Extrinsic Motivation

I remember when I was in elementary school if a student finished a book we were rewarded with a certificate for a small pizza from pizza hut. If I remember right, all we had to do was write a page about the book, something that could be done without thoroughly reading or comprehending. I probably got ten free, greasy pizzas with little to no effort. This extrinsic motivation motivated me to find the quickest way to get the just of a book and write about it. I don't think that kids should be rewarded with something completely irrelevant to education, much less unhealthy foods.
I understand that not all children are intrinsically motivated, and educators need to find a source of motivation in a student but I can think of many examples of extrinsic motivation being used ineffectively. I dint think that students deserve a reward every time they do something correct, but I don't think that students deserve a punishment every time they make a mistake. I think that rewarding a student when they do was expected is unnecessary and a poor example to extrinsic motivations. If a student needs motivation in the classroom, I think a teacher should use it to their advantage, like once a student completes a book give them another, better book for that student, or a gift certificate to a book store for example. Intrinsic motivation would be great for every student to have in the classroom, but I feel that a teacher can utilize extrinsic motivation to better the students education.

Lost Generation?

I think that if a person can watch this video and not feel upset or discomforted they don't realize what responsibility our future generations hold, and the hole we have dug them. I found this video upsetting because I know there is truth behind it. "I am part of a lost generation and I refuse to believe that I can change the world" is hard to hear when I think that people my age and younger feel this way. I remember being in elementary school hearing parents and teachers tell me i can be and do whatever I want, which made me hopeful. It makes me sad to think that children may not have the same hope I grew up with.
It is hard to think that we have made and left a huge mess for future generations to live with, weather they strive for a change or allow the mess that we have created to continue is in their hands - which is a huge responsibility.
Something needs to be done for the younger generations and I think it needs to start with our schools. I believe that schools need to stop making everything to painful and straightforward. We need to stop emphasizing math and science because you can become a doctor and make lots of money, this reflects poor values. I think schools need to incorporate more humanistic classes and realize mistakes society has made, so they can learn from them. I think schools need to implement creativity, and i believe through creativity and art people can become more connected with the earth. Motivating our children to save the earth could be difficult to do because I'm not sure if could understand the trouble we've gotten them into. I would hope that they see the importance of our earth and agree to work for the good of the earth in order to help their future children.
This video is real and there should be more like them. Change needs to happen, and I think the best way for it to occur is through education.

Brain Development

Karen Williams' lecture on brain development was very interesting and insightful. I was very surprised how costly drinking can be in a child's development. I never knew that there was such a strong correlation between the starting age of alcohol use and the development of alcoholism. This lecture changed my outlook as a parent and the role I will play in my children's alcohol consumption. I understand that kids will almost always go against your word, but now I want to prevent my children's alcohol use as long as I can. I always thought I would let my children make their own decisions with provisions on my part, as long as they were safe. But when Ms. Williams said that its still hurting your teenager when you allow them to drink as long as they don't drive, it changed my view on the idea. I want to enforce no drinking for as long as I can, because the longer they wait the less chance they have of developing alcoholism and less damage to their brain. Something else that really shocked me was the case study that was done on a 15 year old who drank 6 beers each week for a couple of months compared to a 15 year old who consumed no alcohol. When Ms. Williams showed the pictures of both of these 15 year old kid's brain there was an extreme difference in development. Six beers isn't much and I admit that I started drinking when I was about 16 and there was a period in my life where I was probably drinking more than 6 beers a week. I related to this lecture and applied a lot of it to personal experience, and that makes me want to prevent some of these mistakes to my future children and students. I appreciated this lecture and will apply it to my own life the best I can.

Blogging Experience

Blogging was a brand new experience for me. I enjoy it because its more of an informal reflection and easy to write. Blogging is an easy way to hear your students views and I could see myself using blogging as a way to understand the class a little better. Some students have a difficult time always communicating and participating in class and blogging can make it easier for them to communicate what they don't get to in class and also allows the teacher to understand them a little better. Blogging also is also a classroom discussion outside of the classroom; it offers students and teachers a chance to verbalize what they may have forgotten or not have gotten the opportunity to during the class period. Involving students in blogging introduces them to technology and education. All in all I feel blogging is a very useful tool outside of the classroom.

