I
really enjoyed reading Chapter 2 of our book, Reading to Learn in the
Content Areas. I appreciated the authors’ emphasis on the affective domain,
calling attention to a child’s feelings and emotions and the roles that they
play in a child’s learning. It was mentioned in the chapter that teachers “…concentrate
solely on student achievement…as the criteria for success,” (p. 30). I must say
that from my perspective, I disagree with this point. In my classroom, I really
put a strong emphasis on the way my student’s feel, what they’re interested in,
and their growth of self-esteem. I’m sure, however, that there are teachers
that do rate their students’ academic
success from the test scores and data they receive from assessments; case in
point, the current SOL testing taking place in our area. I have seen the
immense pressure on the 3-5 teachers whose student success is rated on the
feedback from the tests. In this regard, I think it would be very beneficial for
not just student achievement to be included when looking at school funding, but
also the growths in the affective domain area for students. For instance, even
schools that do not meet AYP or do not have a certain SOL pass rate but have
strong growths in the affective domain, should be considered as a successful
school.
This
chapter also touched on the “brain-based learning” method. This is something
that I’ve looked into to use in my classroom. I would have enjoyed this section
being expanded more and having a bit of “real-life” classroom examples. That
being said, I benefited from the 6 findings of brain-based learning (p. 40).
From the little I’ve found on this topic previously, I’ve applied the concept
of students interacting with the things they are learning about. I incorporate
a lot of the “Kagan” methods in my room which allow my students to feed ideas
off of each other and interact with different questioning techniques so that
they find ownership in their learning. At our school we’re also encouraged to incorporate
the higher-level questioning from Bloom’s Taxonomy. I’ve found that those
questioning techniques are conducive to brain-based learning as well.
I
was slightly surprised to read that there is somewhat an “epidemic” among boys
and literacy. I would be very interested in reading and researching more about
this topic. What I would want to know is when this trend begins. Right now, my
highest readers are boys and they’re very interested in getting started in
chapter books and wanting to read more.
I’ve
found this chapter to be very informative and helpful! I’m looking forward to
possibly researching one of these topics for my I-Search paper.
I really enjoy Kagan. I have incorporated them in many classroom activities. For example, it is easy for a teacher to incorporate learning any skill into a quiz-quiz-trade. I have used this technique to reinforce coin values and sight word recognition.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Beth! Kagan is very helpful! Some of the activities can be challenging to mold to lower elementary but it's definitely worth the challenge!
DeleteYou were one of the only people to address brain-based learning. I personally only skimmed this section because it sounded too "science-y" for me (I know that's a terrible excuse as a future teacher!). But I agree that I wish they had more real teaching examples of how to use brain-based learning. It's awesome that you have these experiences to share with us. Where did you learn these methods and what grade do you teach?
ReplyDeleteHi Jean! I learned these methods throughout my undergrad at Liberty and just in my own research as I've heard different terms come up. I teach first grade!
DeleteI enjoyed your post and agree with you on the quote from the book. To a point, as a teacher, you do have to rate students academically but their feelings, likes, and wants should always be accounted for to improve the classroom.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree :)
Delete“…concentrate solely on student achievement…as the criteria for success,”. Ashley, I similarly commented on this very point. My response was that it is often the instructors that focus heavily on teaching to the test that find the lowest achievement among the students. In fact, as you mentioned, there is so much pressure on teachers for testing accountability that many new teachers entering the field are scared to take on an upper grade. I appreciate the fact that you make a conscious effort to focus conversely on your student’s attitudes and feelings. In my opinion, that is a warm and inviting classroom, and a classroom in which you probably have successful students. A huge reason I want to become a teacher is to positively affect student’s lives and instill a passion for learning—I absolutely feel that you are making that difference currently for your own students! Continue to be a caring mentor in the classroom!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alicia! It's very important to create a warm, inviting environment for your students. They feel very comfortable and I find that it's easier for them to voice their ideas, whether they are correct or not :)
DeleteSince you're in the classroom already, it was informative to read your authentic point of view. I completely agree with you about the part where you mention the SOL's and school funding. I haven't heard about the "Kagan" method. What is it like?
ReplyDeleteKagan is a lot of hands-on activities where students are responsible for their own learning. There's a lot of "partner talk" and quizzing each other instead of the teacher always doing the assessment.
DeleteHi, Ashley, often the boy epidemic begins in 4th grade.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dr. Hinton
Delete