EDU 6526: Nondirective Teaching Model

A good model that takes into account student emotions and personalities is the nondirective teaching model.  This is a teaching model that is based on the work of Carl Rogers, an advocate for using nondirective counseling (Joyce & Weil, 2009, p. 326).  Under this model the teacher attempts to see the world from the student’s perspective.  The teacher should help the student to recognize that they have the ability to define and work through problems by coming up with their own solutions.  Under this model the classroom has a warm and accepting atmosphere.  Students should feel free to express their feelings symbolically without feelings of being pressured, intimidated, or judged.  While this model is generally fluid there does exist a sequence of five distinct phases in a nondirective student and teacher interview: 

• Phase 1: The teacher encourages the student to express their feelings freely. 
• Phase 2: The student defines the problem while the teacher helps to clarify the student’s feelings. 
• Phase 3: The student discusses the problem with the teacher and develops insight.
• Phase 4: The student plans decision making and the teacher clarifies their plans.
• Phase 5: The student develops more positive actions after gaining further insight.

(Joyce & Weil, 2009, p. 332)

This model is designed to help students improve their problem-solving skills and become life-long learners.

Joyce, B. R., & Weil, M. (2009). Models of teaching. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

EDU 6132: Strategies for Increasing Attention and Motivation

For students to learn new concepts and be successful in school teachers must create lessons that are engaging and hold student interest.  Developmental psychologists have done research to find out what factors influence motivation and attention.  These are some of the findings they came to: people can only focus their attention on one concept at a time, “the brain cannot multitask”; full attention is given for roughly ten minutes before the mind starts to wander (this varies with age); student motivation in school generally decreases year after year (Medina, p. 70, Pressley & McCormick, p. 262).  There are several strategies that teachers can employ to address these issues to increase effective learning.

When teachers are introducing a new topic to students it is better for the student that the teacher focuses on teaching only on one concept at a time.  If more than one concept is discussed at one time students’ attention is broken and they will most likely not be able to gain a firm grasp on any of the concepts.  We must remember that the given information is brand new to the student and they need time to focus their full attention on a single concept at a time to understand it.  Medina suggests breaking up topics into various short ten minute segments, and focusing on only one concept per ten minute segment (Medina, p. 74).  After the ten minutes student attention will have faded and teachers need to re-hook the students.  This is a time where the use of an ECT (emotionally competent stimulus) is effective (Medina, p. 75).  This could be a short narrative, video, picture, or read-aloud, as long as it is relevant to the topic and elicits emotion.

To boost motivation, or self-efficacy, Pressley and McCormick offer these strategies which have been proven to be effective: Students should be given tasks that are challenging but not so challenging to prevent progress; teachers should encourage students to take on more challenging tasks when they are ready; teachers should use scaffolding; students should participate in cooperative learning (Pressley & McCormick, p. 265, 275).

Tips for creating successful cooperative learning groups

Along with these strategies I believe that it is also important for teachers to show students that they themselves are enthusiastic about learning.  When students see a teacher who is passionate about learning, it will encourage them to become learning fans too.

 

 

Medina, J. (2008). Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. Seattle, WA: Pear Press.

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C. B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

EDU 6526: Promoting Citizenship in the Classroom

One of the most important underlying goals of education is to equip students with the skills they need to become valuable members of society.  For students to develop and practice these skills teachers should create an atmosphere of community within the classroom where students feel a sense of belonging.  Students should be taught to value the community that they are a part of and learn how to contribute to it. 

There are various strategies to promote citizenship in the classroom.  According to a 2007 study on active citizenship and education, when teaching the values of citizenship “it seems that different types of education and learning environments may better suit individuals at certain phases of their lives” (GHK, 2007, p. 61).  For students at the primary grade level it is favorable for teachers to follow a cross-curricular theme or integrate community building and citizenship into other subjects.   Activities such as “debates, discussions, classroom projects,” and activities outside of the classroom are most effective rather than didactic instruction of citizenship (GHK, p.61).  Research shows that extracurricular activities are some of the most effective ways to promote citizenship (GHK, p.61).  Community outreach projects are also very helpful methods of promoting citizenship, especially for disadvantaged groups since it can be empowering for students.

