Module 1

Concept 1: Research

Summary:

In chapter 1 of Woolfolk, it discussed the idea of how research is used in education. In a classroom the research can be used to understand what works and what doesn’t to benefit the students learning and the way a lesson is being taught. On page 21 Woolfolk says, “By focusing on a specific problem and making careful observations, teachers can learn a great deal about both their teaching and their students.” This quote sums up what researching can do for the teacher and student. By researching differentiated ways of teaching, teachers can find the most effective way of teaching that their students understand and enjoy doing.

Reflection:

When you research, you are looking for a specific connection of the teaching strategy being used and how the students respond toward it. You will look for the student’s achievement through and after the strategy which may take a bit. You will look for any improvement in a concept by the work they do and how they react while being taught with the new strategy. While reading, I learned a variety of aspects about researching, like the differences between action, principle, and the many studies, and what needs to go into it for the research to be executed.

In the current classroom I am in, I have had the pleasure to see how research and looking at past works can be useful in the students learning and how to teach the students. During my time there, I have been testing the students reading skills. While looking at their past progress, I can tell who has been doing exceptionally and who is struggling. From this, the teacher can see who needs help in reading and who doesn’t. She can then find different ways of helping the students sound out words by viewing or using an arm motion they us when sounding out their spelling words. Just like looking at the reading tests, you can look at any tests, quizzes, and any out or in class work. By looking at this, it will help the teacher see who is understanding the concept and who isn’t. From there, they could look into reasons why the student is having difficulties understanding the specific concept that maybe their classmates were able to understand.

In my future classroom, I will make sure to research and observe my students. Researching will help me understand what my students can accomplish and what I may need to change in my instruction to help the students succeed and reach their highest potential. If I do not research, I know nothing will change in my class because I will not take the time and energy to see what the problem is in the students learning. I hope to keep up with my own research in my differentiated instruction and how my students react and accomplish in the classroom.

Concept 2: Development

Summary:

In the second chapter of Woolfolk, it gets more into the child’s development. During this chapter, it focused on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Piaget’s theory is split into four stages with an approximate age: sensorimotor, ages 0 to 2, preoperational, beginning when child starts talking to around 7 years old, concrete operational, about first grade to early adolescence of age 11, and formal operational, which is adolescence to adulthood. By understanding Piaget’s model, we can inform ourselves of what our students can do at an age range and how they develop. It is important to know this because we cannot overestimate the ability of what our students can do even if they are in the age range as said by Woolfolk, “Piaget noted that individuals may go through long periods of transitions between stages and that a person may show characteristics of one stage in one situation (46).”

Reflection:

In a class I took called Lifespan and Development a while back, I learned a bit about Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. By learning a bit about what Piaget in that class and this class, it is clear how his stages can fit into teaching.  Teachers need to note that not every child will develop the same or at the same pace as another. On page 46 it also states, “Therefore, remember that knowing a student’s age is never a guarantee you will know how the child thinks.” In the Concrete Operational stage children will be learning how elements can be changed or transformed but still conserve the same characteristics as before.

In my placement I can see this being taken place. Many of the students I have helped with on their math do not see a connection between the idea that 4+5 and 5+4 are the same thing. Only a few of the students were able to make the connection and had an easier time doing their math problems. With this in mind, it shows how each child develops differently than the other. Some students can identify and see the connection between these two math problems while others need to continue doing the same problems until they notice that 4+5 and 5+4 both equal 9. Being a teacher, you need to see that the students’ development varies, and they will eventually reach the tasks that are set just at a different pace and by using a different strategy.

As a future teacher, I need to remember that each student develops differently than the other. At times it may be frustrating that a student has trouble executing a task that others have, but they will understand as time goes by and using different learning strategies. Since I am in elementary, I will be focused on Piaget’s Concrete Operational stage where children, “can think logically about concrete (hands-on) problems. Understanding conservation and organize things into categories and in series. Can reverse thinking to mentally “undo” actions. Understand past, present, and future (47).” I will be focusing on using hands-on problems especially in math where students will benefit by using manipulatives and even games to help with their addition and subtraction. I will focus on understanding the strengths and weaknesses of my students to better understand where they are in their development and challenge them as much as they can work and handle to reach their potential during that time.

Concept 3: Self, Social, and Moral Development

Summary:

Chapter three of Educational Psychology speaks on the subject of self, social, and moral development. Any type of socialization can affect the way a child develops. Things that affect a child’s development are due to family situations, culture, peers, physically, and many more. With this in mind, it can affect how a child thinks about themselves. It is important for children at this development to have relationships with others. On page 86 it says, “Friendships are central to students’ lives at every age.” Students rely on friends and create bonds with them and even teachers that can affect how the student achieves academically. Lastly the chapter goes more in depth of how socialization can influence their lives and at school and how teachers can help their students.

Reflection:

After reading this chapter, I was informed of the variety of ways social aspects can affect a child’s development throughout the years. If students have trouble making friends, it can affect how motivated and emotionally distressed they can be during that years and the years to come. Teachers can help students who may have emotional distress from a variety of reasons of parents getting divorced, hard times in their lives, and just having difficulties making friends. Teachers need to be concerned about their students and what they go through even if they have no ability of changing anything. Teachers need to be there for the students showing that they care and are concerned for them. In this chapter it says that, “good teachers are good motivators (90).”  When teachers care about their students, the students will see this, and their motivation may boost with the idea that someone does care about their needs and what they are going through.

In my placement, I have seen many things from children having more than two parents because of a previous divorce, making friends or loosing some, and how they interact with one another. Friendships are a huge deal for first graders. One day when I went in to aid, a student in my cooperating teacher’s class came up to me and the teacher and was crying because one of her friend pushed her and said they couldn’t be friends anymore. They had a talk with the other student who pushed her and during that process, one of her other friends kept comforting her and showing that she still had someone who cares about her. The girl was a bit upset the rest of the day but was eventually able to concentrate on her work toward the end of the day. In the end, social interactions can affect a student’s development and how they can achieve in class.

When I become a teacher, I need to pay attention to each of my students’ lives and notice small things about how they are feeling throughout the day. I need to be there for my students whenever they need me and show how I care about them in every lesson I teach them and be available to talk when necessary. Friendships, family situations, and culture are some aspects of their development and I need to help them see what they are capable of being and who they are as a unique student in the classroom.