My Study Help

What?

The study techniques we went over today were:
1) identifying important info
2) taking notes
3) retrieving relevant prior knowledge
4) organizing
5) elaborating
6) summarizing
7) monitoring comprehension

The technique I chose to experiment with as I study chapter 7, is questioning as I go through the chapter so I can better apply the information and hopefully have it stick in my long term memory. Studying information that is unfamiliar to me and having it remain in my memory past test time has always been a challenge. However, after reviewing the studying techniques I realize that I have never used the most effective techniques for studying. I am hoping to see an improvement in my understanding and applying and remembering of what I study this week in Chapter 7.

So What?
I did try to ask myself questions about what I was reading to apply it to myself, and while it was more helpful than not asking myself questions, I did find it difficult to come up with questions to help me apply the information because all of this information is so new to me. I do think this would be a great study help for other topics where I am more familiar but still struggle, such as science or social studies. For this particular subject, I think a better study help would have been for me to summarize after each paragraph of reading to make sure I was retaining and understanding what I was reading or taking notes on what I read.

Now What?

Knowing the different study helps is a wonderful thing. I am so grateful that we went over this information. I learned that previously I have always used the most ineffective method of studying, when left on my own to study. I am grateful to have these other techniques to try and experiment with to better my learning and understanding in the future.

Cognitive Processes

What?!
Today we learned about Cognitive Processes. It was very interesting and helped clarify some things (for example that your brain has unlimited capacity and can never be too full - or overload as I sometimes feel it is). Information comes in and hits the sensory register. If the subject pays attention to that information it goes on to working or short-term memory. If no attention is paid to it, that information is lost. Working memory does have limited capacity and only holds onto the information for 5-20 seconds. If while in working memory the information is learned, or encoded, then it is then moved to long-term memory. Long term memory, as mentioned above likely has unlimited capacity. Our long-term memory is made up of 3 components:
1) declarative/semantic (facts)
2) procedural (cooking, tying shoes)
3) episodic (memories, pictures)

The best methods for encoding information are:
meaningful learning - relating new information with what we already know
organization - way in which learners find connections by forming categories, or using other methods of organizing to group various pieces of info
elaboration - learners expand on new information based on what they already know
visual imagery - process of forming mental pictures of objects or ideas.

We also discussed the best methods for studying which are:
- identifying important information - elaborating
- taking notes - summarizing
- retrieving relevant prior knowledge - monitoring comprehension (asking questions)
- organizing

So What?!
Knowing how the brain processes information is helpful, useful and important as we become teachers. It can help us understand the best way to plan lessons in order to help students get and encode the information in order to retain it long-term memory. As for methods on how to study, that is helpful now to me as a student as I learn new, unfamiliar information. It will be helpful to know as a teacher as well because I can help give my students good methods to use for studying.

Now What?!
As a student, knowing this information makes me more aware of how important it is to pay attention to the material and make an effort to encode the information so it sticks. I have never intentionally thought about making a connection to information I learn in school. It probably seems silly but it makes perfect sense as to why I have a hard time remembering information learned in subject areas such as Physical Science, Social Studies, etc. Those were always difficult subjects for me and now I know why - because to remember the information and for it to mean something, (beyond taking info in to spit back out on a test), there has to be a connection made that makes it relevant and important to the student. This requires intentional thought and questioning to encode that information. As a future teacher, I hope to be able to teach in way that helps students relate information they learn to something they know so they do retain it and see it as important.

Week #8 - Google Site

Today we got to add pages to our google site and put it together as though it were a site for our students and parents. This was wonderful. We were introduced to google sites a few weeks back and created our home page. However, after not doing anything else I thought that was the extent. I was glad to have this opportunity to develop our site more and expound on what we first learned. My favorite thing about it is imbedding the google calendar into the site. I haven't figured out if I did it correctly, but I believe that once it's imbedded correctly, any updates made on google calendar are made automatically on the site. I also love the idea of having an announcement page and student of the week page. I definitely plan to have a class website when I become a teacher. I think the benefits are wonderful for parents, students and the teacher. It's a great way for everyone to be on the same page and is another great way to help get parents involved.

Extra Credit: Jill Stamm

What?
Jill Stamm is a professor at Arizona State University, a lecturer on infant learning and cognition and is also president of a company called New Directions Institute in Arizona - a company which collects the newest scientific research on brain development in infants up to age three. With the data collected the company educates new parents and caregivers about the importance of healthy brain development and the impact they have on their child's brain development. She points out that it's not about the toys and the stuff, it's about the relationship with mom and dad. It's about one on one time, eye contact, face-time and having their needs met quickly. Doing these simple things helps a child feel secure and once a child feels secure they can go on to learn other things. Her company has created the "Baby Brain Box" which is a practical application of toys that help a baby's brain develop through using the:

Three ABC's of Early Learning
- Attention
- Bonding
- Communication

According to Jill Stamm, what infants need for optimal brain development is attention, bonding and communication. All the interactions between an infant and parent or caregiver, as simple as returning a smile to an infant while having eye contact, or narrating daily activities, are extremely important in early brain development. She also points out that the number of words an infant hears within their first 3 years of life has a direct correlation to later I.Q. scores - hence the importance of narrating daily activities and talking to infants from the time their born.

Despite the hype, she pointed out that current research is showing that videos claiming to help a the brain development of infants (such as Baby Einstein) do not have the benefits consumers think. She said, "We need to get real and understand that what children need is people." The impact of the television on the developed brain is totally different than the impact on an adult brain. She referred to the Academy of Pediatrics which states a child under age 2 should not watch television. As the brain is growing itself in those first little years, it grows itself through repetitive use and through experiences that the child is having. So at age 2 and under, TV has a detrimental affect, (an example was delayed speech) whereas at age 5, it can be used as an educational tool.