GHK, (2007). Active citizenship education study.  DG Education and Culture. http://ec.europa.eu/education/pdf/doc248_en.pdf

EDU 6526: Cooperative Learning Benefits & Strategies for Implementation

Cooperative Learning Benefits:

“Researchers report that, regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats” (Davis, 1993).  Cooperative learning moves away from individual competitive environments which can lead to feelings of alienation and mistrust, towards a model that promotes valuable social skills, positive relationships, and boosts self esteem.  Research also shows that cooperative learning generates higher levels of intrinsic motivation, enhancing student achievement.

How to Create Successful Cooperative Learning Groups:

In Child and Adolescent Development for Educators, Pressley and McCormick discuss seven strategies that teachers should utilize to create a cooperative learning group that will maximize the benefits of cooperative learning.  Teachers should take the following strategies into consideration:

• Be sure to use both group rewards and individual accountability. Individual accountability helps to eliminate freeloading and a group reward provides incentive for the students to work together.
• As in peer tutoring, students who do the explaining often learn the most, so it is important to structure groups so that a high percentage of students participate (Webb, 1989).
• Make sure the students in each cooperative group represent a range of ability, although cooperative learning seems to work better if groups do not include the full range of ability (Webb, 1989). For example, place high-ability and medium-ability students together. Similarly, place medium-ability and low-ability students together.
• Make sure the groups are gender-balanced as well. Girls are more likely to be interactive and have higher achievement in cooperative learning groups if there are equal numbers of boys and girls. If there’s a majority of boys, girls are more likely to be ignored. If there’s a majority of girls, proportionately more interactions are directed at the few boys.
• If at all possible, try to make the groups racially or ethnically balanced as well.
• As much as possible, monitor group interactions. Make sure groups stay on task and that all students have equal opportunities for learning.
• Teach students appropriate social skills for academic interactions, such as how it often makes sense to compromise and that disagreements are all right so long as students who disagree are respectful in their disagreements. Respectful discussions involving students arguing for their perspectives does much to promote cognitive growth. Such discussion is often engaging.

(Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 278).

 

Davis, B. G. (1993). Tools for teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C. B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Webb, N. M. (1989). Peer interaction and learning in small groups. International Journal of Educational Research, 13, 21–39

EDU 6132: Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding Lesson Example

Two key concepts relating to Vygotsky’s sociocultural learning theory are zone of proximal development and scaffolding.

Zone of proximal development: “Tasks within the ZPD are ones that children cannot accomplish independently but can accomplish with assistance.  Children learn how to perform tasks within their zone through interactions with responsive and more competent others who provide hints, prompts and assistance to them on an as needed basis.  These hints and prompts encourage children to process a task appropriately, until they eventually can perform the task without assistance” (Pressley, McCormick, 2007, p. 156).

Scaffolding: “when a teacher gradually removes prompts and hints.  Providing just enough support so the child does not fail, eventually removing that support as the child is capable of performing independently”. (Pressley, McCormick, 2007, p. 157).

Sample Math Lesson with Scaffolding:

When students are first learning how to solve multiplication word problems a teacher should use scaffolding until the student has grasped the skill.  A teacher could do this by first by having students review previously learned multiplication facts in pairs using flashcards.  Next, the teacher could introduce a set of multiplication word problems to the class and point out key words such as “group”, “column”, “row”, “total”, “in all”, etc.  Then the teacher models how to fill out a “Multiplication Solution Check Sheet” that includes the questions: Objects I want to know? Number of objects in each group? Number of groups? Multiplication equation? Supporting addition equation? Picture? and Labeled answer?  As the teacher fills out the check sheet students follow along, filling out their own check sheets as well.

The next step is for students to independently create their own multiplication word problems using the key words that they identified in the sample set and solve as they use the check sheet.  A few students should then share their problems with the class and explain each part of the “Multiplication Solution Check Sheet”.  Next the students can work independently on a new set of word problems while the teacher floats around the classroom, helping students as needed.

Multiplication Solution Check Sheet (borrowed fromhttp://www.math-lesson-plans.com/Multiplication.html)

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C.B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York: NY: Guildford Press

 

EDU 6526: Advance Organizers and Their Practical Use

Purpose of an advance organizer:

“Designed to bridge the gap between what the learner already knows and what he needs to know before he can successfully learn the task at hand” (Marzano, Pickering, Pollock, 2001, p.117).  They are most useful with information that is not well organized.  “For example, an advance organizer might work better as a preparation for a field trip than it would as a preparation for reading a chapter in a textbook that Is well organized with clear headings and subheadings” (Marzano, Pickering, Pollock, 2001, p. 118).

