Are you a visual, auditory, kinesthetic or comdination learner?

Blog #5, Rigorous Researcher and Idea Illustrator, Stacey LaFountain, Chapters 6 and 7

The thing that I chose to research was visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners.  Though all of our school we have been taught that everyone learns in a different way.  In undergraduate school, at least for me, we were not really taught about these three different types of learning.  We just grazed over them.  This section of the book brought a little better understanding of these learners and made me realize that I really needed to delve into them.  By doing the research it let me really understand how I will need to understand all of the different types of learners to be an effective teacher.  These site will help you gain a better understanding and dig deeper into how these learners obtain material.

Visual Learners:
http://www2.yk.psu.edu/learncenter/acskills/visual.html
This site gives you the characteristics of a visual learner

Auditory Leanres:
http://www2.yk.psu.edu/learncenter/acskills/auditory.html
This site is the same as the visual learners.  It gives you the characteristics of the auditory learner.  

Kinesthetic Learners:

http://www.emporia.edu/csi/studentsuccess/documents/KinestheticLearner.pdf
This site give you a brief overview of what this learner is and the characteristics of that learner.







This picture is of background knowledge.  This whole book talks about the importance of background knowledge.  That can be linked to our other classes.  We have talked about how important it is for students to have some knowledge to further expand their progress.

This illustration, I felt, really gave you a good visual about Gardner's Intelligences.  I think that a visual of these intelligences really helps one to remember them.  Chapter 7 spends a lot of time talking about different intelligences and how it relates to the cognitive scientist.  

The mental toolbox reminded me about a different class.  In this class we talked about using a stratagie toolbox to help student's with their learning.  This mental took box was along the same lines but for your memory. 

How the heck do you meet everyone's needs.......easy!!

Blog # 5
Ch. 6&7
Natalie Gregorski
Idea Illustrator & Vocabulary Vitalizer

"This conclusion doesn't mean that students should never try to write a poem or conduct a scientific experiment; but teachers and administrators should have a clearn idea of what such assignments will do for the student." (pg.128)
     Not only is this important for me to keep in mind as an educator but so should every teacher. Many times I feel teachers pick a do an activity because it would be cool without actually thinking about what its true purpose is and what students will really get out of it.


"Compared to novices, experts are better able to single out important details, produce sensible solutions, and transfer their knowledge to similar domains." (pg. 132)
   Just like house I am much more able to transfer my knowledge of sports strategy than someone who never played a sport in their life.   When teaching it is important to consider background knowledge when designing activities and lessons. 

"Cognition early in training is fundamentally different from cognition late in training" (pg. 127)
          Students don't think the same way as a expert their learning and understanding differs based on their experience with the subject matter. The more comfortable they are with the material the most connections and applications to other things can take place.


Vocabulary Vitializer:
1) Deep Structure- fuctionality of the material being taught; how it can be used or applied to everyday practices

2) Self-talk -Intrapersonal communication is language use or thought internal to the communicator. Intrapersonal communication is the active internal involvement of the individual in symbolic processing of messages.

3) ten-year rule - researchers don't believe you can become an expect in less than ten years of experience or study.

Trust the Experts!

Blog #5- Chapters 6 & 7
Alex Pergolizzi

Vocabulary Vitalizer:

1. Expert: Willingham describes an expert as someone who has "a lot of background knowledge about their fields" (p. 131). Generally one becomes an expert after years of hard work an dedication to a field. It is not an over-night sensation and no one is born an expert.

2. Novice: A ranking below the "expert". A novice does not have the years of practice that an expert does. A novice is a person who is really just starting to develop their skills or "tools of the trade."


3. Ten-Year Rule: Not an actual rule but the theory that, "One can't become an expert in any field in less than ten years" (p. 139). The "rule" has been applied to many diverse fields. I remember meeting with an "expert" teacher last year and she told me "sometimes things just come with practice over a period of time."

4. Cognitive ability: "Capacity for or success in certain types of thought" (p. 149). Our abilities are how we understand content and from that show the level of what we know and what we can do.

5. Cognitive styles: "Biases or tendencies to think in a particular way" (p. 149). We are all comfortable learning a certain way, I learn through music and movements. Our style is how we prefer to learn and think. Willingham states that not one style is better than another, they are all equal.

