My intervention plan for Lisa in the CSEL case study is mainly going to focus on Cognitive Learning theory. I do think that this could include some aspects of self-regulation if you consider it from the perspective that I would strive to provide Lisa with the cognitive tools to regulate her own behavior. Promoting metacognition and encouraging Lisa to carefully think through her behaviors would be a type of self-regulation.
However, self-efficacy and self-regulation are more closely tied to social cognitive theory. Self-efficacy is defined as a self-constructed judgment about one's ability to execute certain behaviors or reach certain goals. It would certainly be a good idea to try and provide Lisa with a high self-efficacy by encouraging her and emphasizing that she is capable of working productively with her group. Self-regulation is defined as self-chosen and self directed behavior that leads to the fulfillment of personally constructed standards and goals. From the case definition it definitely sounds like Lisa would benefit from improving her self-regulation, and to do this the teacher could provide her with specific criteria to assess herself. It would also be beneficial for the teacher to model positive self-efficacy and self-regulation.
Below is a link to a very interesting article that I found about the importance of self regulation in at-risk children. "A key finding in that study shows that at-risk children who can
self-regulate have higher reading, math and vocabulary achievement."
Self-Regulation Key to Academic Success for At-Risk Children
Monday, March 18, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Post #8
There are many different ways that a teacher could address Lisa's behavior in the CSEL case study for elementary education. Below are some possible ways to address the situation from a behaviorist, constructivist, and cognitive viewpoint.
Behaviorist:
* The teacher could use positive reinforcement by giving Lisa a piece of candy if she cooperates and works well with her group.
* The teacher could use negative reinforcement by not requiring Lisa to do homework if she cooperates and works well with her group.
* The teacher could use punishment by removing Lisa from the group and requiring her to do all the work herself or even making her work during recess if she refuses to work cooperatively with her group.
Constructivist:
* The teacher might speak with Lisa privately and ask her to think about what is going wrong, why it is a problem, and how she can fix it.
* The teacher might refrain from intervening and allow the group of students to resolve the problem on their own.
* Below is a website with some great examples of how constructivism can be used in the classroom...
Guidelines for Implementing Constructivist Alternatives to Discipline
Cognitive:
* The teacher could model how to effectively work with a group and resolve disputes within the group.
* When disputes arise, the teacher could have Lisa practice identifying the problem, generating possible solutions, evaluating solutions, implementing a solution, and evaluating the outcome.
* Below is an article with some excellent examples of how cognitive strategies can be used in the classroom...
Cognitive Behavioral Interventions
These three viewpoints are all very different. Behaviorism basically treats Lisa as if her brain is a black box and the motivation behind her behaviors are irrelevant. All that matters is her behavior. Constructivism revolves around the theory that students construct their own knowledge. Cognitive strategies strive to provide students with the necessary tools to control their own behavior. There are certainly positives and negatives to each of the theories. I do not like the way that behaviorism totally ignores the reasons why a student is behaving a certain way. I work with a lot of students in an urban environment, and I have learned that it is often very important to find out why a student is behaving a certain way. For example, if a student is falling asleep in class, it is important to know whether that is because they chose to stay up to late playing video games or whether its because their family was kicked out of their apartment and spent most of the night trying to find a place to stay. The second scenario was totally out of the student's control and I do not believe that they should be punished for that. However, I also do not like the fact that constructivism does not explicitly tell the students what behavior is appropriate. I have known some students who thought physical violence was the appropriate way to handle a dispute. Based on their experiences and the environment they had grown up in, this is what they found to be true. They fight in order to defend themselves and others. However this behavior is obviously unacceptable in school. Yet, students shouldn't just be expected to know that if it is totally contradictory to what they have experienced outside of school. In cases like this, I think students do need to be directly told what is and isn't acceptable behavior. Overall, I think my personal theory of learning aligns most closely with the cognitive viewpoint. I like that it encourages students to think about their behavior, but it also teaches them explicit strategies for managing that behavior.
Behaviorist:
* The teacher could use positive reinforcement by giving Lisa a piece of candy if she cooperates and works well with her group.
* The teacher could use negative reinforcement by not requiring Lisa to do homework if she cooperates and works well with her group.
* The teacher could use punishment by removing Lisa from the group and requiring her to do all the work herself or even making her work during recess if she refuses to work cooperatively with her group.
Constructivist:
* The teacher might speak with Lisa privately and ask her to think about what is going wrong, why it is a problem, and how she can fix it.
* The teacher might refrain from intervening and allow the group of students to resolve the problem on their own.
* Below is a website with some great examples of how constructivism can be used in the classroom...
Guidelines for Implementing Constructivist Alternatives to Discipline
Cognitive:
* The teacher could model how to effectively work with a group and resolve disputes within the group.
