Chapter 10 (#9)

    There are a couple of ways that self-efficacy and self-regulation can be contributed to the intervention plans with Lisa. Since Lisa seems to not like to work with her group, she could be provided the opportunity to set her own goals for the activity or lesson. This would make it more meaningful for her, and she would hopefully want to strive to reach these goals. I would also provide Lisa the chance to monitor her own behavior. This puts it more in her control.


    In this situation, I believe it is important to build confidence with Lisa. If she is confident in the jobs and work of the group, she will want to be more active. It will help her to do a sufficient job in all of the different roles of the group. It is important to point out positive behavior and reinforce it. When she feels like she is making a difference and learning something meaningful, I feel that this will make a difference.

Chapter 9 Post #8

Through the case study with Lisa, there are many ways/tools from a behaviorist view that could encourage productive behaviors or discourgae undesirable behaviors. As a punishment (remove positive reinforcer) Lisa can be given less recess/free time. This would show that her behavior is unacceptable and has consquences. To encourage good behavior at the times she presents it, the teacher should give a positive reinforcement by praising her for her good work ethic.

From the cognitive viewpoint, the teacher's role is to focus on learning based on how people perceive, think, speak and problem-solve. Behaviorists do not take this into consideration. The teacher could take the time to talk to Lisa and understand what she is thinking. This would help the teacher to realize why she is acting the way she is. Certain factors could be causing her behavior, and talking about it or providing choices could help.

I believe both outlooks could provide benefits to the situation. I do not think that things should always be taken away from students, but sometimes just communicating with them does not work either. A balance of theories seem to be a good way of looking at this. The way we 'deal' with students depends on the individual. I do however find myself to lean more towards the cognitive theory when comparing these two.

http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/learningmap.html

PLE Post #7

Think of an activity or lesson component that explicitly teaches one or more metacognitive and one or more problem solving skills.

      I found there to be many skills taught in one of my lessons I did in my math and science methods classes. It was a lesson about an oil spill and how spills can affect our environment. The students are able to explore a real life situation through this hands-on activity and decide on the best ways that we could clean up the spills. We are able to get the students to start thinking before the lesson by questioning them. What happens to animals when oil gets on their skin/feathers? Do we think the oil will mix into the water? (some examples) The students are able to see where they stand with this knowledge at the beginning, and then at the end of the lesson they are able to reflect on what they learned. Children are able to reflect by both a journal entry as well as incorporating a whole group discussion. Students are able to think about their thinking. 

     This real world situation provided an ill-defined problem. The students can come up with many different solutions on what they think the best method of clean up would be, and then they are able to discuss this with their peers. I liked how this activity focused on a real world problem and allowed for social interaction. The students are able to problem solve by manipulating different tools/materials to see what works best to get the oil out of the water. I can see where these metacognitive and problem solving skills are essential in learning activities. 

 This link provides good examples of how to get children to think about their thinking.