During this article three things I learned was what the definition of grit was, as defined Paul L. Thomas “Grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity and plateaus in progress”. Another thing I learned from this article was that opportunity and talent trump over effort, that no matter how much effort you put in if someone has connections they will most likely succeed over you. The third thing I learned was that people believe that poverty and privilege come to those who deserve them, whether their lazy or hard working, and not based on inequality.
Two connections I made during this reading was one to do with grit, I pushed myself going into high school to be good enough to be a part of the soccer team, and being one of the better players despite not playing it before. I practiced each night, focusing a lot of my time on working on my soccer skills so that I would be good enough for my team. I was top defender on my team, but also was one of the faster runners so I played wing when I needed too and could play up if we were low on players. The second connection I had was when they talked about learning about Steve Jobs and how he took a lot of risks and had persistence which led to him being very successful. I also learned about Steve Jobs and others such as Albert Einstein through my elementary and high school days. Teaching us very valuable lessons such as even though we might not have those connections if we put in the effort we may just be lucky and do something great for this world. The question I have after reading this article is that why is it that privilege can get someone farther than someone who works hard for it? If I was someone higher recruits, new employees I would want someone I could trust who would work for it instead of someone who just had connections and slacked off through life.
0 Comments
Chapter 2: Cognitive Development pg. 22-62During the reading there was many different interesting aspects that I was able to learn from. The first thing I learned was that the cerebellum; a part of the brain, was responsible for many different things to do with your body. “It coordinates and orchestrates balance and smooth, skilled movements”. The cerebellum was the reason that a dancer wasn’t clumsy but instead had the graceful movements that most dancer;s have. The cerebellum is also the reason that when your eating with a fork you always get the food into your mouth instead of hitting other parts of your face or body, it helps with hand eye coordination. Not only does it help with dancing and eating but it also controls other higher cognitive functions such as learning. Another thing i learned well reading was the size of a babies brain, I always knew that a babies brain was smaller than an adults but I had no idea that it was only one-third of an adults. A babies brain weights 454 grams which is equal to one pound. The third thing i learned was about synapses, did you know that at age 2-3 a child’s brain has more synapses then any adults brain has. That’s because synapses are developed for many different things in the brain, such as skating or cooking, or speaking a new language. So if the synapses don’t get used the brain automatically prunes them. That is why it is much more difficult for a adult to learn a new language then a child because the adults neurons and synapses for learning a new language have most likely been pruned.
Two connections I have made to this reading was the sensitive periods. As I am already a early childhood educator at a daycare I have been able to develop more skills that will be able to help me become a great teacher. During the summer I led my own group of toddlers which is an important age for potty training. I had many children in my group that were already potty trained, sometimes having the occasional accident, some that were going through the stages of potty training that wanted to sit on the potty mostly because their friends were, but I also had children that would not sit on the potty no matter what. I knew that I couldn’t pressure the child to go on the potty that when the child was ready they would go. That each child took a different amount of time, I wasn’t worried that they refused to go on the potty. I would talk to the child’s parents though to see what kind of discussions were going on at home to do with the potty to help get the child ready to use the potty. Another connection I had was about the private speech, around the daycare I notice a lot of the children talking to themselves because I work in the toddler room which is the room the children first start to talk more, talking themselves through the problems. I also tend to read things aloud when I am doing assignments where there is no one around me cause I feel like I learn the information easier by reading it aloud. One question I have from this reading is when is it too late for some milestones, is there different techniques a parent or adult can use to help move the process along faster, or what happens if as a early educator you see that the child is ready for example potty training but the parents don’t believe they are and won’t help the child at home. Chapter 3: Self and Social and Moral DevelopmentThree things I learned well reading was that during the young preschool age is when children will develop a lifelong preference for their right or left hands. I had never thought about when a child developed which hand they used over the other, or how they developed which hand was more dominant. Another thing I learned was that girls reach their final height by age 15 or 16, which is several years ahead of boys. So a girl could be taller than boys her age around this time. The third thing I learned was there is four types of parenting Authoritative- high in warmth but they also exert firm control, Authoritarian- seem less cold and controlling in their interactions, Permissive- parents are warm but have little control, and Reflecting/ Permissive- parents are low in warmth and control.
