Sunday, May 29, 2016

The Importance of Teachers

Anita Woolfolk pretty much hits the nail on the head in her podcast about the the importance of teachers. Anita discusses that teachers are so much more than instructors. They are lifelines.

Anita explains how important it is for teachers to truly care about their students, stating “people need to belong and feel safe before they can focus on learning and knowledge." That is my favorite line from the podcast.

There are so many teachers who spend their whole time teaching to the state tests, and do not take the time to form relationships with their students. However, this has shown to hurt, rather than help, student performance. Students who believe that their teachers care about them are higher achievers and are more resilient. 
I LOVE that students were asked what makes a great teacher. Because at the end of the day, students are the ones in the classroom. Here is what they said:
Teachers show they care by:

  • Trying to make class interesting
  • making sure everyone understands the material
  • asking “what's wrong?" 
  • being fair & respectful
  • offering choices
  • showing interest in their students
  • trusting & respecting their students
  • caring about them as learners and as people

Here is a link to the podcast: The Importance of Teachers

Educational Psychology Webquest


I used this website Educational Psychology: Foundation for Teaching to conduct a simple "webquest" on an educational case study. The website provided links to other resources relating to educational psychology.  I particularly liked this explanation on the website: 

"Research offers us the chance to see theories put to the test—to find out how real students in real classrooms respond to a variety of teaching methods; to test long-held beliefs about educational practices so that we can judge if they might be flawed or incomplete. Research helps us to become better informed, more competent professionals."

When looking through the websites and subsequently using EBSCOhost to find an article that interests me, I came across a few different articles on differentiated instruction, a subject that I enjoy learning about and discussing. This particular article (Multiple Paths to Testable Content? Differentiation in a High-stakes Testing Context) focused on differentiating instruction to tech content for high-stakes exams.  It fits my belief that no two children are exactly the same, and children should be able to learn in a way that best suits them. 



Here are the results of my webquest: 


Kristine Pilla
ED 3020
Summer 01
Differentiated instruction to teach content for high-stakes testing.
Bibliographic Information
Authors: Stephanie van Hover, David Hicks, Elizabeth Washington

Case study title: Multiple Paths to Testable Content? Differentiation in a High-stakes Testing Context

Citation:

van Hover, S., Hicks, D., & Washington,   
     E. (2011). Multiple Paths to Testable  
     Content? Differentiation in a High-
     stakes Testing Context. Social
     Studies Research & Practice6(3),
     34-51.
Classification
Experimental
Summary

The study followed a history teacher who was preparing students for a high-stakes state exam. The study has the teacher using differentiated instruction to teach the material for the exam. The teacher was able to take the content and rather than teach from the book and/or the given “script,” create a lively, engaging classroom environment for learning history. Students were interested and engaged. They were able to learn in ways that worked for them individually, and therefore gained a much better understanding of the content.
Conclusion
This study intrigued me, because it touched upon a subject that I am passionate about: making subjects and content engaging for all students. Every student learns differently, and because of that there should be multiple ways in which they are able to learn the material. It should not matter how the information is learned, only that it is learned and understood. This teacher did a wonderful job preparing her students for a high-stakes exam.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Thorndike

I read the research by E.L. Thorndike, his article entitled  "The Contribution of Psychology To Education." (Thorndike) It was very interesting, and it made me ponder how the study of psychology goes hand-in-hand with educational research, and how an understanding of psychology can positively impact students. 

1. What are the roles for education and psychology envisioned by E.L. Thorndike?

E.L. Thorndike believes that psychology makes educational aims clearer. It enlarges and refines the role of education, bringing importance to human behavior and human nature. Thorndike describes education and psychology as going hand-in-hand. The study of psychology, specifically child psych and development, give us a better understanding on how behaviors and human nature effect the education of a child, and how teachers can take that research and apply it to their classrooms. 


2. Have these roles changed? What kind of methods did Thorndike recommend for research?

Teachers used to assume that their students were less intelligent than they actually were. Education was more "common sense" training, and was thought to be able to teach students exactly how to think and act, essentially in an attempt to create students who were exactly uniform- who learned and thought the same way. 
Now, psychology in education explores the differences in every child, and supports the idea that not every child is the same, and that behaviors, environment, human instinct, social interaction, background, etc. all contribute to how a child learns. 


Think about your Professional Development Plan. In your 1 page plan, identify:

1. What constitutes scholarly research.

Scholarly research consists of a few things: peer-reviewed articles, reputable websites, books, blogs, etc. and it published by professionals. When finding articles to use for projects and for my own research, I look for articles and studies that have been published only after extensive research by the author. 

2. Ways to acquire and interpret scholarly research.

Databases online, such as EBSCO, are great ways to acquire scholarly research articles. The library contains journals and articles as well. In order to properly interpret a research article, it is important to read the entire article, and to take a look at the sources that are cited in the research. This way, there can be no mistaking the goals and outcomes of the research. 

3. Ways to use scholarly research in your future practice.

Scholarly research will never stop being useful. Scholarly research can be used to understand learning theories and teaching methods. It can be used when researching learning disabilities. Scholarly research helps teachers to differentiate instruction for students, and to have an easier time discovering methods that may work.


Thursday, May 26, 2016

Modules 1 & 2

Learning outcomes of the Chapter

Module 1:  Learning and Teaching Today

1.1: Describe the key elements and requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Standardized reading and math tests are administered in grades 3-8 and once in High School. Science is tested in every grade, beginning in grade 3 and continuing through grade 12. According to NCLB, teachers should wait for students to ask for help before offering assistance. Teachers should make sure that all students have the chance to speak in class by calling on different students each time a question is asked. 
Under the NCLB act, schools were expected to bring student learning up to proficient levels, or have the school be at risk of closing. 
While No Child Left Behind is supposed to advocate differentiated instruction, teachers have struggled to meet the differentiated instruction standards while having their students perform proficiently on a standardized test that is not differentiated. 


1.2: Discuss the essential features of effective teaching.

Being an effective teacher goes far beyond a degree that says someone is a teacher. Effective teachers are constantly looking for ways to engage their students, and they understand that children learn differently and at different paces. Truly effective teachers put the needs of their students first, before test scores or assignments. Effective teachers put in true effort, and do not just read from the book (or Common Core module). Teachers who do not take the “easy way out,” but instead do whatever is necessary for the success of their students, are truly effective teachers.


Module 2:  Research and Theory in Educational Psychology

1.3: Describe the methods used to conduct research in the field of educational psychology.

In the field of psychology, single-subject experiments are used to explore the effects of specific interventions on a student. Ethnographic research studies real teachers, and natural classroom settings. This research studies events that typically take place in a classroom, giving researchers a better understanding of classroom occurrences and interventions.

1.4: Recognize key theories of development and learning that influence educational practice.


Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Research in Child Development and Theories of Learning

Hello!

This is my blog for my summer class, Research in Child Development and Theories of Learning, with Dr. Smirnova at Mount Saint Mary College.

The course covers various learning theories and theorists.

I am excited to take this class, and I agree with what Dr. Smirnova said: we should have to take this in the BEGINNING of our education studies.