Double Entry Journal #14

1. What was the most interesting idea you encountered as you read the chapter?

 

That while academic language used in many different worlds and institutions, it is only learned in school. Unlike other forms of language and literacies, it isn't incorporated very much in everyday life, especially for young people. This underexposure might make us question whether it is the most important language to focus on and at the very least should make us question using it as our sole language we teach in school.

2. What connections can you make between Gee's critique and Sir Ken Robinsons' critique of traditional schooling?

 

They both focus on the inevitable fact that we need reform in school and we need to embrace all different kinds of learners. Also, they focus on reaching students by using experiential learning and taking advantage of the cultural capital students bring to the classroom.

3. How did this book change or support your understanding of good teaching?

 

It supported my view that all teachers need to focus on reaching all learners and be willing to think outside of the box and teach 21st century skills. Just the example of how young people learn from video games and how they learn and acquire specialized language really reinforces for me that we need to take advantage of the technology young students are connected to.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

3 Ideas you agree with
*That everyone has very passionate emotions tied to education. It is something that shapes us and affects us our entire lives. Teachers need to realize that we can either encourage students and give them a positive view of education or we can leave them with lasting negative feelings towards school and learning.

*We have alot of students, espescially teens and young adults that are afraid to be wrong. They are missing valuable opportunities to grow and achieve due to their fear of failure. We have polarized failure to such a point that it leaves such scarring with people who have failed and been embarassed by how the world treats them because of certain failure.

*There are certain kinds of learners that will only thrive in the areas which they have passion for and can think effectively. Some learners will only respond and think properly when their bodies are moving, some when they are hearing things that connect the learning, some who are seeing visual examples tied to the learning, etc. Schools need to be more specialized in reaching all different types of learners.

2 Ideas that surprised you
*I have never really through about it, but it is true that every country around the world follows the same hierarchy of subjects. Math and Language are always the most important. You would think that certain cultures might place more importance on other areas.

*How some of the advice we were given when we were younger and in school was not helpful for most of us. We were told that certain subjects, interests, and skills will not be able to provide us with job opportunities. Alot of students are continually guided into directions they do no want to go, directions in which they have absolutely no interest or passion. I can't describe to you how much this bothers me as it is something I have experienced personally as well. Countless college students spend a fortune to obtain a degree in which they later find out they truly don't love or don't want to use. They were led in the wrong direction by opinions and advice they took in throughout their schooling.

1 Idea that you confused you or you disagree with
*Everyone has ideas of what is wrong with school and why students are failing, but it never seems like anyone is coming up with reasonable, feasibly ways to help students succeed. We always seem to have all these solutions and plans but none of them seem like they can actually be done in the real world in a classroom full of 25 students. Education is in desperate need of reform and we need to come up simple, real solutions they can implement into the classroom right now.

Double Entry Journal #13

1. Give an example of a "community of practice" in which you are currently participating in.

 

Bible studies on Sunday and Friday nights. We share insights  and opinions as we learn the scripture. Having others there to share and give insight really helps the learning experience. It is great to have study time on your own but it is also crucial to share with others and to hear what others are learning and experiencing.

 

2.Why is the term "community" better defined in relation to spaces rather than groups of people?

 

Space might be better to find people who are sharing the same environments and experiences. Just picking random groups won't guarantee that the people are coming from the same community, culture, experience, etc.

3. What is a "generator"? What is it's counterpart in school?

Helps identify what a space is. Students know what environment or subject they are in based on generators. Counterparts are things that go along with certain environments and subjects.

 

 

4. What is a "content organizer"? What is it's counterpart in school?

Information that goes along and is organized in that context. The knowledge students gain in all different ways is organized together to help sequential learning.

 

 

5. What is a "portal"? What is it's counterpart in school?

Interactions to generators. Can be accomplished in many ways in school such as activities, science labs, group work, teacher collaboration, etc.

 

 

6. What do people have an "affinity" for in an "affinity space"? How does this inform your understanding of good teaching?

