Final Learning Log

What?
According to the quiz I took my students learn or will learn with humanism, which focuses a lot on the worth and value of individuals. I think it is so important to teach not onlt the curriculum through out a student's education, but to also teach self worth and values is very important. When children are taught good morals and behavior i feel it truly makes a large difference with how the process knowledge and the way they their teacher and their classmates. Humanism also helps with cultural and social differences in the classroom and making sure everyone feels accepted and in a safe place. Through reading my blogs I noticed through out all the chapters it is so important to teach so that each and every student can learn the way that is best for them. As teachers we need to find our student's ZPD in order to meet their cognitive and linguistic development and needs. I also found a lot of information in helping our students develop socially and morally which can be categorized into Erikson's stages, but not every student will be the same, but they all need to be taught the same hamnism concepts. I feel humanism also incorporates the want and need for inclusion of the disabled into the classroom. I want my classroom to not only be a place for learning the curriculum, but also for establishing who they are, creating good social and moral values, become accepting of inclusion, and understand the importance of humanism in their own personal lives.

So What?
Humanism will affect my classroom in so many positive ways as long as I teach and enforce it in my classroom the proper way. I will help me have great relationships with my students and also help them have great relationships with their classmates. It will help me create my classroom to be a safe haven, and a positive learning environment for them and also for myself as a teacher. Teaching with humanism will allow me to help connect the curriculum to their personal lives, because I will alredy have that foundation established. If my students learn and establish humanism in their lives they will be more self-reliant and rational.

Now What?
I would like to have a better understanding about all the theorists stages and theories, such as Piaget, Erikson, Vygotsky, and Kohlberg. I found myself getting confused and lost in all the stages and theories. I think as a beginning teacher there will be a lot of learning about each and every student and figuring out how to react and teach each and every student in the classroom. There is also a lot to know when dealing with construction of knowledge, which will take time and actually experiencing different situations. I would also like to know how to handle every inclusion issue or learning disability situation, but that also will just comw with experience and talking and learning from other colleagues and teachers. I am excited to be able to incorporate all this into my classrroom, and create the appropriate sense of humanism that is necessary in my classroom and in my teaching.

Learning Log #4

What?

In chapter 4 i was able to take a closer look at some group differences i may experience when i become a teacher. It is so important as a teacher to always keep these differences in perspective and to acknowledge them in a positive way, and never disregard the student in any way. Every child is to be treated and looked at as an individual, and as teachers we should never assume things about certain students. Within these differences there are many different ways a student learns and processes information, such as IRE Cycle here there is adult to child interaction and many others. It was also interesting to learn about the many different ways teachers and other adults can help children with these differences. It is important for educators to have a worldview so they know what to expect and how to react when these differences arise. Through out this chapter it gives some great examples of different cultural and ethnic differences such as language and dialect, talking versus remaining silent, waiting versus interrupting, family relationships and expectations, conceptions of time, cooperation vs. competition and world views. All of these factors have a great effect on the environment of the classroom and the relationship the students have with others and their teachers. This chapter also goes over gender differences and the different cognitive developments males and females have. Males and females are different in many ways and we must not be bias according to gender, especially with different activities or expectations. Students may act different and learn different according to these differences. As teachers we need to react or discipline them each in their own way. In our classroom we may also encounter students who are at risk, we need to be aware of signs that these students will illustrate. They may have a history of academic failure, older age in comparison to other classmates, emotional and behavioral problems, low achievement, and decreasing involvement with school in general.

So What?

Because of this chapter I will always keep group differences in mind, not by ignoring them but acknowledging and accepting them in and out of the classroom. Especially now a days I am starting to see a lot more ethnic groups through out the schools and i keep reminding myself that I need to always remember as an educator I will have to maintain complete equity in my classroom in order to help it be a safe haven and an enjoyable place for each and every one of my students. I also learned in this chapter some great pointers on how to create a multi-cultural classroom which will be the base of my students learning. As an educator I will need to know and establish my own cultural lens, incorporate different values, beliefs and many other factors into my curriculum to help make my students feel accepted and special. I must also work hard to explore and know the backgrounds of the different student's ethnic groups, always integrate all the students together and never illuminate students that are different or think less of them. I must encourage the males and females of my class to follow their dreams and help them find things that interest them. I will always remember that each and every student has an important thing to offer and we must be accepting of those and help our students accept them also. Because of all these differences as teachers we must create a classroom of complete equity.

