory champion winning the USA Memory Championship in 2009 and 2010. Here is a video of him memorizing different things and he explains how to do it:

Here is also his website: http://www.brainathlete.com/meet-ron-white-memory-expert/ where you can learn more about Ron White and how he does what he does.  

I think memorizing things like that is very interesting. It is a simple technique that everyone can do and I think it can work with simple things to memorize, but learning subject content like astronomy, psychology, sociology, ect. is much hard. Rehearsing the information, deep processing, elaborating, constructing images, and organizing information are all ways for people to encode information. I think all these ways help people learn the information. Rehearsal is just memorizing the information and continually repeating the information over and over again. Therefore, you are not really learning and understanding the information you are just repeating it. Deep processing you are thinking about the information and going more in depth into the information, so you understand the information more. Elaboration is extending the information like giving examples to understand the information more in depth and relate to something you already know. Constructing images is a form of elaboration, as you picture the information and relate it to something you know. Organization helps you retrieve the information as you know where to go to get the information.

Curriculum Integration

Curriculum Integration shows students that everything in our world is connected. Therefore, students understand the information better. Curriculum integration allows students to have more opportunity to relate the curriculum to their own lives. Curriculum integration gives an answer to students that ask “why”, “why are we learning this”, “why are we doing this I won’t need to know this when I am done school”. It answers these questions, as students realize that they need to know what they are learning, because they will need to know it when they are not in school anymore. Curriculum integration creates a further enrichment of the subject content that would not have been presented in the normal curriculum, so students can understand the curriculum more in depth. It increases interest and positive learning environment, thus increasing student’s grades, participation, attendance, self-direction and interest in school. Curriculum integration also helps students with their self-development and provides intrinsic motivation, so they have a reason for learning the information. These are the positive accepts of curriculum integration, but the cons of curriculum integration are that it could take a long time to implement properly. The teacher would have to create an entirely new curriculum. Teachers may not have a lot of time to plan. Units are intensive, as you go more in depth into the material. Teacher’s collaboration may be difficult, as it is a lot more team teaching, which may be hard to meet with other teachers.

Here is a video were two teachers integrated their math and science curriculums:

Students understood the information better, because they realized why something was a certain way. The teachers worked together to explain both curriculums. The students understood the concepts better as they saw why they were learning something and they would be able to use that information in the real world and in their future jobs. I think curriculum integration is great, but it may be hard for new teachers to do this. I think this is something that can be a goal for the teacher to build up to and think about doing in their classroom. I think curriculum integration is good, but it should not be forced, as if it is forced then the subject content may not match and not make sense to the students. I think I would try to use curriculum integration in my classroom when I become a teacher, as it can make learning more interactive for the students and provide a reason for learning.   

Student Centered Learning

We watched a video in class from TED talk where John Hunter was talking about the World Peace Game he created for his grade 4 class. Here is the video:

I think the World Peace Game is a great game for students, as they learn many things and it is more interactive, which they will learn more and understand it better. The World Peace Game includes not only social studies, but all the subjects. Therefore, it is curriculum integration, which I think is good, as it shows students that everything is connected in our world and the world is not spilt into subjects. Building world peace is beyond the curricular outcomes of the K-12 classroom, but I do not think it matters. I think it is great that a teacher is going above and beyond the curriculum. There are curriculum based outcomes in the game, but adding the world peace and war accept makes it interesting and entertaining for the students and it is also educational. I think this game is a great idea, but you can tell that John Hunter has been teaching for a number of years. I think this would be difficult for a new teacher, but this is something a teacher could aspire to do later in their career. When learning is student centered I think it is more memorable for the student. When the student has to learn themselves then they put more effort into their learning. Therefore, they will remember the information more and remember what they did. I think projects are a great way for students to discover outcomes on their own. The teacher is there for guidance, but students are discovering themselves. I remember when I was in grade 5 we had a grade 5 Science Fair. We decided what we wanted to learn about and did it ourselves. We had guidance from our teacher, but we did the work ourselves. I still remember what I did and how it worked. My science fair project was showing how a lemon could conduct electricity. If my teacher showed me how to do that instead of doing it myself then I probably would not remember the project at all. I remember it more, because I did most of it myself and I was proud of myself for doing it.     

