D307 Task 1 Reflecting on Classroom Practice - Video Observation PDF

Preview

Summary

Educational Psychology and Human Development of Children and Adolescents DTask 1A Video Title: Observing and Measuring the Weather; Video #A1. The ages of the students in the class are seven and eight years old. The students in the video are in second grade. The number of students in the art class i...

Description

Educational Psychology and Human Development of Children and Adolescents D307 Task 1 A Video Title: Observing and Measuring the Weather; Video #53 A1. The ages of the students in the class are seven and eight years old. The students in the video are in second grade. The number of students in the art class is 20. A2. I believe these students are in Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage. A2a. The attributes of students at the Concrete Operational Stage are the need for concrete, hands-on experience, mental reversal, seriation, sorting, classifying and conservation. A2b. The students are each assigned a task within their group which requires hands-on experiences such as temperature reading outside with a thermometer, wind direction observed with windsocks, measuring wind speed with an anemometer and precipitation measurement with rain gauges. A3. A learning theory being applied in the video is the constructivist theory. A3a. One instructional strategy that is used in the classroom is collaborative learning. The students were broken up into work groups and each student in the group had an assigned role to research different aspects of weather measurement. The students are encouraged to concentrate on the process of learning and exploration. A3b. The collaborative learning strategy is appropriate for the constructivist theory because the groups of students were all participating in a structured activity of weather measurement in a student-led approach. The teacher encouraged the students to interact

and work together while each of the students fulfilled an individual research role for collecting data. B Video Title: Analyzing Social Issues in Small Group Book Club Discussions; Video #520 B1. The student’s ages range between twelve to fifteen years old. The students are in seventh and eighth grade. The number of students in the class is 31. B2. One developmental stage noted from Modules 1-3 that I believe these students are at is Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage. B2a. The traits of students at the Formal Operational Stage are showing a higher order of thinking and reasoning, mental manipulations, systematic problem-solving and critical thinking. B2b. The students are tasked with discussing a story about a fatal car accident involving underage drinking. The students were to create a list of discussion questions from the text to discuss with the group and this task enabled the students to dive into their critical thinking skills. The open discussion about the accident and how it affected the families and drivers allowed the students to analyze and interpret the text in an open format. B3. One learning theory presented to guide the lesson is the constructivist theory. B3a. One instructional strategy being used in the video is collaborative learning. The students were broken up into work groups of similar abilities. For example, the first group in the video are all motivated, high-achieving students. The students are urged to focus on the process of learning and exploration.

B3b. The collaborative learning instructional strategy is appropriate for the constructivist theory because the groups of students were all participating in an open discussion that was student-led and students in the groups were of similar learning abilities. C Video Title: Considering Changes to Immigration Policy Through Interest Group Input; Video #1150 C1. The ages of the students are seventeen and eighteen years old. The students presented in the video are in twelfth grade. The quantity of students in the classroom is 31. C2. One developmental stage noted from Modules 1-3 that I believe these students are at is Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage. C2a. The attributes of students at the Formal Operational Stage are showing a higher order of thinking and reasoning, mental manipulations, systematic problem-solving and critical thinking. C2b. The students are broken into different “interest groups,” to discuss changes to immigration policies. The students were instructed to examine their own viewpoints on immigration and whether they could recognize any bias in their viewpoint. Secondly, students were tasked with free writing to break down their viewpoints and provide supportive reasoning to their perspective on immigration. The open discussion about immigration and what it means to each student individually, but also as a society, allowed for the students to establish a higher order of thinking and reasoning within their groups and with the teacher.

C3. One learning theory being used in the video to guide the lesson is the constructivist theory. C3a. One instructional strategy used in this classroom is cooperative learning. The students were broken up into work groups to balance out dominance and shy levels of interactions between students. For example, the third group in the video had two students exhibit more verbal dominance when discussing what the group aligns with and what the group feels is legally wrong. The other two students remained reserved and nodded their heads in agreement, submissively. The students are encouraged to follow the structure of the discussion led by the teacher, but also are engaged within their heterogeneous groups. C3b. The collaborative learning instructional strategy is appropriate for the constructivist theory because the groups of students were all participating in an open discussion that was teacher-led and encouraged the mixed groups of students to focus on the product of learning. D Video Title: Building Language Fluency Through Sensory Engagement; Video #1561 D1. The ages of the students are thirteen and fourteen years old. The grade level presented in the video is eighth grade. There are 32 students in the classroom. The developmental needs and/or characteristics of the students are that some students are experiencing unstable home-lives which leads to emotional instability, classroom misconduct and absenteeism. Eight students in the class have IEPs, one has high-functioning autism, two students have 504 plans (for ADD and ODD), and three students are considered unidentified, gifted, and talented. D2. One developmental stage noted from Modules 1-3 that I think these students are at is Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage.