Now What?
By understanding the differences with various cultures and ethnic backgrounds, It will greatly help me to connect with my students in the best way possible. It is extremely crucial that I develop these skills to the best of my ability to prevent students feeling left out and or alone. I think that developing this skill will also help me to have some pretty neat experiences with my future students that are from different ethnic backgrounds than I am, In high school I had various friends that were from different ethnicities and I remember still to this day how neat it was to go to their houses or go to different family parties and see the different traditions and styles that they had carried throughout the different generations of their families. I think that with my students I can have these same types of experiences and feelings, but only if I have successfully managed to learn and/or relate myself and my background to those of others. I also think that if I can learn to relate with my students of different cultures that I can change the course of their lives. There are so many students that never make it to graduation or succeed in life simply because they think that nobody understands them or relates to them. If I am able to connect with them in a way that none of their other teachers have been able to do, then I will be able to have a positive influence on them and hopefully change their way of thinking and state of mind, and therefore; change the course of their life. All of these things that I have discussed in this Blog will be essential if I am to become an extraordinary teacher and reach my full potential. I realize that it will take a lot of hard work, but I know that it will be extremely rewarding to have these skills and be able to effect the courses of my students lives and help them to aspire to reach their full potential.

Chapter 5 Learning Log

WHAT?

Through out chapter 5 I have learned a lot about Students with special needs and the correct ways to approach and react in situations. I learned the importance of keeping these differences in mind and accepting them. The IDEA stands for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which establishes a fair level playing field for all students. It gives the student's with disabilities the chance to learn and progress. There is also the IEP which stands for Individualized Education Plan, which illustrates the different instructional levels, behavioral goals lessons, and schedules of the individual. Each of these programs of helped integrate students with special needs into public schools an have given them a chance to learn and associate with their peers. There are many different perspectives on intelligent such as Cattell's Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence, Gardner's Multiple Intelligence, Sternberg's Triachic Theory, Spearman's Concept of g, and Distributed Intelligence. According to these perspectives it is thought that intelligence is a single general ability, but changes within different variables. As teachers we will come across students with under achieving progress and some with over achieving progress, and as teachers we can make suggestions but never force them to do what we think is best, it is entirely up to the parents.


SO WHAT?

As a future teacher it is important for me to understand how important it is for these students with disabilities to be integrated into schools, and have the same chance as anyone else to associate with their peers, learn and play with other children their age, and feel accepted and given a chance. I can have a big effect on how well these students do educationally and also socially. I need to know the stuff that is in chapter 5 because as a future teacher I will deal with these issues more than I think, and it is helping me get prepared for when that day comes. It has helped me have a better understanding of what is acceptable as far as getting these students help or the proper assistance they need. It has also made me see how big of a role I will have these student's educational experience. Not only can I help them academically, but socially, cognitively, behaviorally, and physically.



NOW WHAT?

I will use this information to help me become a better educator and it has helped me become more understanding of the whole process that these students go through. I will use this information to help me when I become a teacher to be able to identify problems certain students might be having, and know how to approach them in a positive and proper manner. As an educator and a person I will be accepting of people's differences and help them in any way I can to have a successful life and to achieve anything they put their mind to. I will use this information to hopefully be able to more easily identify students with a disability and be able to get them help. I will also as I'm training to be an educator try to gain as much knowledge according to this chapter as possible so I will be ready for whatever comes my way, and I will know how to handle it and accept it.

Learning Log #10

What?
In chapter 10 I learned about social cognitive views of learning, which was kind of the other side of behaviorists view of learning that we learned the week prior. This chapter focuses a lot on goal setting, both personal and group goals that can be achieved short-term and long-term. Through the Social Cognitive Theory it is all based on children or people learning by observing others, that is also known as a model. Students learn from their teacher's explanations and demonstrations. This view teaches that students learn from observing others, learning is internal process that can or may not always affect behavior, people and the environment have a big influence on each other. Social cognitive views on reinforcement and punishment is interesting, which it says learners attend to look ahead of time at expectations an behave according to what those consequences will be. Learners also attend to act according to what happened to other people's consequences, learners also make decisions according to their own abilities and do what they can to be successful. They cognitively assess expectations about the future and the consequences to process that information for different situations. Learners attend to demonstrate their new behaviors more often if there is some sort of reinforcement involved. There are also needs to be an occurring expected consequence in order to have a reinforcing or punishing effect.

