Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is made up of eight stages beginning with physiological and moving up too self-transcendence. It can then be separated into two categories; deficiency needs and growth needs. deficiency needs are the first four, physiological, safety, love & acceptance, and self esteem & respect of others. If these needs are not met it will get in the way of the person moving through the rest of stages as well as our ability to learn. Growth needs are knowledge & understanding, aesthetics/beauty, self-actualization and self-transcendence. These stages help us to move towards self-fulfillment.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is as follows:





I would describe my self as being in multiple stages at this time in my life.

• "Knowledge & Understanding" - because I am currently in college gaining the knowledge I need for my future career, and to move on in life
• "Aesthetics & Beauty" - because I do care about the way I look, and because style is always changing, this is always something that will need to be worked on
• "Self-actualization" - I may not be fully at this stage, but definitely at the point where I am striving to "be all that I can be." I am working towards this, and I feel I have begun to touch upon it.

Cooperative Learning

In today's classrooms teachers include and rely in cooperative learning on one of the ways to get a lesson across. All students have different views on this including me. For the most part I enjoy cooperative learning especially when I end up in a group in which we all work well together. However, this is not always the case and sometimes cooperative learning can add so much extra stress and frustration that it would be easier to just do all the work yourself. So there are definite pros and cons to cooperative learning.

                

Pros.	Cons.
Get exposed to new ideas and people	Need to split up work evenly, so it’s not just one person doing all the work. So everyone pitches in.
Allows for construction of knowledge through social interactions	Hard for everyone to get together, especially in post-secondary due to varying class schedules and work.
Everybody’s success depends on others - “all the boats need to rise and fall together”	Creates stress

Five factors that follow with the ideas of pros and cons of cooperative learning and guide you to a better cooperative learning experience are the:

Five Components of Cooperative Learning

1. Positive Interdependence
• Everybodys success depends on others
• Everyone needs to have something invested
2. Positive face-to-face Interactions
• Positive Motivator
• The group should be a kind of community
3. Interpersonal and small group interactions
• Different roles to create interactions. i.e.
• Encourager
• Praiser
• Gatekeeper
• Coach
• Question Commander
• Checker
• Taskmaster
• Recorder
• Reflector
• Quiet Captain
• Materials Monitor
4. Individual Accountability
• One may do most pf the work, other may not show up. Yet all receive the same mark
• Everyone needs to be accountable, and encouraged to work together and do their share of the work
5. Critical Reflection
• When we reflect upon what happened or what we did, and construct knowledge
• how we evaluate
• why?

The Cognitive Information - Processing Approach

The cognitive information approach can be looked at in a sense that our cognitive abilities are similar to that of a computer:

 Robert Siegler also describes the cognitive information processing approach through three things; Thinking, Changing Mechanisms and self modification.

Changing mechanisms is then also broken down into four parts

1. Encoding: which is the process of storage and getting info into the system. This is similar to the Input stage as referenced above
2. Automaticity: which is when something becomes automatic, we can perform it without really having to think about it. Again similar to the way in which a computer functions, it just performs the task that is being asked
3. Strategy Construction: this involves making ourselves consciously aware of how we do things. This allows us to learn to perform tasks more effectively.
4. Transfer: Involves taking something new and applying it to something we already know or to another situation. Allowing more passage ways to the knowledge.

Finally, self modification which is when we can change our own programming, what we know and how we learned it on our own. this involves meta cognition which is basically thinking about thinking as well as cognitive self awareness.


=> prior to learning about the processing approach of cognitive information, I didn't really think about how I was learning, or what I was doing with information once I learned it.  However, I now try to make more ties to the information, whether its to what Ive learned before or through different situations in my life. This now helps me remember information, whether its for an exam or just for my general life, because I have created those extra ties and created better ways for retrieving the information.  

Reciprocal Determinism model of Learning

Albert Bandura created the Reciprocal determinism model of learning which states that learning is determined through the reciprocal or back and forth relationship between behavior, personal factors and environmental factors. The general look of the model is:

I have created an example model which shows how the three interact and where the reciprocity comes in.

The "Golden Circle of Teaching"

In a video Simon Sinek describes his theory of "The Golden Circle" which is set up as:

And, he states that normally people work from the outside in, they start with the what and work themselves in. However, in order to make an impact and to get the real point of something, you need to start with the inside and work your way in.

So to look at this from the point of view of teaching, the what and how are pretty simple; What - We want to be teachers, How - We are learning processes, techniques and models of teaching.

