Week Two: Blog Question

Why is it important to include novelty in a lesson.

The world has become completely different in the past fifteen years. Teachers may feel students bore easily or have shorter attention spans. But children are growing up in different environments. Family units are unstable. Kids are surrounded by media. Their sleep deprivated. They get information from other sources and not just school. They spend a lot of time indoors. Their diet isn't the best either. I grew up kind-of sheltered. My parents had some problems but not severe. I was always athletically active and ate well with a low sodium diet. I only learned about drugs in health class and not the streets. These concepts have enhanced the use of novelty.

It is important to include novelty into your lesson for students to really remember information. New and unique techniques will help students actually know and recall information rather than memorize it. If you create a fun way to educate, students will retain information not because they need to but because it was a fun activity in the classroom.
Technology is probably the easiest way to educate students in an easy environment. As a high school student, I would have loved using technology in the classroom because its a new and unique way. Being unique allows students to remember it easier in the future.
We can use novelty by using humor, movement, multi-sensory instruction, quiz games and music. It's important to incorporate fun and these ways for students to react to material and remember it as well.


PS. My mom works as an assistant in the classroom in lower level classes. She's there to motivate students to do their work. At first, my mother thought students were lazy, as did the teachers. The teachers would ask why isn't your homework done, why aren't you getting sleep, what's holding you back? It wasn't until a student came up to my mother to vent. He doesn't do homework because he does not have a place to do it. He isn't getting enough sleep because he has no bed. What's holding him back is he's actually homeless. He doesn't have a desk or table to do homework. He goes to school to actually get some food and stay warm and seek comfort. He doesn't do well because he lacks everything I take advantage of and not many teachers know that kids have problems that are completely unrelated to schooling. My mother has heard things from their parents abuse them, their parents smoke weed or do much worst, and they fight and yell all the time. One kid whos parent was going through a heavy divorce came into school to talk about her son's grades. She responded, "I don't have time for my son. I have other problems like my divorce. My son can take care of himself," while he was in the room. Sometimes I think teachers don't know half the problem.

Week One: Blog Question

How do you define your intelligence? Do think your attitude towards your own learning would have changed, if you had taken part in the Stanford Universty experiment when you were in middle school? Explain Why?

The definition for intelligence is different for almost everyone. I believe intelligence is a result of learning something whether good or bad. It's a mental capability which involved the ability to comprehend, make decisions, learn, and form personality traits. You can apply intelligence but I believe it's not necessary.
I don't think my attitudes toward my learning would have changed if I had taken part in the Stanford University experiment in middle school. In middle school and high school, I had a strong attitude towards my academics. I think this may have been from the pressures made by my parents who wanted the best for me. I also needed amazing grades to stay in athletics. I thought of myself intelligent. If my grades were not above average, I would make myself work harder and focus more in that subject. I was self-determined. Sometimes, I don't think it's student's mindsets but actually just laziness. Students don't try hard enough in academics and they make excuses saying their too dumb. Over time, they believe they are dumb and therefore create the mindset of stupidity when really the problem is laziness.