Download ed psych journals and cultural diversity

Ed Psych Journals
1. Describe the classroom you are observing. Your text discusses elements that are
generally considered to be good teaching. Describe and analyze examples from class that
you would consider to be “good teaching”.
I am observing a high school level physical education class at Seward High School. The
course title is called Lifetime Sports. The grade levels vary from sophomores to seniors. The
class is set up to have a work out day two times of the week, and for the rest of the days they
have activity games. The work out day’s consist of a series of exercise drills, stretching, and
cardiovascular endurance training (running). Exercise should be reinforced to students at all
levels. It will prepare them to live a better lifestyle in the future. On activity days, the students
participate in playing team sports such as volleyball, softball, putt-putt, and badminton. The
students are actively engaged in all of the activities. From my perspective, I believe that the
students are motivated to play and be active.
A teacher needs to be knowledgeable but they have to be able to transfer their knowledge to
their students understanding. People believe that a good quality to have is to express warmth,
compassion, and a sense of humor. This is important but it doesn’t reflect if you are a “good”
teacher or not. Intentionality, critical thinking, efficacy, and application of research are important
qualities to have in a “good teacher”. An intentional teacher plans things and does things with a
purpose. A sense of purpose and thoughtfulness are resembled in an intentional teacher.
Intentional teachers are constantly making sure that their goals are being accomplished for the
student’s learning. Intentional teachers need to be flexible as well. If students’ don’t understand a
lesson then the teacher may need to spend an extra class period on reviewing the material.
Teachers need to be critical thinkers. Creativity is important to critical thinking. Being able to
find new ways to teach will make you a successful teacher. Teacher efficacy is when the teacher
believes that their efforts determine the students’ successes. A physical education teacher has a
powerful influence on their students’ healthy lifestyle. Mr. Placke understands that his teaching
has a major influence on whether the students will be physically active or not. He attempts to
make working out and playing games as enjoyable as he can. Teachers are not just preparing the
students’ to pass their class they are educating their students for the future. The students’
successes in school will reflect their successes in the future. Teachers make decisions and
choices everyday in the classroom. They also need to be able to communicate their skills with
their students. Both of these concepts are represented in the application of research portion of
what it means to be a “good teacher”. In the application of research, the teacher’s knowledge is
reflected. A “good teacher” is knowledgeable in their subject area, knows their students’
learning abilities, a good problem solver, and has good communication skills when interacting
with the students.
2. In class, we discussed elements of diversity as serving as either “borders” or
“boundaries”. Considering the elements of diversity that you see in your field experience
classroom, which elements do you see as “borders”. What strategies might you suggest to
reframe these issues as “boundaries”.
What are the elements of diversity when dealing with “borders” or “boundaries” in the
classroom? Cultural “borders” have a political concept, moral issue, things are different, and they
have a resource for conflict. Cultural “borders” are the clashes between students and teachers.
Conflict between the students and teachers will probably occur more frequently if classrooms
have cultural “borders”. Classrooms should not be represented as a cultural “border”, they should
be cultural “boundaries”. Cultural “boundaries” are pragmatic, egalitarian, things are different,
and they have a resource for learning. In this kind of environment students are more willing to
learn and gain knowledge. Teachers should have the qualities of an egalitarian which means they
believe that all people should be treated equal. No one should be criticizing due to race or
culture.
Special needs kids are a good example for this kind of discussion. Special needs kids need
extra attention and extra help when trying to learn new material. Their learning processes slower
than the “normal” students. These students may cause some awkward situations in the classroom.
Teachers should be aware of these types of situations in the future. Teachers should be creating
or using their critical thinking skills to come up with new mechanisms to make the learning
environment enjoyable and easier for the students. Paras’ are going to be very helpful for you
when learning the students disability and learning style. Maybe other teachers who had this
student in the past may inform you on his/her learning disability.
In the classroom that I am observing there are three special needs children. There is one girl
who is able to participate in all of the activities with the rest of the students in the classroom. Mr.
Placke does a good job making sure that this girl is getting involved in activities and is also
socializing with the other students. The other students treat this girl with respect like they would
with any other “normal” child. On the other hand, there is one boy in the classroom who does not
participate in the physical activities. When the students have their work days this boy will
participate but his requirements are modified to his own ability. An example in class that I have
observed would be when the students run lap around the gym this boy will walk instead of run.
Classrooms should not be separated by their culture or learning ability. Classrooms should have
a sense of equality that way students are treated equal.
3. Consider the information in your text regarding Operant Conditioning in the classroom.
Describe and explain examples of at least 2 of the 4 types of operant conditioning
consequences. Analyze each of the consequences you describe as to why you feel it is (or
is not) accomplishing its intended purpose.
Operant conditioning is the use of pleasant or unpleasant consequences to control the
occurrence of behavior. In operant conditioning, reinforcing consequences increases the
likelihood that a behavior will be repeated. Punishing consequences decreases the likelihood that
a behavior will be repeated. Operant conditioning explains that if teachers’ continue to reinforce
a certain consequence then that behavior will occur more frequently. Once a student is punished
for their behavior then that behavior will less likely occur again.