Operant Conditioning vs. Functional Analysis

I like the functional analysis approach, because it considers other criteria then just the behaviour. Everyone has bad days and the functional analysis approach considers that. It puts into consideration why people are acting a certain way. The functional analysis approach exams the student’s inappropriate behaviours as well as, their antecedents and consequences to determine why that person is acting that way. There are many reasons why people act the way they do and I think functional analysis approach considers these factors, unlike the operant conditioning approach. The operant conditioning approach just considers the behaviour and then you just deal with that behaviour accordingly. Therefore, I think the functional analysis approach is better, as you hopefully will be able to fix the behaviour altogether for the student, by teaching desirable behaviours, constantly reinforcing good behaviour, creating a predicable schedule, providing frequent opportunities for choice and providing accommodations to support academic success. I think all these strategies are what a teacher should do to help their students succeed in their schooling.  

I think teachers need to continually look at their class and think is there anything I need to change or do to make this better. The teacher could ask themselves this there something that I am doing to make the situation worse? I think these can be hard questions to ask, but I think it is beneficial for everyone. Teachers need to continually recess their classroom and how it is working, because all classes are different. What might have worked one year might not work the next year with a different set of students. The teacher’s classroom management technique might be extinction, as the teacher over used it, so the teacher has to think of different classroom management technique for their classroom.     

Functional Approach

In class today we discussed functional analysis approach. We had a discussion question which was: a student in your class, Cody, refuses to do his desk work. What are three possible purposes or functions for this behaviour and suggest alternative behaviours he can learn or adopt to meet each purpose or function?

The three purposes or functions for Cody’s behaviour we discussed were:

1.      Doesn’t like sitting in a desk

2.      He has different learning styles

3.      Doesn’t respect the teacher or doesn’t response to teacher

Alternative behaviours he can learn or adopt to meet each purpose or function is:

1.      Sitting at a bigger table so Cody does not feel so confined to his desk and hopefully able to do his desk work.

2.      Getting someone to read the directions and help him with his desk work.

3.      Discuss with Cody what you can do as a teacher to help him learn and help him realize that you want him to succeed. Ask yourself is there something you are doing that is making the situation worse?

Operant Conditioning

The four types of operant conditioning are:

1.      Positive Reinforcement- An example of positive reinforcement is a student puts their books away and is sitting nicely waiting for the next activity. Then the teacher praises the student and the student continues to do that.

2.      Negative Reinforcement- An example of negative reinforcement is if a teacher takes away a final example if the student has perfect attendance.    

3.      Positive Punishment- An example of positive punishment is when a student disrupts the class then the teacher gives the student detention.  

4.      Negative Punishment- An example of negative punishment is when a student does not do their homework then the teacher takes away their recess, so the student can finish their homework.

I think when I become a teacher I may use all these tactics. I may not use negative reinforcement very often, because it is not very common, but the other ones are more common and easy to use. I think positive reinforcement would be the best one to use, because it is positive and rewarding. Therefore, the student will response better and it will be a more positive learning environment. Unfortunately when a teacher is stressed and frustrated with their students either positive or negative punishment will come into play faster than positive reinforcement. Positive or negative punishment is still good, because it still works and help the students do what you need them to do. It is just not a very positive environment.   

Classroom Management

When I was in grade 3 I remember my teacher would give us a check mark on this board when we did something good and she also took check marks away when we did something bad. At the end of the week we got a jelly bean for each check mark. The other types of classroom management I remember my teachers using is positive reinforcement, or negative punishment, as if we did something good the teacher would praise us, but if we did something wrong we would have to sit in the hall, or put our head down on the desk or something like that. I think getting a treat is good sometimes, but should not be used all the time, as children need to realize that every time you do something you are supposed to do you do not get a reward like candy. Although getting something is sometimes nice to motivate students and get them to look forward to something. I think doing something as a class would make the class work together and be more cohesive. For example putting marbles in a jar when the whole class is good and when the jar in full the class gets to have a pizza party. Having a group reward may be a positive thing in your classroom as the whole class is looking forward to something and will work together to get it. Therefore, I may use this classroom management technique in my classroom, depending on the grade I am teaching as I think elementary students would response better to this than high school students.       