She gave an excellent example of how quickly the brain grows in an infant. She said an infant heart is a fully developed organ. It functions the same as an adult heart. However, the brain is least developed at birth and develops so quickly that first year that if the child's body grew as quickly as it's brain in that 1st year, the child would weigh 170 pounds at age 1. That is incredible!! Although the brain develops quickly between the ages of 0-3, the brain stays pliable and plastic throughout our lifetime. So, it is never too late to begin showing a child attention, bonding and communicating with them.

So What?
Learning this information makes me realize that unintentionally I may have done something right in the early years of raising my daughter. I would incessantly talk to her and tell her what I was doing. I didn't know I was doing anything for her brain, I have always talked to myself and having someone, even an infant, to talk to made it seem less crazy so I did it all the time. It's amazing and also startling to learn that the brain is so active and is learning so much in those first couple of years and the great responsibility and influence we have in our child's brain development. It's also important to know this as a future teacher. One of the most wonderful things about the brain I am learning is how pliable it is. It is not fixed and unchangeable. That means it is never too late!

Now What?
As a parent, and hopefully future parent of another young infant, I will be a better parent knowing this information. Although I did the three ABC's of Early Learning with my first daughter, I didn't realize the impact of it. Just knowing and being aware of the importance I believe, will make me a better parent. It is important for me as a future teacher as well. I will have students from all kinds of different circumstances and likely have students in my class who don't receive attention, face-time, bonding, etc. from parents. And although students I will be teaching will be between the ages of 6-12, I can have an influence because of the fact that the brain is changeable and pliable. I think it will be important for the success of each and every student to feel they are given attention, have a bond and that there is good communication between myself and the student. It will be especially important for those students who may come from circumstances where they don't get that necessary time with their parents or caregivers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baek--_1ZfU (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV1u56fDyTg&feature=related (part 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHnH-YPHRuk&feature=related (part 3)

Week #7 - Photo Story

Today I had the opportunity to actually learn Photo Story. It was awesome! And so user-friendly. Today I uploaded our pictures and adjusted the start and stop point for each frame. I love that you can do that! Although you can edit pictures, Doc Waters said the best place to do that is Picassa. You can add text to your digital story very easily as well. We still have to record our narration. I think I was successful in converting our music from YouTube to MP3 format to be able to insert into our Photo Story. I am thrilled that the conversion worked. I was a little worried because my husband tried doing it before I did and said it didn't work. (However, he probably didn't follow my directions and that's why it didn't work for him.) Hopefully we will get our narration recorded and be able to overlay it with the music using Audacity. I am excited to use that program and get that part of our digital story completed. I am also excited to use this program on my own to create digital stories (featuring my little one) as gifts to family.

After using this program, I can see this as a program that students could use for presentations of material they have learned. It would be fun for students and fun for teachers to assess learning. It is a very easy program and one that I believe would be exciting for students to use and one that would be exciting for fellow students to view. I think that when a student creates a project like this, the information they research and gather together is retained much better than simply reading it from a text or writing a paper. I also think that the impact it has for the students that view it is increased and that they too retain more information. This is definitely a resource I plan to use in my future classrooms to teach as well as assess the learning of students.

Social & Moral Development

What?!
Today we talked about social and moral development. We discussed, acted out and hopefully can now remember, Erikson's stages of Social Development. They are as follows (listed here for my own benefit):

1 = bun --> infant --> trust vs mistrust
2 = shoe --> toddler --> autonomy vs shame
3 = tree --> preschooler --> initiative vs guilt
4 = door --> elementary --> industry vs inferiority
5 = hive --> early teen --> identity vs role confusion
6 = sticks --> adolescence --> intimacy vs isolation
7 = heaven --> middle years --> generitivity vs stagnation
8 = gate --> seniors --> integrity vs despair

We also talked briefly about moral development and the stages associated with moral development. There are 3 stages:
1) Preconventional - punishment avoidance/ obedience
2) Exchange of favors
3) Conventional - good boy/ good girl
4) Law and Order
5) Post Conventional - social contract
6) Universal Ethical Principal - ex. Ghandi. Martin Luther King

So What?!
Knowing the different stages of both social and moral development is important for teachers because a teacher wears many hats. Part of their responsibility is to teach children social and moral behaviors so they can function in the world. The stages set a standard and allow teachers to spot which children may need additional help.

Now What?!
As a parent it is interesting to learn of these stages and see where my child fits. As a teacher it will be helpful to know this information to guide and help students that may be struggling or need assistance. As a teacher I also have the opportunity to use class discussions, historical figures we are studying, stories, etc. to help teach moral and social issues.

Week #6 - Audacity & Zamzar

Today we had the opportunity to learn of a tool that we can use to record the narration and music for our digital stories. It is called Audacity. Although I haven't yet played with it, I did read the tutorial and it seems really user-friendly. I love the idea that you can use this program to record voice over background music. This is what we will be doing for our digital story. I also learned of a tool called Zamzar that allows you to convert files for free online. I am not exactly sure about all the details of the program, but from what I understand, if I find a video from YouTube or TeacherTube I can enter the URL for that video and then choose the conversion format (ex. MP3) and then receive an email with that coverted music file. It seems like a wonderful tool that will hopefully benefit Marla and I as we search for music and add it to our storyboard. I am so thrilled that through this class I am getting the opportunity and experience to discover tools and resources such as Zambar and Audacity. We will be using Photo Story to put our digital stories together. This too is a program I haven't used before but am looking forward to learning and using for this project, for future assignments and for my future classroom.