1. How does this relate to what I have already learned?
There are so many concepts that are extensions of what we have already learned. I first compared the various terms from psycholinguistics to the propositional code. Phoneme refers to the smallest piece of sound, and morpheme is the smallest piece of meaning. I compared these because all of these small pieces are put together to make words, sentences, and meaning. The propositional code connects all of the information visually to form an image.
I also compared the deep structure of text to the deep levels of processing necessary for retention and retrieval. Because all of the text has a deeper meaning than just a string of words, we must really focus on it, and use a deeper level of processing for information that we have read. To me, the surface structure also relates to short term memory. Both serve a purpose, but their importance is not great enough to retain and retrieve.
When reading about the factors that affect comprehension, I was reminded of the Polyana principle where we remember things better in a positive situation. Chapter nine discussed the importance of positive text. It takes longer for people to process negative words. This section also described nesting, which is adding more information than is needed. When I read this, I was reminded about the stimulus overload and some of the blindness factors. We can become "blinded" because there is too much information in the text, which causes confusion.
2. What am I still not clear on?
I enjoyed this chapter much more than chapter 12, and I think that I understand most concepts presented. I think that I will be more cautious when sending letters and notes home to parents. I am quite sure that I have written using all four of the factors that affect comprehension negatively. After reading that section, I could think of several notes where I made some errors in my writing. To me, I was trying to write using a kind, and pleasant tone. In actuality, I might have been writing in a passive voice, which was difficult to understand.
3. Under what conditions will I apply this to my own teaching?
I definitely use both of the direct and indirect approaches to reading in my classroom. Many of my students do not know the basic alphabet code when they enter kindergarten. As the year progresses, we learn the code, as well as some of the "rule-breakers." These rule-breakers are letters and letter combinations that don't follow the basic code. It is during this time, that we also begin to take a look at using sight words, or the direct access approach. My students have to know that "one" can't be sounded out as it is written. I try to include various games and activities that incorporate a combination of the direct and indirect approaches. It is important to have a mixture.
While have a nice mix of both approaches is important, I also believe that I need to know which approach each student uses. Some children are phonics champions, and they can segment the sounds of any words. Some of my students simpy know the words without sounding them out. I have found that I should let my students work on whichever approach is more comfortable for them. It is also important that my students build their skills on the weaker approach. By doing this, they are able to have a balanced approach to literacy.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Chapter 12
1. How does this fit in with what I already have learned?
The propositional calculus fits in quite well with what we have learned so far. To me, these "if...then..." statements require a specific way of imagining our thoughts. While so many of the heuristics are similar, I noticed that I could imagine some better than others. I found that I had an easier time affirming the antecedent than I did any other situation. I could visualize this situation more in my mind. I think that because this was my most natural way of thinking, I connected to the examples easier in the book. I often found that I had to re-read and really think about the other situations. This directly connects to the self-referencing effect and how we process things when deep connections are made. I also connected affirming the consequent to some of the errors we make. The eye witness error and some of the other unintentional errors came to mind. I recalled that we learned that often our thoughts could be remembered differently than the actual event. We also learned that we may change information when we retrieve it depending on the circumstances. As I read the affirming the consequent information, I began to think how accurate this situation could actually sound. Sometimes, I had to really think about the situation and visualize it before I could see the inaccuracy of it.
2. What am I still not clear on?
I had to reread several times the sections on the different heuristics. After reading several of these, they all began to run together. I think that my own "non-mathy" way of thinking caused some processing blocks with the information. Because I am more of a language person, I found that I could better understand these if I made notes about each one as I read it. I believe that after reading it, I began to understand it much better.
While I am clear on the framing effect and the importance of selective wording, I began to think how often I don't really use this to my advantage in my class. I think that there are many opportunities where I could use better wording and phrasing in my activities that would encourage more participation and motivation from my students.
3. There are several aspects of this chapter that I would apply to my own teaching.
I find that sometimes I am overconfident about what I can get done in my class. My lesson plan book is completely full of what I think I will get done in a small amount of time. I think that down deep, I know that there is no way that we can do it all. I need to maintain high expectations, but not to be overconfident about the amount of work my students can do.