So What?
I will use this information to help me better understand my students learning process, and help me better understand them in general. It has helped me to remember to be aware of the fact that my students will watch me, observe and look at me as a model in showing to do what is right. It at times may put a lot of pressure, but it will keep me on my toes, and prepared. This chapter is important because it explains why social interactions and work is so important, which helped me to see the effects socialization has on people. It is important for me as a teacher to use and allow my students to use a lot of social skills through out the day. to help enhance their learning and memory process. It is also important for me to give correct instruction because it plays a big role in their learning process.

Now What?
I will use this information to make sure at all times I am being a good model for my students, and demonstrate appropriate and correct instructions. I now have the knowledge to help my students learn from models and how it affects their behavior. I will use the model to monitor the behavior of my students, and assess them through out the year. It will help be reinforce the correct behavior and they may also stop a forbidden behavior. As a teacher I have learned I can also help enhance my student's self-efficacy. I will try my hardest to make sure each and every one of my students has good judgment of themselves because self-efficacy effects so much. I will also help my students along the way by giving them encouraging advice, and let them know it can be done. Teachers need to allow students to see successful peer models, and also allow them to work in groups, which helps stimulate social cognitive development. I will use this information is chapter to be a good example at all times for my sake and also for the sake of my students.

Learning Log #2

What? In this chapter we learned about Cognitive and Linguistic Development, which was very interesting and dealt a lot with language and the development and understanding within cognitive aspect. We became familiar with the neuron, and it's different parts and how they all worked together to transfer information to other cells. It was also very interesting to learn about Piaget's and his theory. Piaget's assumptions consisted of children are active and motivated learners, children construct knowledge from their experiences (constructivism), children learn through he two complementary processes of assimilation and accommodation, interactions with one's physical and social environments are essential for cognitive development, the process of equilibration promotes progression toward increasingly complex thought, and maturational changes in the brain, children think in qualitatively different ways at different ages. Piaget also has his stages of cognitive development, so it's interesting to try to figure out which stage our student are in. There is the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operations stage, and formal operations stage. All these stages together make up the theory of Piaget and the cognitive development people go through. In this chapter we also focused on the theory of Vygotsky, which did a lot of scaffolding and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which is the range of tasks that a learner can perform with the help and guidance of others but cannot yet perform independently. Vygotsky's assumptions were through both informal and formal conversations, adults convey to children the ways in which their culture interprets and responds to the world, every culture passes along physical and cognitive tools that make daily living more productive and efficient, thought and language become increasingly interdependent in the first few years of life, complex mental processes begin as social activities; as children develop, they gradually internalize processes they use in social contexts and begin to use them independently, children can perform more challenging tasks when they have assistance, play allows children to stretch themselves cognitively. So What? This information is important because Piaget and Vygotsky play a big part in cognitive development, that we as teachers need to be aware of. It can be very effective for our teaching and also for our students learning ability. It can help us better understand our students, and realize their stage of development. It is also important for us as teachers to be aware of linguistics and be an example for our students in helping our students speak correctly. It is good to know and always remember there is a great deal of diversity among children when cognitive and linguistic development is involved, but it's important to create help and accommodate those in need. Now What? As a teacher I will use this information and apply these different theories by Piaget and Vygotsky to my students to help them with their cognitive development and linguistic development. It helped me to be aware and to also remember to consistently promote good linguistic skills, by being a good example and always show the proper way of speaking and having conversations, especially when speaking to them personally. I will also allow my students to talk amoungst each ohter, critique them in the correct way to also help them through out the year have a better understanding. As a teacher I will also always take into consideration the different ways all the students need to develop and grow, it effects their learning and it's up to me to be patient and know who to teach each and every student individually. This chapter has also helped me to understand that each and every student and each and every class will have different kinds of learnes, and different development stages, which is something I must be prepared for and always take into consideration.

