Week Six: Blog Question

What is meant by the statement " Today's learning is tomorrow's transfer?"

Transfer gives us the ability to learn in one situation, and then use the learning in other situations. Transfer is the core of problem solving, creative thinking, and all other higher mental processes, inventions, and artistic products. Transfer during learning refers to the effect that past learning has on the processing of new learning. If you miss one step, most likely you won't be able to complete the other steps. Transfer of learning refers to the degree in which the learning is applied in future situations. Transfers can either be positive or negative. When past learning helps new learning, it is positive. If it interferes with new learning, its negative. There are several factors that affect transfer such as the context and degree of original learning, similarity, critical attributes, and association such as emotion.

Transfer depends on the quality of original learning prior to new learning. If we struggled with one subject, furthering with that subject will always seem difficult for that student. What we teach now will affect their future learning and makes a difference between a student who is discouraged, and the student who is ethusiastic to learn.

For me, I always struggled with fractions because I never understood it in grade school. I got so frustrated I would tune out the teacher who would teach fractions to me. I couldn't add fractions so therefore I felt I couldn't multiply fractions. Working with my student, Faisal who is brilliant in math, he told me we were working on fractions and I think I might've groaned because I always struggled with it when I was his age.

In order to prevent this, we need to make sure everything you teach will make it easier for students to build on these primary concepts. Make every lesson a positive experience by retaining the attention of students, helping them make past connections especially with emotions, and help them understand to the best of your ability new knowledge.

Week Four: Blog Question

Does "Practice make perfect?"
How will the current view of intellegence impact you teaching and learning?

I'd like to think practice makes perfect but sometimes people's perfection doesn't get them as far as they'd like to go. There will always be obstacles to hold you back. Practice does however make permanent. I learned through a mini lesson i presented, information and memory, known as engrams, will decay and be thrown out by the brain if it is rarely used.
However in order to create perfection, learners need to repeat this skill overtime. The skill memory is then recalled and additional practice follows until it becomes almost second nature.
This current view of intellegence will greatly impact my teaching as wel las my learning. I remember back in high school how much I despised math and science. What i would do is study the material, memorize it for a day, take a test, ace it, and then kick out that information because I never used it again. Somehow, I want to take History or English and connect it to the student's life somehow. I want to form this giant puzzle that overlaps and combines with other subjects so the kids really know and understand the information rather than just memorize. My teacher was helping me one day as I was struggling with tests and I said ok ill go home and memorize it and he said No! I want you to know it. There's a difference. That teacher really taught me so much because I didn't just memorize it, I knew it and his activites have stucked with me to this day.

Week Three: Blog Question

What metaphors could you use for an information processing model?
What are teaching implications in regards to the capacity of working memory?


My favorite metaphor for an information processing model, such as the brain, would be a network of highways. I think the kids can really visualize a network of speedways rather than neurons racing from one side of the brain to the other sending messages.

Some teaching implications in regards to the capacity of working memory should include some visual, lecture, and hands on activity that will engage the student. That student can then use that knowledge later and apply it to their everyday life. It's extremely difficult trying to find a way to engage such a large group of students and keep them involved and all have them understand. Students all learn different ways therefore you should always apply some techniques using visual, auditory and hands on.

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.

Week Five: Reading Reflection

Listen to some examples of student created podcast from http://www.epnweb.org/ and reflect on the learning that took place to create it. Post to your blog and comment on two of you peer's.


I thought it was absolutely amazing how much information a fourth grade class could learn about Jamestown and with that information create their own stories of history that are fairly realistic. The technology didn't distract them but made them even more intrested and involved in their historical subjects and research. From the research they gathered on their ipods, tape recorders, notebooks, camcorders ,and cameras the teacher gave them a broad variety of podcast projects they can incorporate what they learned. I feel that since the teacher gave them so much liberty, students wanted to do their projects even more. It was flexible and was interesting making the Jamestown project into a talk show. Each project is then collaborated into an even bigger podcast and then put onto a website where anyone can download the podcast. The different voices gives more character to the project and people pay more attention to the different voices and characters than a lecture. Its always important to keep the attention of your classroom. If a lecture bores them, then podcasts are perfect for them to work with.
Later on, I listened to the podcast and the kids seemed absolutely entertained and ethusiastic talking and communicating with each other. They seemed to have different theories on Jamestown and they each discussed their own ideas and questioned each other to further explain their reasoning. It was extremely educational. The kids definately had fun with it.

Week Five: WBQ

Think about the last time you created something original (a song, video, literature, idea, etc.) Talk about the process and what you learned from it.


I feel original is a brand new idea and not in the sense of "Oh I wrote a paper," because really your teacher came up with the idea, you are just elaborating on that subject. I feel original is a totally unique idea. When you come across it, your like "Oh I wish i thought of that!"
The last time I created something original was decorating my bedroom wall. I hate staring at the same white walls dotted with little pushpin holes. I stare at my walls alot because they slant and overhang my desk and bed. So, to cover up the bland and trashed walls, I bought scrapbook paper from Michaels in an asortment of colors and began to tape them around the room as if it was wallpaper.
The first thing I discovered was that the tape wasn't strong enough to hold my scrapbook design. I had to make a second trip, this time to Staples, to buy heavy duty scrapbooking/poster tape. It seemed to do the job, but I later realized some papers fall so they need more tape then others.
I then used stickers to decorate where papers met. This not only holds them together but it made my mural look better. I used dots, flowers, and other unique stickers to scatter around the paper. After that I looked up black and white pictures from the internet. I went for an old hollywood theme which was inspired by my roommate's Marilyn Monroe painting. Currently some are falling because the tape again isn't strong enough so I bought glue sticks to glue them down but haven't got around to it.
Another difficulty i had to encounter was my darn corner. My corner seems to have a wall to itself thats so skinny but big enough that you can't use a scrapbook paper to cover it. I figure I may cut the scrapbook paper by using a ruler and scissors to cut excess paper that covers over the corner. I then will outline the edges with ribbon because some of the paper is not even or my wall is uneven.
Not only was I extremely proud of my work but my friends found it unique and wished they had that on their wall. It was extremely tiresome but well worth it. I now come home to a vibrant wall rather than a dull white wash.