Intelligence

3) You have now read several views about intelligence. What do you think about intelligence?

Is it one trait or many? more heavily influenced by nature or nurture? a fixed capacity or a

modifiable ability?

 

 

I feel that intelligence should be measured by a person's ability to be happy and satisfied in their lives. I think that if a person feels like they are good at something and finds joy in day to day life, then I think that they are pretty intelligent. Intelligence should not be measured solely on a persons ability to solve an algebra problem. These people may be successful in a classroom environment, but may not be so well adjusted to living in the real world. Intelligence is not a fixed entity. I feel like every day we learn something new and meaningful to our lives. Something that was important for me to know five years ago probably has no relevance to my life today. Something that I am learning right now may not be important or relevant to me five years from now. I don't think that intelligence is something that you are born with. Intelligence is something that develops over time and has a lot to do with a persons desire to learn new things about their world. 

 

Article Reflection

My article was titled "Creating Safe Schools for Queer Youth." The article listed statistics about the amount of bullying that lgbtq students face in schools everyday. The statistics were staggering and heartbreaking.  4/5 LGBTQ students reported being verbally harassed in schools. This does not create a safe environment for these students to learn.  The article stated that most teachers felt like it was their job to protect students, but the LBGTQ students polled did not feel like their teachers did anything to stand up for them or their rights. There is a serious disconnect between the teachers wanting to help and the students knowing that they are protected.

The article listed ten ways to ensure a safe learning environment for LBGTQ students. I thought they were very helpful to know.

1. do not assume heterosexuality

2. guarantee equality

3. create safe environment

4. diversify library or media holdings

5. provide training for faculty and staff

6. provide appropriate health care and education

7. be a role model

8. provide support for students

9. reassess curriculum

10. broaden entertainment and extra curricular activities

When I am a teacher I will not allow the use of any gay slurs. Students in my classroom will know that those are harmful and inappropriate.  I also want students to know regardless of their sexual orientation, race, gender, ect. that no one deserves to be put down or bullied especially at school. I hope that they know that I am a safe person to talk to and will take any harassment that they may face incredibly seriously. All students deserve for school to be a safe and welcoming environment.

Chapter 3

Development

Chapter 3

(3.1) Personal and social development can have a major influence on both individual student

learning and the learning environment as a whole. Identify a case from the CSEL guidelines*

that you would like to address in your paper. Then, examine the possible developmental

factors that could be influencing your target student(s) or classroom in the case study. Consider

all dimensions of personal and social development, including cognitive, language, social,

emotional, and moral development. *CSEL guidelines can be found under CSEL Artifact. Cases

are included at the end of the document. Choose the case that best suits your desired grade level.

Elementary Education:

You engage your third grade students in cooperative learning activities at least twice a day, changing heterogeneous group members once every four weeks. You have agreed upon routine procedures that your classroom community uses within their small groups, including the roles and responsibilities of group members. Lately you have noticed that one small group always seems to have difficulty grasping material and completing their project in an acceptable manner.  You observe this group carefully and find that Lisa seems to be the catalyst for their problems.  She gets angry with others if she does not get the job she wants and refuses to do her part in contributing to the group’s learning.  She constantly interrupts others in her group.  She does not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations. 

Many of Lisa's issues in school seem to be able to be attributed to her lack of social development. When faced with stressful or difficult situations she is not capable of dealing them in a mature manner  She reacts with aggressive behavior  Her cognitive development may not be on par with her peers and may play a part in her frustration. She may not be able to understand the assignments and in turn is becoming frustrated. Lisa's is not able to use words to communicate her desires to her peers. This leads me to believe that she could use some development in the language department. I believe that by looking at these issues in her development and working on them, Lisa's school experience will improve. The teacher has to take a holistic approach and not only focus on her cognitive development, but work to improve her social skills and language skills as well.

(3.22) Check out tables 3.1 (p. 75), 3.2 (p. 83) and 3.3 (p. 91) with particular attention to the age

ranges you are interested in teaching. Identify your personal favorite ways that an educator can

promote a child’s sense of self, perspective taking, and moral reasoning skills.

The book advises the use of scaffolding in my age range to promote a sense of self. I would like to have discussions with children about art and talk to them about how they relate to it in their real lives. I want children to be able to understand how their actions affect others. I think that this is a key part of moral development. When a child does something nice for another child, like helping pick up paper scraps, I will be sure to give extra praise. When a child does something that is harmful to someone else, I will use that as a teaching moment to show the child how his or her actions affect other people. 

