Question !

What is teaching really about ??
I believe teaching is about being there for your students and helping them along the way as the develop and grow. By getting to know each child on a deeper level it is easier to connect with them through their learning. Relationships with your students are very important to their success during each year. When these relationships are strong students will enjoy coming to school, making them more open to learning and new ideas. Also because of your knowledge of how each child learns and processes information it makes it easier to know when they are struggling and need your help to get through a rough subject or concept. 

Current Trends

1. Use at least some performance based assessments
2. Try to examine higher order cognitive skills (blooms)
3. Use multiple assessment methods
4. have high performance standards (setting the bar high)
5. Use computers as part of assessment (incorporating new technologies)

As a teacher you have to be aware of new and upcoming trends to keep your teaching ways up to date. Keeping up with what is new in the teaching community allows you to provide the best environment for your students and yourself.

Assessing Students' Learning

Alberta Assessment Consortium 

1. Teacher as planner: determining which outcomes to focus on
2. Teacher as coach: "scaffolding" -constructivism -student centered planning
3. Teacher as judge: gathering data to base evaluation on how much they've learned; judgement of learning that is taking place (evidence)

I believe that every teacher needs to take these jobs very seriously. By following their directions it makes teaching a very rewarding job. Mastering these skills will assure the best education for your students and the best experience for yourself.

Types and Features of Assessment

4 Types 

1. Before Instruction Assessment: takes place before instruction occurs - to provide us with a baseline 
2. During Instruction Assessment: (formative assessment - assessment for learning) Diagnostic - to help ourselves and students to know how their doing, if they need help, or if they need to do something differently
3. After Instruction Assessment: (assessment of learning) 
4. Assessment as Learning: dimension of metta cognition (thinking about our thinking) - becoming aware of our own learning 

3 Features

1. Reliability - assessment instrument yield, constant/predictable results - results are reproducible, stable and dependable 
2. Validity - measures what it claims to measure
3. Fairness - no barriers - all learners have the same opportunity to learn and demonstrate their skills 

Managing the Classroom

Minor Interventions
- keeping your students moving in a positive direction
Small Interventions/Non Verbal: progressive discipline  
Direct Interventions: directly and assertively tell them to stop
- always consider where the child is coming from; developmental needs

Moderate Interventions
- semi formal interventions
Ex. Detention, Withholding privileges, Time Outs (student realization of what they were doing and why they need a time out to cool down and rethink the situation)

Serious Interventions
Formal
Ex. Involve school admin, Suspensions (in school or at home), Expulsion
- last resort

*If you do not have a well planned schedule/organization system/curriculum, this leaves room for misconduct and bad behavior.  

ACT - how

A - action
C - conditions
T - terms

How:
*how will this be assessed?
*how will we know it is working?

Instructional Taxonomies
There are many versions of taxonomies.
- Blooms Taxonomy - Classical
- Revised (one we use)
Also includes affective taxonomy and psycho taxonomy

Learner & Teacher Centered Planning and Instruction

Learner-Centered planning and instruction


Three Strategies:
1. Problem based
2. essential questions (essay question)
3. discovery learning (research assignment)
    - links the project to their curiosity
    - allows students to discover connections for themselves

Integrating the Curriculum
- more real - more authentic

Video: Sugata Mitra (TED)
- shows how children teach themselves

1)  Remoteness - effects quality of education: schools and institutions in remote areas outside of mainstream life are found to have a lower standard of education.
* 6-13 year olds will self instruct if they have the resources
* primary education can happen on its own

2) Children can self organize - learning is a self organizing system

"Any teacher that can be replaced by a machine, should be ..."
* I think this is a fair statement because if a teacher is not able to give his or her students the in depth learning experience that a computer or some type of technology could, there is no point for them being there other than to supervise. If the technology is there for students to use, it should be utilized in everyday learning.

