The beginning of Chapter 9 scared me a little but with the beginning few sections but I felt more comfortable once we got to the sections on Learning Strategies. These are things that will always be useful and they are broad enough to be adjusted for different age levels. At the preschool level we need to figure out more general ways to organize information to teach the kids. A lot of times we summarize stories or lessons so that we can give them the most relevant information; then throughout time you add the details. Throughout school that is my usual method: to summarize and take notes. I am very visual and I know that I wish I had other techniques that could have helped me a little better. I know that I try to use not only visual, but I narrate everything and use manipulatives to help them retain the information. We do a lot of the ‘think-aloud’ method; a lot of ‘how could we solve this problem,” or “in this story, what did we learn.” I like this method because one idea sparks another and we can solve the problems. I also think this helps for the section about ‘assessing creativity’. When we do these activities I am able to see how the kids are beginning to think. To them is there only one right answer, or are they able to come up with multitudes; it is like seeing in black and white versus color. I think if I move to older grades that will change the teaching style because you need to be careful with these types of things that they are not suggesting incorrect information and because they said it aloud in a group think session and they all think it is correct.
In chapter 10 I recognize I a lot of the terms introduced but off the top of my head I knew I could not place them. For example, I have heard of constructivism but I do not remember what it is. It appears to be how we construct our knowledge within. Children’s minds work so fast that all the information coming towards them can get jumbled and confused. I like to try and ask kids what they’re thinking after every lesson. Teaching styles need to change all the time also based on where the lesson is. Introducing it means more support; then, as kids begin to understand what is happen they can own their own knowledge (p. 379). I think this chapter tends towards working with children who are perhaps a bit older. Transferring responsibility of knowledge and ability is a long process and we want to give children ownership of their education. At my level we’re instilling the beginnings of this. Teaching them the responsibility to own the classroom and knowledge.
Chapter 11 starts out with the triarchic reciprocal causality describes how three influences come to work together. In my head this is how schooling works. Personal aspects, social aspects and behavioral aspects and how they intertwine with each other is a maze that needs to be deciphered not only in the school realm but also just in the world. In addition we wrap all these things and teach the kids into a self-efficacy which is how they perceive their abilities in certain things (p. 418). I want my students to believe they are capable they are in school and in life and I think encouragement is a tool that should always be used in the classroom; it can help build self confidence and make them believe in themselves.
Continuing on with the chapter I noticed that while I was thinking about what I have been doing as a teacher, I have been thinking about what I do as a student. I still have issues developing self-regulation techniques. I do not study well, I do not set aside specific time to do homework or anything like that. Do not get me wrong, I will complete everything and do fairly well on most things, I just never developed a truly well throughout plan for myself. I would hope that it does not pass on to my students though.
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