As I mentioned before, I also think that I can apply some of the framing and wording effects in my teaching. I think that by using better wording my students will want to learn more. I will try to be more aware of how to do this in my room. I will keep reminding myself about all of the commercials that persuade me to buy things that I don't need. I am not saying that my students don't need what I am teaching them. Instead, I think that I could find better ways to get the same message to my students.
One final aspect of this chapter that I would like to work on in my class is that of affirming the consequent. My students don't always understand how this could be wrong. Today, for example, one of my students kept telling me that pigs give us mud. I think that she was affirming the consequent. I tend to believe that her thought processes went something like this...."Pigs are found in mud, therefore they give us mud." I don't know if I am correct or not about her thoughts, but she really had a hard time getting past this error. I would like to find a way to help my young students understand this type of error. I will have to do some thinking on how to do this.
The propositional calculus fits in quite well with what we have learned so far. To me, these "if...then..." statements require a specific way of imagining our thoughts. While so many of the heuristics are similar, I noticed that I could imagine some better than others. I found that I had an easier time affirming the antecedent than I did any other situation. I could visualize this situation more in my mind. I think that because this was my most natural way of thinking, I connected to the examples easier in the book. I often found that I had to re-read and really think about the other situations. This directly connects to the self-referencing effect and how we process things when deep connections are made. I also connected affirming the consequent to some of the errors we make. The eye witness error and some of the other unintentional errors came to mind. I recalled that we learned that often our thoughts could be remembered differently than the actual event. We also learned that we may change information when we retrieve it depending on the circumstances. As I read the affirming the consequent information, I began to think how accurate this situation could actually sound. Sometimes, I had to really think about the situation and visualize it before I could see the inaccuracy of it.
2. What am I still not clear on?
I had to reread several times the sections on the different heuristics. After reading several of these, they all began to run together. I think that my own "non-mathy" way of thinking caused some processing blocks with the information. Because I am more of a language person, I found that I could better understand these if I made notes about each one as I read it. I believe that after reading it, I began to understand it much better.
While I am clear on the framing effect and the importance of selective wording, I began to think how often I don't really use this to my advantage in my class. I think that there are many opportunities where I could use better wording and phrasing in my activities that would encourage more participation and motivation from my students.
3. There are several aspects of this chapter that I would apply to my own teaching.
I find that sometimes I am overconfident about what I can get done in my class. My lesson plan book is completely full of what I think I will get done in a small amount of time. I think that down deep, I know that there is no way that we can do it all. I need to maintain high expectations, but not to be overconfident about the amount of work my students can do.
As I mentioned before, I also think that I can apply some of the framing and wording effects in my teaching. I think that by using better wording my students will want to learn more. I will try to be more aware of how to do this in my room. I will keep reminding myself about all of the commercials that persuade me to buy things that I don't need. I am not saying that my students don't need what I am teaching them. Instead, I think that I could find better ways to get the same message to my students.
One final aspect of this chapter that I would like to work on in my class is that of affirming the consequent. My students don't always understand how this could be wrong. Today, for example, one of my students kept telling me that pigs give us mud. I think that she was affirming the consequent. I tend to believe that her thought processes went something like this...."Pigs are found in mud, therefore they give us mud." I don't know if I am correct or not about her thoughts, but she really had a hard time getting past this error. I would like to find a way to help my young students understand this type of error. I will have to do some thinking on how to do this.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Chapter 11
1. How does this information fit into what I have already learned?
I believe that problem solving and creativity are simply a continuance of the concepts that we have already learned from our text book. Problem solving is when we realize that we face a problem, but we are not immediately able to solve it. We have to focus our attention on the problem, which goes back to our previous readings and how we pay attention. For us to truly understand the problem, we have to be able to generate a picture of the problem. This can be done in a variety of manners, but it easily connects to the analog and propositional approaches. These mental images help us concentrate on the problem based on our thinking styles. Problems can be represented in several ways. The representation of the problems often depends on the approach that work best for us. As with earlier concepts from the book, we do experience conflicts in problem solving. A mental set is when we simply don't try new solutions when they would work. This connects directly to the top-down and bottom-up approaches. Sometimes, we get "stuck" using what has worked before, and we don't look at things from a different point of view.