Practical use for expository advance organizer:

• In preparation for a field trip to the aquarium or zoo a teacher could create an advance organizer that includes a series of brief explanations about the different categories of sea life in the aquarium or animals at the zoo.  The students could read over each of the descriptions and then as a class discuss the different categories.  While the students are on the field trip they can consult the information throughout the day.  An expository advance organizer like this will help the students to keep information into well organized categories and assist in keeping students focused and asking thoughtful questions.  Both the Seattle Aquarium and Woodland Park Zoo websites offer several resources to teachers, making it easy to put together an advance organizer.

Practical use for skimming advance organizers:

• When students are beginning a new history lesson relating to world exploration a teacher could use an advance organizer for students to skim at the beginning of the lesson.  Students could look over a map that illustrates the routes that different explorers took over different time periods.  They should discuss and compare the different routes and consider why the explorers chose them.  When students begin reading about world exploration they will have a better sense of where and when the exploration took place and can consult the map throughout the lesson.

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development..

EDU 6526: Concept Attainment

A concept is an abstract thought, or mental representation of a category of related items (Klausmeier, 1990).  According to Pressley and McCormick, concepts are what help us to make sense of the world.  This is because concepts allow us to mentally group similar objects or experiences together into categories (Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 107).  For example, the concept a student has of a bird will help them to lump together pigeons on a sidewalk with the toucans of a jungle.

One way to teach a concept is to have students study examples and non-examples of a concept.  Students could explore on their own and discover what some shared characteristics are and what the irrelevant characteristics are.  For example, for a group of students learning about the concept of a whole functioning system, students could study different sets of plants, some that are whole plants, and some with missing parts (no roots, no steams, or no leaves).  After studying the plants over time students will see that a whole system needs all of its parts to function, and if one piece of the system is missing the system as a whole will not function.  As a class students would name what the defining features of a whole system are, and are able to identify other types of functioning whole systems.

I have also recently witnessed a teacher utilizing the concept attainment model in teaching his students about multiples.  The objective of the lesson was to have students be able to identify whether or not a number was a multiple of six.  To do this the teacher presented students with a hundreds chart and had them highlight all the multiples of six on the chart (they could easily do this by skip counting).  This gave the students a set of examples and non-examples of multiples of six.  With this set students then were asked to identify any patterns that they noticed.  The teacher used questioning to help students formulate a hypothesis about the multiples of six.  By comparing the set of multiples with previous multiples they had learned in prior lessons they were able to come up with a rule: All multiples of six must be also be a multiple of both two and three.  They tested the rule with known multiples of six and discovered that it worked.  They could then use the rule they created to identify multiples of six with any number large or small.

Klausmeier, H. J. (1990). Conceptualizing. InB. F. Jones& L. Idol(Eds.), Dimensions of thinking and cognitive instruction (pp. 93–138). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C.B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York: NY: Guildford Press

EDU 6132: Piaget’s Stage Theory Vs. Information Processing Theory

Piaget’s stage theory of development is different from the information-processing theory in that Piaget’s theory suggests that development occurs through four distinct stages whereas the information processing theory leans more towards a continuous pattern of development.  However there are some similarities between these theories as well.  Each theory suggests that children will have limitations in their thinking abilities throughout their development.  Piaget suggests that these limitations are based on what developmental stage the child is in; the information-processing theory (IPT) states that limitations are based on a child’s functional short-term memory capacity which is linked to age.

In taking a look at cognitive limitations based on Piaget’s model it can be seen that children in the concrete operational stage are capable of thinking of only two attributes at once, meaning “they can seriate on one dimension”.  For example, a concrete operational student “can order objects on some dimension, such as shortest to tallest or lightest to heaviest”, but would not be able to order the objects from shortest to tallest and in order of color (Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 64).  This limitation is similar to the limitations suggested in the IPT, where children have a limited capacity of short term memory.

