Group Forum

Something I learned from out group forum is how important self-concept is to all students but students with disabilities in particular. The article my group had posed a lot of questions and reasons why self-concept and self-esteem change throughout a students life. It is my job as a teacher to help students develop and have a positive self-concept. Students with autism have a very low self-esteem in social aspects and students with EBD do not think highly of themselves. The article was difficult to read because of all the numbers so I felt like it was hard to talk about. Our group focused a lot on the numbers and I think it confused the class. I would like to learn more about helping build self-concept. I have some ideas but I want to help the students with disabilities and I am not sure that I know how to do that. The forum was helpful for me because we all have our own opinions just like how it will be when I am working in a school. It was nice to hear others suggestions about my article along with everyone else's. A classmate can give me advice that I wouldn't have thought of. I liked the atmosphere that we had. It was nice to talk to my classmates. I can't think of anything that would have helped me learn more. The questions the classmates posed were thoughtful and everyone gave great suggestions. I liked the disabilities group but I wasn't crazy about the articles. I know we had freedom to find another article. I thought the forum was a good experience.

Ch. 2

I am in a kindergarten placement right now. I chose to look at the K-2 grade level from Table 2.2. A suggested strategy is to read age appropriate books as a way to enhance vocabulary. I learned this in my Reading education class also. In that class it was suggested to read books that are a little bit over the kindergarten level so they are getting exposure to new words. Another suggested strategy is to give corrective feedback when students' use of words indicates inaccurate understanding. I will use this in my classroom but not in a negative way. I don't want to discourage the students from using new words but just fix what the problem might be. I could use it in a sentence the correct way or help them learn the word that they meant or needed to use. A suggested strategy is to work on listening skills. This is important in all classrooms but at the younger grades such as K-2, it is our job as teachers to teach this skill. I think sometime this is expected but not taught. Listening isn't just sitting quiet but it is asking questions and trying to understand what is being said. Once students are listening and appearing engaged the teacher needs to ask follow up questions to make sure they understand and there aren't misconceptions from the lesson. The last suggested strategy from the table is to ask students to construct narratives about recent events. I would like doing this to start the day or to get focused after lunch. I think it is important for the students and teachers to talk. This doesn't have to be about school but having conversations about their weekend or plans helps them with conversation skills and narratives. I found a great source that helps clarify what is normal language in the classroom and what the teacher should try to address and fix. There are about 15 questions this website addresses. I think it will be useful in the future when I am trying to solve a language problem in my classroom. http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0006fillmore.html I have tried several different ways to link this website. I will copy and paste the URL.

Self-efficacy & self regulation

I think kids need to want to behave or change for there to be actual change. I know I won't do something unless I want it for myself. Students need to know what is expected and know how to regulate themselves. Self evaluation is very important in schools and this gives students a chance to monitor themselves. Students should have high self-efficacy. They will be more successful. Lisa needs to think she can be successful at all jobs. Once she does that she will be more open and willing to help. Once Lisa learns to self regulate, she can ask her self "am i doing what I am supposed to be doing?" "Am I engaged with the group?". She can help fix her own behaviors.

