Lev Vygotsky & Urie Bronfenbrenner

Lev Vygotsky:
He had Four Assumptions:
1) He believed in child trajectory.  Everything that they have learned before helps them where they are.
2) Cognitive Skills are structured by language.  Vygotsky says that we can't think without language because thinking and learning is structured by language.
3) Importance of social relations and culture.  Vygotsky's theory is called "social cultural approach."  Social interactions help develop children.  The thought of "apprenticeship" worked well with his theory (ie: parent, coach, older peer, etc.)
4) Learning is situated and collaborative.  It requires working together between the students and teacher.  (apprenticeship)

Zone of Proximinal Development (ZPD):
"It is a range of tasks that are too difficult for the children to do alone but can be helped with assistance from adults or children that are more skilled."(text book)  With this, it was a core idea for Vygotsky.  He believed that the teacher had to push the boundaries a little bit for them to learn more.  The teacher can push the bar up a little higher each time to help in the students' learning experience.

Scaffolding:
This is the instructional approach that follows in ZPD.  "It's a technique of changing the level of support over the course of a teaching session with a more skilled person adjusting the amount of guidance to fix a student's current performance level."(text book)
ie) Direct-teaching, answering questions, guided practice, formative assessment (For learning [during], as learning [self], and all learning [exam])

PIAGET AND VYGOTSKY VIDEO FOUND ON YOU TUBE

Out of Piaget and Vygotsky, I think Vygotsky resonates more with my personal inclination and teaching preference because his idea of ZPD and Scaffolding really appeal to me.  I agree that teachers need to raise that bar up a little higher every time when their students surpass it.  Also, it makes sense that one cannot think if we didn't know the language, or think coherently anyways.  With language, one can understand what they are thinking.  I also believe that culture and social interaction plays a huge role on the students because they are influenced in those types of things and also changed how they might learn.


Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory:
(http://www.aifs.gov.au/growingup/pubs/reports/krq2009/images/fig2.gif)

This focuses on the social context in which a students life, the people who influence their development, and the interaction between students' characteristics, and their enviroment (from the txt)

Five Systems:

1) Microsytem: the individual directly participates in. It's a recipical relationship between the person and the system.
2) Mesosystem: links the microsystem. Meso = in the middle.  They also affect each other.
3) Exosystem: the first system that the indivudual doesn't have an active role.
4) Macrosystem: attitudes and ideologies of a culture.  Everyone is responsible for their own self and it impacts how lives are organized.
5)  Chronosystem: (Chronos = Time) refers to socio-historical conditions of students' development (text book).

The Famour Jean Piaget, whom I have heard a bit about in class...

Jean Piaget had theorized on Cognitive Process (thinking).  He had three concepts:
1. Schema: a concept of a framework to organize info
     ex) Mind Maps

2. Assimilation: being able to put in new info into existing info (your schema).

3. Accommodation: to adjust new info in your schema.

Piaget also had the famous, Four Stages of Child Developement:
1. Sensorimotor:
    - last from birth to about 2-years-old
    - children coordinate sensory experiences with motor actions
    - experience through their senses
    - no real cognition

2. Preoperational:
    - happens within the 2 to 7-years-old
    - represents the word with words and images
    - symbolic thinking
       * language development and use
    - ego-centrism
       *All about the "I" and has no concept that not everything is theirs or about them.
    - conservation is not there yet

3. Concrete Operational:
    - 7 to 11-years-old
    - Conservation: the idea that some characteristics or an object stays the same even though the physical appearance changes
    - Conservation doesn't start until this stage
       * concrete ---> physical world
       * abstract
       * mental operation that is reversal
          ie:) Math
    - performs operations
ie) (found on http://peoplelearn.homestead.com/MEdHOME/conservation-task-cups.jpg)

4. Formal Operational:

    - 11 to 15-years-old and continues throughout life

    - abstract thinking

       * hypothetical deductive and reasoning

    - the child can do things in their mind and figure out most of it

       * highest form of cognitive

    - beginning of reasoning:

