Barb Retenbach Reflection

    This was a very eye opening presentation into autism. From this presentation I realized that often times the most important thing a teacher can do is to sit with a child who has autism and just be there. The teachers sheer presence and getting to know the student can give you so much insight into their world. This goes along with the learning from those that we serve as Louis mentioned. It also opened my eyes to the term autism spectrum disorder. It is incredible how much Barb has to say and how the world of typing has opened up her world.

     The biggest thing I am taking away from the talk is that the world is better off with autism. People who have learning disabilities like autism have so much to offer the world and we should not discount their talents.

These are some quick bullets of the highlights that i am taking away and will consider and use when I work with children with autism and other learning disabilities.

• Discover find out who the person is
• Allowing time to be inside their own autism where they will not be disturbed
• Keep an open mind about other forms of communication
• The autistic person should have power and responsibility of their own and they might just take it
• You don't know what your missing when you medicate things away
• Find out who they are and be that on purpose

Group Differences Forum

     I really enjoyed the group differences forum, each group brought up very interesting topics and discussion questions that caused me to think and reflect about how I would handle each situation. Although we only had one class to discuss all the various topics I thought it was ample time. We had previously discussed the topics prior to this class and it was easy to reference the past discussions. I also think it was enough time because most everyone has had other classes address theses issues before so it was not the first time for anyone to discuss these issues.

     Two of the topics that the discussion made me rethink and consider were religion in schools and children with disabilities. Religion although I have thought about it prior was talked about in a different way today.  I think it is very important to be aware and knowledgeable about the various backgrounds that are present in your classroom. I liked the idea of inviting parents into the class to share their own traditions, and I think it is important to not assume anything about a person’s religious affiliation.  We also discussed disabilities and whether it was a appropriate to try to normalize the students or to view them as just different and needing special attention. I think it is very important to treat each child individually and do what works for them and not make accommodations that are unnecessary.  

PLE Post 10

Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in cognitive development.  Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range that you are interested in teaching.  Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.

Language knowledge can vary greatly when children come into kindergarten. As a teacher you might also have English language learners who might have a solid language base in their native language but not in English. This creates interesting scenarios for teachers but it is very easy for teachers to incorporate strategies to help children gain a better sense of language. One of these is through daily reading both by the teacher and the student. Having a teacher led reading for a book that might be slightly above the majority of the students current level can expose them to more complex sentence structure.

I think that the children gain the most experience by using the words through reading and writing. Having students do creative writing or construct narratives on their own helps them build sentence structure and use their knowledge base. It is also important to give constructive feedback when you notice the children using words that they did not use before as well as give corrective feedback if a child continually misuses a word. I think having a strong language base is a key for a child to be successful in school. 

PLE Post 9

How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?

Self-regulation is one of the most important skills that children learn in schools. This can be taught through many different strategies and adapted for each child. When children enter school they are all going to vary in their ability to self regulate, therefore it is not developmentally appropriate for each child to have the same expectations. One way self-regulation could be used in the intervention plan is to work with the child to create a goal and then have them monitor their own progress. She can monitory her progress by making tally marks every time she catches herself before acting out or misbehaving. Over a period of time she can see how she is making fewer and fewer tally marks because she is more aware of her behavior and is better able to regulate it.  This also establishes a sense of self-efficacy by seeing the progress she is making she will have a sense of pride and accomplishment. A child can gain a sense of self-efficacy by little changes such as starting off with answers they know and being called upon to share with the class, this shows them that they are smart and can share the answer with the class. A small change like this can create a more confident child who might believe they will do better and in turn they will be more likely to succeed on that task. When students gain a sense of self-efficacy they are more confident learners and in turn can help their self-regulation. Here is an article that talks about self-efficacy and how it is distinctly different from motivation in a classroom. 

PLE 8

Consider your CSEL intervention case study.  Are there tools from a behaviorist view for either encouraging productive behaviors or discouraging undesirable behaviors that you could apply to the case?  What are they?