Learning Disabilities

In class we watched a video called “How Difficult can this be? (The FAT City Workshop)”.  FAT stands for Frustration, Anxiety, and Tension. Richard Lavoie had a group of adults and made them have a “learning disability” for one day. He used different tactics to help teachers, parents, social workers and other students understand how a learning disabled child learns and feels in a classroom. I think Richard Lavoie’s tactics were very powerful and helpful to help people understand why some students act the way they do. I think many students may feel stupid and have low self-esteem, because of their learning disability. I liked when Lavoie stated “in order to be fair you have to treat children differently”. Every child is different; therefore, you should not treat how they learn the same. To provide the child with the best education you may have to help each child differently. You are still treating them as equals, but you are just catering their learning, so they can learn best. When I was in grade 2 I was tested for a learning disability, but nothing came out of it, but it seemed I always had to work harder, and take longer on assignments and testes (I still do). I remember getting high anxiety in school. For example I would hate if the class was reading out loud as I hated reading out loud in class to everyone. Therefore, if the class was reading out loud I would read a paragraph ahead, while the class was reading the paragraph before just in case my name was called to read the next section. I would try to read it before so I could sound out the words beforehand so the class wouldn’t make fun of me, but they I did not know what the whole reading was about, because I was trying to read ahead so I was ready to read in front of the class. I remember I would make little mistakes while reading out loud in class and then the class or teacher would have to correct me and I felt very embarrassed. I feel as a teacher I would be able to understand these children more, as I been through this. School did not come easily to me as it does for some people; therefore, I will be able to relate to those children and understand what they are going through.         

Special Education

I am very passionate about special education, because my older brother is autistic and I feel he did not get the education that he deserved. This is probably why I want to become a special needs teacher. Special education is now becoming inclusive. I am not sure how I feel about this. I think it can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending how a lot of variables. In elementary school I think inclusive education could be okay, because the child should be learning the same things such as, spelling, and simple math, but depending on the child and their disability they may need an aid. There are so many types of disabilities on the spectrum from ADHD, autism, or Down syndrome and it may be very hard for a teacher to help each student and their specific needs let alone the other children without a disability that are in their classroom.

I think coding is a good thing, as it may give children the help they need to do well in school and in life. For example, I think diagnosing someone with autism is a good thing as that will help them and help people understand that person, but disabilities that are not very extreme, as the person can function in our society, like ADHD may have a stigma that is unnecessary. People with ADHD can live a perfectly normal life, but diagnosing them in school may be good so they can get the help they need to do well in school and succeed in the school setting, but hopefully that diagnose does not hinder them their entire life.

I think this subject is very complex, as every child is different and has different needs in their learning. Unfortunately the way our school system is set up it does not cater to all these types of learners. I think teachers need to try their best to accommodate all these needs, but it can be hard when there are 30 students in their classroom. Therefore, I think a Learning Coach is a good idea, as I think teachers need resources to go to help them provide a prime education for every student.

This is a picture of my brother, Eric he is autistic. He and my parents had a very hard time with his schooling and fighting for his education. When he was in elementary school there were not as many problems, as there was in middle school and high school. He had problems with aids and his special needs teacher in middle, so my parents kept him home a lot because of this. Then is high school it did not get much better. He stopped going to school in grade ten and my mom tried to provide a program for him from home. When Eric reached middle and high school he was not able to learn the same thing his peers were learning. Therefore, I think inclusive education is not always a good thing. Eric needed to learn more life skills. Being with other students may be good for some things, but an aid should still be with Eric at all times to make sure he is acting appropriate with the other students. Having inclusive education may be good for other students without disabilities, as they can understand different types of disabilities and not be afraid of them, so I think that can be a good thing, but the student’s aid needs to try to educate the students and explain why that student may be acting a certain way so the other students understand and are accepting of that. I think aids need to be educated more than they are. Many aids to not have an education and I think it should be required, so they can understand the student they are dealing with and teach other students about disabilities.               