A positive reinforcer is a pleasurable consequence given to strengthen behavior. In Mr.
Placke’s class the students’ achieve dots when they are victorious in games. The students’ with
the most dots at the end of the week can get some of their work out day reduced. Mr. Placke’s
dot system is an excellent way to keep the students’ motivated in their activity. The dot system
also represents extrinsic reinforcers. A extrinsic reinforcer is when praise is rewarded to the
students to motive them when they might not be motivated to do so. When it comes to physical
activity it can be hard to motivate or encourage kids to work out or become physically active.
Exercising is challenging for some people which may cause them to become obese or overweight
because they don’t want to do the hard work. This kind of praise may encourage students to start
living a healthy lifestyle. By reinforcing a new skill in small steps towards a goal is called
shaping. A goal for a physical education may be to improve the students’ mile times by the end
of the year. To achieve this goal students continue to run long distances a few times a week.
Reinforcing cardiovascular endurance will help students’ improve their mile times. When
positive encouragement is expressed in the teachers actions or words the students will most
likely have a positive attitude in class.
One negative aspect of his dot system is that the athletic students’ are more likely to achieve
dots. I noticed that the same athletic kids were getting more dots than everyone else. The dot
system gave them the opportunity to miss some of the hard work out days. A removal
punishment is removing a pleasant consequence to avoid any reoccurrence in the future. In a
physical educational setting this may involve a student to miss out on their fun activity day due
to his behavior. The removal punishment is needed to straighten kids out. If teachers remove one
of their pleasures then they are less likely to act up.
4. Describe a teaching strategy used by your cooperating teacher and analyze how it is intended
to accomplish transfer of learning. Why you think it does (or does not) accomplish its intended
purpose.
In a physical education setting there is not much cognitive learning that the students need
to know or understand. There is no factual information that the students need to comprehend for
tests. P.E. is all about having fun and interacting with other students. Students learn different
motor skills and how to apply those skills in a game setting. How do children learn these skills?
The answer is through practice. Enactment is a kind of teaching strategy in which individuals
physically carry out tasks. The phrase “learn by doing” is represented in enactment.
For my field experience, Mr. Placke used enactment along with massed/distributed
practice as different teaching strategies for his classroom. Playing games was a way students
learned different skills. In his class every other day was a “work day”. This “work day” consisted
of a high intensity work outs. The only way students could improve their physical health is to get
active. Long-term retention of enhanced skills is known as distributed practice. A P.E teacher’s
goal is to engage their students to be fit and active and enjoy sports and physical activity.
Learning motor skills will be an essential part of a child’s life.
Mr. Placke also used massed practice as a strategy in his classroom. Massed practice is a
technique in which skills are learned and repeated over a short time. Mr. Placke allowed the
same skills to be learned over and over during the week. One sport was played at a time
throughout the whole week. For example, one week the students played softball. This allowed
repeated practice of hitting and throwing the softball throughout the week.
How do enactment, massed practice, and distributed practice accomplish transfer of
learning? These different kinds of teaching strategies are beneficial to the students because it
allows them to practice skills that they need to improve on. Physical education is all about
keeping the students active and engaged in fitness and sports. If students were not able to
practice new skills by physically doing the activity then nothing would be learned. I believe Mr.
Placke’s teaching strategies were beneficial to his students. I have never seen a P.E teacher work
out their students as hard as Mr. Placke did. He truly cared about his students’ lifestyle and
wanted to improve their fitness level. He also kept his students motivated in class. The students
were competitive in all the games I observed. This is very important for a P.E teacher. Students’
interests in playing games and winning may decrease or not matter to some individuals. I never
saw this as an issue with Mr. Placke’s students.
5. You have spent considerable time and effort in writing a draft of a series of lesson plan for one
class. Considering what you have learned about transfer of learning, analyze the strengths and
the weaknesses of the lesson plan writing assignment.
Transfer of learning prepares students to apply the knowledge they learn in school to
situations in life. It provides students with the skills and knowledge they need to know for them
to function effectively as they grow and mature into adults. A teacher plays a critical role for
preparing their students to the future.
The lesson plan writing assignment was very helpful when it came to writing my first
lesson plan. Breaking up the lesson plan in small pieces was beneficial and it made it a lot easier
to plan the lesson. I found it very helpful that we could collaborate and get other students’
perspectives on our lesson. Collaborating with others gave us the opportunity to view how others
planned and were creative with their lesson plans as well. It is important to get others perspective
viewpoints on certain things. The objective assignment that was assigned to us in class was very
helpful when it came to planning our objectives for the lesson. It helped that we were able to
practice and get a feel of what it is like to set goals and objectives for our future lessons.
There were some weaknesses towards the lesson plan assignment. I found it a little
challenging to find creative ways to get the students’ attention/motivation focused on class. This
is where the creativity in teachers is represented in their classrooms. It is important to find ways
to get students engaged and motivated to learn. I struggled to figure out ways to explain certain
material to my students. This is where more experience comes into play.