People have affinites to things they enjoy and have passion for. Or things they know will help them in the future or help them accomplish current goals. Our teaching should always be useful to students in the real world for their future and current goals. We should be doing things that students can experience and enjoy so they can develop a passion for certain subjects or topics.

 

 

7. How do "affinity spaces" support inclusive classrooms? Choose two characteristics below to make connections between "affinity spaces" and inclusive classrooms.

 

It helps develop a sense of community by allowing students to engage in experiential learning. Students who work together and solve problems together will share a common bond and experience that will help build community and friendship. Students as partners is another characteristic used in affinty spaces as students appreciate and understand when teachers care about their future and know that the teachers are trying to make the learning experience enjoyable and exciting.

Double Entry Journal #12

1 What is the main argument the author is making in Chapter 5.

Video games can teach us how to learn and helps students learn. The complex thinking required and difficulty of video games can really help students adapt to a similar environment and challenge in schol. Playing video games will engage a child's brain and should expand their vocabulary as they play all different types of games.

2. What constitutes a theory of learning?

That learning happens in segments and is usually not an all or nothing process at any given time. Students should have a much wider knowledge base at the end of every school year in every subject.

3. Why did the author struggle to learn to play Warcraft III? What needs to proceed before good learning principles?

  The task was way over his ability level and caused him to feel overwhelmed and unable to play the game because of his lack of experience. For students to be successful in the classroom the tasks should not be so hard that the students feel they have little chance of succeeding. This will cause students to either give up or give less effort and the learning process will suffer.

4. How would have the authors struggle with learning to play Warcraft III been interpreted in school?

This can lead students to head down a slippery slope of failure and produce a lack of confidence that will hinder them throughout the learning process. Teachers need to make sure they don't overwhelm students who struggle and give them the extra attention they require.

5 What kind of learning experience might be better suited for at risk students?

Find ways to involve all students and make sure they all have success, any activity that you can be sure the students will all succeed together and also feel that they contributed is a perfect way to help at risk students. They need this special attention, extra help, and confidence builder to help as they prepare to learn even more difficult things.

6. Why does the school-based interpretation of "at risk" lead to bad learning?

They usually assume it is the student's problem or fault if learning isn't taking place instead of looking more critically at the teacher or the learning process being used.

7. What do schools need to do to function more like a good game?

They need to start off slowly and start off with activities and concepts that students can be guided through and have success with. This will help the students become engaged in the learning and give them a feeling of confidence to continue on. It will really help the motivation of students who may have a more difficult time with the learning process.

8. What is different about how good games and school assess learners?

Games assess by their ability to complete tasks and then give them a chance to try again and practice if they can not complete the task. Schools assess learners and move on with more difficult tasks even if they can not perform the current tasks.

9. What are the attributes of a fish-tank tutorial that make it an effective learning tool? How is it different than school-based learning?

Students will succeed in a fish tank tutorial but they may not always succeed in school settings.

10. What is a sand-box tutorial? Why is effective? How is it different that school-based learning?

Students can feel like they are not in over their heads, while they may be experiencing new or more difficult tasks or real world applications; it is being done in a setting where they are comfortable and will feel like they can succeed.

11. What is a genre? Why is it important for good learning?

Words that have different meanings in different contexts. The more students can learn across these contexts and learn the meanings of words, the more students will be able to adapt to different learning experiences.

12. According to the author, what do learning and play having in common?

 

They are both more successful when the individual has choice, feels involved, and engaged.

13. How are the skills test in good games different from skills tests in school?

There is more pressure to do well on tests in school because students know it is their only chance to do well. Video games always give the player another chance to succeed. Players know they will be rewarded for their hard work and perseverance which is not always the case with school.

14. How does RoN support collaborative learning?

The player just like the student will always need help getting started and learning new concepts, once they start learning and experiencing these new concepts they will be able to expand their knowledge and go across other areas.

