...Failing Schools: A New Approach Elizabeth Thorup PSY: 370 Learning and the Brain Kelly Wells October 3, 2011 Education has always been considered to be a process where important information is transmitted to students by an educator. It has always been the main focus of schools to develop a curriculum that enables the educator to do this. The curriculum is based upon what we as a society see as important topics to develop students into productive successful adults. In some cases, this way of thinking has merit; however, it is not successful for many types of students. Testing students to see what level of intelligence they possess is often inaccurate, and reaching out to students that have different perspectives of learning that may be more creative or just different than the average person is a very important matter to consider when developing a strategy to teach and present the curriculum. Schools that often have very low test scores and are considered unsuccessful or failing for that matter could benefit greatly by adjusting their teaching methods into more brain based learning. Schools today are often based upon ideas or curriculum that is very old fashioned. New methods are rarely explored. Most of this is due to expense, but by bettering the education system of today, it is much more likely that future generations will become more productive and happy thriving adults which will in turn better the future for everyone. This is an investment that should not be taken...
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...Abstract The objective of this action plan is to introduce researched based strategies into a fifth grade collaborative classroom to increase students with learning-disabilities academic performance by incorporating brain-based strategies into daily lessons and implementing parental involvement. These students display poor test scores, low motivation and behaviors that negatively impact their learning. The purpose of the plan is to determine if incorporating brain-based strategies would help raise test scores and improve student behaviors. Researched based strategies will be included through the following methods: teaching to the brains natural learning systems, and BrainSMART strategies to increase the students’ ability to retain information. The success of this plan will be measured through examination of students’ Georgia Criterion Reference Competency Test (GCRCT), Quarterly Benchmark Assessments (QBA), a teacher-developed observation checklist, and a parent survey. As a result of this plan students will show an increase in academic performance in reading and math and appropriate learning behaviors. Introduction Although research suggests that the specific teaching of thinking skills is proven to dramatically increase student achievement, these skills are seldom taught systematically in American schools. At the same time, studies suggest that IQ without such specific teaching may account for only 4% to 10% of life success (as cited...
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...Cognitive Information Processing versus Brain-Based Learning Germaine Milliner University of Phoenix This paper is a comparative analysis of cognitive information processing and brain-based learning. It will also detail their similarities and differences. Cognitive information processing studies the way an individual learns. According to Gredler (2009), it also includes “a variety of processes whereby individuals perceive, encode, remembers, recall and apply information or knowledge”. My understanding of this is that, learning is an individual awareness to the things going on around him from his prior experiences, memory, recalling the information and how it is applied. Gredler (2009 cites), “The brain is not a passive consumer of information.... The stored memories and information-processing strategies of our cognitive system interact with the sensory information received from the environment, selectively attend to this information, relate it to memory, and actively construct meaning for it. (Wittrock, 1990, p. 348).” The brain is a very active user of information. Our prior knowledge and experiences collaborate with the sensory information or stimuli from the environment, processes it, store it in long term memory, which then is recalled when needed. According to Ozell (2009), this concepts see answers to four questions, such as: “(1) How is the information taken from the outside? (2) How is the new information processed? (3) How is information stored in long term...
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...During the lesson planning process, teachers should consider the past experiences, thought processes, and interests of the students. The environment that a student may have been exposed to, or the way the a student's brain works can both disrupt and interfere with the material they are trying to learn. At the same time, though, learning cannot occur without having prior knowledge. This establishes the foundation from which to build. Past experiences, student interests, and present learning are all intertwined. As we learn, we look back at those previous experiences and memories, and make connections with what we are currently learning. Taking student's past experiences and incorporating them into lesson plans makes them more appealing and interesting to the students. Past experiences aid in adding new knowledge on top of prior knowledge. While past experiences and student interests are just one of the factors that influence learning, teachers also have an equal influence. Teachers have to be diverse in their methods to maintain student interest. If they don't, maximum results will not be achieved, and students will not maintain focus which can lead to bigger issues such as disruptions. When students have a foundation to build on, they tend to learn faster as opposed to just throwing random bits of information at them. There are six key principles in brain based learning. The first is the Importance of meaningful learning, otherwise known as the Schema...
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...Algebra 1: Simplifying Algebraic Expressions Lesson Plan for week 2 Age/Grade level: 9th grade Algebra 1 # of students: 26 Subject: Algebra Major content: Algebraic Expressions Lesson Length: 2 periods of 45 min. each Unit Title: Simplifying Algebraic Expressions using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of terms. Lesson #: Algebra1, Week 2 Context This lesson is an introduction to Algebra and its basic concepts. It introduces the familiar arithmetic operators of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in the formal context of Algebra. This lesson includes the simplification of monomial and polynomial expressions using the arithmetic operators. Because the computational methods of variable quantities follows from the computational methods of numeric quantities, then it should follow from an understanding of basic mathematical terminology including the arithmetic operators, fractions, radicals, exponents, absolute value, etc., which will be practiced extensively prior to this lesson. Objectives • Students will be able to identify basic algebraic concepts including: terms, expressions, monomial, polynomial, variable, evaluate, factor, product, quotient, etc. • Students will be able to simplify algebraic expressions using the four arithmetic operators. • Students will be able to construct and simplify algebraic expressions from given parameters. • Students will be able to evaluate algebraic expressions. • Students...
