Educational Neuroscience Blog

What? - What is the individual you chose currently researching? (One complete paragraph)

Judy Willis is studying educational neuroscience (the way the brain works and how people learn). Currently, she is working on two books: Learning to Love Math and Current Impact of Neuroscience on Teaching and Learning. Both of these books are said to come out in 2010. On her website, she invites teachers to send her emails about different RAD techniques being used in the classroom. Teachers learn so much from other teachers and she wants to be able to post some good ideas that people have. I think this is really neat that she is involving other people in her studies to ensure that they are successful.

So What? - What does this person's research have to do with education? (One complete paragraph that exhibits critical evaluation)

When Judy Willis was getting referrals for students with ADD, OCD, and etc. she became concerned on why teachers were giving her so many students who did not seem to have any problems. She found that teachers were creating learning environments that were "homogenized, sometimes "teacher proof" teach-to-the-test and overstuffed curriculum". Dr. Willis realized that if she were to understand how the brain works, she could create "sensible, scientific strategies to help improve students’ attitudes and academic success" Her research is important to education because it involves the understanding of the brain and how a person learns.

Now What? - How might you use this person's research in your future classroom? (One complete paragraph that exhibits critical thinking about possible applications)

In my future classroom, Dr. Willis's research will help me develop a better understanding of how students learn. There will be many times that I will have students with learning disabilities in my class and I will have a greater knowledge on how to handle that so that the student can still learn. It is not about referring that child to the special ed department, it is about involving them in class activities through lessons that will reach and engage them. I really like Judy Willis's idea of RAD teaching and I will definitely be looking more into her research and how I can effectively implement RAD teaching in my future classroom.

Course Contract Review

1. What are you doing well?

I am doing well in keeping up on my work and getting to know the material for the class. I feel that so far it is not so bad and that if I stick with the class schedule, I will do well.

2. What are you not doing well?

Right now I feel a little lost. I am not use to how this class works and it doesn't help that it is only once a week. It is a good thing that I have friends in the class to call so that I can ask questions. If I hadn't have called a friend, I wouldn't be doing this blog right now because I am so confused with the postings on the calendar with what is due and what isn't due yet. I'm sure, in time, I will get use to it and not feel so frustrated.

3.Are you making sufficient progress on your goals?

The goals that I made are coming along just fine. I am keeping up on my study guides and assignments and keeping track of all my work. As the semester goes on I will be able to see more if I am on track with my goals, but that also means that I still have to work hard right now.

4. List specific things you need to change in order to meet your goals.

I need to become more familiar with the course website and I also need to be more aware of assignments and due dates. Everytime I notice that I am behind on an assignment I panic and I then become discouraged. The things that I need to change in order to reach my goals is to look at the course website every day to make sure that I am on track and that I am aware of due dates.

5. How is your motivation? Are you focusing on mastery or performance goals? Does anything need to change?

Since I have been so busy and overwhelmed this semester, I have only been focusing on performance goals... I need to be better at really learning my material so that I can use these strategies in the real world. I know that once I get the feel for this class, I will do better with my mastery goals because I will have a better sense of what is going on and what I need to be doing.

For Course Contract Review #4, consider what you will need to change in future semesters. Consider it a summative experience for this semester and a formative one for next semester.

My next semester I will be doing my students teaching, so it is very important that I reach my mastery goals. In the classroom, I will need to have lots of information stored away in my mind for any situation that I might face.

Motivation

Why are you here (in the teacher education program, in this class, at UVU)?

I am in the education program at UVU because I need the skills that the professors teach us in order to become a successful teacher. The education program is so important because it teaches us more about being in the classroom and how to deal with the obstacles that we will face. Educational Psychology is one of the required classes in the education program, but I am very excited to be in this class and to learn more about what educational psychology is. I have been at UVU for 4 semesters now and in the education program for two and I love it so much!

What motivates you?

Success motivates me especially in school. I cannot wait for the day that I graduate, not just to be done with school, but to know that I did it and that I accomplished something HUGE! When I say success I do not mean wealth or fame or a big fancy job. When I say success I mean meaning, knowledge, and experience. My motivation is the image of myself being happy as a result of my accomplishments and I plan to work very hard to reach my goals.

Why do you succeed? Why do you fail? (Use terminology from attribution theory)

I succeed when I believe in myself and when I work hard. When I focus more on my internal locus of control I try my hardest to think about the positives so that I do not get discouraged. So many times through school I have told myself that there is too much work and that I am not smart enough to get through my classes. It has taken a lot for me to change this habit. I now think of my accomplishments and I have trained myself to look at the positives instead of the negatives.
I fail when I become discouraged, when I let others influence my opinions, and when I do not believe in my abilities. It is hard to go through college and not let external factors get in the way or influence me. There have been so many professors that people have told me are the worst and that I should drop there class. I am not one for dropping courses, so when I go to their class I usually have a bad attitude about the teacher before I get to know them. After being in the class and when I get to know the teacher's philosophy, I find that I have a great respect for them and that it was not fair of me to judge based on what others have told me. This type of influence can greatly set me up for failure.

Do the goals in your course contract reflect mastery goals or performance goals? What does this say about you?

Before I decided that I wanted to be a teacher I was not very excited about college. For my general classes I would deffinately say that my goal were more on the performance side of the spectrum. I was looking for a grade, not really interesting in developing a life long knowledge about Biology. It is disappointing to me that I would sell myself out in this way. Yes I went to class, but I feel that I lost out on a great learning opportunity by not setting mastery goals for myself.
As a future teacher, I now treat every class as it is the most important. My education means a lot to me and it will reflect the type of teacher that I will be. I want my students to know the importance of setting mastery goals and how we should meet our full potential always instead of selling ourselves short!

How do you need to change your motivations and mindset for this class in order to become a great teacher?

For this class I need to remember to be teachable, even through the frustrating moments where I think only I could be right. Some education classes I go into with the impression that it will be the same as my last education class. We learn new and different things in each of our education classes with little repetition and I need to remember that. I think that by being open minded and teachable will result in me becoming a better teacher becuase I will be more willing to listen to and address the concerns of my students without becoming offended.

Hidden Assignment

Some goal that I have for this class would be:

1. Learn something new everyday that I can use in my future classrooms
2. Complete all assignments as well as doing them to the best of my ability
3. Get to know the models/theories so I can use and practice them in the classroom

In order to prepare for this course weekly, I will read assigned material ahead of class time, review notes, and complete and go over the study guides. Currently I am not employed and I have no classes on Thursdays so on those days I will be able to prepare myself for our class on Friday mornings. I don't do well with the online calenders, I have always been a planner person. I always write due dates and assignments in my planner and that helps to keep me on track.

A study strategy that I looked at on the link was flash cards. Many people use this form of studying, but I usually just read over my notes. Flash cards require that you give the name and explanation of the word and on the back of the card you write the definitions or steps to the word on the front of the card. It will be nice to use flash cards for when we are learning the many theories that we will be going over in class so that I can study them and develop a better understanding of their meaning/process.

If I do not understand a topic in class, I will first go to the resources on the class website. There are links and articles that will help aid in my understanding of the topic. If I still am confused, I have Dr. Cox's information where I could email or text or even go see her in her office. There are also many fellow classmates that I could go and ask for some explanations if I am confused.

I will reach my goals in this course by staying on task with assignments by having effective time management and organization skills, and by using effective study strategies to ensure my success in this class!