Song Discussion

 

Old Crow Medicine Show "Let it Alone"

 

While the traveling through this big iron world It'll sometimes ask of you To give advice at certain times And tell folks what to do
Well, at this time, I'm gonna tell you What's the wisest plan When it comes to mixing in with things That you just don't understand, hmm
Let it alone, let it alone If it don't concern you, let it alone Don't go around putting on airs And meddling in other folks' affairs If you don't know, say so Mind your own business and let it alone
Well, you see two people fighting Them man and woman, say You think that it's a crime for them To carry on that way Well, you think that you could stop that row But just as you draw nigh The lady with the poker Strikes the gentleman across the eye
Let it alone, let it alone If it don't concern you, let it alone They know their business, all right, all right They practice that way every night If you go buttin' in, they'll break your chin So mind your own business and let it alone
Well, you say that love's against you And on your weary way Well, lying in the gutter A drunken man, we'll say He's lying in the gutter And you can tell that he's all in But on his necktie plainly gleams A great big diamond pin
Let it alone, let it alone He's not your pal, so let it alone The man is drunk, it may be true But the diamond don't belong to you So shut your eyes and eat some sighs Turn around and beat it and leave it alone

This song is a discussion between a person in young adulthood and maturity to death in Erikson's stage of development. The mature person is looking back on life and is telling the younger man that if something does not concern the then they should "let it alone."  This is something that he has learned form years of experience and is telling someone with less experience.

I think that I will use this in my classroom by having students reflect on their experience. I want for students to think about what they have learned and share their experiences with others. Maybe I would have fifth graders come to the art room and share with the kindergartners wisdom they have gained throughout their elementary school experience.

chapter 2

Chapter 2

One of the most cited theories of human development is that of Swiss biologist Jean

Piaget. After reading about Piaget’s basic assumptions (p. 27-32) look with particular attention

at the stage of child development you would like to teach. The other most cited theory of

human development belongs to Russian developmentalist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s theory of

cognitive development leads us to expect greater diversity among our same-aged students than

Piaget. Given these two influential theorists’ ideas on cognitive development, how might you accommodate students who are not yet working at the level of their peers?

I would like students to work with other students that are at a skill level above themselves. Hopefully this way they can raise their zone of proximity and gain more knowledge in the subject matter.  I hope to keep the groups in my classroom as diverse as possible.

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.a

I hope to work with students at the elementary level in my art classroom. I know that when working with this age group (this applies to high school as well) that I can not be sarcastic.  Students will take every thing that I say literally and at face value. It is going to be important to mean what I say and say what I mean.... you know what I mean. I also will not be able to say things like "you really let the cat out of the bag. " or anything like that.  The students might think that they really had a cat in a bag and that is just cruel.  

I want to be as clear as possible with my students and make sure that they feel free to ask me to clarify if they have any questions or concerns in my classroom.

Social Cognitive Theory

Which of the learning activities/skills can you think of that lend themselves to learning through modeling? How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?

I think most things that are observable can be taught through modeling. Some things that I want to teach in the art room with modeling would be things like...
how to clean brushes
how to work well in groups
how to stay organized
how to stay on task
how to raise your hand when asking a question

ect. ect. 

I think these task lend themselves to modeling because they are things that are observable in the classroom. Some of them such as cleaning brushes and staying organized are things that I could model to my students myself. 

My case study, Lisa needs to learn how to work well in a group. To be able to do this she needs to believe that she can be successful in working in a group. This will raise her self efficacy and motivate her to really try.  I would want Lisa to be able to use self regulation skills to improve her group dynamic. Lisa and I would work together to create specific goals to increase her success in groups. She would have to diligently work towards these goals daily. Hopefully if she has a high self efficacy about working well in groups and uses self regulation skills she can increase her success in groups.  

Barb Rentenbach Presentation

When I went to Barb Rentenbach's presentation not knowing what to expect. First her friend talked about Barb and about her writings. She had us read some of Barb's writings aloud.  It was interesting to hear her words coming out of our mouths. Her writings were clever and witty. She seemed to read constantly because her work was riddled with quotes and novel words.
The best part of her presentation was for her interview. She opened up the floor to for us to ask her any question we would like. Most of the people in the audience seemed nervous about asking her questions. When met with a lull in the crowd she typed out " One mute per show please." She is such a funny person! The thing that I learned from this presentation is not to judge someone by the way they look. On the first impression I would have thought that Barb was not capable of doing much. Thank god for augmentative communication. I am so glad that Barb is able to express what she is thinking. She has so much to share with the world.