The Science of Happiness and Potential

We watched a video in class the other day called “The Science of Happiness and Potential”. Shawn Achor goes to Harvard and he was talking about positive psychology. He was talking about Harvard students are not very happy, as “80% of the students at Harvard are depressed”. Those students are very much stressed and have high expectations on them from other people and from themselves. I think this is not only relevant at Harvard, but it is relevant in all colleges and universities around the world. Stresses come from everywhere and students have an extremely hard time with that. Achor stated that “depression rates are 10 times more than they were in the Great Depression”. I think that is crazy. People have so much more things now than in the Great Depression. Therefore, people should be happier right? With all the technology and material items we have, people are not happy, as there are so many pressures to have those things. Achor did a study where they got people to do a task. One group did the task. Then the next group did the task, but before they did the task they told them to think of something that made them happy. The people that were happy before they did the task were 50% more productive and more successful than the group that was not happy before they did the task. Therefore, if students are happy before they write a test or write a paper then they will do better. That is crazy. I think finding a balance between doing school work and doing the things that make you happy is extremely hard, as you want to do well in school, but also need to have fun and be happy. I think school is a lot of pressure now and it can be too much for students. The stress of school can overcome people and become all they focus on, which is very sad. They need to find that balance, but it can very hard to find it. 

Here is the video from Shawn Achor "The Science of Happiness and Potential" (there are 3 parts to it):   

Gender Ideals

I think gender ideals definitely are placed in our heads at a very young age. School is definitely a place where gender is socialized. I remember I was in pre-school and I was wearing my brother's old Spiderman shoes and one boy said they were boy’s shoes, so after that day I never warn them again just because someone said they were “boy’s shoes”. I think teachers and parents need to be sensitive of children’s gender and not try to treat them differently. There is one couple in Toronto where they are raising their child, Storm without a gender. Here are two links with more details about this: http://soniamarsh.com/tag/raising-kids-without-gender and http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/05/26/raising-their-children-without-gender-restrictions-had-no-ill-effects-say-parents/

This story is very controversial, as they are letting the child decide what gender they want to be. In a society that gender is strongly influenced on us, I thinking living without a gender would be very difficult, especially in school I think the child would feel out of place and not sure where they fit into society and where they fit in school. I think other children would be confused, as to how they would treat this child.

In class we had an activity where we were to select some well-known person as representing the ideal of each femininity and masculinity. Some of the people we listed were:

Masculinity	Femininity
·         Brad Pitt	·         Princess Diana
·         Channing Tatun	·         Marilyn Monroe
·         Tom Brady	·         Kate Milton
·         George Clooney	·         Katherine Heigl

In class we stated that masculinity was someone that was strong, muscular, caring, emotional but not overly emotional and attractive. We stated that femininity was someone that was attractive, well put together, and independent but not overly independent, as all the women we listed still want a man to take care of them.

Diversity in the Classroom

I was born and raised in Rocky Mountain House, which is near two first nation reserves. Therefore, there have always been a few first nation students in my class with me. That has been the only diversity in my schooling. Their culture is very different than ours; therefore, I think teachers still have to be award of this. The two reserves are not run very good and have bad reputations and many first nations’ people who come into town are drunk, so they do not have a very good reputation among the people of Rocky Mountain House. I think teachers and parents had to deal with this. I remember when I was in grade one we had about four native students in my classroom of about twenty-five students. All these students were not raised or living with their parents. One was living with their Grandma and the others were living in foster care. I remember the girl living with her Grandma was difficult and did not have a lot of friends because of this, looking back she probably had a lot harder life at age six then I did. I think she was discriminated against. Their culture is very different than ours even though their culture is a part of our Canadian culture. I think teachers should try to educate the other students about the aboriginal culture. There are many opportunities to do this, as in social studies there are many units that are about Canadian history. I think if teachers try to incorporate more of the aboriginal culture and include the first nation students in teaching the other students it would be really beneficial for everyone, as it would help make the first nation students feel included and special and also teach the other students about the wonderful and beautiful culture. I remember in grade 4 the girl’s Grandma came into our classroom to talk about their culture, because we were learning about first nation culture and the fur trade. I remember that the girl was very excited that her Grandma came in and she was able to help her Grandma explain some things about their culture. I also remember in grade 10 we learnt about residential schools and that were when many people in my grade had negative views about first nation’s people. Our teacher was from Kalona where there is a big reserve there, but it is run a lot better than the ones near Rocky, so she had a more positive view about first nation’s people. When we were learning about the residential schools there was two native girls in my class that knew people that went to a residential school, which gave another perspective that my classmates and I wouldn’t have had unless those girls were in our class.

