Reflective Journal Entry Five- Student-Centered Instruction

            I began my last reflective journal entry by stating that I always feel guilty when my lessons involve me delivering information more than students developing concepts and ideas on their own, so this week’s reading assignment was very refreshing and inspirational! Even though research supports the effectiveness of direct instruction, I cannot ignore the boring effects associated with this type of instruction. I believe effective teachers combine direct and student-centered instruction to create a balanced approach to teaching.

            The constructivist theory states that learners must discover and transform complex information in order to make it their own and develop a higher level of understanding (Slavin, 2012). Teachers must provide students with learning opportunities that require discovery and the active participation of students. Teachers must also take on a different role in student-centered instruction as a guide to assist when necessary, but not in the main delivery of content. This requires teachers to give up a certain amount of control, which can be difficult, especially with the large amount of content we are required to teach at this time.

            Constructivist approaches to teaching incorporate cooperative learning, so that students will discover and comprehend concepts that might be difficult for them (Slavin, 2012). I really enjoyed reading peer posts this week about how this can seem like a chaotic learning environment, but that structure can still exist even when the teacher is not solely in charge of the lesson. One method I plan to use in the future, that I believe will be beneficial to my students, is the reciprocal teaching approach in reading. Slavin (2012) states that research on this approach has found that it generally increases the success of low achievers. I teach fifth grade reading, and one of the classes I work with is a small, EIP group. I believe this strategy will be an effective strategy to use with them and will help them to build their comprehension, which is the area of reading this group struggles with the most.

            I also plan on incorporating the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) program next year. I work very closely with the language arts teacher in planning lessons, and a majority of students’ writing assignments stem from their reading. I believe working together in small groups in reading and language arts will provide additional support for students, especially those who struggle with writing and responding to literature. Students will be able to remind one another of discussions from the reading and apply what they have learned to their writing.  It has been my experience that when students work in groups, they are engaged in discussion and are actively seeking understanding, but this chapter provided additional practices that aid in the effectiveness of cooperative learning, which include creating and rewarding group goals and requiring individual accountability. I plan to create a way of rewarding group work and individual goals within the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition program by brainstorming ideas with the language arts teacher.

            Several of the peer posts I read this week stated that teachers are seeing a lack of respect among students when working cooperatively, but I believe we owe it to our students to learn how to work with others and to problem-solve socially and academically. We know students will be joining the workforce one day and it is imperative that they are able to work collaboratively. As educators we can provide students with these effective learning strategies in a way that we can feel good about by implementing constructivist approaches in instruction.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (10^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal Entry Four- Direct Instruction

            I always feel guilty when my lessons involve me delivering information more than students developing concepts and ideas on their own, but with the large amount of content we are expected to cover now, I find myself using direct instruction more and more. Slavin (2012) states that, “recent research has supported the idea that direct instruction can be more efficient than discovery in conceptual development” (p.185). This realization makes me feel better about my primary delivery of information and with the variety of lecture structures of direct instruction, I believe students can still benefit and be engaged with these lessons.

            The seven basic parts of a direct instruction lesson are a common sense approach to teaching. Direct instruction lessons involve orienting students to the learning objective, reviewing previous skills and concepts, presenting new information, asking questions that check for understanding and correcting misconceptions, providing independent practice and assessing independent practice, and providing distributed practice of the new material (Slavin, 2012). This structure allows teachers to continuously evaluate the needs of students through questioning and encourages opportunities for immediate feedback. It also ensures that teachers identify students’ levels of understanding and who needs remediation of skills or concepts. It usually takes me more than one day to progress through all the steps of this type of lesson, due to the fact that my grade level is departmentalized and our classes are approximately one hour in length. The first day usually consists of reviewing prior knowledge, presenting new information, and guided practice, leaving the second day for independent practice, assessment, and feedback.

            I found the section of Chapter 7 on how learning is transferred to be very insightful. Slavin (2012) states that both teachers and students get wrapped up in preparing for tests, and forget about the main purpose of school, which is to provide students with the skills and knowledge to function effectively in adulthood. I believe this is true, and see examples of this daily, especially with math skills and concepts.  I plan to use the information presented in the chapter in the future, by teaching students to transfer skills to new circumstances when possible and to be conscious of relationships among situations. I believe children and adults who understand real-world application of skills and concepts are at a great advantage and as teachers we must provide students with opportunities for problem-solving experiences.

            This week’s discussion on the levels of preparation and participation in small versus whole-group discussions was also interesting and insightful. Many peer posts stated that both require a great deal of preparation due to the fact that whole-group discussions require knowledge of the subject being discussed and small-group discussions require picking groups members, assigning roles, and creating questions. Most posts also seemed to agree that both discussions require participation from the teacher as well. As an elementary school teacher, I believe whole-group discussions require more teacher participation because students at this age are still learning how to voice opinions and viewpoints based on knowledge and often need more direction to stay focused on the subject being discussed, while small-group discussions are more student-led with specific questions provided by the teacher. I believe both types of discussion are important and make lessons more interesting for students.

