Review the slide presentations of the following four folks:
Willingham Research/Writings (Holwerda)
Brain-Based Learning (Garcia)
Ken Wilber Research/Writings (Reeder)
Mnemonic Devices (Prieto)
Answer these two questions in your response:
1) Identify one and indicate some specific way you think it will be helpful to you as an educator.
2) Which of the topics resonates the least with you and why?
what do u mean by resonate
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought Wilber was too far out there for me, but I think there are some valid things that can be taken from his intigral theory. In that there is part truth to most things. As we discuss these different topics and decide which ones we feel are most crucial I constantly think, "well, they all have some aspects I agree with". Dont get me wrong, Wilber is still kind of out there for a county bumpkin like myself.
ReplyDelete2.) Mnemonic devices for me are questionable. As probably most of you can tell since there is no spell check on this site or on our ppt program, I am a horrible speller. And I remember as a kid, my dad would come up with these acronyms to help me pass the spelling quizes. Passed the quizes, but still a horific speller.
By resonate I mean something that stirs you deeply; seems to make absolute sense; profoundly aligns with your thinking/beliefs.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the research is still on my mind from this week, but Willingham’s idea that individual learning styles are if nothing else over emphasized seems like it will be most helpful to me as an educator. My understanding of Willingham leads me to think it is more important to have a flexible style of teaching that by its own nature meets many different personality types and learning needs than making an effort to change teaching styles many times mid-stream. I could see this thought helping me by reminding me to follow my own learners curiosity while teaching a topic and using time in class to explain what I find interesting about the subject and how I have seen its relevance. This also helps me to understand constructivism in a new way; I will bring what I have learned as a student and teacher and students will also bring what they have learned. Attempting to change our individual styles could serve as an obstacle to being true to our own experiences.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Ana did a very good job of presenting the main ideas behind brain-based learning the topic does not resonate strongly with me. I appreciate the importance of understanding how brain function is involved in the learning process and think it’s a highly important area of study. I’m just geared towards the social or behavioral examination of learning.
I am going for the second question first. If Willingham thinks his stuff stands up, he is a dumb-butt. Of course we all learn differently.
ReplyDelete1) I think mnemonic strategy would be the most effective to me as an educator. I use this strategy in my own education and it really works. I think applying it to my classroom when learning steps for using editing techniques, as an example, would be a quick reference and provide greater productivity.
ReplyDelete2)Willingham research writings resonate the least with me. I think there are many learning styles and one style does not fit all.
The only way I see Willingham's thoughts as accurate is that a student has to be willing to learn. If they are refusing to learn, for whatever reason, no style that you try will be effective. But we are not just teachers we are motivators.
ReplyDeleteI think the topic presented by Manuel on “Mnemonic Devices “ was interesting. For example, I particularly used it in the classroom management class last semester and it worked very well. I used to create my own acronyms in order to remember the important point of the lecture. Unfortunately, sometimes the students need to memorize some concepts ( for example: States and their capitals) and the use of mnemonic devices can help. I use it a lot with my daughter in Social Science and Science homework. I don’t agree that it can only be used by students with disabilities. For example, having students create their acronyms can help their learning skills.
ReplyDelete1) I think Nick's theory by Wilber is interesting. I like the concept. It goes along with my last posts. I agree with Nick in that we should be aware of the student as a whole and be attune to their internal, behavioral, cultural, & social needs.
ReplyDelete2) I agree with Mark, I am not a fan of Dan Willingham's hypothesis. I have anecdotal evidence in my own life through my children, my teaching, and my coaching that we need to talior our presentations to the students. One size fits all instruction is least affective.
Ken Wilbur's will help me work on and improve myself overall. Psychologically, spiritually
ReplyDeleteWillingham's didn't resonate with me. I immediately didn't want to agree with him, for example, the statement "teachers don't need to adjust their teaching styles". I didn't want to agree.
As for Mnemonic Devices. I agree with Manuel, I like the use of them. I use them to this day for work and school. It does help with long term retention of information.
ReplyDeleteManuel, I thought you did a great job in your research. We learn things baseed on what we already know. Any device or other learning strategies could and should be used. Sounds alot like constructivism which Doc introduced and Kim did a great job researching this week.
ReplyDelete1)Brain-based learning interests me, so I feel that for me I would have motivation to learn about brain function and specifically in regards to each of my students. I would like to determine if my students are right or left brained and focus on ways to engage them accordingly.
ReplyDelete2) Wilber's research/writings resonated the least with me. Perhaps because I know the least about it and/or because it seems the most far-fetched of the other research ideas. I would be interested to read more about how no one is completely wrong.
Prompt #4 is coming up.
ReplyDeleteIf we are to be holistic, like Wilber there must be some truth to Willingham... sorry Wilber has got me sitting cross legged, holding my thums to my index finger and "hhooommm"ing
ReplyDeleteWorking in technology for so long, I think I take mnemonic devices for granted. I deal with acronyms all the time and often forget the full name. FERPA, eRAMS, TTU CARS, TTU CBT, ITHC, ITTS, TOSM & others are all mnemonic devices I use every work day.
ReplyDeleteWilber and Willingham both have influenced my thinking in pretty profound (but quite different) ways.
ReplyDeleteI think that mnemonic devices would be what be most helpful to me as an educator. Some on the students we deal with are ESL and first generation students who can learn by using flashcards.
ReplyDeleteThe topic I found to resonate the least is brain based learning.It seem you need to know just how the brain works. This was harder for me to fully understand.
1) I really like the idea of using mnemonics in the classroom. I agree with Manuel about incorporating this into the general classroom and not just those with special needs students. I have used this a couple of times in my Chemistry classroom. For example, I used (King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup) for the taxonomy order (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species). This could be a very effective teaching tool in any general classroom.
ReplyDelete2) I agree with David Ladd, Willinham is a moron. He may be really smart, but no individual learning styles? That goes against everything education has shown us. Wow...