Learning Log (Ch.7)

What?
Today we talked about knowledge construction. This chapter was very interesting to me. The definition of learning constructivism is learning an active process in which learners construct their own memory, focusing in on that active process that we are creating our own knowledge. We talked about the metaphor for social constructivism is like a Aspen tree root. The root shoots everywhere, and is exploring and finding good soil and food for the tree. Social constructivism is like that in that it is exploring and finding own definitions of knowledge. We talked about how we can build knowledge based on others knowledge. We use schema's to find a connection, we can also use scripts to to complete a task. The chapter also includes change and conceptional change. Promoting change is a difficult process, one must identify existing misconceptions before instruction begins, convince students that their existing beliefs are inadequate, motivate students to learn correct explanations, maintain self-esteem, and monitor what students say and write for persistent misconceptions.

So What?
This information is important because students will come into my class every day that learn best or have been taught through social constructivism, I will need to be able to recognize this learning theory and implement it into my teaching. It is also good to know that change can be good and that as a teacher I need to encourage change.

Now What?
Now that I know this information I can begin to implement it into my teaching strategies. I now know how to recognize and implement change in my classroom. I can also add social constructivism into my own personal learning theory and implement parts that I believe will help students learn best in my classroom.

Study Technique

I chose to study for the test an hour a day until it was time to take the test. I feel that this helped me a lot because I wasn't cramming everything in all at once. I also had a study group with friends. This was the biggest help to me, because we would talk through everything out loud. I felt I was self-talking myself through the questions. I am a huge believer in self-talk now because I feel well prepared for the test. This was a great experience and I feel like I have achieved a lot by doing this study technique. I will most definitely use it in the future.

Learning Log (Social Development)

What?
Today in class we talked about Social Development. I didn't realize that so many things factor into this category. We discussed that other then academic skills the students are learning personal and social development. The students needs ti gain a sense of self, many factors come into play when developing this sense of self: previous performance, behavior of others, and group membership. We talked about social development and Erickson's psychosocial crises; trust v. mistrust, autonomy v. shame and doubt, initiative v. quilt, industry v. inferiority, identity v. role confusion, intimacy v. isolation, generativity v. stagnation, and integrity v. despair. After role playing these stages we discussed a way to memorize them. We then talked about Moral development and Kohlbergs moral development. His stages include: Preconventional morality, conventional morality, and post conventional morality.

So What?
This important because as a teacher I need to realize that students are learning more than academics, they are learning how to socialize. Its important to realize that students are going through alot of changes while they are trying to learn what they are suppose to be learning, so I need to be patient when students are struggling.

Now What?
Now that I know this, I can become a better teacher and a better person. I can now determine what students are going through in social development and I can guide them when needed and encourage them.

Learning Log (Ch. 6)

What? Today we talked about Cognitive Psychology. We talked about that there are four types of cognitive psychology, introspection, behaviorism, cognitivism, and social cognitivism. We talked about the brain and the lobes of the brain and what they do. We also talked about Emotional Intelligence. I found it very interesting that the students with higher emotional intelligence scored better on SAT test than the students with higher IQ.

So What? This information is vital in teaching. You must know what cognitive psychology is. You not know that it is called cognitive psychology but you know all the aspects of it and what to do about it. As we go more into depth about each type of cognitive psychology, we will learn how to reach these students on the level that they need to be reached at. Also we need to teach them about emotional intelligence and how to manage their emotions.

Now What? Now that I know a little about Cognitive psychology and emotional intelligence, I can look for these things when I am in my field work. I can also learn how to teach EQ, so that all of my students can score excellent on the SAT tests.

Piagetian Task

I choose to do the task with my four year old cousin. I choose to do task two with the pennies, task three with the pencils or sticks, and task six with the water. I first did the penny task, I lined up two rows of five pennies close together and asked if they had the same number of pennies in them, the child responded yes. Then I spread out the top row of pennies so they were farther apart, then I asked again if they had the same amount of pennies in them and she responded "No, because now the top row was longer." Then I did the stick one but I used pencils instead. I had two pencils that were not sharpened and I laid them on the table and asked if they were the same length and she said "Yes". Then I moved the top one to the left a little and asked if they were the same length still, and she said "No, because the top one was longer now." Then I did the water task. I had two glasses of water in the same size of cup with the same amount of water in both of them. I then asked her if they had the same amount of water in them and she responded "Yes". Then I took one of the glasses and transferred into another shorter, wider glass. I than asked if they still had the same amount of water in them, she responded, "No, because now the shorter one had less" and she pointed to where the water level was and said "see, this one is only to here." This little girl is in the preoperational stage, because she still lacks conservation knowledge.