Teacher-Centered planning and instruction

- what is it?
- connected with traditional views: teacher makes all decisions
John Dewey - progressivism (more student centered)

Behavioral Objectives
ex. By April 15th, Marta will correctly read the following survival words: exit, push, pull, Women's, Ladies, washroom, information, with 80% accuracy.

Condition.Action.Term 


*statements that communicate proposed changes in students behavior to reach desired levels of performance
1. student behavior - what they will do
2. conditions under which the behavior occur - where, when, how
3. performance criteria - terms, degrees of accuracy, quality

Video: Shawn Achor

The Science of Happiness and Potential
Positive Psychology
- the importance of relationships
- study of human potential
- seeks to study above average

Thinking to your self that "You can be smarter", will make you smarter.
- being happy before doing a task increases productivity by 50%

Motivation 2.0

-Its good to have active students. Getting them involved in the learning helps them really enjoy what they are learning, making it easier to retain information.

Maslow's Framework is based around Blackfoot connections.

Orientations:
1. Helpless - "can't do it" - unstable internal
2. Performance - not focused on process, but focussed on the outcome
3. Mastery - form of intrinsic motivation - focused on the task (skills)
    - improved performance - positive effect (enjoyment) - curiosity and enjoyment

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

1. Self Transcendence (no longer satisfied with their own peak experiences, they now feel the need to reach out to others)

2. Self Actualization (as an individual, being all you can be, peak experiences)

3. Aesthetics/Beauty (art, music, beautiful home, literature, harmony and beauty)

4. Knowledge and Understanding (intellectual needs)

5. Self-Esteem and Respect of Others (social needs)

6. Love and Acceptance (intimate foundations of social relations)

7. Safety (continuing supply of F, C, S)

8. Physiological (food, clothing, shelter)

Video: Dan Pink

Motivation
1. Intrinsic: Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside reward ex. Personal fulfillment.
2. Extrinsic: Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades.


-autonomy -mastery -purpose


The Result Only Work Environment (aka ROWE)
- functional fixedness
- when higher rewards are offered there is lower production


Can there be Motivation without Passion?
I believe that there can be some motivation without passion. When you are not passionate about something it is hard to motivate yourself. Usually when there is no passion or a lack of passion you have to use Extrinsic motivation, like doing a project for school and focusing on the grade you want to receive.


Is Performance killing Creativity?
In todays society we focus a lot on performance. While we are all striving to do our best and achieve the greatest possible outcome we tend to lose the creative side of our work.  Because we are worried about the performance of our actions we tend to fall into a state of routine, this routine leaves no room for creativity and sometimes we lose our true selves in our work.  

Video: Andi Bell and Super Memory Strategy

• using a story to memorize facts
• Loci Method

Memory

A. Encoding 

- rehearsal: conscience repetition over time

- deep processing: towards deeper meaning

- elaboration: taking an idea and extending it

- constructing images: visual elaboration

- organization: make meaningful connections (concept maps)

B. Storage

- sensory: seconds or less

- short term: 30 seconds

- long term: 1. declarative (explicit) - a) Episodic Memory b) Semantic Memory

                         2. Procedural (implicit) 

C. Retrieval 

A Functional Approach

(centrally concerned with the why)

A.B.C : Antecedents --> Behavior --> Consequence

Functional Analysis: examining a students inappropriate behavior as well as its antecedents and consequences to determine the function(s) that the behavior might serve for the student.
Positive Behavior Support: after identifying the purpose we find alternate ways for the student to reach that purpose.

Strategies: 1. directly teach desirable behaviors
                           2. constantly reinforce these behaviors in a way the student truly appreciates
                           3. In the classroom: try to provide predictable routines
                           4. provide frequent opportunities for choice
                           5. provide adaptation to support academic success

Adaptations: change we make in learning environment to reduce a barrier 

Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner: 

When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to respond. Reinforcement is the key element in Skinner's S-R theory. A reinforcer is anything that strengthens the desired response.

