Intelligence and testing, etc

10/25/2008
Learning Log – intelligences and labeling
What: Last week we discussed:
What is intelligence?
· Adaptive
· Learning ability
· Prior knowledge and how to use it
· Mental processes
· Culture-specific
DIFFERENT CONCEPTS OF INTELLIGENCE
Spearman’s g-intelligences is a general factor that can be measured
o Single reasoning ability
o Number of narrow abilities involved in executing task
Intelligences doesn’t necessarily cause achievement - it is simply correlated with it
· What other factors might contribute
o work ethic, social interaction, genetics, environment
o Relationship between OS and achievement
§ IQ scores simply reflect a student’s performance on a particular test at a particular time
§ Changes is to be expected
Catell’s Fluid and Crystallized Intelligences
· Fluid
o Acquire knowledge quickly
o Adapt to new situations effectively
o Relates to new tasks
· Crystallized
o The knowledge and skill accumulated through experience
o Related to familiar tasks
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory
· Prior experience (practical)
· Environmental context (creative)
· Cognitive processes (analytical)
Cognitive – ability to make the connections in the brains, make sense of it
Distributive Intelligence – ACT more intelligently when (intelligence ‘distributed’ with tools or other people)
· Use physical objects
· Work with other people
· Use symbolic systems
· How can we help our students think as intelligently as possible?
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences – 8 different ways
· Most, if not all, people are intelligent in one way or another
· Optimistic view of human potential
· Encourages us to use many different teaching methods.
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
· Free and appropriate education
· Fair and non discriminatory evaluation
· Education in the least restrictive environment
· Individualized education program (IEP)
o Present levels of performance
o Short term objectives – steps for success
o Measurable annual goals
o Progress assessment plan
o Support that will be provided
o Explanation of any exclusions
o Testing modifications
o Dates of services
o Transitions plans (by age 16)
· Due process
Inclusion
· mainstreaming mentally and physically challenged students in regular classrooms
Classification or labeling
Pro: know what you’re dealing with
Treat with meds
Teach to the needs of the student
Testing modifications
Labeling or feelings of stupidity when it’s a learning disabilities
If you have the flu – you can treat it
If you have a disability and you know it you can treat it
Organizations to help
Support groups for parents and children
Government funding available

Con: kids can be judged by the label
Compromise – use people first language – a child with autism vs. an autistic child
Disabilities:
Learning disability
ADHD
Speech and Communication disorder
Emotional and behavioral disorder
Autism spectrum disorders
Mental retardation
Retard = slower both cognitive and social function
Physical and health impairments
Visual impairments
Hearing loss
Severe and multiple disabilities
Giftedness

So What:
As a teacher I need to be aware that:
Students learn differently
Intelligence is relative to culture and upbringing (my personal opinion) and is not a true indicator of whether or what a student can learn
I will be dealing with students with different disabilities and abilities in my classroom
I need to be able to get my students the help they need to succeed. This might include labeling,
§ I need to be very careful in how I label my students (labeling WILL occur, consciously or subconsciously) – using as many positive labels as possible but also being ware that some labels enable students to get help in areas they need it.
§ I need to teach in different ways to reach the different kinds of ways students learn
(As per Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences)
Now What:
As a teacher my job is to educate and prepare students to be fully functioning and productive members of society. My personal goals would be to appreciate the uniqueness of each child, to know their strengths and weakness and be able to provide a safe learning environment using multiple teaching methods to reach each student. (ditto from last week)

INTELLIGENCE TESTING:
What:
We were assigned to take 2 intelligence tests:

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences: I am a kenethestic learner which came as no surprise to me.
Online IQ test: I tested a little higher than average but only finished part of the test, not realizing there was a time limit so I didn’t push myself to go fast. Maybe that is a sign of low intelligence – not reading the directions thoroughly. lol
So What:
I question the ‘labeling’ that comes from the Multiple Intelligences test, especially when there were so few questions and the questions were so general. As far as the IQ test – I was depressed all week after finding out I was just barely above average. I always thought I was borderline genius. (JK)
Now What:
It’s good to know the direction you lean as far as learning styles and I wouldn’t have a problem testing my students in these areas. As a teacher I will try to use different teaching strategies that cover all of the intelligences so as to reach every student in the way they learn best.