Essence Extractor:

To be an expert takes time and practice, practice, practice!

Excuse me Sir... How do I get to the path of expertise?

Blog 5_Melissa Lochner_ Idea Illustrator & Creative Connector_Ch 6&7

Ideal Illustrator:
I'm sorry for my poor drawings.

The only path to expertise... is practice. (pg 137)

"Compared to novices, experts are better able to single out important details, produce sensible solutions, and transfer their knowledge to similar domains (pg. 132).

The debatable Gardner's Multiple Intelligence.

Creative Connector:

 

"...novice teachers often fail to notice misbehavior's where as experts rarely miss them (pg. 132)." 

          I found this sentence very amusing because I have witnessed multiple times where "expert" teachers have seen students misbehaving but pretend that they do not, so they don't have to deal with it.  Where as I the "novice" teacher would notice the misbehaving student and say something.

 

"...expert teachers can access information rapidly.  Compared to the novice, they can think of more ways to explain a concept, and the can think of these alternatives more quickly (pg. 132)" & "...just think of your reaction when you use Google and get five million results (pg. 132)."



"Beginning students do not yet have the cognitive equipment in place to compose, but that doesn't mean they won't have a great time doing so... (pg. 142)." 

           In this context Willingham is talking about music, but I was thinking in the mindset of art.  In an elementary classroom, the students are not experts.  However, they may enjoy exploring experts work and creating work just like it.  In the end, they are working towards grabbing the same concept that the artist has achieved. 

Just "CRAM" it in!

Blog #4- Chapter 5

Rigorous Researcher

"Cramming": The procrastinator's best friend! I can't even tell you how many times I have crammed for an exam while in High School and at Naz. In Chapter 5 of, Why don't students like school? the author states that " If you pack lots of studying into a short period, you'll do okay on an immediate test, but you will forget the material quickly" (pp. 119). I decided to research the topic of "cramming" to see how other professionals in the field felt about the subject. 

While researching the topic, I can't even begin to tell you how many sites I found with the same material: How to cram for your exam effectively. They gave the reader tips on how to cram for an exam,  teaching the procrastinator that "cramming" is great and useful! I then found and article exploring the cram session. 

The article poses many questions to the theme of cramming. I focused mainly on the idea: How Effective Is Cramming in the Long Run? John Goldrich, a mental health practitioner of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, states, "cramming is the result of procrastination which in turn stems from poor time management skills and often leads to stress." Stress can cause our body and mind to react in negative ways that are poor for our health and wellbeing. Just as Willingham says in Chapter 5, the article proves that cramming only assists the short term memory for a very brief period of time. 

Exploring Cramming

-Alex

Drop and Give me 50!!

blog 4
Chapter 5
Natalie Gregorski

Creative Connector:
"Were never gonna use this stuff" So if what we teach students is simply going to vanish, what in the heck are we teachers doing? (pg.116)
This comment is about geometry and how what we had to learn so well in high school we barely remember now. For me this is completely true have the stuff we learned in school I learned for the test and just discharged after, however I do remember a little bit about it, which is more then the nothing I knew about it before taking the class.

"If you pack lots of studying into a short period of time, you'll do okay on an immediate test, but you'll forget the material quickly."
I am an avid crammer when it comes to tests, it is completely true that you forget the information almost immediately after the test is taken. It is almost like you mind knew as soon as you walk out that door after the test there is no reason to hang on to it anymore.

"drilling boosts students' motivation and sense of fun"
I chose this passage because it really shocked me. I never at first glace would have thought that drilling was a good idea however, according to the book students benefit from the constant practice. I guess the whole stigma associated with drilling always have me a negative feel for the word.



Idea Illustrator:
all of the images below link to some of the passages I wrote about above for some reason the blog is not letting me put the actual images in and is acting really weird so hopefully you can see them.

This girl is dropping and giving fifty at least. Drilling and practicing have obviously made her push ups perfect!

This is me the night before every test and paper cramming....by all means I will know the material and get it done only to forget it two seconds after I leave the classroom.

And of course geometry, I actually remember loving geometry, it was one of my favorite math subjects and I still don't remember a darn thing!

