IEP/REVIEW

What?... Today we had a great review! We had a relay race, we shared key terms we chose, and played Hollywood Squares!

So What?... So now I feel more prepared for the test and know what I am looking for towards the format of the test. I really found this helpful because I get a little of test anxiety, the bad kind. I sort of freak out and I have a hard time pulling the knowledge out of my brain. Taking the entire three hours of class really helped me focus on what I need to study. I really need to go over each individual concept and go over and learn key terms and use some of my multiple intelligences to aid me in studying for this test.

Now What? ...Now I know what to look for in the future and what the tests will be like in this class. Now I know how I learn best because of our multiple intelligences and I will be more prepared because of the test preparation we had in class. Also, I really like we did Hollywood Squares because I can use it for my own class. That was a fun way to learn information and it really helped me focus on the questions and the type of questions we are to expect. Now I need to take the initiative and really apply myself to learn and relearn the information so I can do my very best on this test.

Portia's IEP

Where I am now... I feel at this time I am at a place where I am understanding what is said in class and participating in class. I do the homework assigned and grasp the concepts.

Where I need to be... I need to be more engaged in the reading and really learn to focus on the text we are assigned. I need to remember strategies we have learned about the keep my attention. I need to break up the text and not try to do it all at once, so I can have better attention.

Inplicit Association

WOW! This test was hard in the coordination department. I found that I favored men and woman in their traditional roles, however, I plan on being a careered woman and a mother... so I don't know how totally accurate that is. I also favored African Americans slightly over European Americans. I thought that I loved both races equally, or that is what I tell my self. I have a lot of friends back east who are African American that I keep in contact with but I wouldn't favor them over my husband or family. I thought that the test was based more on coordination verses recognizing a word or picture and classifying, because when the left category switched with the right, I had the hardest time switching my brain to match the action of my hands. I also thought it was weird that there were right and wrong answers. When you would categorize the world Love under BAD it would X you. What if you thought love was bad? I just thought it was a little interesting that you were supposed to play to the test. What if that effects your score because you are more focused on the what the test wants you to say because they red X you when ever you get an answer "wrong." I thought that It was interesting the facial expressions that they had pictures of. None of them were smiling, they all looked like they were in pain. I think that could have an effect if younger children did this test. With the word sad they would see that the person was sad looking and maybe they were supposed to categorize them under the GOOD because it says European American or Good but the person looks like they are sad. I thought that the gender was more geared towards beliefs, I think that I can have a career and be a mom, however, it is just a fact that woman make .75 cents to every 1.00 a man makes, thus I would prefer my husband to be the breadwinner. Plus, he can't clean or even think about changing a diaper, so I fill in that piece. It's nothing to do religiously, it has to do with strengths.

IQ and Multiple Intelligences

Taking my IQ test was very interesting, I really thought that the questions were of all difficulty levels. I was expecting it to be some beyond hard test that would be impossible to get any questions right. However, I got some right, and I was really surprised by my score, even though I was about average and what surprised me even more was that I scored highest on the math portion. I don't consider myself as being strong in math. I was expecting to be a lot less then I did, I guess because of my surroundings. I had a lot of commotion going on around me and it was hard for me to focus. I should have taken the test in a solitary place because I have a hard time focusing with others around. I really thought that taking the test was a confidence booster. I am going to take the test again in better surroundings and see if I could even do better than before. My husband took the test and of course scored about 30 points higher than me however, when he took the test, the neighbors didn't knock on the door and want to visit, the dog didn't come and want him to come play, he didn't get a call from his mom, he had total bliss while taking the test and that is unequal I say. I really liked this test, I thought that the questions were moderate to difficult, they had some easy ones to butter you up and then started on harder questions. I really think that I should do this type of test every day because I feel like it got the juices flowing. If they had one for lower grades I would only do it for interest only because I think that intelligence is present at any age, however, it is not something I think should be branded on a child. For a teacher it is good to know, but you could not change the students learning immensely by a simple test. I do not think it is fair to IQ test a child and tell them their score, it could immediately drop self esteem in learning and the attitudes towards learning in general. Or you could have an opposite effect, the child could become over confident and not think that they need to learn anything.