15. Match at least one learning principle of good games (on page 74) with each the following learning theorists you have studied in 3352:

High Quality Formative Assessment

1.) What is formative assessment? Assessment that focuses on giving students specific, timely, task-based feedback and comments but does not give students a grade. It focuses on reaching each student individually and not comparing them to a grade scale or other students.

2.) What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?
Student learning, to have students learn more effectively by receiving crucial and constructive feedback based on their performance or work.

3.) Giving students specific feedback based on their work will help students recognize their effort will directly affect their learning and performace in any subject. This feedback is crucial to get certain students to realize that they are struggling only because of a lack of effort.

4.) These assessments can be done in both ways by giving students the specific feedback and suggestions to improve without a grade on their work, but still give them a grade based on their work and performance.

5.) My classroom has not incorporated any formative assessments. He does give his students proper time to prepare notes and review for their tests during class.

6.) What are some strategies to help formative assessment be more effective when providing students with feedback? Make sure you have students talk to you specificly about the feedback and make sure they understand what they did right and what are the things they can do to improve. Structure assessment in such a way that students understand they are important in the process and the teacher-student relationship should be viewed as teamwork towards effective learning.

7.) Advantages are that it helps improve student motivation, on task behavior, and self awareness. It also helps the teacher identify students who are struggling or have misconceptions about the material causing them to struggle.

8.) What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?
Education is always looking for concrete ways to assess student performance. Without grades, departments of education, administrators, principals, etc. may feel students will not try or do their work without the motivation of grade.

Double Entry Journal #11

1.)  When people learn something as a cultural process their bodies are involved because cultural learning always involves having specific experiences that facilitate learning, not just memorizing words. Learners must have connections and experiences through their bodies, their can't be a disconnect.

2.) Students learn large vocabularies by having experienced the "worlds" which the words connect to meaning. Students have learned different words through specialized contexts through adults, experiences, etc.

3.) Words have different and specialized meaning for the different contexts or situations they are used in.

4.) a. no longer required, responsibility is lost
     b. they are special or awesome
     c. crazy, exciting

5.) What is the "work" of childhood?
The author claims play is the proper work of childhood and helps learning.

6.) Why would you not read the instructions before you play a game?
You need to have the proper experience from playing the game to understand the text and learn new vocabulary according to the author.

7.) He is talking about situations where we have to act a certain way and play by the rules in that specific environment. Different "games" I play in are being an education student, being an umpire, and being a sunday school teacher. Each different context has different rules I am suppose to play by to be considered an appropriate player. My identity comes through successfully following those rules and being a player in each different "game".

8.) Learning that allows students to apply and follow rules for different contexts and use their backgrounds to translate meaning to new areas and build on their existing knowledge base.

Double Entry Journal #10

Chapter 3

1.) What are the features of the forms of language that are spoken in a home environment that align with academic varieties of language?
There are alot of features of language that are spoken at home that align with academic varieties of language. Students hear and use the language that they here spoken in the household, the majority of the time parents have had formal language experience and eductation.

2.) What are the features of Leona's specialized form of language?
Story telling from her different culture and background. Her language uses different forms of parallel patterns and other poetic qualities.

3.) Why is Leona's specialized form of language not accepted in school?
Teachers are used to hearing and expecting the same form of language they teach. They often will fail to recognize and value the different complex forms of language used by students from different cultures and backgrounds.

4.) Explain the contradiction between the research conducted by Snow et al. (1998) and the recommendations made by Snow et al. (1998).
Honestly, I am having trouble finding the contradiction.


5.) What other factors besides early skills training will make or break good readers?
Situations where people from different levels of power or different cultures actually feel a severe bias or pressure from stereotypes. This unfair treatment can cause students to perform severely less efficiently in school or on tests.

6.) Why do some children fail to identify with, or find alienating, the "ways with words" taught in school?
In my experience, I have always found that students respond much better to teachers who embrace how young people talk. I am sure this would also apply to people with different cultures and backgrounds, as long as their specialized form of language is embraced and valued, they should perform well in the classroom and be motivated to succeed.