Then there is the why;

I would like to be a teacher to make a difference in children's lives and to help them to succeed. Obviously I know it'll be tough but that moment when a student finally grasps a concept is priceless, and makes it all worth while. That's why I want to be a teacher.

I've also attached an assignment I had for another class where we had to write a two page paper on why I want to be a teacher. So it just adds a little more to my why, of the Golden circle.

Operant Conditioning

There are important concepts to operant conditioning, and within the four concepts lies two types of stimulus; the first where something is introduced or added and the second is when something is taken away. Also, with the two types of stimulus follows a response or directional behavior change. For instance an upward direction is where something is reinforced and a downward or decrease in behavior is when there is a punishment. Now that we know the different stimulus and responses, we can move into the actual concepts:

1. Positive Reinforcement
• is when you increase a behavior by introducing something
2. Negative Reinforcement
• is when you increase a behavior by removing something
3. Positive Punishment
• Is when you decrease a behavior by adding something
4. Negative Punishment
• Is when you decrease a behavior by removing something

Now, in order to make this more clear, I have created some examples or scenarios that out line each along with the desired behavior change.

1. Positive Reinforcement
• If a child is doing a great job concentrating and working on their assignment, rather than fooling around and being distracted, you may offer praise to the student
• The behavior you want is for the student to continue to work hard so the addition of praise will make the student want to work just as hard the next day to continue receiving that praise
2. Negative Reinforcement
• A child may constantly be late handing in assignments, and so if you are constantly nagging the student to hand it on time, the student is bound to hand it on time. Then when they do this, you will stop nagging them
• With the removal of the nagging the student will continue to hand in their assignments on time to avoid the nagging.
3. Positive Punishment
• If a student is continually being disruptive and bugging students in class, you may give them a detention
• The addition of detention will hopefully make the student stop being disruptive in class so they don't receive another detention
4. Negative Punishment
• If a student is continually not doing their homework, you may take away their recess and make them finish their homework in that time
• The removal of recess will hopefully make the student do their homework on time, so they don't lose their recess again.

So, as you can see these concepts of operant conditioning can be found in many classrooms, and will also be very useful as new teachers.

Understanding Learning Disablities

In the Video, "Understanding Learning Disabilities: How difficult can this be? The F.A.T city workshop." Richard D. Lavoie shows both what it is like to have a learning disability as well as certain things you can do to help the student.

I found this video to be very helpful because as new teachers we will run into situations with children who have learning disabilities and may not know why the student is acting how they do, or why they are having trouble with certain tasks. For instance, when we ask a question and receive an answer, then quickly move onto another, the child may still be processing the first question and may not be on the new question yet. for this Lavoie mentions to ask the question, maybe erase the chalkboard to give time, then ask the child with a learning disability first because they now have had time to process the question as well as an answer.

Another thing Lavoie mentioned that I feel may be very useful when I begin teaching, is if I have student who has trouble following along with what I am saying, and gets nervous that I may call on them. I can create a system with that student where as long as I am not in front of that student I won't call on them. This way, they won't constantly be in fear that I may call on them, allowing them to focus on what I am saying rather. Then when I move in front of the student, they then know I will call on them, allowing time to process a response.

This video has shown me many things about children with learning disabilities such as how they process information, and the different problems a student may have to conquer before being able to process the information. So, with this new knowledge and the different techniques Lavoie mentioned in the video, I am definitely more confident for when I begin teaching in an Inclusive classroom.

Inclusive Education in Alberta

There are three different ways that children with special needs are taught through; special education classes, resource room and inclusive classrooms.
Special Education classes, consists of a complete separation from the classroom, where there is a congregation of children with similar special needs grouped together in one class.
A resource room, where for certain subject a student may move from the classroom, to a resource room for specific help or a different curriculum for a certain subject such as math. The student Will then return to the classroom once that subject is done.
Inclusive Classrooms, are where students with special needs stay in the classroom for all subjects through out the day. "Educating all children, together, well."

As a new teacher, there are different things that I may need in order to take my place in an inclusive classroom. Such things may be:

• Knowledge of the students, their backgrounds and in depth knowledge of a child's learning disability
• What may have worked and what has not worked in previous years. Possibly meeting with teachers who have taught the students prior.
• Practice working with children who have learning disabilities
• A support System

I believe, with these things and maybe a few others, working in an inclusive classroom may be easier than without them. It may also allow me to be more comfortable with my position, as well as the possibility to overcome challenges through out the year.