I think that IQ tests are pretty arbitrary and can’t test a lot of things that determine whether or not a student succeeds. Case in point – my college roommate. She got a 17 on her ACT test but graduated from BYU with honors because of her work ethic and determination. Those things don’t show up on an IQ test. I wouldn’t give IQ test to high school students.

differences 10/05/2008

WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THIS WEEK 10/05/2008
CULTURAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES we might deal with in students in our classrooms:
Ebonics
Okay for informal papers – reflections, etc
Formal audience – no
English only education
1st generation immigrants – depending on the age of immigration – keep original language
2nd generation turns away from – generations can’t speak to each other
3rd /4th turn back to original language
What do we do with kids whose parents speak another language?
Send home bilingual instructions / notes, etc?
Can be cumbersome if there are a lot of languages in classroom
Purpose of teacher is to EDUCATE!
Use multiple intelligences to help so language isn’t
Visual / hands on
Parents WANT kids to learn English
CULTURAL NORMS
eye contact
silence vs. speaking out
waiting vs. interrupting
public vs. private performance
views about teasing
concept of time
Need to teach punctuality and getting assignments on time – prepare for real world
Hold kids to the bar – scaffolding at the beginning of the year to educate
Assignments – have check points along the way to check progress
family relationships and expectations
COOPERATION VS. COMPETITION:
Why do some teachers encourage competitions?
It can make some kids work harder
Can make it about completion with someone else but with yourself
Are you improving???
Have different kinds of competitions that hit all areas
Group competitions
Weekly improvements
GENDER DIFFERENCES
Physical activity and motor skills
Cognitive and academic abilities – not any difference
Visual-spatial ability
boys tend to have a little bit better spatial ability
Variability in performance – expect same performance
Variability in boys is a large spectrum / girls more in a group
Verbal
Mathematical
Sense of self
Interpersonal behaviors and relationships
Physical aggressions – more boys / testosterone
Relational aggression – more girls
Self-socialization
Message – we may be engaging in a lot of behaviors that discriminate against one gender or another
SOCIOECONOMIC DIFFERENCES -Longer in this situation and earlier exposed – more of a problem
Family income
Parent’s education levels
Parent’s occupations
Low income
Poor
Risks
Nutrition and Health
Housing and length of residency
Exposure to toxins
Social environments
Emotional stress
Backgrounds knowledge
Parental involvement
School Quality
STUDENTS AT RISK
History of academic failure
Older age
Emotional and behavioral problems
Friends
Lack of attachment to school – really important!!!!!
Extra curriculars – keep at risk students in school – YEAH!
Increasing disinvolvement with school


SO WHAT: As a teacher I need to-
Understand my cultural lens
Create a more multicultural Classroom environment
Incorporate values, beliefs and traditions of the students in my classroom
Break down my ethnic stereotypes
Not make an incorrect assumption about the student without knowing what the student’s culture teaches.
Promote interaction
Import cultural diversity
Foster democratic ideals
Have my kids help chose what they want to learn as far as their cultures
Be aware of body language in regards to culture
Respect the student

NOW WHAT:
As a teacher my job is to educate and prepare students to be fully functioning and productive members of society. My personal goals would be to appreciate the uniqueness of each child, to know their strengths and weakness and be able to provide a safe learning environment using multiple teaching methods to reach each student.

learning log - research week of 9/15/2008

Learning Log for the week of 9/15/2008
WHAT: this week we learned about different kinds of research:

DESCRIPTIVE –
Describing how they are or how they were
help to generate hypothesis
getting the data not changing the data
basis for the rest of the research types,
teachers are doing this informally all the time
Types of conclusions – safe research, you don’t have to worry about changing the subject, you don’t have to worry about conclusions, changing anything, getting information and ideas
Forms it can take –case studies / methods, / observational / survey/ archival / tests / from one person to a million
Pros - quick and easy – easies to do / uses existing data / non intrusive
cons – no cause and effect, halo effect (no being observe they kids act differently)

CORRELATIONAL – strength of relationships between variables
types of conclusions - don’t change anything / Allows us to make predictions / graphs
forms it can take – all methods from descriptive but look at data in a different way
pros – does allow to make predictions, relatively easy, not changing anything
cons – no cause and effect/ haven’t sifted out other causes
example – sleep GPA

EXPERIMENTAL – Change – usually one thing only to keep variables small - use of a "treatment" (usually the independent variable) which is introduced into the research context or manipulated by the researcher. Has different groups
the manipulation of one variable on another variable, allowing conclusions about case and effect relationships. – Allows for conclusions about why behavior occurs.
Pros , allows the researcher to isolate a particular variable and focus on it in order to determine its effect on other variables. Effect
Cons - often makes the research situation unnatural / subjects may not behave normally in an experiment / virtually impossible to control all the variables / often raise serious questions about research ethics / hard to do
Randomization – groups need to be random
Dependable variables – those that are observed to change in response to independent variables ie test scores
Independent variable – those that are deliberately manipulated to invoke change-ie teac hing strategy
Quasi-experiment (‘sorta’ experiment)
types of conclusions – Why behavior occurs
forms it can take – all methods from descriptive but look at data in a different way
example – have one person drink a glass of milk, the other a gallon – who has to go to the bathroom first

ACTION – teacher based research in an individual classroom – to solve a specific problem, no outside people involved
Conclusions – reflective, specific problem solving – for this teacher this worked better
Forms – assessing teaching techniques , opinions, same as descriptive
Pros – hands on, specific Cause and effect – no transfer (next year might be different), personal to you
Cons – same as pros – takes a lot of time
No control group

SO WHAT: Why is this important to me as a teacher? Through continuing and varied research a teacher can tract student’s progress, assess the needs of students and see if the teacher’s methods are teaching the students effectively. I want to be an effective teacher.