In our curriculum test we did a multiple intelligence test before we did this one, so I knew pretty well what my strengths were. My very highest is Music, second was language and third highest was social. It was interesting when I heard of others taking the test that they scored different, mine remained the same. It was still a lesson for me because I really need to incorporate my strengths towards how I study. I really think that this would benefit a classroom setting because you naturally want to teach to the masses, however, everyone has their own strengths. I would use this as an advantage in my classroom because I would want students to do projects and learn how to do take their strengths to the highest benefit for them. I liked this test better because I was able to see a pie graph of my results and I like when information is displayed that way unlike a list, you can see all the results at the same time. I really like how you can use all of intelligences to aid in your class. One day you could teach on a more visual level, musical one day, and then learn to incorporate them together. Still keeping in mind that everyone is different, so teaching needs to be different. I think that this will also help in improving yourself. I think also with improving you can also use your intelligences to your advantage as teaching. For example, I play the guitar and I am going to incorporate music to learn math. I like using songs to learn the multiplication tables. All in all I liked this test over the intelligence test because I thought it would be more of an aid, verses a label of a score.

Group Differences

What?... We learned about gender bias and watched studies about how a school that has all girl classes, all boy classes and mixed gender classes. We talked in depth about that in class and I really liked how we were a class divided equally we were split down the middle. We had a presentation on Gender Bias and some strategies for eliminating bias, however one of the best examples to me was in the book, a teacher calls on a boy and then the next answer he looks for a girl to answer. We looked and evaluated pictures of different children of all different back rounds, gender, and SES. We talked briefly about SES and I personally was the most interested in this topic, I was waiting for us to talk about it because of some lingering questions I had before taking this course.

So what?... Reading this chapter and doing the study guide really opened my mind. One of the thinking questions asked what type of group different biases do we have? Before I really thought about my answer I asked him, and he said "that is hard to answer because it could all sound really negative." Which is what I initially thought, but besides being embarrassed I put mine down. One of my sigmas was that schools with more money get higher test scores. So I need to realize that there are different stigmas with every situation and one size does not fit all. I really liked going through all of the pictures and I was amazed by all of our predictions, we didn't even know these people.

Now what?... Now I will have to do a daily check in with myself, now as a student and wife to future when I have students and kids. Now I will have to realize when I am a teacher avoiding gender biases, having equality in the classroom and being aware of SES. Now I will be more aware and that is probably the best thing to be in this type of situation. If I am aware that there is a student is struggling financially then I can make the requirements different for that student and that is okay. Now I have more of an understanding that I will be able to help the student by evaluating a situation and tweaking the requirements and not feel like I am having to treat every situation as a fixes all method. At first I thought that gender differences meant gender equality to the highest degree. However, I now know that if a girl is struggling in my class, it is not favoring her if I have an IEP or if I have to make an assignment different. So now I will be more aware to have models breaking gender roles in society and I will let all students help with tasks.

Schools focus on integrating technology

Kurutz, D. (2008) Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Schools Focus on Integrating Technology,
Monday August 25,2008 Accessed: September 08,2008 http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/teenscene/s_584724.html

This article was of interest to me because of the things that we are particularly doing in our class we are using blogs to communicate our assignments and we are using technology in other classes to submit assignments and keep in contact with our professors. The girl interviewed in the article said "It (technology) has changed how I study, how I research, everything. I feel much better prepared to go to college... I couldn't imagine life without a laptop at this point." The article talks about the school district the girl is from and they indicate that they received a grant to have the wonderful ability to use laptops in their classrooms (72,000 laptops!!). One activity that blew me away is that in the elementary school got to teleconference with a story teller and author! That is what totally hooked me to this article and really I thought that could be an amazing experience in my class. They are starting to use blogs like we are in class and the teacher relates technology to rock 'n' roll "...it was like, ' oh my God the world is going to fall apart!' " He later on explains, we need to teach them how to utilize it so they can use it to engage and benefit.

RESEARCH!

What? ... We learned in detail about different research styles. Correlation, Descriptive, Action and Experimental. It was really helpful that we broke down in groups and really got to define what the different research methods were. I really liked how we got up, walked around and had some really in depth experiences. Such as taking the verbal memory quiz and taking the visual quiz.

So What?!... So now I feel like I can put a name with a face. I thought about reflecting on my class and really trying analyze my students and now I know what that is called. I also have more ideas about what each of the different methods mean and how I can use them. I really think that everyone will use descriptive study everyday and use correlation in their planning. I also think that action study will take a big part in the classroom. I feel that is really being there, practicing it, and really living it.

Now What?... Now as a teacher/student I feel the importance to be the best me. To really take these types of study and make them my own study. To always continually be learning and really take into account what is going on in my own education. Now I feel like I can really put my research skills to practice with my own learning. Like really evaluate what is going on with me, for example, study practices and my test scores. I really am intersted to see where I excell in lesson planning. I know that things aren't going to work out 100 percent of the time but I really want to use the research skills we have learned about this week to really put my skills to the test.