Gender Deveopment

There are many different theories and views towards gender development, and I believe in today's society these views are greatly different when compared to past ideas. There are four different views; Biological, Social Learning, Cognitive development theory and Gender Theory Schema.
So first, is the Biological view which is basically that a persons gender is determined through physiology such as hormones, or through neurological. I believe that with this viewpoint it is more so physiological than neurological, because depending on hormone levels, a person may have more of a masculine tone to them or a feminine one. And this can be in either both male or female, it is not determined by the sex.
Secondly, is social learning. And this is basically that gender roles are learned through observation and their surroundings. for instance, if a boy is growing up in a family with two older sisters and a single mom, the child is only seeing the feminine side, and so this is how he would learn his role, and build an idea of himself. Thus, the child may be a male, but have more of a feminine gender role.
Next are the two theories than go along with gender development; Cognitive Development theory, which states that a child will come to see the differences between femininity and masculinity and that overtime will be able to distinguish between the two and what makes up each of them. And finally, Gender Schema Theory, which is more of an information process approach, in which a child sees what is the socially accepted schema of gender in their community, and then blends themselves with this concept. This theory has also shown that children meeting the cultural gender expectations have more self esteem.
So, by looking at the different views and theories on gender development, and compare them to present time and in the past, it shows that there are many different views and theories now-a-days when compared to in the past when gender was directly linked to sex. For example, if you were a male you were masculine and a female you were feminine. There wasn't acceptance for a male who was more feminine or a female who was masculine.

Diversity in Eduacation

In today's society there is a vast array of diversity in education. When most people look at diversity, the first thing they think of is usually race. However some of the other types of diversity within education is socioeconomic status, cultural capital, and of course multicultural education.
So first, socioeconomic status is basically how much money a person or family has. This comes into education for what type of school they go to or where in the city their school is located. Socioeconomic status also plays a role for post secondary, because someone who comes from a family who's parents went to post secondary, they are more likely to also go, as well due to costs of post secondary, if a person comes from a family with money, they are more likely to be able to afford to go.
Next is Cultural capital, which is the culture a student brings into the classroom. As an example, if a student is new to a school and comes in unable to speak the same language as everyone else, they are coming in with a low culture capital. And, so it is the opposite for someone coming into a new school who speaks the native language. They will be coming in with a higher cultural capital than the student who does not speak the native language.
As teachers, there are numerous things that we will need to do in regards to diversity in education. One being to , "reduce barriers"; this means to watch our own attitudes towards diversity in education, and we need to have high expectations for all students regardless of race, sex, gender, etc.
As well, we can follow "Kanu's 3 recommendations" which are;
1. the school curriculum should be anti-racist and anti-discriminatory
2. multi cultural education should be part of everyones education
3. Students should be trained to be more aware of culture. Including their own culture.

Multiple Intelligence

After taking a multiple intelligence survey, I have discovered which forms of intelligence I appear to be stronger in compared to others. My results ranging from highest to lowest were;

100 - Bodily Kinesthetic

80 - Musical

70 - Naturalist

60 - Mathematical

60 - Interpersonal

60 - Intrapersonal 

60 - Spatial

40 - Verbal

30 -Existential

This shows that I am strongest with movement, and expressing knowledge and through the actual doing of something. As well I am also strong with musical, and Naturalist intelligences.

And like everyone else, I use all nine forms of multiple intelligences, I am just stronger with some compared to others.

IQ Testing

Who knew that IQ testing was so complex and can be used in so many different ways. I for one, definitely did not. I thought it was just a test and however you performed was your IQ. I was unaware, that first you make up the test, which needs to be as impartial as possible, This way it doesn't matter gender or language or anything. Then you need to find a sample of people that represent the population fairly. So for Canada, you would need a sample of three to five thousand, and then you need to make sure that, that sample represents Canada. Finally after they have taken the test you are now able to standardize the results. Its by far a more complicated process than I first thought.
Now when you have a student take an IQ test you need take their raw score and standardize it. Depending on the results of the test you are able to determine the mental age for that student. Then by dividing that number by their chronological age, or actual age, and multiply by that by 100, you are now left with the students IQ.
As teachers, it can be both beneficial or not depending on the teacher and what it is used for. For instance if a teacher finds out the IQ results for their class, they may focus on only those who had high results compared to those with low results. Thinking that they could make more process with the ones with higher IQ's. Thus, proving to be a negative result of knowing the scores. However, if the teacher is able to look at the results, see where students need help and what areas they are good at, the teacher is able to focus extra time in certain areas, proving to be beneficial.

