Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Why Do We Have Dispositions, and Where Did We Get Them?

This post is a repost from February 2009. Please refer to older posts to learn more about dispositions.

When I first began discussing dispositions, I mentioned that it was a way of measuring teacher quality. Most professional organizations define teacher quality as knowledge, skills and dispositions-more on the knowledge and skills in later posts. Why is teacher quality so important? Linda Darling-Hammond, renowned educational researcher at Stamford University, said it best, “Teacher quality is one of the most important factors influencing student achievement..." There have been empirical studies to prove this fact.

While National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), as well as content area organizations mention dispositions, there is no consensus for criterion on which to measure dispositions. Because accreditation of teacher education institutions requires assessing dispositions, several models have emerged. For example, NCATE defines dispositions “values and commitments” as linked to teacher performance. Other organizations equate them with attitudes, characteristics, ethics, and professional behaviors. Still another model talks about self-assessment and reflection. This model attempts to reach the complexities involved in teacher dispositions and self-improvement. All of these models attempt to capture dispositions that teachers need to be effective educators that enhance student learning.

So where did we get the criterion and indicators for your dispositions? Well, obviously we looked at all these models. But we also looked at the vision and core values of the School of Education. It was important of us to connect your dispositions to these qualities since we believe these to be significant in all areas in the School of Education.

As with all worthy assessments, this disposition rubric is a work in progress. We continually use the data we garner from it to improve it. By following this procedure for all of our assessment tools, we hope to improve our teacher education program to make you a successful educator.

At the beginning of this post I used the work “discussing’. This blog might have started out as me telling you about dispositions; however, from the comments I have been seeing it has turn into a valuable discussion. Please feel free to make a comment. I value them.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

Please check it out.
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/about-trevor/organization

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Diversity Kit

I posted this site on my yahoo group site for cultural competency: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/culturallyresponiveteacher/

I am not sure many of you saw it. It is a wonderful resource from the Education Alliance at Brown University, so I am posting it here. Also, feel free to join the yahoo group to share your ideas and resources with other educators.

http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/diversity_kit/

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Best Practice in Education

What is "Best Practice?"
The term "Best Practice" has been used to describe "what works" in a particular situation or environment. When data support the success of a practice, it is referred to as a research-based practice or scientifically based practice. As good consumers of information, we must keep in mind that a particular practice that has worked for someone within a given set of variables may or may not yield the same results across educational environments.


Grover J. Whitehurst, as assistant secretary for Educational Research and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education, defined evidence-based education as “the integration of professional wisdom with the best available empirical evidence in making decisions about how to deliver instruction.” Professional wisdom allows educators and family members to adapt to specific circumstances or environments in an area in which research evidence may be absent or incomplete. But without at least some empirical evidence, education cannot resolve competing approaches, generate cumulative knowledge, and avoid fads and personal biases.


These are the nine standards:


•1: A Clear and Common Focus

In high-performing schools, administrators, teachers, students, and parents share and commit to clearly articulated and understood common goals based on the fundamental belief that all students can learn and improve their performance. There is clear evidence of school practices to support this belief.

•2: High Standards and Expectations

High-performing schools show evidence that each teacher believes “all students can learn and I can teach them.” Staff members are dedicated to helping every student achieve challenging state and local standards. All students are engaged in an appropriately ambitious and rigorous course of study in which the high standards of performance are clear and consistent and the conditions for learning are modified and differentiated. This results in all students being prepared for success in the workplace, postsecondary education, and civic responsibilities.

•3: Strong Leadership

School leadership is focused on enhancing the skills, knowledge, and motivation of the people in the organization and creating a common culture of high expectations based on the use of skills and knowledge to improve the performance of all students. Leadership fosters a collaborative atmosphere between the school and the community while establishing positive systems to improve leadership, teaching, and student performance.

•4: Supportive, Personalized, and Relevant Learning

In high-performing schools, supportive learning environments provide positive personalized relationships for all students while engaging them in rigorous and relevant learning.

•5: Parent/Community Involvement

In high-performing schools, parents and community members help develop, understand, and support a clear and common focus on core academic, social, and personal goals contributing to improved student performance and have a meaningful and authentic role in achieving these goals. The school community works together to actively solve problems and create win-win solutions. Mentoring and outreach programs provide for two-way learning between students and community/business members.

•6: Monitoring, Accountability, and Assessment

In high-performing schools, teaching and learning are continually adjusted on the basis of data collected through a variety of valid and reliable methods that indicate student progress and needs. The assessment results are interpreted and applied appropriately to improve individual student performance and the instructional program.

•7: Curriculum and Instruction

High-performing schools have aligned curriculum with core learning expectations to improve the performance of all students. Students achieve high standards through rigorous, challenging learning. Staff delivers an aligned curriculum and implements research-based teaching and learning strategies. Students are actively involved in their learning through inquiry, in-depth learning, and performance assessments.