        *ie) ~Classification

               ~ Seriations (can  put things into series)

               ~ Transitivity (can take what they know and can understand some conclusions) (from the text)
                   ie) A  -------------
                        B  --------------------                          C > A, A < B
                  C  ----------------------------
              The child knows that which stick is bigger than the other, or which is smaller than another.
                                     

Effective Teaching P2 AND Exercise in School

5. Subject-Matter Competence:
   -There are 7 points: 1) Instructional Philosophies and Orientation
                                   - Constructivist Approach (wow!  there is that word again) (Student-Centered)
                                   - Direction Instruction Approach (Teacher-Centered)
                                 2) Instructional Planning and Assessment Skills
                                   - These two ideas are linked together
                                   - Goals, objectives, outcomes
                                 3) Classroom Management Skills
                                   - a well planned lesson will help down the road to prevent caos
                                 4) Motivational Skills
                                   - MUST motivate ones students so they will learn and learn well.  Very important!!
                                 5) Communication Skills
                                  - actually listen to what your students are saying
                                 - Talk with not at
                                6) Working Effectively with Students from Culturally Diverse Backgrounds
                                  - Future --> Communities becoming more diverse
                                7) Technological Skills
                                  - Develop and fine-tune technology

6. Commitment and Motivation:
  - Common features --> love students

7. Professional Growth:
  4 Points: 1) Develop a positive idenity
                 - as a teacher
                 - gaining respect
                2) Seek advice from experienced teachers
                 - learn from them, they know a lot and can help
                3) Build-up good experienced teachers
                 - networks
                4) Life long learning
                 - have to be committed
                 - always learning

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I thought the video we watched with Allison Cameron was very interesting of how she took the research that she had from the Harvard research about using exercise in school to increase of the productivity and learning abilities of the students.  Before Allison had tried this, a school at Chicago was used in this research and it was very successful.  They had the lowest obesity rate in the Unites States and marks were very impressive and had improved greatly.  I can see why she would want to try this out because of the results and seeing if it would actually work at her school with her students that were on their last legs for school.  They were delinquents and/or students who could not do school nor did they care about it.  

So when Allison got equipment donated (treadmills) and had the OK to follow through from the principal, she had her class exercise for approximately 25 minutes at the beginning of her math class and then do the work.  She had found phenomenal results in some time!  Students grades were going up and they were able to focus and concentrate a lot more.

I think if I was her, I would jump at the chance too to try this.  If it had positive outcomes, why not try?  I realize that it may not work the same, but it would just have to reworked for a specific class.  All research will have it's kinks to work out.  I am glad it had worked out for her and her students.  That kind of  results is something to celebrate.

Effective Teaching P1

Like in the text, it says there seven perspectives or way to master effective teaching because in a class room, many things happen at the same time (rapid-fire succession - Sumara).  The seven points are as followed:

1. Teaching Involves Social and Ethical Matter
-  there has to be fairness in the classroom, and the teacher has to make all their decisions with using that in mind.  I think that it's be very hard, because of the diversity in classrooms.  You can have students that are quick learners, or students that have immigrated and are not quite where they should be in their classes, or even having students that learn better with the constructivist approach to teacher.  Having to plan your lessons around such elements can be very tricky, hence why a teacher has to be creative on how they teach a class.

2.Teaching Involves a Diverse Mosaic of Students
-I had touched base on this on the above point.

3. Effective Teacher
- an effective teacher is one that has definitely stood out in your memory.  In the text is says that a survey was done with students at the ages of 13-17 (NASSP, 1997) , and it was found that the top three characteristics of being the most important found in a teacher.  They are: 1) Humour.  2) Make class interesting.  3) In-depth knowledge of the subject.  I totally agree with this, because when I think of some of the effective teachers in my past, at least one of these characteristics go along with them.

