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Information Processing TIPR

Mrs. D has been working with her students on learning how to do research on the internet. Her students are in 7th grade and have not had to evaluate websites for their use in a research project before this year. Mrs. D's 7th grade students believe that everything that is on the internet is good information. In order to teach her students about evaluating websites Mrs. D has taught the kids the mneumonic device CRAP test in order for them to remember the steps they need to take. She has used the dual-coding theory by using the students phonological loop by telling the students over and over again aloud what each letter in the CRAP test stands for and how they would test the website fore each of those aspects and using the students viso-spacial sketchpad by giving visual examples of both good and bad websites so they know what they are looking for. The students are activating their central executive system to combine what Mrs. D has told and shown them about the CRAP test in ord...
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Modern Constructivism

I have not seen any use of constructivism in any of the classes that I have observed but I did get to experience one teacher that taught the way of the modern constructivist. My 6th grad teacher was the best teacher that I can remember. She would always use authentic activities in our classroom hoping to keep us engaged and learning. Next to Chinese and Spanish lessons she would have us work on a letter to the government in problem-based learning activity or use a project-based activity about saving the whales to teach us math concepts. I know that it took her a lot of work to come up with the activities that we did and it was certainly impressive because 6th grade was Elementary for me.
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Erikson/Marcia TIPR

Dealing with 7th graders has given me a greater appreciation for identity crisis . These students are at an age where everyone expects them to act as though they are adults and make decisions but they are still kids. When it comes to Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial development I think that the students are mostly in the conflict of identity vs. confusion , they are worried about their social interactions and are using them to find their identity. In Mrs. D's AP class I have seen her addressing the students needs in this area more then in her regular classes. This may because they are still so young and may still be experiencing industry vs inferiority but I feel like she could challenge all of her students more. If she exposed her students to different things so that they could be searching for their identity and not just assume that they are still children this could push them father on their path. In reading about James Marcia's identity states I noticed someth...
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Vygotsky TIPR

In the school that I have been observing in scaffolding is one of the most important things that they talk about. Starting with pre-testing each class that I have observed has given students ample time in their zone of proximal developmen t. By pretesting the teachers know where and what to scaffold with and they know which students need the most help from a more knowledgeable other, which in the classes I have observed has mostly been the teacher. Once and a while the teacher assigns students to work together knowing that one can help the other. The teacher has also used me as a more knowledgeable other with smaller groups of students who need more assistance.
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Kohlberg

The students that I have been working with are in stages 3 and 4 of  Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development. They are worried about being the good/bad kid and worried about getting in trouble with the school rules. This is what motivates them to stay moral right now. They obey rules and listen to the teacher so that they are seen as the good kid. They will help each other out but only to the point that it will not come back and make them look like the bad kid. Mrs. D just saying their name is enough to quiet them down because they do not want to be seen as the bad kid. This is the stage that I think most of the kids that I will be working with will have reached and stay at for most of the time that I teach them. Setting rules and procedures is important for kids at this stage because without them they do not know how to morally reason.
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Piaget TIPR

As I have been observing in a 7th grade classroom I have noticed the kids that I am working with are in Stage 3 of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. The concrete operations stage is characterized by the ability to see others' perspectives but having a lack in hypothetical and abstract reasoning and a lack of ability to separate and control variables. As I have watched the students interact with each other and Mrs. D I have notice that they can see where others are coming from but have a hard time getting to complex places themselves. These students are in the middle of their maturation and are learning how to organize their schema in a way that fits with the world around them. When Mrs. D introduces a new topic, this week she introduced the students to the ways to make sure that websites are valid places to find information for a research project, she makes sure to take into account the students disequilibrium when something new that the students will have never hea...
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Motivation

In my classroom the teacher used Autonomy as a motivating factor for her students. She let her students decide what center to go to and if the center was a writing center she let them choose the topic of their story. She also let students listen to music so that they could keep their brain stimulated if they were doing something that did not require them to listen. I also noticed that with some of the students this did not keep them very motived at times and even saying if you do not get at least one center done you will not receive a grade did not seem to motivate them. Combating students apathy in class is something that I am glad I am learning about because it seems to be a real problem.
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