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...understanding the multiplication process at a fundamentally deeper level, or perhaps as an entirely different process. Gardner, Howard (1993) It is vital to realize that a student’s capability can’t solely be judged according to the student’s academic performance. It is the duty of educators, parents, and others who work with the youth in our schools to understand that a student’s capability should be based upon their individual learning style. This learning style is affected and determined by many factors in a student’s life; one of them however, is the unique and individual make-up of one’s brain. For this reason, many educators have looked to Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences to help them meet the individual learning styles of students in their classroom. Sitting in the classroom staring into space, the child looks like he or she is paying attention but really is off in their own world. Why is that? Most of the other students are participating in the lesson. Sometimes lessons are just boring. But there was a lot of effort and time put into that lesson. How...
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...will help you prepare for the two assignments in Week 5. Before beginning this assignment, please read through this week’s Lesson, including the Reading and Resources section of Week 4 Lessons. Directions For this assignment, you will be completing several steps that will help you in navigating through the APUS Online Library and its vast resources, in searching for and locating resources for your final paper, and in creating the reference page entries following proper APA formatting for your chosen sources. Begin preparing for your assignment by watching brief videos created by the APUS Online Library to assist you in locating trustworthy resources. Then, you will use the information you learned from the videos to identify, analyze, and synthesize your research. Visit the COLL 100 Course Guide at http://apus.campusguides.com/COLL100. On the Home page of the site locate and click on the “library tour” inside the “Welcome to the COLL100 Course Guide!” box. View all five videos – “Start here!”, “Articles”, “eBooks”, “Websites”, and “Library Help” and address the questions for the assignment. Scripts are available for each video under the “Need a transcript?” section of the web page. After review of the library tour videos please use this template to answer the following five questions: 1. Watch the “Start here!” video first then, based on what you learned from the video, explain the deep web. * The “deep web” allows APU/AMU students to search for more...
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...Brain Based Learning For many years science and education have concentrated on learning and the mind, but today’s neuroscientists and educators are seeing learning from a different scope – the brain. From this viewpoint, learning is creating links – by linking the information in which the student has prior knowledge or interest, the student is able to expand upon this and learn something else which he can relate it to. For example, in a history class when discussing Native Americans, a teacher may ask the students relate prior information they have on Native Americans. This can come from personal experiences - like seeing a burial ground, or finding an arrowhead; it can even be a movie the student relates it to. By doing this the teacher is making a personal connection between prior information the student has already attained and processed, and linking it to the information to be discussed in the class (Slavin, 2009) . Another learning stimulus that creates a learning link would finding something the student is interested in. This can be illustrated in the same scenario – students in the southern states often find Indian relics in their own backyards, piquing their interest in what happened right where they stood hundreds of years ago. By linking the information in which they have a personal interest with the information taught, once again a connection in learning within the brain is created (Watts, 2009). Importance of Meaningful Learning Innately the...
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...competence for this course of study will be assessed as you complete the 10 tasks that make up the ETT4/5 performance assessment and the EIO4/5 objective assessment. Introduction Welcome to Effective Teaching Practices. Effective teaching depends on effective planning. Teachers need to devote systematic thought to what they want students to learn and to how students will best acquire knowledge and skills. You will learn how to select, develop, and evaluate instructional materials as well as strategies to use to accomplish specific learning goals. You will plan for effective instruction, and then implement those plans. Interactive teaching includes appropriately responding to all of the details that emerge during the presentation of lessons. Teaching is a process. Teachers plan lessons and then present them. They use information about the lesson presentation to make appropriate changes to improve both student achievement and lesson presentation. Outcomes and Evaluations There are 10 competencies covered by this course of study; they are listed in the "Competencies for Effective Teaching Practices: Instructional Presentation and Follow-Up (ETT4/5)" page. The list of competencies is a good overview of precisely what you will know and be able to do at the conclusion of this course of study and demonstrate through assessment. Teaching Dispositions Statement Please review the Statement of Teaching Dispositions. You will complete the following assessments as you work through the course...
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...After my first day in the classroom I knew in my heart that I was meant to be there and continue my education to be able to help the minds grow in young children. One thing I had learned in my field experience that I would like to add in my classroom is a teaching technique called “W.I.N. time” which stands for What I Need time. With this teaching technique it requires all the teachers teaching that grade level to get together and place their students into groups based on their academic levels- below, average, above average, exceeding. Following this, each teacher takes a group and for a hour a day all the students leave their classroom and go into the room where their group was placed. This gives students who are struggling in areas to receive more one on one work and different paths of learning it, so they can understand it. This also really helps the students who are exceeding so that they can be given an opportunity to learn material and keep exercising their brain when they have excelled with the material that has been given to...