Learning Log #7

What?
In this chapter I was able to learn a lot about the construction of knowledge and how it has came to be. There are so many interesting concepts that I had never thought of before, that the text brought up. It is common for both teacher and students to have conceptual change, especially those dealing with specific beliefs that have been taught to them for so long. As teachers we will deal with students with a confirmation bias, because it's how students learn and remember things. Every day experiences may also effect their misconceptions, and don't comprehend how new concepts don't match their beliefs. Emotions play a big role in knowledge, and children attend to have strong emotional connections to their beliefs, which is very hard to get rid of or change. As teachers this may be a challenge but there are ways we can get around them. We first of all need to become aware of these misconceptions, we can then begin slowly teaching the truth and slowly build upon those upon them. This will allow students to learn the correct ways and help us teacher monitor what the students are writing and saying in group and class discussions.
This chapter also emphasizes the organization of knowledge, which is so important for children to start learning early. Teaching generalizations, which can be divided into two different categories undergeneralize and overgeneralize a concept can help the students in their learning abilities. Students may also find the nature in concepts, or construct a mental prototype. Teaching the students to also use exemplars is also another great way to organize their knowledge and information, people have so many capabilities it's just a matter of putting them to work.

So What?
This information is so important for me as a teacher, so I can know how to help my students better organize their knowledge that I give to them. I want to help them be better learners, and understand the information I give to them. I feel like I can be a better teacher because of this information because it has given me some backward knowledge on knowledge construction and different teaching techniques about conceptual knowledge and learning. It has also given me a greater understanding on conceptual understanding to use in the classroom to help provide building blocks for my students learning and knowledge. This chapter also has given me some great ideas on getting my students involved in distributed cognition and how they will benefit.

Now What?
I will use this information that was provided in this chapter to help students better understand how important the things being taught or the assignments given are. It will also be great for my students to have the opportunity to teach find what kind of learner they are and see what works best for them. I want to make sure I fully understand all the different ways of constructing and understanding information, so I can better help each and every one of my students in their knowledge organization. I also would like to know ways for me as a teacher to know that my students are actually mentally organizing things they learn. I will help my students accurately understand what is being taught in my classroom. I will first organize my lesson plans around the core while incorporating different learning and teaching techniques. I will also make sure they understand each topic maybe by relating it to the students' personal experiences, cause like I said before it's a connection to the emotion. I will also use this information I learned in this chapter to help me better organize my conceptual thoughts and teaching strategies.

Mix up on chapter 7 and 9, I will post 7 asap. Sorry!
Learning Log #9 is under Investigation Math

Investigation Math

*What is Investigation Math?
Investigation math is a K-5 curriculum to help students better understand fundamental ideas of number and operations, geometry, data, measurement and early algebra. It eliminates teaching times tables to students and all memorization of math facts. It was aimed to help improve the teaching and learning of elementary mathematics.

*Results of its use in Alpine School District?
By the Alpine School District using Investigation Math, there was a petition signed by 1173 parents, 3122 children represented, and 740 moved toward charter/private schools just within the Alpine School District. It began lowering students test scores tremendously to the point of failure. It wasn't emphasizing enough of the basics, and is allowing the elementary schools to choose which program to use. The district hasn't stopped hearing complaints, and got a lot of wrath from parents.

*Arguments for and against its use?
The Investigation Math didn't provide enough emphasis to memorizing multiplication tables and learning long division. People felt it didn't prepare their children for college or life. Tremendous gaps in the first grade curriculum for the first year or two, there is a lot of time spent cutting and organizing, requires a lot of prep time, not enough practice time in learning math strategies with worksheets.

The students were able to explore and learn mathematical concepts through actual investigations. The games and activities are child oriented and fun , the games/activities build upon some first grade concepts, and it has a math workshop model built into it.

*My opinion?
It is a very flexible mathematics programs, which needs more structure and not so much investigation freedom. I think children need to know and memorize the necessary basics of mathematics. It is great for students to be creative, but there are other ways of incorporating that into the math subjects or using creativity for other curriculum. Having the students create their own problem-solving problems may seem a bit vague, and I don't know how much it would really help the students learn the necessary curriculum. I think it was a great idea for the Alpine School District to allow the elementary schools to pick, because if the parents and students aren't happy then no one learns. I feel as though the traditional way of teaching mathematics is the best and most affective way for students, and it's the way I would prefer.