* When disputes arise, the teacher could have Lisa practice identifying the problem, generating possible solutions, evaluating solutions, implementing a solution, and evaluating the outcome.
* Below is an article with some excellent examples of how cognitive strategies can be used in the classroom...
Cognitive Behavioral Interventions
These three viewpoints are all very different. Behaviorism basically treats Lisa as if her brain is a black box and the motivation behind her behaviors are irrelevant. All that matters is her behavior. Constructivism revolves around the theory that students construct their own knowledge. Cognitive strategies strive to provide students with the necessary tools to control their own behavior. There are certainly positives and negatives to each of the theories. I do not like the way that behaviorism totally ignores the reasons why a student is behaving a certain way. I work with a lot of students in an urban environment, and I have learned that it is often very important to find out why a student is behaving a certain way. For example, if a student is falling asleep in class, it is important to know whether that is because they chose to stay up to late playing video games or whether its because their family was kicked out of their apartment and spent most of the night trying to find a place to stay. The second scenario was totally out of the student's control and I do not believe that they should be punished for that. However, I also do not like the fact that constructivism does not explicitly tell the students what behavior is appropriate. I have known some students who thought physical violence was the appropriate way to handle a dispute. Based on their experiences and the environment they had grown up in, this is what they found to be true. They fight in order to defend themselves and others. However this behavior is obviously unacceptable in school. Yet, students shouldn't just be expected to know that if it is totally contradictory to what they have experienced outside of school. In cases like this, I think students do need to be directly told what is and isn't acceptable behavior. Overall, I think my personal theory of learning aligns most closely with the cognitive viewpoint. I like that it encourages students to think about their behavior, but it also teaches them explicit strategies for managing that behavior.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Post #7 Problem Solving Skills
As an engineering major, I've done quite a few problem solving activities over the years. I always really enjoyed them, and I think that problem solving activities teach kids a lot of valuable lessons for the real world. For this reason I will definitely try to include some problem solving activities in my future classroom. One activity that I remember doing as a kid and really enjoying was called "balloon race". We were divided into groups of 3 or 4 and each team was given...
* a roll of masking tape
* a balloon that had not been blown up
* a drinking straw
* a 20 foot piece of fishing line
* a pair of scissors
The instructions were that we had to figure out how to get the balloon from one end of the room to the other. There was a piece of masking tape on the floor near one wall of the room and we would not be allowed to touch the balloon after it crossed that line. (Therefore, the balloon needed to travel 10-15 feet without anyone touching it!)
I can definitely see myself using this activity in a 5th grade classroom. It could be used when teaching simple physics, but it also teaches valuable problem solving skills because the students are required to solve an ill-defined problem. It is considered ill-defined because there is no single correct answer. However, this is the case with most real world problems, and it is an important skill for students to learn. The activity also requires meta-cognition because the students will use their prior knowledge of how straws and balloons work. However, the students will need to get creative in order to figure out a good way to solve the problem. Below is one example of this activity and one possible solution.
Balloon Race Activity
Below is a great article I found about how to encourage problem solving in young children. It talks about the importance of providing young children with open ended materials and giving them time and space to practice problem solving. It also listed the steps for problem solving as...
1. Identifying the problem,
2. Brainstorming a variety of solutions,
3. Choosing one solution and trying it out, and
4. Evaluating what has happened.
Problem Solving in Early Childhood Classrooms
* a roll of masking tape
* a balloon that had not been blown up
* a drinking straw
* a 20 foot piece of fishing line
* a pair of scissors
The instructions were that we had to figure out how to get the balloon from one end of the room to the other. There was a piece of masking tape on the floor near one wall of the room and we would not be allowed to touch the balloon after it crossed that line. (Therefore, the balloon needed to travel 10-15 feet without anyone touching it!)
I can definitely see myself using this activity in a 5th grade classroom. It could be used when teaching simple physics, but it also teaches valuable problem solving skills because the students are required to solve an ill-defined problem. It is considered ill-defined because there is no single correct answer. However, this is the case with most real world problems, and it is an important skill for students to learn. The activity also requires meta-cognition because the students will use their prior knowledge of how straws and balloons work. However, the students will need to get creative in order to figure out a good way to solve the problem. Below is one example of this activity and one possible solution.
Balloon Race Activity
Below is a great article I found about how to encourage problem solving in young children. It talks about the importance of providing young children with open ended materials and giving them time and space to practice problem solving. It also listed the steps for problem solving as...
1. Identifying the problem,
2. Brainstorming a variety of solutions,
3. Choosing one solution and trying it out, and
4. Evaluating what has happened.
Problem Solving in Early Childhood Classrooms
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