This chapter also describes creativity. Creativity can be connected to problem solving because we are figuring out new ways to do something. When the book explained both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, I thought about multitasking and attention. Sometimes, extrinsic motivation seems to cause too much multitasking in my classroom. If a reward is offered, the students may not be able to focus on the task at hand because they are thinking about the prize. Creativity is often hindered when an extrinsic or outside motivator is involved. I began to think about the self-referencing factor. Previously, we found out that we learn best when information is processed deeply and connected to our own personal experiences. I feel that creativity is along the same lines. When intrinsic motivation is involved, we really want to succeed for ourselves, not for any other reason. Therefore, the task becomes more personal and important to us.
2. What am I still confused about?
I think that I understand the majority of the concepts in the chapter. As of right now, I am beginning to wonder how I can increase my students' problem solving abilities and their creativity. It is obvious that these are important, but I wonder if I am maximizing my students' potential in these areas. I know that my students are all incredibly different, and they need different problem solving representations. I am going to try to work on different activities in my room that will allow them to see these different representations while I also work on ways to promote intrinsic motivation.
3. Under what conditions would I implement this in my room?
I would of course try to implement these problem solving skills in my room under the academic conditions. Offering different representations for my students to work on problem solving would help them tremendously. Science and social studies activities would fall nicely in the problem solving categories because they are content-based, and I could encourage higher level thinking. I also think that conflict-resolution and character education would be excellent opportunities to encourage problem solving skills. March seems to be the month when everyone stops getting along and starts tattling. I need to explore some conditions in which I can model problem solving thinking to my students.
I also know that intrinsic motivation is really important, but I think that I have one of the best jobs for that. Kindergarten students really just want to learn. They want to read, and write, and be learners. As some of my students hit the traditional road-blocks, their motivation decreases. I will have to develop ways to keep building that motivation.
I believe that problem solving and creativity are simply a continuance of the concepts that we have already learned from our text book. Problem solving is when we realize that we face a problem, but we are not immediately able to solve it. We have to focus our attention on the problem, which goes back to our previous readings and how we pay attention. For us to truly understand the problem, we have to be able to generate a picture of the problem. This can be done in a variety of manners, but it easily connects to the analog and propositional approaches. These mental images help us concentrate on the problem based on our thinking styles. Problems can be represented in several ways. The representation of the problems often depends on the approach that work best for us. As with earlier concepts from the book, we do experience conflicts in problem solving. A mental set is when we simply don't try new solutions when they would work. This connects directly to the top-down and bottom-up approaches. Sometimes, we get "stuck" using what has worked before, and we don't look at things from a different point of view.
This chapter also describes creativity. Creativity can be connected to problem solving because we are figuring out new ways to do something. When the book explained both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, I thought about multitasking and attention. Sometimes, extrinsic motivation seems to cause too much multitasking in my classroom. If a reward is offered, the students may not be able to focus on the task at hand because they are thinking about the prize. Creativity is often hindered when an extrinsic or outside motivator is involved. I began to think about the self-referencing factor. Previously, we found out that we learn best when information is processed deeply and connected to our own personal experiences. I feel that creativity is along the same lines. When intrinsic motivation is involved, we really want to succeed for ourselves, not for any other reason. Therefore, the task becomes more personal and important to us.
2. What am I still confused about?
I think that I understand the majority of the concepts in the chapter. As of right now, I am beginning to wonder how I can increase my students' problem solving abilities and their creativity. It is obvious that these are important, but I wonder if I am maximizing my students' potential in these areas. I know that my students are all incredibly different, and they need different problem solving representations. I am going to try to work on different activities in my room that will allow them to see these different representations while I also work on ways to promote intrinsic motivation.
