Educational Psychology Post #5

For this post I chose to answer part a.) How would you define successful mastery of your lesson objectives from a behavioral view of learning? From a social cognitive view of learning?


Our book tells us that behaviorism is a theoretical perspective in which learning and behavior are described and explained in terms of stimulus-response relationships. We can use these behaviorist ideas to understand how we, as teachers, can help students acquire behaviors that surpass the behavior they had when they entered the classroom.


I think there are many different ways that you could define successful mastery of your lesson objectives from a behavioral view. First as I mentioned above, you are shaping your students' behaviors and if you see that their negative behaviors have decreased and that they not have a more positive attitude in your classroom and about their school work, they you have succeeded in that lesson objective that was to better their behavior. You could also look at it from the perspective of classical condition where you have a reinforcement and a punishment. Such as Penny from the Big Bang Theory. Her reinforcer was the chocolate for everything she did something the right way. She learned to master the lesson objective that was given to her. Penny's behavior was not great and everyone was happy. In the classroom you could do this with your students, but in a different way. You can have them all pull out their pencil boxes as soon as the bell rings. They can be rewarded with a smiley face sticker or a move up on the daily chart. If they fail to pull out their pencil box they will not receive the reward. As a teacher you will be able to define that you have been successful in this when every single one of your students reaches for their pencil box as the bell rings.


If your students are able to demonstrate the behavioral view of learning to you after you have taught your lesson, and if they can explain to you what you did while teaching them the objectives I think that is how you see mastery. If you let them experience an activity that involves the behavioral view of learning it will really hit home for them and help them to master that view of learning.


Next, our book tells us that the social cognitive theory is a theoretical perspective that focuses on how people learn from observing others and how they eventually assume control over their own behavior. The cognitive theory includes aspects of both behaviorism as well as cognitive psychology.


In the social cognitive view of learning students can learn from observing others. Goals are a large part of this theory as well and lead to motivation and learning. Students will and can set goals for themselves in what they think their current ability level is. It is your job as an educator to help them feel that their ability increases over the year.


Going off of what I said above, the social cognitive view emphasis the amount of influence peers have on students. The book tells us that students will make decisions about how to behave based, in part, on the responses for which their peers are reinforced or punished. It can be kind of hard to define mastery if your students are concerned with the responses that they will get from others.


However, modeling is also a part of this view. Modeling can be very affective in helping you as an educator define the mastery of your lesson objectives. For example, if you model to the students how to do a math problem and you show them the steps walking them through it, they will have a better understanding of that process. Hopefully they will soon be able to solve that math problem on their own using the steps that you have previously modeled for them. That is how you see if they have successful mastery of your lesson objectives.

Group Difference Forum Reflection

I thought that our GDF went pretty well. Myself, Holly, and Mandy worked very hard to be prepared and organized. However, I felt that the class could have been a little more active in our discussion. We were hoping that they would be more talkative when we asked our open ended discussion questions and when we did the activity with the quotes from our article. Since they did not really speak up or participate, it made it a little hard for us. I think that the three of us worked well together and we split up the work evenly amongst ourselves.


We chose the article that went into depth about The Critical Race Theory. I found it very informative. I also think that it will help me in my future endeavors as a teacher. Racial stereotyping is still extremely prevalent today and I think that as a teacher you need to be well educated about this sometimes controversial topic. The article gave numerous examples that put the critical race theory into perspective, and that really helped me to understand that even if you don't think you are being stereotypical, others may. It is a very fine line, and as an educator you are responsible for making sure that no one crosses that line.

Educational Psychology Post #4 Part 2: CSEL Case Study

Elementary Education Case Study

You engage your third grade students in cooperative learning activities at least twice a day, changing heterogeneous group members once every four weeks. You have agreed upon routine procedures that your classroom community uses within their small groups, including the roles and responsibilities of group members. Lately you have noticed that one small group always seems to have difficulty grasping material and completing their project in an acceptable manner.  You observe this group carefully and find that Lisa seems to be the catalyst for their problems.  She gets angry with others if she does not get the job she wants and refuses to do her part in contributing to the group’s learning.  She constantly interrupts others in her group.  She does not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations.

When creating a continuum of responses for dealing with Katie's misbehavior, I would start out by evaluating her behavior and the ways that she has been acting up in her small group lately. I will pull her aside and speak with her to see what is causing her to act angry towards others and why she feels the need to interrupt others in her group. I will consider other factors that may be going on in her life outside of school and see if those things may have an impact on her attitude towards her group. If that does not work and she doesn't discuss with me why she is acting the way that she is, and if she tells me that nothing different is going on at home; I will try putting her with another group. This will allow me to see how she works with them and will help me to determine if it was just that one group she was in that was causing her to act out badly. Lastly, if those two things do not work, I will make a call home to her parents and see if they have any insight as to why Katie may be refusing to work with her group. I will plan a conference with them so that we can collaborate, working together, to see what Katie's needs are to help her succeed.

Educational Psychology Post #4

For this post I will be addressing part one of the question since we have not yet been assigned a CSEL case study.


I feel that it is extremely important to create a learning environment that is conductive to your students' learning. There are many ways that this environment can be established. It is up to you as a teacher to alter the environment based on your students' needs so that they can learn and focus to the best of their ability.


Since I do want to teach at an elementary level, the ideas that I am going to explore in this post may seem quite simple, but I feel that they will be most effective. First off I think it is important to let your students know the rules of your classroom. Students should know from the very first day of school what you expect of them and how they should behave in your classroom. In class today, we came up with three simple rules for our classroom: 1. Be respectful 2. Always try your hardest 3. Have fun!


Even though these rules are very elementary, they will be so effective in helping to further my students' learning as well as helping you to create the ideal learning environment that you strive for. These rules should be implemented on a daily basis and revised/revisited as problems may arise. It is so important to get students' input on your rules and see if they have any suggestions on how to better their learning environment.


Classroom climate is also a very important aspect of creating a conductive learning environment. I believe that the classroom should be a safe place for my students and that they should always feel comfortable. This can be achieved by showcasing students' work so that they feel a sense of pride, displaying positive visuals to uplift their spirits, and playing music when students enter your class. Those are just a few ideas that I cam up with, but there are countless more ways to create a good classroom climate. If children are comfortable in the classroom, they will work harder and feel better sharing answers or answering questions out loud. You, as a teacher have to set up that classroom for your students. Your classroom should most definitely showcase a conductive learning environment.