When I become a teacher I hope I can teach students about other cultures and help other students feel proud about their culture. I think most of my teachers and schools tried to do this, as on first nation day we had assemblies where first nation’s dancers came in to share their culture and dances with us. I think I would maybe also try to encourage first nation students more, as they may not have that encouragement at home compared to other students. If I was a high school or even middle school teacher I would maybe try to “be on them more”, such as making sure that they are getting their homework done and coming to school, as their culture does not encourage school as much as ours does.   

These are two pictures of first nation’s dancers. I think some of their costumes are very pretty and unique. I worked at the Rocky Mountain House Historic Site this summer and we had a Powwow there. It was very interesting to see all their costumes and their dances. Working at the Historic site was very interesting, as I learnt a lot about the aboriginal culture and our Canadian culture.      

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Gardner’s 10 types of multiple intelligences are:

Mathematical

Verbal

Musical

Bodily Kinaesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalist

Spiritual

Existential

I think the multiple intelligence that I mostly identify with is interpersonal. I have done many intelligence tests and they always seem to be different or not very consistent, but for the most part I think I am interpersonal intelligence, because I think I notice how other people are feeling and feel sympathy for them. I think people can be more than one of the multiple intelligences, but they may do better in one than the others. I think it would be difficult to incorporate all the 10 multiple intelligences in your teaching. That is why school is structured the way it is. Here is a link for a multiple intelligence test, so you can find out your multiple intelligence: http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/questions/choose_lang.cfm  (I do not know how creditable it is but they are sometimes fun to do). My results were I was very high in interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.

TED Talk: Sir Ken Robertson

Today we watched a video in class called “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” by Sir Ken Robertson from the series TED Talk. Here is the video:

Sir Ken Robertson is talking about children being creative and the structure of schools is killing that creativity. He states “we don’t grow into creativity we grow out of it”. Schooling is very structured. He also states that “the purpose of education is to produce university instructors”. Therefore, we are losing creativity and making everyone the same. He gave an example of Gillian Lyn who as a young girl she had trouble sitting in her desk and concentrating. Then her parents put her into a dance school and she did very well. Now-a-days if a child has trouble sitting in class we diagnose them with ADHD and give them a whole bunch of drugs. If children are not doing well learning in the structural school setting then there must be something wrong with them. The school setting is hindering some children’s learning. I think applying creativity into schools will help improve student’s grades. I think applying creativity to my college education would be helpful and may help me be a more positive, happy person, as I could expand the ideas I am learning in class and try to think outside the box. I think I may do better in school, as I could be more creative in my projects and hopefully understand the material more. I think applying creativity in my classroom in the future would make learning more fun and interactive for my students and also help students learn that do not learn in the normal lecture style of teaching. I think this blog assignment is a good example of this, as we are able to do whatever we want to do with it. We can be as creative as we like with this blog assignment. We can make videos, put pictures up and state our opinions. The blog assignment is not structured very much, as we can do whatever we want to, be creative with it and we are able to think outside the box. This kind of scared me at the beginning, because throughout my schooling everything has been structured, as the teacher tells us what to do and what they expect and that is what I do, but with the blog assignment the teacher did tell us what he expected and what he wanted, but it was still up to us where we take it and what we want to do with it and that is different than many assignments I have done in the past.