3. Under what conditions would I implement this in my room?
I would of course try to implement these problem solving skills in my room under the academic conditions. Offering different representations for my students to work on problem solving would help them tremendously. Science and social studies activities would fall nicely in the problem solving categories because they are content-based, and I could encourage higher level thinking. I also think that conflict-resolution and character education would be excellent opportunities to encourage problem solving skills. March seems to be the month when everyone stops getting along and starts tattling. I need to explore some conditions in which I can model problem solving thinking to my students.
I also know that intrinsic motivation is really important, but I think that I have one of the best jobs for that. Kindergarten students really just want to learn. They want to read, and write, and be learners. As some of my students hit the traditional road-blocks, their motivation decreases. I will have to develop ways to keep building that motivation.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Chapter 8
1. Summary: This chapter focused on general knowledge and structure of semantic memory. Semantic memory is our knowledge about the world around us. According to the text, this memory is needed to determine locations, read sentences, make decisions, and solve problems. There are four approaches to semantic memory. The first approach is the feature comparison model. This model organizes items in lists according to features. The prototype approach states that we organize concepts based on the most familiar and typical representative item in that category. For example we organize our thoughts of a bird by the most common and typical bird that we see, such as a robin. The third type of approach to semantic memory is the exemplar approach. This approach argues that we organize new material based on how closely it is related to all of our past experiences. For example, we may learn about another breed of dog by comparing it to all of our prior experiences with dogs. The final approach to semantic memory is the network approach. This approach explains that we learn items based on their interconnections in our memory. The network approach creates a web-like image of connectivity of the concepts that we know and that we learn.
The chapter also discusses schemas and scripts. According to the book, general knowledge about a person, situation, or experience is called a schema. The words schema and script are often used interchangeably, but the script is a slightly narrower term. The text also goes into detail about how we can either add not represented material or leave out material that is present in certain situations. Our minds have their own schemas and scripts about the world around us. When we are given a situation, our mind enhances or simplifies that situation based on our own schema.
2. How does this fit in with what we have learned in class? I believe that this fits in with almost every aspect that we have learned about. I especially noticed that the network theory and focused attention seemed to go together nicely. We know that focused attention, rather than divided attention produces better learning outcomes. According to the network theory, as many as ten nodes are firing at the same time based on one concept. Having learned that, it is no surprise that so many of us have a tough time focusing our attention because of the other thoughts that are coming to mind.
I also connected the readings in this chapter to the self-referencing effect. We know that material can be learned and retained when it has a deep, personal meaning. Using the exemplar approach, we process new information based on our own previous experiences that are somehow similar to the new information. These two concepts seemed to be quite interconnected. If we can refer to our own experiences to organize new material, we have a better chance to retain that material because we have associated it with our own memory.
3. I think that I am clear on most of this chapter. Having said that, I wonder if we have some sort of regulatory "switch" for our cognitive abilities that gets flipped. I wonder if perhaps our minds decide which semantic memory approach to use based either on the new information presented to us or based on what we will do with that new information. The analogy of standing at the checkout deciding which method to pay for our purchases made me think of all of the different semantic approaches that we learned in this chapter.
4. Apply to my own teaching: I think that I will be especially mindful of this chapter when I am working with my ADD and ADHD students. When thinking about the networking approach, I know that many thoughts are interconnected with one given concept. As these thoughts interconnect and "pop" into my students' minds, it is no wonder why some of those children have difficulty staying on task. They may start by focusing on the same concept, but within seconds, the students with ADD and ADHD may easily be ten or so topics off of where we started.
5. Proof offered: I am quite sure that the author offers valid and reliable proof based on the studies and research. Having said that, I also believe that as an educator, I can readily relate to many of the concepts presented in the chapter. For almost every concept taught in the chapter, I was able to connect an experience in my classroom to validate it. For example, I know that my students use the exemplar effect quite often when learning about new animals. Based on their experiences they categorize animals.
6. Importance: This chapter is important because it helps me understand that what I teach may not be nearly as important as what the student already knows. The student's prior knowledge, experience and thoughts are the building blocks for their new knowledge. This chapter is also important because it doesn't offer just one way for our students to learn. By describing the four semantic learning approaches, it reaffirms that we learn in different ways.
