EDAT 6115- Shorter- Reflections

Reflective Journal #7 Description: Chapter 11 focuses on effective learning environments.  Teachers must create these in order for students to feel safe and also be able to participate in the learning process.  The chapter explains that teachers should think about the time they have for instruction and how to make good use of that time. The chapter also discusses what teachers should do when a learning disruption occurs including prevention, nonverbal cues, praising behavior and applying consequences.  Finally, the chapter details  applied behavior analysis strategies that teachers can use to help modify behaviors of students when all other actions have not led to appropriate behavior in the classroom. Overall, the intentional teacher makes sure to plan for an effective learning environment and allow for appropriate behaviors to be maintained within the classroom. Analysis: Classroom management is a challenging task for any teacher.  We all wish to creat...

Reflective Journal #6 Description: Chapter 9 discusses how the intentional teacher not only effectively plans for a lesson but also how they execute it with their students who have differing abilities.  This is done through different types of grouping within and between classes.  It also is done through implementing other differentiation methods such as peer and adult tutoring.  At-risk students are also discussed as teachers should understand the programs that benefit these students.  Finally, the intentional teacher uses technology to enhance their lessons and engage their students in learning. Analysis: As we learned in chapter 8, effective lessons are made up of many elements.  However, beyond having an effective lesson, an intentional teacher also must think about how they will effectively instruct that lesson.  There are many models of how to do this but one that was discussed in the text was Slavin's "QAIT model" (Slavin, 2015, pg. 216). QAIT...

Reflective Journal #5 Description: Chapter 8 defined the student-centered and constructivist approaches to instruction.  The text outlined the importance of students taking part in their own learning process so that they can actually learn the information.  The chapter discussed how the intentional teacher plans for successful cooperative learning methods and teaches thinking and problem solving skills to his/her students.  Through this method of teaching, a strong classroom community is created and students become advocates for their learning process. Analysis: Constructivist theorists believe that "learners must individually discover and transform complex information if they are to make it their own" (Slavin, 2015, pg. 190).  This means that for students to benefit from the learning process they must make a personal connection with the material that is being presented.  These theories draw directly from those of Piaget and Vygotsky who proposed the ide...

Reflective Journal #4 Description: Chapter 7 defined the effective lesson.  The effective lesson contains many elements that teachers need to consider when thinking about what they will teach to their students on a daily basis.  Direct instruction, as well as, whole and small group discussion are key components of an effective lesson.  The intentional teacher plans lessons based on set forth objectives that they would like for their students to master. Analysis: Lesson planning can be a daunting task for any teacher.  Planning for 170+ days of instruction each year that meets all the required standards of instruction requires for teachers to plan effectively for each class period.  One of the ways this can be done is through direct instruction.  Direct instruction "is used to describe lessons in which you transmit information directly to students, structuring class time to reach a clearly defined set of objectives as efficiently as possible" (Slavin...

Reflective Journal #3 Description: Chapter six discussed the cognitive theories of learning including how students process information.  This chapter defined how research on the brain has allowed us to understand how it works when processing new information.  It also defined how the intentional teacher can use strategies and techniques to help students process information and make meaningful connections to that information. Analysis: As our students sit in our classrooms each day, they are constantly being flooded with new information.  We teach them an array of facts, details, concepts, definitions, and problems.  Year after year, the content knowledge grows and the level of difficulty to retain the information they are learning increases.  The question becomes how do we as intentional teachers use the information we have about how the brain works to help our students process all of this knowledge.  Information-processing theory is a "dominant the...

Reflective Journal #2 Description: Chapter five discussed leading behavior and social theories when it comes to learning. Leading theorists Pavlov, Skinner, and Bandura proposed that many conditions and motivations play an important role in children learning behaviors. This chapter also defined how teachers can help to implement appropriate behaviors in students and help them to self-regulate their own behaviors in the classroom. Analysis: All students have the capacity to learn new things. Sometimes students may learn what you want them to learn and sometimes they may learn a behavior that you did not mean to teach them. This type of learning takes place through observation and conditioning. Learning "is defined as a change in an individual caused by experience (Schunk, 2012)" or "long-lasting change in the learner's knowledge as a result of the learner's experiences" (Slavin, 2015, pg. 100). Two leading theorists, Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner, bot...

Reflective Journal #1 Description: The focus of the readings this week was on the cognitive, language and literacy development of children.  As teachers, it is important to understand how our students develop so that we may tailor our instruction accordingly.  Intentional teachers must use what they know about development to make decisions about their instruction that allow their students to be successful. Analysis: It is no secret that during the time students spend in the childhood, preteen and teenage years lots of changes take place.  These changes can be seen in a physical form most obviously, but many changes also occur in the way in which the brain is developing as well.  Two leading theorists ,Piaget and Vygotsky, charted this idea of human development many years ago and their theories still remain prevalent to this day. The first theorist, Jean Piaget, “the most influential developmental psychologist in the history of ps...