Barbara

I have experience with kids who have autism but that was my first time being around someone who is older with autism. It was interesting because she didn’t let being mute stop her. She was very intelligent and funny. I like her honesty and it gave me hope for the kids I work with everyday. I often think about where they will be in 10, 20 years and I would like to think of them being successful like she is. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the presentation but I am glad I went. She isn’t afraid to express how lonely she was and how hard it was for her not to communicate. I was surprised how well she listened to what people were saying. I could barely hear the questions that she was asked but she answered them with no problem. The presentation made me want to work harder to give all students the chance to express themselves. Technology now can help all types of people with disabilities. I am learning ways to help students who are having problems and using her as inspiration I can try to help students who have autism and students in general. I am assuming the lady that was helping Barbara was a therapist of some sorts. I never understood who she was but she could be a resource for teachers as could Barbara for helping kids with autism reach their full potential. The information I learned from the presentation helped me with thinking of ways to help students. Barbara was mute and was a slow typer but she was very smart and just needed a way to communicate. When we were listening to this lesson I was thinking about differentiating instruction and multiple teaching styles. I need to have a variety when I teach and think of ways I can help all learners. She likes books but can’t read or listen to them in ways that are normal to most. If I’m the teacher I need to consider that and make that change in the classroom. When she was in school she probably just had expository teaching but now teaching has changed so much I think she could get better help now. Most teachers are aware of disabilities and have the drive to help any way possible. This information was new to me because I didn’t know there was an app to say what you type. I was curious about her back and how touching it helped her. I would have liked to learn more about her and I wanted to buy her book but I didn’t have cash. I liked how her thoughts came out. They were random but honest. She was creative but communicated exactly what she wanted. I appreciated how she was honest with everyone around her whether it is her nurses or readers. That is a rare quality. Each person is different but the qualities that come with autism make them that much more special.

Ch. 9

I feel if I let her change groups or make sure she gets the ob she wants after she acts out that will encourage her behavior. I would like to avoid that. I would want to use positive reinforcement when she is behaving how she is supposed to. I want to catch her when she is getting along with the group or doing the job she doesn't want. She would receive compliments or a sticker or something of that nature. This might change her behavior for the better. Once she starts being productive in the group she can earn rewards that get her to the job she wants to be. I think behaviorism and constructivism could work side by side. I feel like I would use behaviorism more for classroom management more than education purposes but maybe that is because it is what I am familiar with. I like the idea of constructivism in the classroom because we give students 15 minutes of instruction but let them explore for 45 minutes or so on. Students need time to expand what they know and collaborate with partners. This could work with behaviorism because a student could be punished or reinforced from how they were learning or their group members. They use experiences to mold learning. I think constructivism is difficult for some lessons that need to be more lecture instead of hands on activities. Here is a link I used to help me wrap my mind around the two is posted below. I found this picture helpful hopefully it shows up large enough! It's a great web of 3 theories

Lesson involving metacognitive skills

Math lessons will be a great way to work on metacognitive skills and problem solving. Word problems when the solver doesn't know the method can improve these skills. Part of cognitive learning is realizing some things are harder to learn that others. Self regulation is a skill students need to work on and this becomes helpful on tests that are timed. Students need to be aware how much time they can spend on a problem before they move on or they need to be able to plan for a project. A lesson that comes to mind is a list of word problems like the ones that we were given in class. Some were easy to solve, some we didn't have all the information for and some took multiple steps. Students must know how to activate problem solving and apply many different types of math to find the answer. The can apply what they know and ways to solve it whether its drawing out pictures, using imagery or counting on your fingers. Each learner learns differently and they need to be aware of how they learn best. I am a visual learner so I would need to have manipulatives or possibly pictures to work on word problems. I have attached a link that I used to check my understanding of metacognitive skills. It has a 7 step check list of how to help students with work problems. I thought this would be a helpful resource in the future.

Constructivist ism in our group lessons

I am not 100% sure if I understand the question but hopefully this is in the ball park. Our group project was vocabulary words and we chose science and weather words. We wanted to start by activating prior knowledge and asking what the students know about weather. Then we give them a list of words and let them go look at the local weather or newspaper to see if they can construct meaning for those words. Skills they need are activating prior knowledge and looking at context clues. They need to use problem solving and critical thinking. They need to take and apply what they know to a new situation. They might think they know a word but they can test that idea out with the group. It is our job as a teacher to help the students learn how to learn and work cooperatively and collaboratively.

Once a teacher becomes the guide to the class instead of center stage the class has more freedom to learn creatively. I think the teacher can do activities that let then students have freedom for example our group added as an activity for the students to then make a weather broadcast using their words. The students are in charge of everything. This allows for creativity, independence, and group work.

I used a website from a data base to help me understand constructivism a little better. Here is the URL.
http://otec.uoregon.edu/learning_theory.htm#Constructivism