What are the strengths of a lesson plan? Lesson plans are extremely helpful for teachers
to guide them through lessons. They provide step-by-step reassurance so the teacher won’t have
to worry about forgetting any material that needs to be mentioned. Goals and objectives are set to
enhance student achievement. Objectives are made to make sure that students learn certain
material at the end of a lesson. Objectives help teachers understand if his/her students are ready
to advance to the next lesson. I think that lesson plans are a good way for teachers to be creative
in their lesson planning. Creativity is an important quality to have in a lesson plan and it allows
students to see a different perspective of teacher rather than a lecture.
What are the weaknesses of a lesson plan? It potentially may be hard to find ways to help
students apply their knowledge to real life situations. Teachers need to be critical thinkers in case
certain lessons don’t go as planned. Lesson plans may not provide a back-up plan. Some students
may not understand certain material, so this may involve an extra day spent on one lesson. When
it comes to these situations teachers must be flexible. Another weakness to lesson plans involves
time. Teachers may not know how long a lesson will go until they start teaching. Students may
ask a lot of questions and this takes away from the lecturing. One more thing that can be a
weakness is that students can lose their attention towards lectures. Teachers should try to be
enthusiastic while teaching and find creative activities to keep their students’ interests.
6. Write a summary of the important things that you have learned through this aiding experience.
Make sure you concentrate on the things you learned from your Field Experience, not just from
the Ed Psych class in general.
One important thing that I learned from my field experience is to be creative. It is boring
when students play games that they are familiar. Playing games that the students have not heard
of or played will engage them even more. One week for Mr. Placke’s class the students did a
putt-putt lesson. It was interesting how Mr. Placke got creative with the materials available to
him to set up the putt-putt course. Try and find new ways to get the students actively engaged in
sports without them realizing that they are exercising.
Mr. Plack told me that it is important to be enthusiastic and passionate about your career.
If teachers are enthusiastic and passionate about certain lessons then the students will hopefully
be enthusiastic to participate. However, the teacher acts in class will most likely affect the
students’ mindset for class that day. Boring and mono-toned teachers will lose the interest of
their students. Participating and actively getting involved with your students is important and
beneficial. I learned that it is essential to keep your students motivated in class. I thought Mr.
Placke’s dot system was an effective way to keep the students motivated for class. Rewards are
another good way to keep the students’ interests.
Classroom management is one of the most crucial things to be aware of as a teacher. The
teacher needs to be in charge of their classroom or students may get out of hand. Students need
to be aware of their boundaries and their expected behavior in a classroom. If teachers don’t have
control of their classrooms then things will start to go downhill. Punishment and discipline may
need to be enforced for some students who do not obey the teachers’ rules.
Another thing that I learned to be aware of as a teacher is to know each of your students’
strengths and weaknesses. This is important in a P.E. setting, this way the games are fair. It is not
fun or competitive when all the athletic students are on one team and the rest are on another.
Keeping the games equal and fair is crucial especially for younger kids. You want students to
understand that everyone is equal and try not to put too much of an emphasis on winning. This
also focuses on actively engaging your special needs students. In Mr. Placke’s class there were
two special needs kids. I learned that teachers need to find ways to get these students involved
and interacting with the other kids.
Diversity Reflection
Considering Banks’s theory of multicultural education, do you think the presenter’s information
was consistent with theory? Describe and explain specific examples regarding THREE of the
specific components of Banks’s theory that come from the presentation to support your answer.
What is Banks’s theory of multicultural education? James Banks states that there are five
key dimensions of multicultural education. The five dimensions are knowledge construction,
equity pedagogy, content integration, prejudice reduction, and an empowering school culture.
Prejudice reduction involves the development of positive relationships and attitudes
among different cultural backgrounds. This is a critical goal for many schools today, especially
those that are facing poverty. In the presentation it was mentioned how so many kids are growing
up in poverty. Over 78 percent of the students are living in poverty, 44 percent of students’
parents are divorced, 15 percent of students’ parents favor alcohol abuse these are just a few
percentage of what children are facing outside the schools boundaries. School is a place where
children can feel safe and loved by teachers and other students. Another thing that was
mentioned during the presentation was that exercise is important with kids living in poverty.
Exercise such as recess or physical education class is a positive way to help students release any
of their frustrations from home. Positive relationships should be made between different ethnic
groups.
Equity pedagogy refers to the teaching strategies that help students achieve academic
success. Teachers want their students to be motivated to learn. In the presentation, the presenter
mentioned that about 36 percent of students have a low commitment towards school. Banks
equity pedagogy dimension states that teachers should find different techniques to engage
students with different ethnic and social backgrounds.
Banks theory on empowering school culture reflects the schools organization and
practices to help improve students’ academic and emotional growth. In a school that has a
diverse population it is important for teachers to be aware of the different social groups. In this
type of theory we become aware of the students with special needs. In the presentation, it was
mentioned that almost 19 percent of students are special needs. Our goal as teachers is to try and
keep these students on the path of a higher education and towards a bright future.
I believe that the presenter’s information consists with the Banks theory. I definitely
learned that I need to be aware of these culture issues that I will face when I become a teacher. It
also helped me understanding how in the past few years our world is changing. The presentation
opened up my eyes and made me realize how culture affects our schools. It is important not to
neglect or treat others differently because they come from a different cultural background.