Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Week 13

1. I think the learning theory that best represents me is the social cognitive theory. This represents me best because I believe students need to be able to relate to the material they are learning. I don't think it does any good to teach in a way that doesn't catch a student's attention or help them to relate the material to their life, whether that be relating that to beliefs in themselves, people they see, or the environment they are in. I am a firm believer that learning is affect by a variety of factors and the social cognitive theory describes how it is affected by the person, behavior, and environment.

2. As I mentioned above, the social cognitive theory describes how learning is affected by the person, behavior, and environment. Learning is affected by the person through their self-regulation and self-efficacy. It is affected by by their behavior when students see a model and they choose to imitate the model. It is affected by the environment when they see certain consequences affect things, and make decisions based on those consequences.

3. I would support learning using this theory using many examples in my teaching lessons whether that be examples of role models by bringing guest speakers in, using previous projects of past students as a teaching aid so kids could relate to information from someone of their own age, stories in the news, etc. An example of an activity that would relate to this theory is having ready buddies with an older grade. Younger kids really look up to older students because they think they are "cool" and know that is what the are working up to become. They see kids older than them with higher reading comprehension levels and use them as role-models. They are able to see that in not too long, they will one day be able to read like the older kids and their self-efficacy becomes positive. This leads to increased motivation in the student because they look up to the role model, want to imitate them, and believe they can one day read as well as them.

4. I would assess the learning from this activity using first informal and then formal assessment. I would have my students all use the same book to read with their reading buddies. I will use formative and informal assessment by walking around the room and observing each pair as they read together. After the reading buddies have left, I would hold a class discussion about the book and then I would give a formative and formal assessment with a quiz. I would use a checklist to grade how well I feel the reading buddies are doing. On it I would check off whether my student is following along and whether they are reading out loud with their buddy or not. The quiz would most likely be a short multiple choice and I would grade their answers correct or incorrect on a point system.


extra credit:
1. My question is how can summative, formal assessments be used in a successful way for  very young children (kindergarten age). It seems inappropriate for very young children to be taking standardized tests and formal tests if they cannot read or write. I have tried to brainstorm different ways to assess children who cannot read or write yet but all I have been able to come up with are formative assessments. I understand the difference of the two types of assessments, but it would be nice to hear some examples of formal summative assessments for this case.

2 comments:

  1. I really do agree with you about the social cognitive theory. I think this is the theory that best fits the way that I learn. I like what you said about using projects from students in previous years. That is something that makes it really easy for student to relate to the material learned. I think another great way to implement the social cognitive theory is teaching students heavily through the use of technology. Students these days are really connected with technology so I think a great addition to class is the mix of technological activities. Lastly, I think your assessment method is awesome. I cant really think of any better ideas for it so good job!

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  2. Hi Madi your extra credit question got me wondering what would be the best way to assess a younger child, and what I found out was that children under 8 years of age should not be assessed through standardized tests but can be assessed in other ways. Children of the preschool age can be evaluated and predicted through the likelihood of a child developing a learning disability. During the milestone ages such as grasping a bottle,from crawling to walking to learning to talk I think could be a way of measuring a form of a formal summative assessment through the social cognitive theory.
    Thanks,
    Andra Winslow

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