NOW WHAT: What are you going to do about it? I want to be an effective teacher. To accomplish this goal I plan to use the different kinds of research we have learned about to continually assess my teacher skills and examine the strategies I am using to improve the way I teach.

Report on research study

Laura Garner
Ed Psych – Monday AM
Suzy Cox
September 21st, 2008

Inside Out’s School Project
A research report measuring the power of a theatre-based
program for at-risk junior high students
by James S. Catterall

This was a great article researching the effects of an after school program of theatre education for at risk kids. It included the following key measurement areas:

• Ability to work with others with whom a student disagrees.
• Ability to work with others in groups generally.
• Problem resolution skills.
• Sense of self-efficacy (the degree to which a student feels his/her actions make things happen).
• Awareness of one’s own thinking processes (metacognition).
• Attitudes about doing arts.
• Attitudes about acting.
• General outlook for the future.
• General satisfaction, happiness.

The project was experimental research, introducing one variable (theatre education) with a control group of kids from the same school who had applied for the program but weren’t able to be included because of lack of space. This control group and the experimental group both had a desire to be part of the program, making the results of the research more valid. The study was conducted through a treatment comparison design in which seventy-one program students and eighty-four non-participating comparison group students completed questionnaires before and after the students engaged in the program. Specific conditions were built into the study to raise the validity and reliability of the generalized conclusions.’ The study results found students achieving competency in theatre made significant gains in every area but one. This study also backed up other studies that support the same conclusions. That is why I love theatre!!!!



References
While not all the texts and articles listed here are referenced in this research report, each was an important source during the analysis of the data assembled.
Catterall, J. S. and Peppler, K. A.(2004). Arts Education and the Worldviews of Inner City Children. The Ford Foundation, New York.
Catterall, J. S. (2002). “Research on Drama and Theatre in Education.”Chapter in Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development, pages 58-62, Richard J. Deasy, editor. Arts Education Partnership, Washington, D.C.
Catterall, J. S. (1994). Different Ways of Knowing: 1991-1994 National Longitudinal Study Final Report. T he Galef Institute, Los Angeles.
De la Cruz, R. E. (1995). The Effects of Creative Drama on the Social and Oral Language Skills of Children with Learning Difficulties. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Specialized Educational Development, Illinois State University, Bloomington, Illinois.
Eccles, J. (1999). When School is Out: The Future of Children. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Angeles.
Heath S. B. (1999). “Imaginative Actuality: Learning in the Arts During the Nonschool Hours.” Chapter in Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, pages 19-33.The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, D.C.
Horn, J. (1992). An Exploration into the Writing of Original Scripts by Inner City High School Drama Students. National Arts Education Research Center, New York; National Endowment for the Arts; United States Department of Education.
Kassab, L. (1984). A Poetic/Dramatic Approach to Facilitate Oral Communication. Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, Department of Speech Communication, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania.
Podlozny (2000). “Strengthening Verbal Skills Through the Use of Classroom Drama: A Clear Link.”Journal of Aesthetic Education, volume34 (numbers 3-4), pages 239-276.
Seidel, S. (1999). “Stand and Unfold Yourself: A Monograph on the Shakespeare & Company Research Study.” Chapter in Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, pages 79-90. The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, D.C.
Wolfe, D. P. (1999). “Why the Arts Matter in Education: Or Just What Do Children Learn When They Create an Opera?” Chapter in Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, pages 91-98. The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Washington D.C.

Motivation

Why am I here? To Learn. Fortunately for me - unlike conventional students who are young on life expereince - I've had plenty and know the value of education both in and out of a classroom. The degree to me isn't the main thing - although it will give me a sense of accomplishment - but what I can take from this learning experience out into my classroom as a teacher.

What motivates me? - knowing I can succeed and do well. If the task is something that doesn't interest me or I know I won't be the best at it - then I go onto something I can do well. That doesn't mean I don't try new things but they need to be in an area that interests and challenges me and that can be functional for my life.

Why do you succeed? Hard work and enthusiasm for what I'm doing.
Why do you fail? Usually its lack of motivation. I don't fail very often. :)

How do you need to change your perspecive and / or motivations in order to succeed in the secondary education program and become a GREAT!!!! teacher???
I think I'm on the right track.