Educational Psychology

Module 4: Complex Cognitive Processes, Learning Sciences, Constructivism, Social Cognitive views of Learning and Motivation Concept 1: Learning Strategies Summary             In chapter 9, Woolfolk points out how many learning strategies there really is. She also gave insight into what is a learning strategy. “Learning strategies are a special kind of procedural knowledge – knowing how to do something. There are thousands of strategies” (Woolfolk 331). She mentioned that sometimes strategies are learned and become known to individuals, but other strategies need more practice and work than others because learning strategies are often trying to teach something to students. “Learning strategies can be cognitive (summarizing, identifying the main idea), metacognitive (monitoring comprehension – do I understand?), or behavioral (using an Internet dictionary, setting a time to work until time’s up) (2010)” (Woolfolk 332). Furt...

Link to Interview           The teacher that I chose to interview for this project was Mrs. VanderNaald, she was also the teacher that I chose to work with for my classroom observation this summer. She has been a teacher for over 30 years at the same school because of her passion for teaching. She has only ever taught kindergarten because of how much she loves it. I admire the amount of passion and patience that this teacher has for her vocation - I hope that I can one day show my passion for teaching as much as Mrs. V. It was my pleasure to have an interview with her as she provided insightful comments, opinions, and advice.           There were a lot of points that I found super useful, some of which being about classroom management. Mrs. V has talked a lot about how important it is to go over different expectation behaviors in the classroom, especially in the beginning of the year. The terminology that the kindergarten tea...

Module 3: Behavioral Views of Learning, Learning Environments, Classroom Management, Competition Concept 1: Types of Consequences   Summary As I read through chapter 7, there were a few different things that stood out. One of which was the different types of consequences. I normally thought that consequences were only negative. But Woolfolk described that there are also positive consequences as well, known as reinforcers. “A reinforcer is any consequence that strengthens the behavior it follows” (Woolfolk 257). Woolfolk described that there were two types of reinforcers, both positive and negative reinforcers, or consequences to behaviors. There are types of positive consequences that lead to certain types of things that follow a positive behavior. Woolfolk gave great examples of consequences that reinforce behavior such as stickers, awards, choice time, free seating, and praise to encourage that behavior to continue. However, although there are positive consequences, t...

Module 2: Learner Differences, Language Development, Culture & Diversity, IQ, Mindset Concept 1: Labels Summary Woolfolk did a great job at mentioning how every student has certain challenges, as it is a part of human nature. She talked a lot about how because of labels that are present in students with disabilities, often students are not being challenged. She also mentioned how labels are used as an excuse sometimes, as in, student A does this because of his/her disability. This can get to a dangerous point in a student’s life because it is only furthering the label that that individual has on them. Woolfolk also made a great point. Occasionally, if someone has a disability for one thing, we can say that that individual can’t do something because of their disability. However, that is not the case. Woolfolk gave this example, “A handicap is a disadvantage in certain situations” (Woolfolk 120). There is an emphasis on certain situations. A handicap or disability does no...

Module 1: Teaching & Learning Concept 1: Relationships Summary In chapter 1, Woolfolk talks a lot about the relationships between teachers and students and the impact that relationships have on student performance. Woolfolk stated that the relationships that are placed early on in a student’s life determine how best a student will do academic and behaviorally in future endeavors. “The researchers concluded that the quality of the teacher-student relationship in kindergarten…predicted a number of academic and behavioral outcomes through the eighth grade, particularly for students with many behavioral problem” (Woolfolk 7). Woolfolk mentioned a lot of other positive benefits that come to students with positive teacher-student relationships. He mentioned that a lot of student success were from positive outcomes of relationships. Chapter 1 furthered and mentioned that these kinds of relationships have predicted that students have fewer behavioral problems and more student eng...

Trinity Christian College Field Experience Form Context for Learning Description of School and Students About the School Where You Are Observing or doing Field Experience City: Elmhurst, IL Type of School: Elementary school, Middle School, High School, or Other:    Elementary School Setting: Urban, Suburban, or Rural: Suburban Write your responses to the three questions below in paragraph form. 1.        List any special features of the school or classroom setting (e.g., themed magnet, classroom aide, bilingual, co-taught with a special education t eacher, pull-out program). [In the classroom that I am in, there is only one general education teacher. This classroom does in fact use a pull-out program. Students who may be struggling in school go with another teacher, often a special education teacher, and work one on one with that teacher. Other times, students are pulled out of the classroom to test or work with a teache...