7. I would use this: I would directly apply the concepts of this chapter into my own metacognition of what my students are learning. I will be aware of the different approaches and my students' prior experiences when introducing a new concept. I will also be aware of my students with ADD and ADHD especially when I think of the networking approach. So many thoughts are presenting themselves, and I can easliy understand while some of my students can't stay focused. One other concept of the book that I will try to be more aware of is that of priming. The book stated that priming helps the students learn because their thoughts are already focusing on a specific topic.
8. Other ways to accomplish materials: I think that since so many of the concepts are relatively new in the psychology field, research should be continued to prove the theories provided. I am not sure of any to do this cheaper or faster. I do know that the validity and reliability of the material in this chapter can easily be seen in almost any lesson and in any classroom.
The chapter also discusses schemas and scripts. According to the book, general knowledge about a person, situation, or experience is called a schema. The words schema and script are often used interchangeably, but the script is a slightly narrower term. The text also goes into detail about how we can either add not represented material or leave out material that is present in certain situations. Our minds have their own schemas and scripts about the world around us. When we are given a situation, our mind enhances or simplifies that situation based on our own schema.
2. How does this fit in with what we have learned in class? I believe that this fits in with almost every aspect that we have learned about. I especially noticed that the network theory and focused attention seemed to go together nicely. We know that focused attention, rather than divided attention produces better learning outcomes. According to the network theory, as many as ten nodes are firing at the same time based on one concept. Having learned that, it is no surprise that so many of us have a tough time focusing our attention because of the other thoughts that are coming to mind.
I also connected the readings in this chapter to the self-referencing effect. We know that material can be learned and retained when it has a deep, personal meaning. Using the exemplar approach, we process new information based on our own previous experiences that are somehow similar to the new information. These two concepts seemed to be quite interconnected. If we can refer to our own experiences to organize new material, we have a better chance to retain that material because we have associated it with our own memory.
3. I think that I am clear on most of this chapter. Having said that, I wonder if we have some sort of regulatory "switch" for our cognitive abilities that gets flipped. I wonder if perhaps our minds decide which semantic memory approach to use based either on the new information presented to us or based on what we will do with that new information. The analogy of standing at the checkout deciding which method to pay for our purchases made me think of all of the different semantic approaches that we learned in this chapter.
4. Apply to my own teaching: I think that I will be especially mindful of this chapter when I am working with my ADD and ADHD students. When thinking about the networking approach, I know that many thoughts are interconnected with one given concept. As these thoughts interconnect and "pop" into my students' minds, it is no wonder why some of those children have difficulty staying on task. They may start by focusing on the same concept, but within seconds, the students with ADD and ADHD may easily be ten or so topics off of where we started.
5. Proof offered: I am quite sure that the author offers valid and reliable proof based on the studies and research. Having said that, I also believe that as an educator, I can readily relate to many of the concepts presented in the chapter. For almost every concept taught in the chapter, I was able to connect an experience in my classroom to validate it. For example, I know that my students use the exemplar effect quite often when learning about new animals. Based on their experiences they categorize animals.
6. Importance: This chapter is important because it helps me understand that what I teach may not be nearly as important as what the student already knows. The student's prior knowledge, experience and thoughts are the building blocks for their new knowledge. This chapter is also important because it doesn't offer just one way for our students to learn. By describing the four semantic learning approaches, it reaffirms that we learn in different ways.
7. I would use this: I would directly apply the concepts of this chapter into my own metacognition of what my students are learning. I will be aware of the different approaches and my students' prior experiences when introducing a new concept. I will also be aware of my students with ADD and ADHD especially when I think of the networking approach. So many thoughts are presenting themselves, and I can easliy understand while some of my students can't stay focused. One other concept of the book that I will try to be more aware of is that of priming. The book stated that priming helps the students learn because their thoughts are already focusing on a specific topic.
8. Other ways to accomplish materials: I think that since so many of the concepts are relatively new in the psychology field, research should be continued to prove the theories provided. I am not sure of any to do this cheaper or faster. I do know that the validity and reliability of the material in this chapter can easily be seen in almost any lesson and in any classroom.
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