IQ Testing and Children

I was tested for a learning disability in grade 2, but nothing came out of it. I do not think it affected me. I think IQ tests may be helpful to help determine where that child is at that time. I think if a child is tested then they should be tested several times throughout their development, so they can be reassessed throughout the years. I think how a child does on an IQ test depends on the child’s mood and how their day is going as well, so I do not think an IQ test is the be end to end all. IQ test do have their place, as it may help children get the help and attention they need to help them to well in a school setting. If a child does poorly on an IQ test, then maybe that child is able to get help for what they need. IQ tests may bring out things teachers and parents may have not have seen before. For example, may be an IQ test will show teachers that that student does not do well with writing and the teacher can help them with that. IQ tests can also determine children who are gifted and teachers can challenge those students more. With that being said, students should not be judged from just one test. Therefore, students should be tested more than once throughout their development.  

Kohlberg's Theory

In class we discussed Kohlberg’s levels and stages of moral development. There is the pre-conventional level, which is where a person does not think about moral principles. Within the pre-conventional level there is the punishment stage where a person tries to avoid punishment and the hedonism stage, which is when a person moves towards something that they like to do. These stages are based on behaviorism. The conventional level is the level of moral reasoning for social approval or law. Within this level there is the “Nice girl/boy” stage where they are looking for social approval. Then there is the law and order stage where people do not do things because they are against the law. Then there is the post-conventional level, which is where morality is completely internalized and not based on external standards. There is the social contract stage where people act in a certain way, because that is what society expects of you. Then there is the universal ethical stage, which is the highest stage and not very people reach this stage. This stage is where human life is more important than profit. I think I would be in different stages in different situations, but I think I am mostly at the social contract stage of Kohlberg’s level and stages of moral development, because I act in a certain way that my society sees fit.   

This chart shows the 3 levels and 6 stages of Kohlberg's levels and stages of moral development.

Heinz’ Dilemma

The other day in class we discussed Heinz’ dilemma which is: Heinz’ wife is dying. One special drug, discovered by a local druggist, might save her, but the druggist is selling it at an exorbitant price. So Heinz, after failing to borrow the money he needs, pleads with druggist to sell the drug cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist refuses. Should Heinz steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?

I think he should not steal the drug, because it may not work and if he does steal it he may get caught and go to jail and is that wroth seeing if a drug will work and losing valuable time with his wife? In today’s society many surgeries and medications are very expensive and some insurance does not pay for it, so people have fundraisers to try to raise the money or the family goes into debt to help to save that person’s life. People will try to do anything to try to take care of the person they love. Therefore, some people will resort to stealing.



This is a little picture of the Heinz’s dilemma that I thought was funny.

Erikson's Stages

The other day in class we learnt about Erik Erikson’s stages of human development. I will go through Erikson’s first five stages of human development and relate them to my psychosocial development, as I feel I have not gone through all eight stages of human development. I think I have only gone through the first five stages in my life so far. The first stage of the Erikson’s stages is trust vs. mistrust. During this stage in my life my mom stayed at home with me and my siblings so this developed trust in my parents. I was rarely left with other people. My mom was always there for me. The second stage is autonomy vs. shame, my mom was always there and often helped me with my self-governing. I was the second child but, my older brother has special needs, so I did have to do things on my own as my mom was busy with my brother. In the third stage, initiative vs. guilt, I dressed myself and took the bus by myself, as I always tried to be independent and I wanted to do things myself. During the fourth stage, industry vs. inferiority, I compared myself to my peers in how well they were doing in school and how well they were at sports compared to me. My parents and my teachers always said to not compare myself to others as I am the only one I should be worried about. The fifth stage is identity vs. identity confusion. I tried to decide what I wanted to do on my own, but my parents guided me to help me make the right decision for me. My parents also encouraged me and supported me in my decisions in what I wanted to do in life. They also listened to my problems and gave me advice if I needed it. I feel I am still in the identity vs. identity confusion stage, as I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and who I am as a person. I think I was slowly moving into the sixth, which is intimacy vs. isolation, but I am not fully there yet, as I did move out of my parent’s house, but I am still dependent on my parents and ask for their advice. I do have a boyfriend, so I feel I am on my way to becoming fully connected to a relationship that is besides my family, but not quite yet. 

 This is a chart of Erikson's stages. I think it breaks down the stages nicely, so you are able to see the different stages and the different age groups you should be in.

This is a picture of Erik Erikson.