•8: Professional Development

Ongoing professional development aligned with the school’s common focus and high expectations to improve the performance of all students is critical in high-performing schools. These professional development offerings are focused and informed by research and school/classroom-based assessments. Appropriate instructional support and resources are provided to implement approaches and techniques learned through professional development.

•9: Time and Structure

High-performing schools are flexibly structured to maximize the use of time and accommodate the varied lives of their students, staff, and community in order to improve the performance of all students. The structure of programs extends beyond the traditional school day and year as well as beyond the school building. The program draws on the entire community’s resources to foster student achievement.

The above explanation is from the following organization:
http://ctserc.org/s/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=42&Itemid=26
Here are more examples:
http://www.nea.org/tools/17073.htm

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Looking at Student Work!

There are many benefits to teachers that practice the strategy of looking at student work,

http://www.lasw.org/index.html

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Knowing your students

Getting to know your students is one of the best ways to get them to learn. Here are some strategies:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/5-2_107267_7.pdf

Friday, May 14, 2010

Special Education Resource

http://seriweb.com

The site above is a good resouce. Check it out.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Constructivism

Constructivism is one of the philosophies of teaching and learning we try to instill in you. Please take the time to check out this site. It gives you some wonderful tools to use in your teaching.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Constructivism

Definition

Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences.

Discussion

There are several guiding principles of constructivism:

Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start with the issues around which students are actively trying to construct meaning.
Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. And parts must be understood in the context of wholes. Therefore, the learning process focuses on primary concepts, not isolated facts.
In order to teach well, we must understand the mental models that students use to perceive the world and the assumptions they make to support those models.
The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning, not just memorize the “right” answers and regurgitate someone else’s meaning. Since education is inherently interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure learning is to make the assessment part of the learning process, ensuring it provides students with information on the quality of their learning.
How Constructivism Impacts Learning

Curriculum–Constructivism calls for the elimination of a standardized curriculum. Instead, it promotes using curricula customized to the students’ prior knowledge. Also, it emphasizes hands-on problem solving.

Instruction–Under the theory of constructivism, educators focus on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Instructors tailor their teaching strategies to student responses and encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict information. Teachers also rely heavily on open-ended questions and promote extensive dialogue among students.

Assessment–Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing. Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging their own progress.

Reading

Jacqueline and Martin Brooks, The Case for Constructivist Classrooms.

Bloom's Taxonomy

New Version



New Version
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. During the 1990's a new group of cognitive psychologist, lead by Lorin Anderson (a former student of Bloom's), updated the taxonomy reflecting relevance to 21st century work. The graphic is a representation of the NEW verbage associated with the long familiar Bloom's Taxonomy. Note the change from Nouns to Verbs to describe the different levels of the taxonomy.

Note that the top two levels are essentially exchanged from the Old to the New version.




Old Version


Old Version

Remembering: can the student recall or remember the information? define, duplicate, list, memorize, recall, repeat, reproduce state
Understanding: can the student explain ideas or concepts? classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate, paraphrase
Applying: can the student use the information in a new way? choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write.
Analyzing: can the student distinguish between the different parts? appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test.
Evaluating: can the student justify a stand or decision? appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate
Creating: can the student create new product or point of view? assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write.

Michael Pohl's Website about Bloom's Taxonomy

Example of Questions at different levels (done using OLD taxonomy)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Depth of Knowledge Chart

You will find this chart quiet helpful when planning lessons.

http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/sia/msip/DOK_Chart.pdf

The following article is another helpful explanation.

http://facstaff.wcer.wisc.edu/normw/All%20content%20areas%20%20DOK%20levels%2032802.doc

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Theory of Cogniative Development




Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the most influential researchers in the area of developmental psychology during the 20th century. Piaget originally trained in the areas of biology and philosophy and considered himself a "genetic epistemologist." He was mainly interested in the biological influences on "how we come to know." He believed that what distinguishes human beings from other animals is our ability to do "abstract symbolic reasoning." Piaget's views are often compared with those of Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), who looked more to social interaction as the primary source of cognition and behavior. This is somewhat similar to the distinctions made between Freud and Erikson in terms of the development of personality. The writings of Piaget (e.g., 1972, 1990; see Piaget, Gruber, & Voneche) and Vygotsky (e.g. Vygotsky, 1986; Vygotsky & Vygotsky, 1980), along with the work of John Dewey (e.g., Dewey, 1997a, 1997b), Jerome Bruner (e.g., 1966, 1974) and Ulrick Neisser (1967) form the basis of the constructivist theory of learning and instruction.

While working in Binet's IQ test lab in Paris, Piaget became interested in how children think. He noticed that young children's answers were qualitatively different than older children which suggested to him that the younger ones were not dumber (a quantitative position since as they got older and had more experiences they would get smarter) but, instead, answered the questions differently than their older peers because they thought differently.

