PLE #8

I think that this class has been extremely hard to keep up with. There are a lot of readings and it is not always clear when PLE posts are due. I keep up with the class and participate greatly in the group activities. I have only missed one class and I am usually early and prepared for class. In all of my exit passes, I try to be honest with my answers and really try hard to provide questions or concerns that I am having on the material that we have covered. A lot of what we are talking about in class is a review for me from other classes that I have taken. I enjoy going over the material to gain a better understanding on how it applied to education. There have been a few times where I have completely forgotten to write a blog post, which will eventually come back to haunt me. I am engaged in the classroom and am genuinely interested in what we discuss in class. I love hearing the different teaching perspectives: special ed, elementary ed, secondary ed and deaf ed. Reading the chapters for the class is more difficult for me. I am in multiple reading intensive classes so reading for this education class, where I have already learned a lot of the material, is honestly difficult.

PLE #5

I think that in order to create a environment that is conducive to learning, the teacher needs to be able to know his students and what they need in order to be the most successful. Motivation is another important factor in creating a successful learning environment. Being able to discover whether or not intrinsic or extrinsic motivation is needed in a classroom helps students become more successful and creates a more efficient classroom.

The major problems in the high school case study include:
1. Full of seniors that only want a degree..they are already "checked out" for the year
2. Passing notes and texting...this could be related to the fact that they are all seniors. They are not concerned with learning the required material so that are wanting to pass notes and not pay attention.
3. Disruptive boys: these boys are wanting to roughhouse and cause a scene. This could be because they simply want attention.
4. Rules that were in place and enforced at the beginning of the year are not being followed or respected

I think that it will take a lot in order to get these seniors to focus. Class needs to be interactive and engaging in order to keep these seniors focused. I think that graduation and future success needs to be stressed. Teachers need to remind these students what they are working toward and that in order to reach their goals of being a _____, they need to pass this class. Also, activities that help progress students could be good in this situation. If they are working on something that will actually help them in the future will help them to focus. The disruptive boys are most likely showing off to their peers. In order to prevent this, I would make the boys work together on a certain project in order to work together and then possibly be able to show off their work to the class. We talked in class about possibly threatening "walking" at graduation, which I think was a great point. Walking across the stage is an important aspect of high school that students look forward to. If that was threatened, there would be a greater chance for students to behave and follow the rules, and maybe even be engaged in the class, just so they can walk across the stage. This could be specifically enforced for the three boys that were roughhousing, refusing to sit down and stop.

PLE: Motivation

Motivation can always be a tricky thing when teaching. Some students are extremely intrinsically motivated, while others need some sort of extrinsic motivation in order to do well. I think that, as the teacher, I need to be able to know which students are motivated intrinsically and which students are extrinsically motivated. The classroom then need to be run accordingly. If many students are extrinsically motivated, I think there needs to be rewards for doing homework, completing assignments, or reaching a class average grade on a test. If the entire class gets a reward, I feel like students are more likely to 1) work together in order to prevent letting others down and  2) work harder in order to receive the reward, especially if it is something that students will actually enjoy. Intrinsically motivated students need to be given individual goals. I think that if I push these students to try harder things, then they will push themselves to attain a new level of knowledge. Ultimately, I think that motivation techniques depend on the students within the classroom and the classroom as a whole.

Post 3 (Field Trip)

I was extremely surprised by Barb's lecture. I was not expecting such wisdom from an autistic woman. I think I have had preconceived notions about autism that are completely wrong. I loved hearing her ideas on autism and how people need to be more well informed on the matter. The concept of thinking or communicating nonverbally was extremely interesting to me because I can't imagine thinking in any other way other than words. I am very interested in learning more about autism and understanding more of how it works and how to 'react' to it.

Post 2 (Chapter 14)

Paper-pencil assessment: I would use journal entries for this assessment. I think that the entries could be related to different readings/books that we are discussing in class, which would help with comprehension of the texts and to be able to see writing skills.
Authentic assessment: I would relate texts and books to the real world and have discussions like students could possibly have outside of school. Also, I think that discussions of readings allow the students to look at their world differently.
Teacher-developed assessment: I think teacher-developed assessments are more efficient and effective than standardized tests. When the teacher creates his/her own test, they are able to test on exactly what they are teaching. I feel like this is more effective for grading and for helping students succeed more than strictly teaching for standardized tests.
Norm-reference assessment: I like comparing performance to that of other students. Through this method, I feel like teachers can learn what is working and what isn't. If some students are acing the exams and are understanding what I am teaching, then the other students need tutoring, or have something that is holding them back from reaching their full potential.
Informal assessment: I like pop quizzes (even though the students hate them.) I think this helps students stay on top of their work and stay prepared for class if they know that I will occasionally have pop quizzes. This could include anything from vocabulary quizzes to reading comprehension quizzes to see if the students read their assigned reading or if they are understanding the reading material.

August 26

I am extremely excited for this class. I am excited to learn the dynamics of a classroom and more specifically how students learn most effectively. I am hoping that by the end of the class I will have a better grasp on how to run a more effective and efficient classroom. I know that many times the key to having a good classroom is to know your students and how they learn best. I am hoping that I will learn that from this class.