Active thinking takes a lot of time....

Literary Luminary...Stacey LaFountain...Blog 4

“Less obvious are the reasons to practice skills when it appears you have mastered something and it’s not obvious that practice is making you any better. Odd as is may seem, that sort of practice is essential to schooling. It yields three important benefits: it reinforces the basic skills that are required for the learning of more advanced skills, it protects against forgetting, and it improves transfer”. (P. 108)
I feel that this passage is important because you can relate it to math. During work everyday I push into a math classroom. Here we practice everyday material that we have learned through the year so far. These skills that we are practicing are something that we build upon during everyday class when we learn new material. A perfect example is now we are learning about proportions and proofs. We have already covered proofs in class and are not applying that knowledge that we have with the knowledge we have just learned.
“Mental processes can become automatized. Automatic processes require little or no working-memory capacity”. (P. 111)
Reflexes come to mind when I read this passage. Little children are not born with the knowledge to put their hand in front of their face if a ball is thrown in that direction. Most of the time a child gets hit in the face and learns that they need to put their hand up. Their reflexes are something that they learn over time by doing.
“The difficulty is that there is only so much room in working memory, and if we try to put too much stuff in there, we get mixed up and lose the thread of the problem we were tying to solve, or the story we were trying to follow, or the factors we were trying to weigh in making a complex decision”. (P. 114)
I had this problem just today. Driving the child that I nanny home we were talking about his day and the different things that went on. He started on one topic of conversation and then switched half way through. I was paying attention to what he was talking about and completely forgot the other subject. When he went back to the subject a minute later I could not remember what he had told me. Even though I was listening attentively to him I could not recall anything that he had said.

Practice Makes Proficiency

Blog 4_Ch5_ Essence Extractor and Vocabulary Vitalizer_Melissa Lochner

Essence Extractor:

Don’t overload your working memory, practice to make automatized information.  

Vocabulary Vitalizer:

Practice- continuing to work at something that you’ve already mastered. 

Knowledge Transfer- seeks to organize, create, capture or distribute knowledge and ensure its availability for future users.  The transfer of knowledge between organizational development and organizational learning. 

Drilling- to impart (knowledge) by strict training, discipline, or repetition.

Automatic Process- performed a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner from force of habit or without conscious thought

Basic Skill- writing words.

Advanced Skill- writing a sentence or story

Why can't I remember that? You told me just last week!

Chapter 3& 4 - Creative Connector and Idea Illustrator ~ Stacey LaFountain...Blog 3

"A reasonable guess is that we remember things that bring about some emotional reaction.  Aren't you likley to remember really happy moments, such as a wedding, or really sad ones, such as hearing the news of the attacks on 9/11?" (P. 57)
This made me think of my great grandma's 95th birthday.  I remember this day very well because we were celebrating her life.  It was a very emotional day for my family because my grandma was very close to death.  To be able to have a happy memory for one last memory lasted longer then any sad memory from her death. 

"Repetition is another obvious candidate for what makes learning work" (P. 58)
This is something that can help depending on what you want to remember.  In music repetition of a song you are going to sing will help you to memorize the words.  This will help you in the end because the likely hood of forgetting the words is very  minimal.

"The answer is that they understand new ideas (things they don't know) by relating them to old ideas (things they do know)" (P. 88)
I encountered this a few weeks ago with my niece.  She asked a question and wanted an answer.  The straight forward answer was not enough for her so I had to use an idea that she has previously learned in order to teacher a new concept.

"You ask a student a question (in class or perhaps on a test), and the student responds using the exact words you used when you explained the idea or with the exact words from the textbook" (P. 93)

I am sure that everyone has had this experience while teaching and as a student.  These are the responses you more then likely get when you just have to remember the material for a test and then you forget it right after. 

This first image is of a penny.  The penny was talked about in the reading to coiside with repetition.  I thought that it was interesting how in some aspects of memory repetition works for individuals however, seeing something everyday does not meant that you know what it looks like.

The second image is of long - term memory.  These chapters still focuses on how memory can affect the student.  Long-term and really any kind of memory is important to the students.