4.Professional Knowledge and Skills:
- our instructor said there are three aspects to this: 1) Motivate the students. 2) Communication. 3) Work with diverse students.  I think that this can also be characterized under an "effective teacher" too, because I think with being an effecting teacher your need to be able to motivate your students to want to learn what they are doing, and take interests.  This can help with learning some responsibility because they are taking the reigns of the education.  They may want to go the extra distance in their classes.  Also, I think communication is a key element because if you cannot communicate clearly, you can lose your students.  Plus, if a student is struggling with the class or something in their life, you can be a bit sympathetic and maybe try to help them.  To be able to work with diverse students would be tough, but if they can master it, it will make the everyone's life easier.  It would be a plus to both side and everyone can take something from class.

Day 2 - The Constructivist Approach - The Blog

Well, we are definitely are using the "Constructivist" approach to this blog, are we not?  Our instructor's idea for this blog is to make it our own so that we can understand better of our topics.

I think this is a great idea.  It helps me to kind of work through what we did in class, or what I have read in the text, or even to just help me on what was discussed in either.  I can kind of just ramble my way through and it should help me work through and master the topics....theoretically anyways!

So I HAVE read the first chapter in the text and found it quite dry and hard to retain, but again, I hope this will help me remember what I have read.  What I do like from the text are the quotes on the sides!  I think my favourite is, "The art of teaching is the art of awakening minds the natural curiosity of young minds." - Anatole France (French novelist and poet, 19th Century) (found in "Educational Psychology" by Santrock. et al. on pg. 7)   Why do I like this quote?  Well, it really does describe with using the tools that we learn as teachers and being able to engage what we learn into what we do, is really an art.  Actually, the text book explains that as well as well, which really just links the two together.  Knowing how to use our tools in our tool box is very important.  And by using these tools, we can engage the students to peak their curiosity and want them to learn more!  I would love my students to learn more wanting to learn is important!  I witnessed this first hand with my own high school French teacher, and she made class interesting.  I WANTED to learn a new language and not just be there for the credits so I can complete my high school diploma.  She would peak our curiosity by not just teaching us the language, but by explaining ideas, events, etc. in France or in Quebec.  We learned parts of the French Revolution and the fall of the Bastille in 1789, the Quebec referendums and what was happening within the province at the time, and also she talked about exchange programs and get use to broaden our horizons and by doing so by traveling.  Having that kind of "art" is a great away for a teacher to be!  You want to engage your students in their classes and by doing so, they take out a lot more than just what is in the class.

Day 1

Well, I will certainly give this a shot.  I am not new to blogging but I am NEW to doing this as course work for a class and find it a bit funny how I have something specific to write about on this blog.  So yes, I get to "ramble" about Introduction to Education Psychology, and today was my first day of classes. I figured I should at least start this and get into a good habit of hopefully writing in this after every class.  Lets aim for that anyways.  The idea is that everything is still fresh in my head, though I did start this just after 11pm...

Today in class our instructor, gave us our course outline and had went over some key points in it: learning objectives, Reading and Information Schedule, and the like.  I was intrigued that 10% of our exams will be coming from the text book, and the remaining 90% will be what we have discussed and learned in class.  I quite like that idea, just because I learn better in class discussions than reading from a text book all the time.  If I am engaged in the topic, it helps me retain what has been discussed, and will help me further down the road when it comes to exams and studying for them.  Which brings me to the next topic which I found interesting today:

We gently glazed over types of teaching, being a more rewarding/disciplined route, or something that is not so structured. I think it's so hard to chose a type of teaching, because everyone, teachers and students a like, are different from each other and learn at different speeds and ways.  Yes, it's very important as a teacher to broad our horizons so we can help each student that comes our ways, and hope to chose the "right way" of teaching.  What I find hard to figure out, "what is the right way?" As of yet, I don't have an answer for the question.  I know our instructor said that it depends of the students and teachers, on each personality and how they learn and teach.  I get it, but I sure hope I get a better understanding down the road.

I think this can be a very complicated course, but today was only Day 1, so I hope it won't be as foggy when we go along the term.