Entry # 4 - Why do I want to be a teacher?

January 13, 2012

Hello =) In class today we were asked to think about what compelled us to be teachers.  We were to work individually then arrange ourselves into small groups and share our answers with fellow classmates.

"When you know the why, the how takes care if itself."

So...the question in front of us is "Why do you want to become a teacher?"

Here is my answer...

First and foremost, I LOVE children. I want to be a person sculpting young minds, teaching our next generations the fundamentals of life; reading, writing, sharing, and proper behavior. Being an elementary school teacher will keep my mind and heart young for years to come. The profession will allow my inner child to be forever unchained and allow me to have fun with my career. Being a teacher means that everyday will be different. Varied activities which are fun especially when you're working with young children. When you do something you enjoy, waking up everyday and going to your job isn't considered "work." To me passion is everything. I love to be knowledgeable and soak up all the information I can about everything. Being a teacher not only allows me to do this, but demands me to be a continuous learner.  It is meaningful and valuable work, making a difference in the life both students and parents. Taking what I know and passing along my knowledge would be very rewarding, not too mention the great feeling received from helping people. The experience would be especially rewarding if a child was struggling and I took the time to work one on one with the student to help them, excel and succeed. Correctly using a variation of instructional strategies to give every pupil the chance to learn in whichever way their mind works.

Entry # 3 - Simon Sinew: "Golden Cirle" (TED talk)

January 13, 2010

Today we started with the first of our TED talks. This one featured Simon Sinew, talking about the "Golden Circle" This post will be the notes I jotted down while viewing the clip. (I like notes lol although I write them on my Ipad which likes to change words on me sometimes so bear with me :p)

How great leaders inspire action    

Great and inspiring people act the same way. The "Golden Circle" - How? Why? and What? What you do, how you do it, and why you do it... with profit NOT being the main concern. People buy WHY you do it, NOT what you do. The goal is to do business with with people who BELIEVE what you believe. The neocortex (part of the brain) is the "what." The Limbic (part of the brain) controls feelings. Decision making area not language. Goal is not to buy what you have. Hire people who believe what you believe and they will work harder - put their blood, sweat, and tears into it. VS working only for a paycheck if you hire someone to produce what you make. Be driven by a cause and a belief! Ex) Wright brothers. Strive to attract others who believe what you believe - this will equal success. What you do PROVES what you believe. A similar belief will cause people to take things on as their own. There are laws made by high authority and laws made by man. MOTTO  "I have a dream!" NOT "I have a plan." Leaders and those who lead inspire people. They start with why and get people to follow what you believe..have a better understanding the purpose.

Entry # 2 - Being a wise consumer of information.

January 12, 2012

 5 steps to being a wise consumer of information about Educational Psychology

These are my version of the notes from class today. There were the 5 areas to observe. They are in dark blue and what I gathered about the points are in light blue.

1. Be cautious of what is reported in the popular media. The media often over speculates in many of the cases they cover. There are always alternate viewpoints. The information may be poorly portrayed.

2. Avoid drawing conclusions about individual needs based on group research. The content of the report is not necessarily about a specific individual. Ex) Males that play violent video games have increased violent tendencies afterwords.

3. Recognize how easy it is to over generalize about a small or clinical sample. This is the opposite of number 2 (induction)

4. Be aware that a single study is usually not the defining word. No one study is the final word. It is simply a start of research and should not be considered to be exact or necessarily true. 

5. Always consider the source of information and evaluate its' credibility. Who is the researcher? Are they specialized in the subject? The person may not be knowledgeable of the topic.  

                                                                                                            

 

 The following information is just some notes I took down while watching the video. They are not in complete sentences, just jotted thoughts.

Treadmills in the classroom.

Get fit, Get smart? School especially for kids where cannot make it anywhere else is good. Smoking and drinking at a young age, ADHD, and children with other diagnosed illnesses. Problems with authority. (Spark - book) - Growing new brain cells is a result of exercise and effects behavior. Students not as fidgety and have a longer attention span. Increased ability to sort through information and take it in. Lowest obesity rate. Fitness for everyone for 45 minutes. Interactive lessons. Higher heart rate, better focus. (possibly more oxygen intake for the muscles?) Turning on the front part of the brain involved with controlling impulses. Neurotic brain impulses. Sustained aerobic movement. 65-75% percent of maximum for 20 minutes being in constant motion.  Students are paying better attention and turning their lives around. They are wanting to go in a different direction then when they were first admitted to this school. Reading increased over 20%, comprehension over 400%. The students say they feel more energized and "happy-ish." Our brains are geared to move.

Next we have the notes from discussing the video with a friend in class.


Activity in the body also equals activity in the mind. A kind of jump start to the day, getting everyone moving and thinking. Also with the increased percentag4es we don't know what they were before and if they were testing with the exact same method and material. They are only giving us facts based on the small group of delinquent kids, no statistics to compare anything to. It's great that they have the school for kids who don't fit in anywhere else and for kids with diagnosed illnesses. Better marks maybe because the machines are getting the students up moving and participating, warming up both body and mind. Perhaps they could find a less costly and space consuming way to create the same effect. Instead of the treadmills maybe run and down stairs, do crunches, push-ups, etc to get the energized, ready-to-go feeling expressed in the video by the students. This gives a basis for if you wanted to conduct a study of your own or simply research the topic better to get more answers, not just from a small group of pupils. I think it's great this teacher has found a way to get more participation out of her students and have them both behave and preform better. Innovation in the classroom is a great thing.

Entry #1 - Effective Teaching

January 10/2012

Hello everyone! =) 

Well, this is the first of many blog entries I will be completing throughout the course of this semester. I, like many others in my class I'm sure, am not entirely decided on what I will be putting up here. For now, I'm starting with the writing assignment from today.

Please describe, from personal experience, an instance in which you witnessed effective teaching skills in action. Who and why? What did you observe? 

 The person that instantly came to mind was a teacher I had at H.J Cody high-school in Sylvan Lake. My grade 11/12 social studies teacher was one that greatly helped me along in school and in life. Not only by motivating me to do well, but also by taking extra time out of his day to work with me through problems I had, whether in school or other areas. He was a genuine and friendly person who made his students  feel comfortable and himself easy to approach with any questions, comments or concerns. Social studies was not my most favored subject, but he made it my favorite class to be in. It seemed he was always in a good mood (keeping his personal and business life separate) and the tone of the class was light and easy-going as long as a few rules were followed. A variety of instructional strategies were always used, keeping the lessons interesting and the students entertained and engaged in learning. After I had graduated I still went back occasionally to visit with this particular teacher, and we kept in touch for several years after. It has been quite awhile since my last visit and although we are distanced and our relationship has died down, his ways of teaching has had, and will have, an enormous affect on me and my life and how I will teach my own pupils one day. I hope that I can impact students`life in the same way and make a difference in their world.