The third image is of a television.  I chose this picture because of the title of chapter 3.  This chapter talks a lot about memory and why students remember specific things and not others. 

Huh? does that even mean anything?

 Natalie Gregorski
Blog 3
Chapters 3 &4

Essence Extractor:

           Memory is the residue of thought that builds on previous understanding.


Vocabulary Vitalizer:

1) The "four C's" = Four components of a story    
          Causality- the events in the story are linked to each other with a district purpose of cause
          Conflict- the goal or situation that needs to be overcome where there are usually obstacles in the way
          Complications- the sub problems that arise when trying to meet the goal, the obstacles.
          Character- strong characters, who don't need to be described in detail because the story and their actions tell us about them.

2) Mnemonics= a method or devise used to aid recall or memory examples are acronyms or rhymes.

3) Story Structure = the way in which the author organizes material that students are suppose to think about.

4) Surface Structure = what the text looks like what our immediate or initial thought is not really getting to the niddy gritty.

5) Deep Structure = the underlying meaning, process or procedure to solving a problem. (often in math two questions my look different or be asked different but the same procedure is used to solve it, meaning the deep structure is the same)

I'm going to remember this moment for the rest of my life!

Blog #3: chapter 3-4
Literary Luminator

1. "Students often refer to good teachers as those who "make the stuff interesting." It's not that the teacher relates the material to students' interests- rather, the teacher has a way of interacting with students that they find engaging." (pp. 64) I enjoyed this passage because I found it to be very true. Teaching our students the necessary content is fabulous, however, many times we lose students due to disinterest in the material.  If we know our students well, we can hook them and get them interested not by changing our content but just by being the amazing professionals we are! It is very much easier said than done because not all students learn the same and they all have very diverse personalities. So while your engaging some students you might be turning other students off to the content.

2. "The emotional bond between student and teacher- for better or worse- accounts for whether students learn. ....They are able to connect with students and they organize the material in a way that makes in interesting and easy to learn." (pp. 65) Okay, so a little redundant from the first passage but I think one of the most important things a teacher can do is connect with the students. Kids spend most of their day in school and around us teachers, shouldn't we make them feel safe and get to know them? Teachers have so much influence over their students and most don't even realize it. If a student doesn't feel like the teacher knows them as an individual why would they want to learn? I feel that connecting to the student and giving the individual what they need is just as important as teaching content.

3. "If someone understands an abstract principle, we expect they will show transfer. When knowledge transfers, that means they have successfully applied old knowledge to a new problem." (pp. 97) I chose this passage because in our faculty meetings at school I am in the "transfer" group and am collecting research to show how transfer is applied in the classroom. There are a couple different types of transfer. For instance, students can transfer skills like writing a rough draft...editing that draft..and then producing a final draft from ELA to Foreign Language. Students can also transfer content: In my Italian class we are watching a video about being Jewish in Italy and Italy's involvement during WWII. My student's can transfer previous knowledge from when they did a WWII unit in Social Studies. By transferring this knowledge or these skills, they are applying previous knowledge to a new content or new task which shows understanding.

-Alex

Ready to Recall

Blog 3_Chapter 3&4_ Rigorous Researcher_ Melissa Lochner

I decided to research mnemonics.  Although I have seen them before in classrooms, when Willingham first mentioned the word I forgot what they were.  I wanted to see if the internet had any other ideas besides the one Willingham showed in the chart. There were lots of websites about using mnemonics to improve your memory but not as many about mnemonics in education.  One website I found talked about how a girl classified as mildly mentally handicapped was helped immensely with a mnemonic device.  Willingham talked about how it could help students but he never said how it may help students with disabilities even more.   Although all methods of mnemonics are successful, the ones that have worked best for students with learning disabilities and other special needs is the keyword method, the pegword method, and letter strategies. The article talks about having the students creating their own mnemonic device as well, allowing them to connect with the information even more and help the learning process.  However, “instruction may proceed at a much slower rate and students' performances may be lower than when teachers supply the strategies (Mastropieri, &Scruggs, 1998)” when the last suggestion is applied. 

Go to http://www.ldonline.org/article/5912 to read the entire article. 

Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T.E. (1998, March).Enhancing school success with mnemonic    strategies. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/5912

-Melissa