There are two major aspects to his theory: the process of coming to know and the stages we move through as we gradually acquire this ability.

Process of Cognitive Development. As a biologist, Piaget was interested in how an organism adapts to its environment (Piaget described as intelligence.) Behavior (adaptation to the environment) is controlled through mental organizations called schemes that the individual uses to represent the world and designate action. This adaptation is driven by a biological drive to obtain balance between schemes and the environment (equilibration).

Piaget hypothesized that infants are born with schemes operating at birth that he called "reflexes." In other animals, these reflexes control behavior throughout life. However, in human beings as the infant uses these reflexes to adapt to the environment, these reflexes are quickly replaced with constructed schemes.

Piaget described two processes used by the individual in its attempt to adapt: assimilation and accomodation. Both of these processes are used thoughout life as the person increasingly adapts to the environment in a more complex manner.

Assimilation is the process of using or transforming the environment so that it can be placed in preexisting cognitive structures. Accomodation is the process of changing cognitive structures in order to accept something from the environment. Both processes are used simultaneously and alternately throughout life. An example of assimilation would be when an infant uses a sucking schema that was developed by sucking on a small bottle when attempting to suck on a larger bottle. An example of accomodation would be when the child needs to modify a sucking schema developed by sucking on a pacifier to one that would be successful for sucking on a bottle.

As schemes become increasingly more complex (i.e., responsible for more complex behaviors) they are termed structures. As one's structures become more complex, they are organized in a hierarchical manner (i.e., from general to specific).

Stages of Cognitive Development. Piaget identified four stages in cognitive development:

Sensorimotor stage (Infancy). In this period (which has 6 stages), intelligence is demonstrated through motor activity without the use of symbols. Knowledge of the world is limited (but developing) because its based on physical interactions / experiences. Children acquire object permanence at about 7 months of age (memory). Physical development (mobility) allows the child to begin developing new intellectual abilities. Some symbollic (language) abilities are developed at the end of this stage.
Pre-operational stage (Toddler and Early Childhood). In this period (which has two substages), intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and imagination are developed, but thinking is done in a nonlogical, nonreversable manner. Egocentric thinking predominates
Concrete operational stage (Elementary and early adolescence). In this stage (characterized by 7 types of conservation: number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, volume), intelligence is demonstarted through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects. Operational thinking develops (mental actions that are reversible). Egocentric thought diminishes.
Formal operational stage (Adolescence and adulthood). In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. Early in the period there is a return to egocentric thought. Only 35% of high school graduates in industrialized countries obtain formal operations; many people do not think formally during adulthood.
Many pre-school and primary programs are modeled on Piaget's theory, which, as stated previously, provides part of the foundation for constructivist learning. Discovery learning and supporting the developing interests of the child are two primary instructional techniques. It is recommended that parents and teachers challenge the child's abilities, but NOT present material or information that is too far beyond the child's level. It is also recommended that teachers use a wide variety of concrete experiences to help the child learn (e.g., use of manipulatives, working in groups to get experience seeing from another's perspective, field trips, etc).

Piaget's research methods were based primarily on case studies [they were descriptive]. While some of his ideas have been supported through more correlational and experimental methodologies, others have not. For example, Piaget believed that biological development drives the movement from one cognitive stage to the next. Data from cross-sectional studies of children in a variety of western cultures seem to support this assertion for the stages of sensorimotor, preoperational, and concrete operations ( Renner, Stafford, Lawson, McKinnon, Friot & Kellogg, 1976).

Tuesday, March 9, 2010



John Dewey (1859-1952) believed that learning was active and schooling unnecessarily long and restrictive. His idea was that children came to school to do things and live in a community which gave them real, guided experiences which fostered their capacity to contribute to society. For example, Dewey believed that students should be involved in real-life tasks and challenges:
-maths could be learnt via learning proportions in cooking or figuring out how long it would take to get from one place to another by mule

-history could be learnt by experiencing how people lived, geography, what the climate was like, and how plants and animals grew, were important subjects

Dewey had a gift for suggesting activities that captured the center of what his classes were studying.

Dewey's education philosophy helped forward the "progressive education" movement, and spawned the development of "experiential education" programs and experiments.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

News and Information for Cohort 7

Here is some important information for you. It is taken from your student handbook.

MARCH 2010

 THIRD TERM BEGINS – MARCH 9
 One night of classes (6:00 to 10:00)
 EDUC 5401 Strategies for Teaching Mathematics – 2 hours
 EDUC 5402 Strategies for Teaching Science – 2 hours
 NOTE: Fundamentals of Educational Research will meet twice this term (dates TBA)
 Two workshops per term, 5:00 to 6:00, same night as class (dates TBA)
 Fieldwork – 2 hours per week for each class
 Record school, location, hours and teacher signature on the paper Observation Log and submit to professor each week
 Record observation hours in Tk20