Leaning Log #9

What?
In this chapter it discusses many behavioral concerns, reinforcers, and assumptions. Behavior has a lot to do with learning, and the ability the student has to progress. When an emotion is involved with learning it seems to last a lot longer, and really have an effect on the student. Whenever dealing with behavior it always seems as though there needs to be some sort of reinforcement, whether it's positive or negative. We must always remember as teachers we use the correct form of discipline at the right time for the right student. It was interesting to learn of the different ways to reinforce a child's behavior for the different age groups. There are also many ways as teachers that we can decrease bad behavior in the classroom and hopefully have it stick with them as they continue to grow. There are many ways we can apply behaviorists principles in our discipline and instruction as long as it's used correctly. They believe also behavior is a big part of their experiences, learning takes place with associations, when there are behavior changes lean ring takes place, when responses and stimuli work together learning also occurs, and and people learn in similar ways.

So What?
These different things discussed in this chapter are good for me to know, to help me know and understand the proper way to teach and have that learning connections with my students. It's also very good to know and to learn to have a better understanding of reinforcements, when they are necessary, how to use them, different ways to use them and to use positive reinforcements whenever possible. Having these correct tools will make such a difference in our teaching, and classroom atmosphere. As a soon to be teacher it's important to start practicing and know now the different behavioral assumptions, and the correct way to discipline. As teachers we must also know ways and the importance of correct ways to help eliminate undesirable behaviors, and enforce the good ones.

Now What?

I will use this information to help me better discipline my students and their positive and negative behaviors. There are many tips and great points that behaviorists gave through out this chapter, but the most important thing is not the hypotheses or study but the students, and I will use this information to better accommodate each and every student. I will also use this information to eliminate bad behavior that I don't feel is necessary in my classroom, but still keep a good positive relationship with my students. I also have the ability to make learning an opportunity to grow and actually use our emotions to gain knowledge and remember the information give to them. I will have the opportunity to help stimulate my students learning, and want to continue to learn.

Temple Grandin Presentation

Temple Grandin was amazing, she is an amazingly intelligent woman and was so interesting to listen to. As she was up presenting there was a lot of distractions with rustling of chairs and people moving around and coming in and out, with her disorder it's common for people with her disorder to get distracted very easily, but it was amazing she was able to still stay concentrated and in focus. She has trained herself to overcome that, and is able to be a great presenter. At times she would frequently change topics and ramble, but for the most part she was pretty easy to follow. It was interesting to be able to hear about autism from someone that actually has the disorder and what she has done to overcome her weaknesses. This presentation has made it clear to me that it's so important to understand autism, because they will be in our classes and we will associate with people just like her. It was great to be able to hear some strengths and weaknesses to be aware of for our future teaching experience.

Ch. 6 Learning Log

What?
I learned through chapter 6 the cognitive process and how it relates with learning and gaining knowledge. There are so many different forms of learning, and so many different perspectives. Learning is a long-term change in mental representation or associations as a result of experience, which is looked at in cognitive psychology. It is said that there can be no learning without thought and behavior, and there are many assumptions given such as active involvement, increasing capacity, prior knowledge, construction of meaning, selectivity about topic, and influence of cognitive influence. Along with those we were given many educational implications and examples which are very helpful. Also with learning there is memory, our short-term and long-term. It is how the information is taught or learning that puts it either in short-term storage or long-term storage. I learned about many teaching techniques to teach and get the students interested and willing to take the information in and use it. We also learned about A of Human Memory, which works just as our brain would while gaining and storing knowledge.

So What?
These different topics I have learned in chapter 6 are important because it is so important we teach our children in the most affective way so they can learn and gain the correct knowledge that is given. It is our responsibility to present the material in a learnable way for not only one or two students but for each and every student. We must first know how the brain works and its key compenents in gathering and storing information. Learning and the cognitive process is so important because it helps me better understand the memory and how it works according to learning. Because I now know the different perspectives I can also see the behavior side of learning also, which affects so much.

Now What?
I will use this information to obviously help me be a better teacher, and to also help me better understand my students. I will use these strategies and teaching to help me teach more effective lessons, so help them gain a better knowledge. I also have gained a lot of good techniques to know how to teach my students long-term storage usage and not just short-term memory storage. I will also take the processes needed to teach so my students can learn declarative knowledge, and make it meaningful. I will help my students use their memory and learn in cognitive processes.

Learning Log

What?