Heinz' Dilemma

The "Heinz' Dilemma" is basically, would you steal a drug that you can't afford that could possibly save your wife's life. If it were me, I would definitely steal the drug because if there was a chance to save my spouse I would definitely take it, no matter the consequences.
Now, if I were to look at Kohlberg’s levels and stages of moral development to see where my response fits, I would say I was in the first level, "Pre-conventional" and the stage of "Hedonism". This is because we do something because we want something, so the doing would be stealing the drug and the wanting, is wanting my spouse to survive.
The other possibilities to Kohlberg’s levels/stages are also under pre-conventional is "punishment", where you don't do something due to the punishment you’d receive for doing it. Under the Conventional level, is "nice girl/boy" where you don't do something because of how others will see you, "law and order", because it’s against the law. Then the third and final level is post-conventional which has the stage of "social contract", which is we do what is best for society, or what allows society to function, and the other stage is "universal ethical".

Erik Erikson

So, Erik Erickson has developed eight stages of human development starting at birth then going straight through till death. Now, I very much believe that everyone goes through theses stages at one point in their life, however I don't believe that everyone goes through them at the same rate that he has laid them out. For instance stage 5, "Identity vs. Identity confusion", which he has laid out from the ages of 10- 20. For the most part this does fit, people are going in school sorting out what they want to do for the rest of their life, or they may be moving straight into the work world from high school and trying different things out until they find what works best for them. However, I believe this happens much later in life as well, somebody may decide to go back to school later in life, or they may decide a switch in career to be the best thing for them, and so they would be back figuring our who they want to be. Same with music, friends and clothing. This changes throughout a persons life. Music for one is always changing, so who's to say you may not move to a different style because of a new emerging artist. Fashion is also changing all the time, so for the most part people will change the way they dress depending on whats trendy at the time. And, with friends, yes usually you make friends and they stick with you, however someone new may start where you work and so you can make new friends. So I believe this is definitely a lifelong stage rather than just one you go through for 10 years and then move on. Same goes for stage 6, "Intimacy vs. Isolation". I don't believe that everyone finds their partner in those years, and if they do, whose to say it will last forever. If a couple divorces they may find themselves going through this stage at the age of 40 or 50.
As well, I believe that a person may be in multiple stages at one time. So for me, I find myself in stage 5, "identity vs. Identity confusion" because in college I believe I know what I'm going to do but at the same time I'm working to make sure its the right thing for me. I'm also in a new surrounding in college so I'm meeting new people and new friends, and building my future identity. And, I'm also in stage 6, "intimacy vs. Isolation" where I'm dating different people and finding an intimate relationship.
So, again I definitely agree that everyone goes through these stages, just not in the same time frame or even order that Erickson has them laid out in. Some of these stages are also life long, not just occurring in 10 year spans.  And as well that people may go through more than one stage at a time.

Success!

Success. Definitely not something I've ever given too much thought into. But now that I have, and actually broke it down and looked at all the different features and aspects of life that bring you success, it makes sense why its so darn awesome when you get it. For instance, Richard St. John explains in the TED video the eight things that lead to success are; passion, work, good, focus, push, serve, ideas and to persist. And for the most part in almost any thing you succeed in you will definitely find these features, but I believe it takes even more than just these eight.
As I look at what makes me successful in academics, these eight are defiantly present, but it also requires a lot more, such as organization, to study, keep up to date with readings and assignment, to have a support group in place, etc. So I believe there is a lot of work put into success, even though for a lot of it you may not realize just how much it did take to reach that goal. I agree with Richard St. John's explanation of the eight things that go into success, but again I believe it takes much more than those eight depending on what you are trying to succeed in.

Lev Vygotsky Vs. Jean Piaget

So, before I compare Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget, Ill explain a bit about Vygotsky seeing how I have touched on Piaget in previous posts. Vygotsky believes in a "Developmental Trajectory" in which everything a child knows or has learned comes from previous learning, it is all working together to get them to that certain point, ie. it acts as a "trajectory". His idea is based on the "zone of proximate Development" and "Scaffolding". These two ideas basically work off one another in which the teacher sets goals just outside of the students knowledge making it so they need guidance or new knowledge from the teacher to get this task done, and then it moves up, just as scaffolds do. And then again the goal is set just above their ability making it so the student grows some more.
Now looking at Vygotsky's and Piaget's work or findings, I believe it is almost a combination of the two that resonate with my personal inclinations and preferences for teaching. This is because I fully agree that children go through different stages, and can only learn certain things and grasp certain problems or tasks at the proper age. However, I believe in the scaffolding technique set out by Vygotsky, because I will constantly be wanting the students to grow and to be challenged rather than just doing the same thing over and over that they already know how to do.
By combining the two theories, It shows that depending on the stage of development the child is in, you will be able to know how far out of reach you can set the goals for the students, and you will know what new forms of learning you can involve in the "scaffolding" procedure in getting the student to grow and move up. Therefore, I don't think one is better than the other, but that they both serve as use full guidelines in child development and learning.