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...weak areas of the students. Students who are enrolled in Science based courses, should always be evaluated to determine if they fully comprehend the material. Science can cover many topics, terms, and each topic and term can be used interchangeably. So, it is important to assess before beginning the content work. Since I have selected Seventh Grade Physical Science, CCSS Standard P.7.5, it is vital for myself to know what to direct my focus on. So, by administering a pretest, I will see how I need to deliver my lectures and adjust the curriculum to meet each learner’s unique needs. I decided to make a pre-test composed of 25 questions being; fill in the blank,...
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...There are many elements to take under consideration while creating a lesson plan, however these elements are important for different reasons and when combining the elements in the right order you can produce what every teacher hopes for: measurable student learning. The elements I’ll be discussing are Common Core Curriculum Standards, Performance and Learning Outcomes, Anticipatory Set, Lesson Opening, Guiding Questions, Instructional Step by Step Procedures, Guided Practice, Lesson Closing, Independent Practice, Materials, Assessment, Lesson Evaluation, and Management. The first element that should appear in a lesson plan is the Common Core Curriculum Standards. This should be first within ones lesson plan because it withholds the standards that clearly communicate was is expected of the student at each grade level within the different subject matters. This element is important because it realizes that both content and skills are important. CCSS are also important because it sets a guideline for what students should be learning and include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high order skills that are aligned with future college and work expectations. The second element that should appear in a lesson plan is that of Performance and Learning Outcomes, or in different terms the objectives and goals. This should appear second because it outlines the topics and material that the students will be learning with a certain amount of time; also showing them what...
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...9 13 21 25 37 45 51 Unit 2 - Leadership Theory and Application Chapter 1: Being a Leader U2-C1-L1 Leadership Defined U2-C1-L2 Leadership Reshuffled U2-C1-L3 Leadership from the Inside Out U2-C1-L4 Principles and Leadership U2-C1-L5 Sexual Harassment/Assault Chapter 2: Leadership Skills U2-C2-L1 Steps from the Past U2-C2-L2 Roles of Leaders and Followers in Drill U2-C2-L3 Using Your Leadership Skills/Taking Charge 57 61 67 73 77 81 85 89 Unit 3 - Foundations for Success Chapter 1: Know Yourself – Socrates U3-C1-L1 Self Awareness U3-C1-L2 Appreciating Diversity through Winning Colors U3-C1-L3 Personal Growth Plan U3-C1-L4 Becoming an Active Learner U3-C1-L5 Pathways To Success (QBOL) Chapter 2: Learning to Learn U3-C2-L1 Brain Structure and Function U3-C2-L2 Left and Right Brain Functions U3-C2-L3 Learning Style and Processing Preferences U3-C2-L4 Multiple Intelligences Chapter 3: Study Skills U3-C3-L1 Thinking Maps U3-C3-L2 Reading For Meaning U3-C3-L3 Study Habits that Work for You Chapter 4: Communication Skills U3-C4-L1 The Communication Process U3-C4-L2 Becoming a Better Listener Chapter 5: Conflict Resolution U3-C5-L1 Causes of Conflict U3-C5-L2 Conflict Resolution Techniques Chapter 8: Making a Difference with Service Learning U3-C8-L1 Orientation to Service Learning...
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...How can teachers encourage middle- and high-school students to write for a grade as well as write creatively? What do young people learn from learning how to write creatively? What is the impact of brain based learning on writing skills? Since the 1990s, there has been a mass production of academic research reflecting on the learning processes of the brain, and the need to implement brain-based methods in education. Paul MacLean believed that the brain was developed in three layers. He also stated that each section had a specific function in regards to learning processes. Caine et al. (2008), suggests that curricula should be developed around brain-based principles that require learning to be psychological and social, by using interactive...
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...Today's Kindergarten:Teaching in a Child-Centered Way in a Standards-Based EnvironmentNew Seminar Presented by Judy Ellis Outstanding National Presenter | | SpecificallyDesigned * Learn how to balance child-centered learning with the increased learning standards for today’s kindergartners * Gain the best research-based ideas and strategies for teaching reading and math concepts in kindergarten * Discover creative activities based on the most effective ideas for building a literacy and mathematics foundation at the kindergarten level * Active demonstrations, slide presentations, and plentiful displays plus an extensive resource handbook packed with ideas and resources to launch kindergartners as readers, writers, and mathematical thinkers Practical Ideas and Strategies How can we best apply a child-centered approach and still meet the increased expectations and goals for today’s kindergartners? How can we help our kindergarten students get off to the best possible start in their literacy and mathematical development? What are the current most effective strategies that can help our kindergartners thrive in a standards-based environment? Veteran kindergarten teacher and international presenter, Judy Ellis, will model the latest in strategies and techniques to increase your kindergarten students’ literacy and math skills. This new seminar is designed to give you practical ideas, cutting-edge teaching strategies and resources to strengthen literacy and...
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