Now, compare the interventions that you have identified above with what you think might work from a cognitive or constructivist viewpoint (you may need to Google for ideas but it's okay to just speculate based on your prior knowledge).  How do they compare to behaviorist tools?  What are the benefits of each theory, and what are the deficits? Which theory might play a larger role in how you determine classroom management?

I believe that there are a lot of great ideas in behaviorist theory with positive and negative rewards. I believe it is a good technique for teachers who are aware of when children can be moved to random reinforcement.  I also think that as a teacher you have to make sure that the children are not relying too much on the reinforcer because ideally you want them to instill internal motivation. 

I believe that constructivism is more of a way to think about teaching but not necessarily a classroom management tool. I believe that behaviorism is encouraging behavior that you want and discouraging behavior that you do not want. Although as continually said in class behaviorism and constructivism cannot go together I believe that they can be and that teachers often mix the two. A teacher can use behaviorism rewards such as stickers and the treasure box.  This same teacher can allow students to construct their own knowledge when they are learning about various math and science techniques.

This article looks at the behaviorist techniques that can be applied to a classroom such as reinforcements and the teacher as a researcher. I chose this article specifically because of how they view the teacher as a researcher, which is also a very constructivist view. I personally used this technique during my practicum as I took very detailed anecdotes of the children and their interests and based of that created a unit that I thought they would enjoy from my ‘research’.

PLE 7- Metacognitive Skills

Think of an activity or lesson component that explicitly teaches one or more metacognitive and one or more problem solving skills.

During any reading lesson I think a teacher can incorporate the teaching of metacognitive skills through comprehension monitoring. This can be done for an extended period of time lead by the teacher until the children are able to go through the steps on their own. For first grade children can take turns reading through a short story. The teacher can stop the children and have them monitor their process and make sure they are aware of what is going on. I would do this by stopping and then having them tell a partner what they just read and the main points, the partners would take turns telling each other throughout the story.  I would use another technique after we finished reading the story. Children would have a sheet of paper and after asking a question they would write down their answer. Then I would give possibilities and have children give a thumps up if that is what they put. Then if there were multiple children who got the answer wrong we would go back in the text and find where we can answer that question. The children would be learning how to self check and after goring through this process with the teacher they would be able to do it own their own without having to talk to a partner or write down anything.  As they grow and their awareness becomes more automatic you can begin to have them pick out relevant information by learning what information is really important what information is not necessary to the entire story.

Here is an introduction from a book that talks about reading strategies and techniques that incorporate metacognitve skills into reading comprehension. The entire book is not available on Google but the introduction provides some background information. 

Chapter 7 (post 6)

Chapter 7

Make a list of the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the content of your lesson through a constructivist approach. 

Which of these learning activities/skills lend themselves to student’s individual or group construction?  How might you structure learning activities that lead students to discover these skills/these principles?

The lesson that my group chose to focus on in class was teaching time to a group of first graders. They will learn how to tell time on a digital and analog clock to the hour and half hour. 

•        The first activity we would do is create their own clocks using small paper plates and writing the numbers so the children have a better grasp of the location and the rotation of the numbers on the clock. 
•        We would then talk about the mind hand and the hour hand that are on a clock and discuss how time is read by using the term “o’clock” when referring to the hour.
•        After practicing telling time on small manipulative clocks and their hand made clock, we would practice making the time with our bodies. This would be done in groups with one person being the hour hand and another being the minute hand.
•      Children can practice telling time with a more skilled peer and then make a bridge when they believe they have shown the correct answer on their clock.
•        The final step would be to assess the children’s knowledge by doing a worksheet and the teacher walking around the classroom assessing the children’s understanding.
•        A final culminating activity would be to have the children document and create a daily schedule by drawing the time on an analog clock and representing it digitally and displaying it in the room. When transitions and activities occur children will take note and create the schedule.

When creating their own clock that will be an individual project that the children can take ownership in and will keep at their desk to refer to when they need it. A group/partner activity is creating the times with their bodies and working together to demonstrate the correct time in groups of three-four children. The children will also work together to create the daily schedule and apply the skills that they have learned over the week.