D2a. The general traits of students at the Concrete Operational Stage are requiring handson experience and classification. The developmental needs of the students in the first group in the video showed a need for the students to play with the material they were trying to classify. D2b. The students in the first group appeared easily distracted and required more time to experience the feel and texture of the item to classify the item using an imagery sentence as a group. D3. One learning theory being used in the classroom to guide the lesson is the constructivist theory. D3a. One instructional strategy that is utilized in the video is cooperative learning. The students were broken up into work groups that were equally mixed between struggling learners and mid-level and advanced learners, as well as introverts and extroverts. For example, the second group in the video had two female students who were actively engaged with the material and the task. The two males in the group were easily distracted and uninterested in the assigned task. The students are encouraged to follow the structure of the discussion led by the teacher, but also are engaged within their heterogeneous groups. D3b. The collaborative learning instructional strategy is applicable for the constructivist theory because the groups of students were all participating in an open discussion that was teacher-led and encouraged the mixed groups of students to focus on the product of learning.

E Realizing psychology and human development is essential for educators because it helps you establish developmental expectations within the curriculum that are appropriate for your students. As noted from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, “Knowledge of how children within a given age span typically develop and learn provides a general framework to guide teachers in preparing the learning environment,” (2009). For example, when I am eventually in my own classroom, I would take the time to understand where my students were at socially, emotionally, and psychologically through observations, parent discussion, IEPs as applicable and general knowledge of developmental stages, to create the best learning environment for each child as they work through the curriculum at a pace designed specifically to their needs. F Knowing the differences in developmental levels of individual students can inform your teaching practice by preparing you to recognize any potential developmental delays your students may have. As noted in course Unit 2, “considering such physical milestones encourages teachers to create developmentally appropriate, safe classroom environments for children during their middle childhood years.” This is especially important as cognitive, social, and emotional development begin to influence learning abilities. For example, when I am eventually in my own classroom, I would lean into the guidance of a student’s IEP if applicable, school social workers, Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists, specials educators (including Art, PE, technology) and parents to gain a better understanding of any child who has different developmental abilities. I would work with those folks to develop a safe learning environment to ensure their health and safety are not compromised while the student continues to thrive academically to the best of their ability.

G Understanding learning theories can advise your teaching approach by understanding the different ways students of all learning developments, interpret and process information as it is being taught. According to Author Brigid Barron, “Cooperative group work benefits students in social and behavioral areas as well, including improvement in student self-concept, social interaction, time on task, and positive feelings toward peers,” (Powerful Learning, 2008). When considering the effectiveness of the constructivist theory, cooperative learning allows the teacher to encourage social and behavioral development and for the students to focus on content and learning. Recognizing that not all students learn the same, is crucial in determining the appropriate learning theory approach to classroom management.

References

Atlas, (2014). Case #53. Observing and Measuring the Weather. Case Detail | ATLAS (nbpts.org)

Atlas, (2014). Case #520. Analyzing Social Issues in Small Group Book Club Discussions. Case Detail | ATLAS (nbpts.org)

Atlas, (2015). Case #1150. Considering Changes to Immigration Policy Through Interest Group Input. Case Detail | ATLAS (nbpts.org)

Atlas, (n.d.). Case #1561. Building Language Fluency Through Sensory Engagement. Case Detail | ATLAS (nbpts.org)

Barron, B. (2008, October 8). Powerful Learning: Studies Show Deep Understanding Derives from Collaborative Methods. Edutopia; George Lucas Educational Foundation. https://www.edutopia.org/inquiry-project-learning-research

Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8. (2009). https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/positionstatements/PSDAP.pdf...