This last week in class I learned about the Social and Moral Development, which was very interesting and fun to learn about. There are many developmental changes children go through that last up until old age. People never stop changes and developing. It is so interesting to learn about the different changes people go through out their life, and the different social develpments designed by Erikson to help us better understand. I learned about his eight different stages, and ways to help me remember it. It is so true that school plays a major important role in helping children, adolescents, and adults in developing, especially socially. I also found Kohlberg's moral reasoning very interesting, which consisted of preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. I also found the Marshmellow Test very fun and interesting. It was amazing to learn the statistics on the students that ate the marshmellow were more trouble prone, hyperacitve, not as academically successful, and had a harder time in life. The students that didn't eat the marshmellow were more successful, did very well in testing and academics, less likely to get into any sort of trouble, and were natural leaders. It's so interesting to me that that all can be determined by one small marshmellow.

So What?

It was important for me to learn so as a teache I can help my students become more socially and morally developed by incorporating it into the curriculum without them even knowing, and helping them by being aware of where they are at in life. For example their stage according to Erikson with their psychosocial development, or their stage of moral develpment according to Kohlberg. It has helped me know ways to make my classroom better by avoiding cliques, attachment, aggressive behavior, and bad morality. I now also have a better understanding of how I can also help my students develop a sense of self, good morality, finding their own identity, and developing with the social and moral aspects around them.

Now What?

I will use this information in my classroom by keeping all the things i listed above, and applying it to my everyday teaching. As a teacher I need to remember that school isn't or shouldn't be all and only about the academic curriculum. Children and students need to also learn and grow socially, personally, and morally. As a teacher I can incorporate these life lessons into my academic curriculum everyday. I can also be a good example of the way students should act morally and socially. I strongly believe children learn by example, so as a teacher it is important for me to me aware of those that are struggling with different things and give them the attention and provide them with the things they need socially. I will also use this information to help avoid different negative social groups in my classroom and encourage good social groups to help the students with a better learning environment. I will also always take into consideration, that they aren't on the same social level as I am, and I need to treat them as they need to be treated.

Learning Log

What?
I learned so many great things this week about the brain and the many different functions it has. It's amazing how complex the brain really is and how it all works together. Some interesting parts of the brain that interested me was first of all the Corpus Callosum. I was able to really go into depth with studying this part of the brain, but it so interesting. It's the largest solid, mushroom-like shaped item in the center of the brain that connects the left side of the brain to the right side of the brain. It facilitates communication between the two hemispheres, and controls movement, feelings, language, spatial patterns, and so much more. It is a very complex and necessary part of the brain. I also was very shocked to learn there aren't left and right brained people. I have grown up thinking that was true. I also found it very interesting that the brain isn't fully developed until ages 25-35.

So What?
This information is important for me to know as a future teacher because I will know have a better understanding of my own brain and also the brains of my students, which will hopefully help me understand how each and every one of them learn. it is very interesting to know which part of the brain is being used in the classroom, and to also help teachers make sure they are using the whole brain and just not the occipital lobe or just the parietal lobe. I also learned exercising is great for the brain and optimizes learning and brain chemistry. This miner concept helps me as a teacher to make sure to allow recess and to be sure to incorparate P.E. into the curriculum. No part of the brain does stuff by itself so it's important to know things because with out a brain my student or myself cannot learn, it's the center of all learning.

Now What?
I will especially use the RAD theory in the classroom for my students to help them engage more in the curriculum that is being taught, it's also a lot more fun to teach this way. I will also use this information that was given to better understand my students thinking, so now whan I'm a teacher I can help them understand and help me better teach for them individually. It just gave me a great background of how things work within the brain, which like ai said it 's the center of all learning. It's important to have some background knowledge to better understand anyone.

FINAL REFLECTION

WHAT?
I have learned Descriptive study is finding a what, why and how which sometimes reflects numbers, and can be used to characterize different things and people. Correlational is between two or more variables either working together or against each other. With this study it can tel you something exists but doesn't find causation. The Experimental study is used when finding conclusions to cause and effect situations. The study finds the causation, which can help teachers feel more confident cause they know the cause and effect. The action research is great for addressing issues and doing correct research to find answers to problems for progress and change.