IPT proposes that as the brain increases in size, children will be able to hold more items in their short-term memory.  This means that their short-term memory capacity is largely based on age, for example a two-year-old can hold two items in their short term memory, a five-year-old about four items, a seven-year-old about five items, and so on, with adolescents holding about seven items (Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 94, Table 4.1).  Some theorists believe that these “developmental changes in short-term capacity can explain many of the stage-like shifts with development originally described by Piaget” (Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 95).

Both of these theories suggest that children can only hold on to so much information at one time, and limitations increase the younger the child is.  It is very important that teachers recognize where their students are at developmentally and plan or adjust lessons accordingly.  Pressley and McCormick suggest that “when students have difficulty with classroom tasks due to working memory limitations, teachers can support their students by breaking tasks down into parts that are less memory demanding or by providing external supports that reduce the amount of information the students have to hold in their heads at one time” (Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 96).  This will prevent students from feeling overwhelmed and make it easier to grasp the content of the lesson.  Also the strategies of rehearsal, elaboration, and organization can help students to hold information.

*Example strategies for improving reading comprehension

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C.B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York: NY: Guildford Press

EDU 6526: Questioning as a teaching strategy

Questioning is a valuable teaching strategy.  This is because our brains are wired to make us curious and want to explore the world around us.   John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist, states that “this need for explanation is so powerfully stitched into [our] experience that some scientists describe it as a drive, just as hunger, thirst, and sex are drives” (Medina, 2008).  Questioning as a teaching strategy harnesses this natural urge to explore by giving students opportunities to problem solve with teacher guidance.

The questioning method, or inquiry method, is most effective when a teacher creates an appropriate environment with appropriate tasks.  The teacher can do this by following three guidelines: create one focus, develop conceptual control, and convert conceptual understanding to skill (Joyce, Weil, Calhoun, 2009).   Creating one focus, or domain, means “presenting the students with data sets that provide information in the domain that will be the focus of the lesson or unit and by asking them to study the attributes of the items in the set” (Joyce, Weil, Calhoun, 2009).  The second guideline, conceptual control means a deep exploration of the domain where students “develop conceptual mastery of the domain” (Joyce, Weil, Calhoun, 2009).  The last guideline, converting conceptual control to skill, is where “recognition evolves to conscious application”, students can classify data, reclassify, and develop and test a hypothesis.  At the end of a lesson students have successfully collected and examined information, organized it into concepts, and manipulated those concepts (Joyce, Weil, Calhoun, 2009).

Joyce, B. R., & Weil, M. (2009). Models of teaching. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

EDU 6132: Philosophy of Instruction Considering General Factors of Student Development & Biological Factors of Student Development

To help students to reach their maximum potential, or the height of their “reaction range”* it is necessary to recognize the general factors and biological factors regarding their development.   This means I may have to alter my developing teaching philosophy to better serve my students.  One idea from Piaget’s stage theory of development that struck me is that a group of students at the same grade level/age will have a wide range in their thinking abilities, meaning that some students will think more concretely and some will be able to think more abstractly (Pressley & McCormick, 2007).  Since I plan to have plenty of class discussions where students can openly share their thoughts and perspectives of new material I will have to be mindful that some of my students will not be able to contribute or gain as much from class discussions as their peers. An alternative to this could be to hold shorter discussions while incorporating a more concrete hands-on project aimed to help my concrete thinkers to better grasp a concept.  I must also remain mindful that along with thinking abilities, students’ development will vary greatly based on culture, family, community, institutions (school, religion, media, government) and biological factors.

A biological factor that I feel will be very noticeable in my future elementary school classroom is the wide range in fine motor skills at the same grade level (Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 43).  I enjoy creating lessons and projects that include a large amount of fine motor skill (use of scissors, glue and various art supplies), and although I have a lot of experience working with students with lower fine motor skill abilities I still must be constantly aware of the range of skill level of my students.  This means exhibiting continuous patience and encouragement as students’ skills gradually develop.  I will also have to recognize that for some very skilled students the task may be too easy.  To compensate for the difference in fine motor skill development I will have to adjust time allotment for projects, and maybe include alternative projects for both students with advanced fine motor skills and those who have less fine motor skill ability.  To sum it up, I will have to be very flexible in my planning and execution of lessons to be sure that my students are given tasks that challenge them appropriately.

*Reaction Range: The range of all possible manifestations of a biological predisposition, the range of possible phenotypes based on a given genotype. (Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 32)

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C.B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York, NY: Guilford Press.