Shyness...

The 1953 vido entitled "Shyness" which was put out by the National Film Board of Canada shows how there is normally an underlying issue that results in a shy child, and that not all cases are the same. There are actually different variations and degrees of shyness. Now, even tho this film is a little out dated it still showed me some insight into the development of children, and especially the psychological development. I now see that a child won't always just grow out of it, there could very well be a measure that needs to take place to aid in the child in overcoming this obstacle. If the child is unable to overcome it, it very well may end up preventing the growth in other areas. In this case, with shyness, the child could grow up having a lack in social skills preventing them from having any proper realtionships or even a good careeer. Again I belive this is in very extreme cases of shyness, definately not all. And although the film did only touch upon the area of shyness in children, I belive the same sort of action can be taken in other cases. That is, to assess the situation, see if there is a serious problem, or underlying issue, then if required try to right the situatuation.

Jean Piaget's Four Stages

Jean Piaget describes the four stages that children go through; Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational. As I have watched my younger cousins grow up I have witnessed the changes and it now makes a lot more sense as to why they would act in a sort of way depending on their age. For instance when they are a baby they are in the sensorimotor stage and it kinda makes sense as to why they are always putting stuff in their mouth and feeling everything and anything. They're trying to get a sense of their surroundings. Then when they hit the Preoperational stage you see that they recognize that their caregiver is there mom an they actually begin to call them mom. They speak very little but they seem to know certain words that they have been able to put with that object or symbol. Then as they got a little older and hit the concrete operational stage you see that they are able to figure certain things out and actually distinguish different patterns or classify certain objects. And I would notice this when say my 9 year old cousin was playing with a game in which they had to match up certain objects she was able to perform the task. However, when she would get her younger brother to try he was unable to complete the same task. Same goes for the fourth stage, Formal Operations, you see this in older children in their school work when they are planning out what they are going to do before actually doing it. So now that I have learned the stages set forth by Jean Piaget, it makes more sense, and is more obvious when I look at the way my younger cousins act or have acted through the different years of child growth.

Physical Activity in Schools

According to a News Report, Allison Cameron a teacher in Saskatoon brought exercise equipment into her classroom and had the children keep there heart rate up for 20 minutes before their math class. Cameron saw a tremendous increase in the students ability to focus as well as in their grades. I definitely agree that physical activity helps with mental focus and the ability to remember what they are being taught. And yes you do need to be a "wise consumer of information about educational psychology", especially with this report because they focused mainly on 14 year old males who have extreme trouble with school and focusing. So, yes there are still many questions that would need to be asked and it would probably vary from school to school but I would definitely want to try this with one of my classes when I become a teacher.

Effective Teaching pt. 2

Another point for effective teaching is "commitment and motivation", and it was brought up in class that the results from a study showed that the best teacher was the one that loved their students. This really showed me that there is such a bond created between the students and the teacher that it actually allows for the teacher to feel this emotion.
I fully agree with the findings of the study because if a teacher loves their students, then the teacher will want to create the best environment possible, and make sure that they all succeed and that no student gets left behind. That teacher will be looking out for the students best interest.

Now, I have touched upon two of the methods for effective teaching; "effective teachers" which I touched upon in my last entry and "commitment and motivation" which I looked at today. There are five more methods which are equally important in becoming an effective teacher,
      1. Teaching Involves Social and Ethical Matters
      2.Teaching Involves a Diverse Mosaic of Students
      3.Professional Knowledge and Skills
      4. Subject-matter Competence
      5. Professional Growth

Effective Teaching pt. 1

There are many different types of teachers and most have there own styles and attitudes on teaching. When I was in high school I had one teacher in particular that really made an impact and had a huge effect on not only my grades but my liking for the subject. It just happened to be high school math, which is definitely not every ones favorite subject. But he had so much passion and love for the subject that he was able to portray it through his teaching. He not only made the subject fun and interesting, and made you want to learn it, he always put the time in to making sure you understood the concept. I went from math being my worst and least liked, to my best subject and my favorite subject!
This ties into the 3rd point under effective teaching, which is also labelled "effective teachers". He had all three parts; humour, made it interesting, and PCK -> Pedagogical Content Knowledge.