Stimulus - Response

• positive reinforcement
• positive punishment
• negative reinforcement
• negative punishment

Generalization: having a similar response to a similar stimulus
ex. continuing good behavior outside of class

Exceptional Learners?

I.E.P (individualized education plan)
- these IEP's allow each student to be taught to their specific needs
- this gives teachers a way to attend to each students needs, making their learning experience the best possible

Inclusive Education: the teaching of all students together
- I believe that inclusive education may be a good thing for the future of schooling but it does come with consequences: Students that need extra care and help in the classroom may not work well with children who are developing at a normal rate. They sometimes need specific attention and when they are placed in a class with everyone else it is hard for the teacher to provide the child with what they need specifically.
- Students with individual learning needs require some form of support or specialized program, this can be hard to do in classrooms with a large number of students
- Our class room systems should be fair. Fairness means that everyone gets what he or she needs, this does not mean that everyone gets the same things.

Video: How difficult can this be? (FAT city workshop)
F.A.T - Frustration, Anxiety, Tension

Oral Expression: Dysnomia (word finding problem)
- cognitive = one thing at a time
- associative = two or more things at a time
For a child with Dysnomia speaking is a cognitive activity

Auditory and Visual Capabilities
- some kids understand once something is read to them
As a teacher you have to be aware of the ways students learn best and form your teaching strategies around them.

Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.)

IQ (formula): IQ = MA/CA x 100 (mental age/chronological age)

Myths:  - belief that a person's IQ will be constant as they develop
              - belief that IQ is the only important thing we need to know about children

Question: What do you think about the IQ testing of children?

I do not agree with the IQ testing of children. Because our IQ changes as we age and develop it is not fair for a child to have their IQ tested while they are still growing. If a child receives a low score on their IQ test, they would be treated differently than the average student. This is wrong because the child may just be developing slower than other children his or her own age.  

Video: Digital Nation

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=proglist&utm_source=proglist

Multitasking is dumbing down the human race. When we multi-task it takes our focus back and forth between tasks and we never place our focus on one thing. There are so many distractions these days such as: Facebook, Texting, Google (search engines), Ipods, etc. I think that these distractions have good and bad consequences. 

Bad: distracts us from daily tasks like driving (can be cause of accidents), school (resulting in less studying and a drop in class marks), and work (motivation & production). These electronics are making us very anti-social with the rest of society, instead of talking and hanging out with each other we sit at our own homes and text back and forth, reducing social contact. 

Good: connects us to people all across the world, provides us with quick access to information, gives us instant responses from family and friends, etc. 

Todays generations are "hooked on tronics" !

This Song by Paul Brandt is a different look at how electronics and technology has impacted our lives.

Kohlberg

Levels and Stages of Moral Development

1. Preconventional
   - punishment
   - hedonism (get things that we like)
2. Conventional
   - nice boy/nice girl
   - law and order
3. Postconventional: process of internalization is complete
   - social contract (occurs quite rarely)
   - universal ethical (occurs practically never)

Heinz Dilemma

Heinz wife is dying. One special drug, discovered by a local druggist, might save her, but the druggist is selling it at an exorbitant price. So Heinz, after failing to borrow the money he needs, pleads with the druggist to sell the drug cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist refuses. Should Heinz steal the drug for his wide? Why?


I believe that Heinz should consider all of the consequences, good and bad, before he makes a concrete decision.


BAD: 

• he could do jail time for stealing the drug
• he could be issued a large fine, which would set him back more than he is now
• if he steals the drug, there is a chance that it will not cure his wife. Then the robbery would have been for nothing.

GOOD: 

• if Heinz steals the drug, it could cure his wife (but he could go to jail because of the robbery and not be able to spend time with his wife when she gets better.)

Simon Sinek

How Great Leaders Inspire Action 
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

"Think, Act, Communicate"
"People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."

• Inspired people think from the inside - out (why, how, what)
• Everyone else thinks from the outside - in (what, how, why)

"There are leaders, then there are those who lead."