Ch 5 blog

Andrew Hogan

10/29/14

Ch.5 Blog

Our reading from chapter 5 discussed the way scholars measure intelligence and how individual differences may come into account when determining these scores, as well as the methods and processes an educator must take when teaching a special education student.

The first topic that struck me was the merits of the IQ test. As the chapter discusses, the IQ test does provide some idea of the takers intellect, however, it also states that this result is not only subject to numerous environmental factors and the test itself is not an accurate measure of the students achievement. If the test itself is only a valid measure of how the student performs on this particular test on this specific day, and the results can vary based on everyday situations, how can the test be considered valid at all?

It seems more likely that the theory of multiple intelligences is more correct, but even then it seems that the scope of “intelligence” is too large to be categorized into 8 simple categories. For example; Stephen King is an infamously talented writer, which could easily classify him as intelligent in several of Gardner's intelligences. However, I have never read a comedy by King, and can only assume, based on his other works in the drama or horror genre, that it would not be a particularly great read. Is this inability to shift to a different style make him less intelligent? It seems impossible to map the spectrum of human talent, and it seems unjust to try to lump each individual into seven categories.

It seems to me that the most viable form of intelligence discussed in this chapter is distributed intelligence, where a person’s intelligence is dependent upon the social support systems around them. While clearly this still relies on the concept of “g,” a general factor that contributes to intelligence, and can best be judged by an IQ test, it is clear in society that kids who have more support from families and communities tend to achieve more in school. There needs to be less of an emphasis on trying to determine how a children will perform in school, and instead focus on how to place children in the best environment to achieve in.

Ch. 8 bloooooooog

Andrew Hogan

10/22/14

Ch. 8 Blog

This weeks readings revolved around the concept of higher level thinking. Prior to  his chapter we have been learning about the different methods to relay information to students, however chapter 8 discusses for the first time the benefits of asking students to apply the knowledge or think critically about what they have learned in order to solve problems and bolster retention of the topic.

While I found the types of assignments recommended by the text to promote higher level thinking beneficial, and will undoubtedly use many of them in my classroom, the most important concept discussed in this chapter is the idea of metacognition. Metacognition, which is just a fancy way to say “thinking about how you think” is the cornerstone to good study habits. I greatly appreciated table 8.1 which provides different ways that a teacher may engage students with metacognitive strategies, however, this chapter would be stronger if it gave more examples of assignments that involved metacognition.

Another concept discussed briefly in this chapter was the idea of information being 

perceived by children as context-free, which is to say that children often do not see how 

different subjects overlap and intertwine. To some extent this makes sense, I study primarily 

history, therefor my math and science skills are almost nonexistent. To the same point, 

however, I understand that every event pushed forward in history is in large part due to one 

technological advancement or another, and any advancement in technology is just applied 

math. It seems to me that it is our duty as educators, particularly in secondary education to 

relate that subjects we are passionate about to all aspects of the students life, and that includes

interdisciplinary studies. This is another section that I feel the text should have elaborated on 

more.

10/15/14 Blog

Andrew Hogan

10/15

Ch 7 Blog

One concept that was interesting in this weeks readings was the idea of organizing knowledge, particularly the ideas of schemas and scripts. A schema, as the text tells us, is what we know about a specific thing when we organize it, and a script is a series of events that we follow in order, such as the steps associated with cooking dinner. I began to wonder how intimately these two ideas are connected. For example, do we form scripts as to how we interpret schemas? For example, does the “walk like a duck, talk like a duck,” mantra act as a script as to how we identify a duck? The whole concept seemed a little confusing to me.

A concept from the readings that I think will help me in my career as a teacher is the concept of problem based activities. Problem based activities are geared at solving real world problems, and as a history and politics teacher I like the idea of placing students into real scenarios, or having them debate current topics, in order to get students to see the complexities on both sides of current issues.

This section delved into the thinking process of students, and I think it will help me in my 

teaching because it gives me the chance to adjust my lesson plans to keep them adaptive and 

engaging towards students, particularly ones who have become jaded with school or just 

history.

Ch. 6 BLOOOOOOG

Andrew Hogan

10/8

Ch.6 Blog

This weeks readings all revolve around the way the human brain process and stores information. This is quintessential to learning as it discusses the way in which each individual person learns, and consequently the way they adapt their knowledge to form original thoughts or ideas.

The comparison between behavioral psychology and early forms of cognitive psychology made early on in the chapter was particularly interesting to me. I can’t believe there was a time when scientists believed that learning could be attributed simply to the response of the patience to different stimuli. It may be true that scientists of the time had not learned the working of brain synapses and neurons, but to attribute learning to something so simple as cause and effect implies that no person ever thinks or chooses the way they react to any stimulus, but instead that every person is only subject to their own urges.

Another part from the chapter that I found useful to my career as a future educator is the chart on page 188 of the text. This chart helps to illustrate examples of the cognitive process and the way in which it could be used in the classroom. While all of the examples may not be particularly relevant to my history classroom, it does provide me with different ways to engage my students, particularly those who may not be responding to one type of teaching method.

In addition to this idea of cognitive psychology, I also thought the section entitled "Why learners forget" was very interesting. This was a great section for helping me understand not only why certain upper level students forget, but it was great at helping me understand students with learning disabilities, and why they are not always able to process information. It is applicable to me, because although the text did a fine job at explaining how memory works, it didn't help to explain how the brain prioritizes one set of information over the other to be remembered.

10/1 Blog

Andrew Hogan

10/1

Ch.10 Blog

After reading chapter 10, the section that stuck with me the most was the concept of self-regulation, particularly as it applied to behavior and learning.

Although I understand the idea of self regulated behavior, I was confused by the concept, particularly because of the idea that children eventually set their own ideas of what is right and wrong. This idea of course holds true as a child grows, and as the book stated, we hope that negative behavior is discouraged by the unsavory reaction of the people surrounding them. However, what if a child is in a community where certain undesirable social characteristics are common, such as swearing or violence.

Over the last few weeks, I have been substitute teaching for various schools in Knox county, and in that time I have watched students act aggressively towards one another for the most benign reasons. This attitude has to be learned from somewhere, and in a community where education is not always a priority why would the student take into consideration my negative response to his outburst any more that his family or friends indifferent or even condoning attitude?

Similarly, in regards to self-regulated learning, and more specifically co-regulated learning, how can an educator participate in setting educational goals for a child who has no interest in education? We have all heard students say “Why are we doing this?” or “When am I ever going to use this in real life?” which, although often times very rude, are very valid questions. How can I convince my students that reading Beowulf will help them master necessary literacy skills any more than an in depth analysis of any other book would due?

I am on board with all of these teaching strategies, but how do we apply them to students 

who actively do not want to be involved with their own education?