            Direct instruction does require a structured, teacher-led approach to teaching, but is necessary at times. It can be efficient and effective, and incorporates what we know are good teaching practices. I believe direct instruction can also still be engaging for students with the use of teacher demonstrations, visual elements, and discussions, which helps take away the guilt I associate with this teaching approach.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (10^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal Entry Three- Information Processing and Cognitive Theories

I have often thought about the learning experiences I have had over the years and tried to remember what made some memorable while others are vague or lost altogether. This week’s reading assignment and discussion posts provided valuable insight on how the brain processes information and the strategies we can use to ensure the information is made memorable for students. I believe effective teachers use these strategies to make learning meaningful and memorable, not just for a few days, but long-term.

My recollections of memorable learning experiences include lessons that grabbed my attention and allowed time to practice the skill or concept being learned. This makes sense after viewing the information-processing theory. Slavin (2012) Figure 6.1 identifies the sequence of information processing (Atkinson-Shiffrin Model), which states that memorable information must reach a person’s senses, go through initial processing, transfer from the sensory register to the working memory, and finally be processed again for transfer to the long-term memory. The first step in the model is very important because it means that a teacher must gain the attention of students before learning can begin taking place. Slavin (2012) states, “Like money, attention is a limited resource” (p.146). I believe teachers must remember that students have a limited attention span and we should focus students’ attention in interesting ways. Teachers can do this by using cues, increasing the emotional content of information, implementing elements of surprise and by stating the importance of information (Slavin, 2012). I clearly remember a second grade science lesson I experienced because of the attention gaining technique of our guest speaker. He was a gemologist and showed us several beautiful gems to gain our attention. I still remember information I learned about gems that day and vivid images because of my peeked interest associated with the beauty of the gems.

With our ultimate goal being the retention of information in the long-term memory, I believe it is important to provide students with opportunities to practice a skill or concept as well. This goes along with the levels-of-processing theory, which states that people retain only the information that has been thoroughly processed (Slavin, 2012). This is where the knowledge and tools we possess as educators is necessary in planning. We have to create meaningful opportunities that promote higher levels of processing. Many of the discussions from this week on the importance of a variation of learning strategies in the classroom included the need for this variation in grade levels ranging from kindergarten to high school. Several posts discussed the importance of partner and small group work, guided questioning to focus attention, and a variety of verbal and visual strategies that aid in a deep understanding and processing in students’ learning.

I paid special attention to the section on study strategies that help students learn because I am always trying to provide students with tools that will help them be successful in the future. I have had students in the past make comments like, “I don’t understand why I didn’t do well. I looked over the paper ten times.” Slavin (2012) states that, “effective methods involve learners in reshaping the information” (p.169). In the future I will provide more practice tests and opportunities for summarizing information and for written response. I also plan to share the PQ4R method with my students, especially those who struggle with the use of effective strategies for learning information.

Understanding how the brain processes information, how we remember and forget, and how we can make information meaningful for students is imperative for effective teachers. Effective students understand the need for study strategies and develop metacognitive skills. I believe it is a balance of teacher and student recognition and application of these understandings that make learning possible.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (10^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal Entry Two- Behavioral and Social Learning Theories

            I believe the best teachers are those who have a true understanding of children and how they learn. They are the educators who know how to motivate students and make them responsible for their learning. While they may have forgotten the terminology associated with behavioral theories and principles, they apply the knowledge associated with them in their classrooms.

            This week’s reading was a great review of the processes involved in learning and the role behavioral learning theories play in learning. Slavin (2012) states, “These principles are useful for explaining much of human behavior; they are even more useful in changing behavior in the classroom” (p.137). The works of Ivan Pavlov contributed the idea of classical conditioning and B. F. Skinner’s further research contributed the idea of operant conditioning. Slavin (2012) states that the most important principle of behavioral learning theories is how behavior changes due to consequences, with pleasant consequences strengthening behaviors and unpleasant consequences decreasing the behaviors. I believe we develop an understanding of this concept early on as children as we receive consequences through exploration and consequences from parents and teachers. Successful teachers apply the principle by reinforcing desired behaviors through praise and rewards. I have had great success with positive reinforcement in the classroom and find that the more I praise and reward good behavior, the less undesirable behavior I encounter. I believe this is because students want to do well and enjoy receiving praise. My ultimate goal is to get students intrinsically motivated, and I try to use healthy extrinsic reinforcers by using phrases like, “I like the way David is sharing his strategy with his partner.” I try to avoid using candy, unhealthy foods, and toys as rewards. I really enjoyed reading about other examples from Slavin (2012), which include calling home and privileges such as free time, special equipment, and special roles. I believe unexpected forms of praise and rewards are greatly appreciated and memorable for children. 