Two connections I had was to do with the mesosystem, I make sure when I am at my job as a daycare educator that I talk to the parents, and have a good relationship with them because not having a good relationship with the child’s parents will lead to conflicts with the child and I or problems at home. I also make sure I have a good relationship with other educators I work with because the children can tell when their is a conflict and will react according to how we act to each other. The second connection i had was with the blended families, my parents divorced when I was five, my mom had two more girls after the divorce with my step dad, them being my half sisters. My dad had got remarried to a women with three children them being my step siblings but since then had gone through another divorce. I have a lot of different family members, so I know when I am an educator to not talk about just moms and dads but about family members in general. one question I have is why in most cases is it more common for the mother to keep the children during a divorce than the father to keep the children? Why is it that when a divorce happens right away most people think the mother will keep the children? Social cognitive views of learning and motivationThree things I learned was differences between social learning and social cognitive theories. Social learning is beyond behavioural views of reinforcement and punishment. Social cognitive is beyond social learning theory to include cognitive factors such as beliefs, expectations and perceptions of self. The second thing I learned was triarchic reciprocal causality is a dynamic interplay among three kinds of influences; personal, environmental and behavioural. All influence and are influenced by each other, they reciprocate to shape behaviour. The third thing I learned was Bandura only took and became interested in psychology because he needed a morning class to fill one of his time slots.
Two connections I have is with self-efficacy, through volleyball I never thought I was bad but also didn’t think I was the best. I was placed on the non competitive team, this didn’t help with the thoughts I had about my skills. When we played other teams and especially the more competitive volleyball teams I couldn’t do any of the skills that I had learned and knew how to do. Since I did not believe in my skills of volleyball I could not play to the best of my ability and to this day still have trouble getting past my head and playing how I know how to. The second connection I have is to the anxiety part in the reading. When I was little I would not talk to anyone, sure I still had friends but I wouldn’t talk to anyone in class and it took me a bit to warm up to my closest friends. Now I do not seem as shy, although I do not seek out conversation with people I don’t know I am not scared to be in conversation with them. My youngest sister is dealing with this right now, and will not even talk to some of my family members, she used to not talk to me at first until I spent a couple days with her. One question I have is, How do you know when a child is dealing with anxiety, How do you fix it in a young age? I feel like none of my teachers could tell that I was dealing with anxiety and had just thought I was a shy child, I would also like to help my sister deal with this so she can talk to others as well. Blog post #410/1/2019 Reconceptualists and Nourishing the learning spiritThree things I learned:
Scientists have just begun to recognize the potential of Indigenous knowledge In the more specific case of early childhood education, contemporary reconceptualist scholars question the belief that scientific truths could or should be “discovered” about any individual or group of children and then applied to all younger human beings, no matter the culture, language, belief structure, or physical life circumstance. I believe all students do not learn the same and have different beliefs. Other cultures and languages may have different views on scientific truths then others so I do not believe all scientific truths should be applied to all younger human beings. Aboriginal knowledge serves to ground our interrelationships with each other – all things, animate and inanimate; to honour the land, the animals, the ecology that gives all of us sustenance; to honour our relationships with one another and respect our diversities, recognizing that we are all one, coming from one Creation, learning to learn, to fulfill our journey, our earth walk, as our Creator and we have agreed upon. 2 connections I have: In order for us as a society, us and Indigenous people to grow and adapt we need to understand that “Indigenous Knowledge is being revealed as an extensive and valuable knowledge system that must be made a priority or mission in education, not just for Indigenous students but for all students”. Which is why at my high school we had an aboriginal class any student could take and there is a mandatory Indigenous class we have to take in university during our elementary degree. Through our families, peers, and communities, we come to learn about ourselves through our ecologies, land and environments. I have learned all that I know from my brother and my dad who I spent most of my childhood with, grande prairie and my elementary school and my friends. I developed over the years based on my surroundings the the people who came in and out of my lives. 1 Question I have: How can we build as a community and help diminish the tension between us and aboriginal bodies after our history? Blog Post #510/1/2019 Three things I learned:
That culture includes the knowledge, skills, rules,norms, practices, traditions, self-definitions, institutions, language and values that shape and guide beliefs and behaviors. Another one is that poor children are at least twice as likely as non-poor children to be kept back in school. The third thing i learned was the definition of prejudice, it is a rigid and irrational generalization, it is a prejudgment about an entire category of people. 2 connections I have is: I have many parents at the daycare that believe they are better than us at the daycare, they show a kind of classism during drop off and picking up their child. I work at a daycare in more of the rich area so many of the parents make more money then the caregivers at their childs daycare, they may not speak to us at all or speak bare minimum to us. Another connection I have is when it talks about doing literacy activities with your kids. I do not have any children yet but ever since my sisters were just born I would read to them and as they get older I work on their homework with them and get them to read to me. I have loved reading since I was little even though my parents didn’t read with me as much as they probably should have. I want my sisters to love reading and to be able to succeed far in their lives. 1 question I have: How do we help low socioeconomic status children succeed in our classrooms and help them succeed through out their lives? Three things I learned: I had an understanding of the word Idealism; Many people view this term as a bad thing, it exists in a perfect world. Many people may hopes of being a astronaut and it may never happen which wouldn’t happen in a perfect world. I did not have a understanding before that the word Idealism had come from ancient Greek Philosopher Plato. The second thing I learned was Essentialism; it takes you back to the basics to do with education. Children learn basic skills and subjects that prepare students to be productive citizens. The third thing I learned was the term Eudiamonia; which is a term meaning happiness or fulfillment. Everyone seeks for eudiamonia throughout their lives, they all hope to find happiness through their careers, families and there everyday life.
Two connections I have: Assessment; as a child I received a lot of feedback, which helped me grow and adapt throughout my early life. Assessments from teachers and parents lead to them discovering any problems a child may have had such as when I was in about grade 3 I was put into a speech group because I wouldn’t say my speech very well, some sounds were difficult for me to pronounce and I was very shy so my dad decided it would be best I received help from a speech therapist. Today I am still being assessed to help me become a better person and to help me become a better educator for the future generations. Such as at work I have a assessment I fill out myself and then talk about it with my boss based on her thoughts about how I have been doing. The second connection I have is with technology; technology is super important to today’s world, at such a young age children are able to use and most likely have their own type of technology such as an ipad. When I have my own classroom and even my own children I do not want to use a lot of technology with them at a young age and maybe none at all. I do not want the children with in my care to rely on technology to get through their lives. 1 question I have: How do teachers find which teaching approaches work best for them? There is so many different approaches, that some go against others and it would be hard to work all approaches into the classroom. Three things I learned:
There is a social-justice plans that are already designed so parents don’t have to come up with their own. Its important to teach the children about important topics such as abuse, to teach them that it is not okay and that if anyone does anything that is bad to them, they know that it is wrong. Children need to have an understanding about this, parents can’t always be the ones to teach their children about abuse because in most cases it is probably the parents who are doing the abusing and that is when the teachers come in. Another thing I learned is that some schools don’t allow terms that go with a male and female marriage because of same-sex couples. I think as a society we need to not discourage these terms but express them, we also need to express same-sex couple terms because society is changing. Children need to have an understanding of all these terms and to have an understanding that they can love who ever they want. Another thing I learned is that their is social justice topics implanted into the curriculum. As a student I do not remember learning about any current political topics, I remember history and it was all in the past events. None of my classes helped teach me about any current events that were going on in the world. I still do not believe I know enough about what is going on in the world. Two things I connected with: The part I believed to connect with was when it asked the question “how much are the young truly able to make up their own mind?” As a student I feel that sometimes I may not agree what the teacher is saying but I can’t say anything to the teacher or I may receive a bad mark. I think sometimes teachers focus to much on their own opinions and find it hard to see someone else”s point of view, they can fail you just for not agreeing with them basically. Another thing I connected with is when it says we should be teaching kids to think for themselves and then they will be able to come up with their own political views. At the daycare, I ask them a lot of questions. Not hard questions but question such as their favorite song and their favorite foods. I try to ask one child at a time and more when they are by themselves so that a child doesn’t just hear someone else and pick the same thing. I believe students should be able to eventually decide on their own views about society and political views, no teacher or parent should force their views on a child. One question I have is: How do we as teachers discuss these topics with children without putting our own views into their brains? Because I believe children need to come up with their own ideas about important topics and not feel like their forced to believe that. Three things I learned:
On thing I learned was that teachers and principals need to work together to come up with a safe environment for all. I knew that everyone needs to play a part in making a great school experience for children but I thought the principal came up with the ideas and then the teachers would just help the students understand and fall along with the ideas. The more an administrator shares power the more power, he or she gain. Another thing I learned is that although I know that when I enter a school they will already have staff and how the way the school is run for awhile so any changes I may think about bringing into the school or how I teach could be changed based on how the school is run. Also being the new staff member I may not have as many opportunities as older staff members have. The third thing I learned was that it is hard for a teacher to know when he or she is successful with teaching their students. Tests and assignments can help give an idea but sometimes a student doesn’t do well with tests but instead they do better with assignments. Also home pressures or other issues may put pressures on the student causing them not to do well and in fact it has nothing to do with how you teach. Two connections I made: One of the connections I made was when it talks about teaching being a flat profession. Many of the struggles I go through during my schooling is deciding if teaching is right for me. I currently work at a daycare and there is always something new each day because of the young ages. We see changes everyday in their growth and development. I love working at the daycare, days I don’t work i catch myself wanting to be at work and missing the kids. I want to be there watching the kids growth all the time. Even though I am in elementary education so it will still be young ages I feel like every day will be more of the same, it won’t be very exciting. I am scared that although I love being with kids that because teaching is a flat profession I may not enjoy teaching as a profession. The second connection I have is when it talks about the supply and demand for teachers. I may not be able to find a permanent teaching job right away and might instead need to work as a substitute teacher or stay at a daycare until a permanent job comes up. Although I feel like I am fine to go anywhere in order for me to find a permanent teaching position because I have nothing here tying me down in Regina and I may actually even want to go somewhere else for the beginning of my teaching degree. One question I have is: How will I know when there is something else going on with my students and it isn’t about the way i’m teaching that is not allowing the student to reach their greatest potential? Blog #9:Understanding Canadian Schools10/1/2019 Three things I learned:
A collective agreement is a legal agreement between employees, who have placed themselves into a union, and their employer. The union creates a committee who can represent their members in negotiating with their employer. Arbitration is a term used to define where the two sides of a bargaining process get a third person to meet either with them separately or together in order for them to come to a mutual agreement. Also if both sides agree to having an Arbitration in the first place then whatever the Arbitration decides they both have to accept the Arbitrations decision. “Teachers learn most of what they know on the job”, I understand that with every job you learn more and more in order to help you succeed and do what is best for the people learning from you; in a teachers case the students but I don’t understand how a teacher can be teaching their students and not knowing how to do their job. Two things I connected with: One thing I connected with is when it talked about the strike. Strike is defined as the ability for employees to withdraw their services in an attempt for their employer to come to a mutual agreement with them. This is a connection I have because currently the University of Regina has been negotiating with the school board in order to meet their wants. This is good for the teachers that they are fighting for what they want and deserve to have but for the students it is making an already stressful time even worse, if the school board doesn’t negotiate with what the teachers want then the teachers will be going on strike and us as students will miss out on school. Our career’s will get pushed back causing us to either take summer/ spring schooling or pushed back further by a semester. Another connection I had been with private life to do with teachers. I believe that teachers need a break from their everyday lives and are able to let loose a bit. I do not believe that they should do anything that they would regret and could mess with their teaching degrees but teachers should be able to go out with their friends and have a couple of drinks. Everyone needs time away from their work, no employee for any place should go out and make an embarrassment of themselves, or their work. One question I have is: I understand some issues that cause teachers to be dismissed from their teaching degrees such as any sexual relationship or any relationship with the children besides the one that exists in the classroom but when it comes to the teachers own private lives such as getting a divorce with their husband, why is it up to the school board to decide that they are not fit to be a teacher? Know one knows what went on behind closed doors so no one besides the couple who divorced know what went on that causes the divorce to happen. AuthorWelcome to my blog, I look forward to learning along side you through my Education journey! ArchivesCategories |