Reflection on Chapter Three

I think that Erikson's theory is very interesting and helpful. As a future elementary school music teacher, I focused on the information for that age group of children. According to Erikson's theory, the children I will teach will be in the fourth stage: achieving a sense of industry and avoiding feelings of inferiority. Industry is defined in our book as "eagerness to engage in productive work."

As a teacher, I will have to make my students eager to engage in their work, but also keep them from feeling inferior to their other classmates. This will be hard to do. If a student is eager to work, but discovers that their work is inferior to their classmates work, then the student will be discouraged and stop working. The book offers some suggestions as to how to avoid this. I liked the idea of tolerating honest mistakes. To incorporate this idea, I am not going to require my students to perform a piece of music perfectly before they can move on to the next piece. As long as they understand the basic concepts and are trying hard, it's ok to make a few mistakes. I will also try to encourage all my students, not just the discouraged ones, by complimenting them every day and pointing out all that they learned in each class period.

Last night, our lecture was about the library. I thought the lecture time could have been better spent. All of us took Paideia and were required to use the library website to find scholarly articles. The databases were updated this summer, but all that was changed was the look of the websites, not the actual way of finding articles. The presentation could have been summed up in five minutes and we could have spent the rest of the time discussing something important. Chapter Two of our text mentions teaching in the Zone of Proximal Development. Last night's lecture would have been in the Zone of Proximal Development for anyone age 50, not people age 19/20. We already knew the material she was teaching. (Refer to the picture above for more information about the Zone of Proximal Development.) I would suggest cutting this lecture from the syllabus for next semester's class.

Reflection on Chapter Two

I found this chapter to be very interesting. I have never taken a psychology class before, so Piaget and Vygotsky's theories of development were new to me. I agreed more with Piaget's theory, but I also see the importance of culture, which Vygotsky stressed.

I thought this sentence from Chapter Two, page thirty-six was a good one to think about: "Real understanding will take place only if students are able to go beyond the superficial use of memorization." It seems like many classes today have become focused too much on memorization. For example, a typical history class. The students memorize all the information from a chapter, take a test on it, then forget it all and memorize the information from the next chapter. I thought the cartoon above tied in well with memorization. The man doesn't remember anything he memorized in class, but he remembers Schoolhouse Rock history, because it taught him the correct way. I tried to think of ways that I can "go beyond" memorization when I become a teacher. I am planning on becoming an elementary school music teacher, so my students won't have to memorize things that often. One way I can "go beyond" memorization is by letting the students use music when they play/sing. This will also help them learn to read music, instead of just memorizing the motions.

A note on the lecture - I understand that we need to make sure all teachers are smart enough to teach others, but I do not agree with requiring teachers to pass the PRAXIS tests. I think that our ACT/SAT scores should prove that we are knowledgeable. The ACT was a lot more difficult than the PRAXIS test, so why should we have to pass a test of lesser difficulty? In my opinion, the PRAXIS test is a waste of time and money. I believe that the PRAXIS test requirement should be replaced with a score of a certain amount on the ACT/SAT.

SAC Lecture: Gary Tuerack

On September 16th, I attended the lecture by Gary Tuerack entitled "Better Grades in Less Time!" This lecture was very fun to attend and very interesting to evaluate from a teaching standpoint. The main theme of his lecture was learning to read faster, which will improve your grades.

Before the lecture started, there was a slideshow entitled "Things To Do To Annoy Your Friends With Your New Free Time." The slideshow was playing while the students took their seats and waited for the lecture to begin. This kept the students entertained and occupied while they waited. It also got the students excited to hear the lecture. This could translate to teachers writing a trivia question (related to the class material) on the board at the start of every class period: it will occupy the students and get them excited to learn the answer and the lesson for the day.

Instead of diving right into the lecture, Tuerack began his lecture with fun activities, like a game of Simon Says and a funny slideshow about college life. This helped the students adjust from "play time" to "work/school time." This concept can be applied to the classroom. Teachers can start their lessons with fun activities or games and slowly adjust into the lecture material.

Tuerack related to the students attending his lecture. He told a story about his previous visit to Luther College. He also shared his history of being a very slow reader, and training himself to become a very fast reader. He knows what the students are going through because he's been there and went through the same things. This helped the students trust him. Teachers can do this every day by relating to their students. I think it is good for teachers to be friendly and open with their students, like Tuerack was by telling us his stories.

During the lecture, Tuerack moved from one activity to another very quickly. He also included stretch breaks to keep the blood flowing. This kept the students engaged and made the time pass quickly. Every teacher should do this in their classroom. Instead of planning an entire class period of lecturing, or reading from the book, teachers should break the time up. And having a fast pace will also help the teacher teach more material in each class period.

Tuerack's lecture was very interesting and fun to attend. My opinion of his lecture has a lot to do with the teaching techniques he used. Hopefully I will be able to apply some of Tuerack's strategies in my own classroom in the future.

Reflection on Lions for Lambs, Part 2

While watching part of the movie again, I began to understand the true meaning of the quote "Professors are not teachers; they are salesmen." The next line in the movie is "We [teachers] sell you [students] to you." When I heard that line, the quote made complete sense. (As you can see from my previous post, last week I was confused on the meaning of the quote.) As teachers, we need to sell the students their abilities and talents. We need to hold the mirror up for them so they can see who they truly are and what they can achieve.

I also like the quote "The best way to change things is to fight for it." Nothing will be accomplished by just complaining and not acting. This applies to working in a school. Some of the school policies may not be up to par, or may be unfair. I have heard teachers complain about school policies while they eat lunch in the break room. That is not going to change things. They need to speak out and "fight" to get the change they desire. I will remember this when I become a teacher.

Reflection on Lions for Lambs, Part 1

After watching the first part of the movie "Lions for Lambs," a few quotes from the scenes with the professor and troublesome student stuck out in my mind.

The first quote: "A teacher's gift is the ability to recognize someone with an extraordinary gift." To me, this is part of why we teach. Teachers help their students recognize their natural gifts, and teachers encourage their students to use those gifts.

The second quote: "Professors are not teachers; they're salesmen." This is an interesting quote. I was not sure what it was supposed to mean at first. After thinking about it, I believe that this quote ties in with the first quote. Teachers are supposed to "sell" things to their students, like encouragement, guidance, hope, and inspiration. The mission of education is not to teach, it is to help students recognize their potential, or to "sell" them inspiration for the future.

I also liked that the Professor had an individual meeting with the troublesome student instead of just giving up on him. It really showed that the Professor cares about each of his students. I liked that instead of lecturing the student, he encouraged the student. For example, the professor said to the student "You are a student who gives me hope." I think that this method of dealing with a troublesome student will be more beneficial and will positively change the student's attitude than if the professor had lectured him.

First Time

This first blog is to make sure my account works.

A quote from our movie which stuck with me:
"Professors are not teachers; they're salesmen."