SO WHAT?
I have learned the importance of the different types of educational research, and the benefits and ways it can help me as a teacher. I feel I can use some studies more than others, but they each have great things within them that can benefit me as a teacher and also my future students as long as I use them correctly, and in the right situations. These different kinds of research can help my students keep learning and progressing, and help me become a better teacher. These different studies are used to help better learning and teaching abilities, and need to be assessed frequently in order to be beneficial.

NOW WHAT?
(1) I still need to learn or better understand when is the best time to use each of these research studies to make sure they are being used when needed. I also could learn more in depth the steps and actually practice some of the studies to help me better understand what's going on.

(2) I will use educational research in my future career by knowing more about how my students will learn and grow. I will also use them to help myself as an educator improve my knowledge and skills with teaching strategies and becoming familiar with the psychology side of the students. I will use them to assess my students and also myself, which will allow more learning and more fun. I will use these research studies to help me in diverse situations and with lesson planning to evaluate the outcomes of my teaching and their learning to accommodate each and every student. They will help me become a great teacher, and help me in revising and making my lessons better each and every time.

Course Contract

*Goals:
-Gain an understanding and knowledge about Educational Psychology, learn the different
ways of teaching my different learners, learn ways of dealing with diversity and adolescents, and developing classroom strategies.

-Complete assignments given correctly, accurately, be a good group member (when needed), and take advantage of the information and resources given for my future teaching experience.

-Have fun, learn, develop better reading and studying skills, and stay motivated.

*Weekly preparation plan:
-My preparation will consist of reading a little bit each day of the assigned reading for the discussions we will be having the next time in class, taking notes from the reading to help better my understanding, and to keep in fresh in my memory for the bell quiz. I will review the schedule, emails, and course web site daily to stay caught up on all assignments. I will also work on assignments and projects in advanced so be prepared for myself and also for my group, I will also be sure to be on time and prepared for each class.

*Study Strategies:
-As I do the reading I will take notes to help me remember and better understand the reading. When I'm not understanding the reading I will take a note of that and do further research to find my answer. I will use the course web site and the materials given to help me better understand and study the material. I feel I can also lean on other members in the cohort and also Dr. Cox when I have questions through email, text, study groups, or phone calls.

*Process in understanding a topic:
-When I don't understand a topic I will do some researching on my own to try to figure out my own question, I will then email some others my cohort or Dr. Cox for help as to where to find some help, use the class website, and be sure to ask questions while in class so I better better understand what I need to at home.


I will reach my goals in this course by doing the following things I listed above. I will do my part in preparation planning and work, I will continue and stick with my strategies I developed for studying, and do the proper things I need to in understanding the things I need to know for this course. I will as a good group member, and get my work in on time, and last of all make this class a main priority along with my other courses.

Motivation

*I am here at UVU in the Elementary Education program, because it's part of the plan I have created for myself and my life goals, and these are the steps that I'm needing to take to get where I eventually want to be. Those goals consist of being a successful teacher with a good education background, that can benefit my students, myself and also my own children.

*My motivation to continue going to school and stay with this program and become a teacher, and reaching my long term goals is all about my short term goals and the desire I have to be something I have always dreamed of. I want to be successful, and becoming a teacher will help me feel that satifaction. Stability also motivates me, teaching is or can be a very stable occupation, and can touch many lives. Children also motivate me, just having the chance to work and be around them day after day is such a great occupation for me. My fiance and family also motivate me, they are always encouraging me when things get stressful and hard, they help me keep going and stick with it.

*I want to succeed for myself and for my future family and children. I want to know for myself that I set a goal and motivate myself and know I did everything I could to reach it. I succeed because I have such a strong desire for a certain thing, I will do anything I can to make it. I also succeed for all those around me, all those that put so much time and effort in helping me with school and helping put me through my history of school.

*I sometimes fail at things because I don't have the same desire for the things that are most important to me. I haven't set short term goals to eventually reach the long term goal, and it begins to not matter. Failing comes also when there is no motivation to keep going. Times like these are when I need to step it up and motivate myself. I also need to be sure to make things a priority and not let myself slack off.

*I think no matter what the long term goal is there always has to be room for change and growth within the mind and outer motivation. It helps me to switch things up, make goals fun, and always keep in mind the benefits and the end result will be great and worth it. There are so many different motivation techniques and ways to get into the right mindset, it just takes creativity and the willingness to get motivated and keep going.