               After reading Chapter 5, I plan to implement the calling home idea and creating a place to publicly display student work next year as new ways of praising and rewarding my students. I was also reminded of some effective methods for improving behavior through discussion posts this week, which included a suggestion from Wanda Richerzhagen of using behavior charts to modify disruptive behaviors. Jonelle Jimison discussed the benefits of behavior contracts, which help hold students accountable and responsible for their behaviors. I will keep these in mind for future use as well, and believe these additions to our class discussions are excellent examples of why teacher communication  and sharing is so important in helping our students achieve.

            The social learning theory described in Chapter 5 goes along with behavioral learning theories. Slavin (2012) states that Social Learning Theory, developed by Albert Bandura, focuses on the importance of learning through observation and self-regulated learning in four phases. I believe effective teachers understand this progression of learning and apply the phases in lessons and learning activities. In my lesson plans I introduce the lesson and try to attract the attention of the students, which goes along with the first step of this theory, paying attention. I also model the behavior and give students an opportunity to model the behavior in their work, which my plans refer to as guided practice. I typically model with mini-lessons, which are kept short to ensure student attention, and provide a guided practice opportunity that usually involves peer support or small group support. Once students are ready for independent practice, I typically provide a rubric, which allows students to ensure they are meeting all expectations and help them become responsible for their own learning outcomes and achievement. This goes along with Meichenbaum’s model of cognitive behavior modification. As a fifth grade teacher I believe preparing students as self-regulating learners is imperative, because of the responsibility level expected of them in middle school.

            The information in this week’s reading was not new to me, but was certainly a great refresher on learning and behavior and how the two go hand-in-hand. The added input and reflection of peer discussion provided further insight and I look forward to applying new methods from peer feedback and from the text in the near future.

References

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (10^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Reflective Journal Entry One

For many years I felt as if I had wasted time and money in college because I changed my major from Psychology to Education. I realized early on that I had a passion for learning about people. Sociology and Psychology courses were always my favorites, and I often took more of these courses than were required. I did not realize until years later that I had a passion for teaching, which was even greater than that of learning about the field of Psychology. I now realize after having taught for four years that I never wasted a minute in the Psychology courses I took, because I use the knowledge I gained in those courses every day in the classroom.

This week’s assigned reading was a great refresher on the development of children. I believe it is very important to keep the information presented in the forefront of our minds as educators because effective educators plan lessons and learning experiences that are appropriate for their students. In order to understand what is developmentally appropriate, we have to be aware of children’s cognitive development. Slavin (2012) states that, “Piaget’s work forms an essential basis for understanding child development” (p.31). I personally agree with what more recent research supports, that these stages are not concrete and can occur at different ages, depending on the individual child. However, understanding that these stages do exist is very important.

The discussion question for this week made this very apparent to me. Thinking about what is an appropriate assignment to teach a concept for second grade and eighth grade students required me to analyze the differences in the developmental stages of each age group and helped explained why there are those moments in the classroom where few or none of the students are successful. There have been times when this occurred that I believed their inability to grasp a concept or misunderstanding of an idea came from my delivery of the information, when in reality it could have been that the activity or concept being presented was above their cognitive ability. In the future I will definitely keep this in mind when those times occur with my students. I also learned from various peer posts, who teach in both primary and secondary classrooms, that there is true evidence that these stages exist among students. Those of us who teach younger students have a true understanding of their need to relate all new information and concepts to those they are already familiar with, while teachers who work with older students stated that their students are more capable of thinking hypothetically and better understand relationships and multi-step problems.

Reviewing Vygotsky’s views on cognitive development was also beneficial. I teach reading and my students take a reading assessment every nine weeks on a reading program provided by the school system. The assessment provides us with a Zone of Proximal Development for each student, which includes specific book levels for optimal growth in reading. Slavin (2004) states that, “Vygotsky further believed that higher mental functioning usually exists in conversation and collaboration among individuals before it exists within the individual” (p.42). The reading groups I create are based on this theory and Vygotsky’s theory of Cooperative Learning. I place students in groups so that they are all reading books at their appropriate reading levels, and encourage them to discuss the books and collaborate to answer questions about the readings. Many of the questions I provide require a deep level of thinking and they learn a great deal from one another by helping each other through conversation.

I do not believe that Piaget’s theories of cognitive development are any better than Vygotsky’s or visa versa. I believe a good educator will use both in planning and developing student lessons. This reading and class discussion have been great reminders for me that Psychology is important in the classroom, especially in planning developmentally appropriate learning activities and lessons.

References

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (10^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.