My stregths and weaknesses in teaching

I don't have much experience playing the role of a teacher in the classroom, but being in the classroom over j-term gave me some knowledge about myself. I have a strong ambition to help students which I feel is my biggest strength. Another good quality I wish more of my past teachers and professors had was life experience. As a student I struggle respecting an educator when I have doubts that they haven't encountered problems and made mistakes that I have in their life, and I feel in order for a student to learn they must respect their educator. I think I learn best from educators who have been around the block a time or two and know what its like to be quite imperfect at times because I can relate to them. I have made hundreds of bad decisions and mistakes in my life, which I have grown and learned from, and I feel that in turn makes me more humanistic and relateable to students - something I appreciated in good educators in my past.
Branching off of that, are my weaknesses. I want to be there for the students and want them to know I'm not any more special than they are, but at times I have sensed students would be too comfortable with me which I think can be very problematic because it can lead to students losing respect for me and being a push over.
There is a line between approachable and being too friendly. I want my students to respect me so they can get the best learning experience, and somewhere along the line of being a friendly teacher a student can take advantage of too close of a friendship. So the reality of this blog is that I need to work on being a little more professional in the relationships I will hold with students.

Cairo Chronicles reflection

I went to the showing of Cairo Chronicles, an independent film by Tania Kamal-Eldin that was shown on March 12 as a part of women's history month. The film was a personal documentary of Tania's return to Cairo, Egypt. Tania's father was a native Egyptian and met Tania's mother, who was from the United States, at the University of Iowa. Her parents moved back to Egypt and were married. When Tania was young, she and her mother returned to the U.S.
The death of her father brought her back to Egypt decades later. The film was not about the passing of her father, or her personal loss, but about the changed city of Cairo Tania returned to. The city was not the same city which she had spent her childhood in. It was not a clean, peaceful city anymore. Cairo was corrupt and congested. Westernization had swept the streets of the city from the childhood, cars and fast food places lined the streets now.
The theme of Tania's film was 'reconnect and disconnect'. Tania went to Egypt to reconnect to a lost piece of her life, and disconnect from it once more.
An open discussion was held after the film where the group based the focus on changing in generations and history. The group had ages spanning from 18 to 75, which made for an interesting conversation. Something that ties into Ed. Psych. is that almost everyone is the group agreed that younger generations are lacking personal relationships today, and do not value the story of anther. This problem is all around us, and is slowly changing our society today.
The documentary, followed by discussion was very interesting and tied into many aspects of today's life.

Nancy Gibbs's Essay Reflection

I wanted to blog about the essay we read in class because I found it to be an interesting topic that everyone can relate to. Although, it may have seemed like a safe idea for many parents to give their child or children a cell phone, they have to be causing many problems in school systems. Most schools have a no tolerance policy when it comes to cell phones which can always seem controversial because it is their personal property. I believe that cell phone will affect not only the student who the phone belongs to but the rest of the classroom. Students will have their phones on them weather its a rule or not, its easy for them to text under their desk, while the teachers writing on the board, in the pocket of their sweatshirt. With their cell phones, they can withdraw themselves when the class isn't appealing to them anymore. I am guilty of pulling out my cell phone to check the time or my messages when classroom interaction begins to bore me, along with many other students of all ages. This is causing a problem with the idea of attention and multitasking.
When talking about this topic most people say, "What do they even have to talk about? They're twelve!" But reflecting back to the middle school days and withdrawing information from Santrock, these are the years, during early adolescents and adolescents, that students are trying to find their identity and determine who they are. A students social life, and friends are also very important in this stage of life, and in turn they may see a cell phone a a tool to help them identify themselves and make friends. This time in their life can be confusing and having a cell phone could harm them in the long run. I think that some solutions to the problem with students and cell phones is first of all the age and maturity at which they receive the phone. I don't think that a kid should be given a phone until they at least have their driver's licence, which seems somewhat age appropriate and incorporating the dangers and responsibilities of driving. Also setting boundaries on cell phones can alter the way a child uses his or her phone. If they feel that the cell phone is their personal property and only belong in the hand of themselves they may feel more freedom to break rules with it. In contrast, if a parent sets rules and regulations with the phone and will take it into their possession at any time, a child could realize that the phone may be held in the hands of a parent - possibly altering their decisions of how to use their phone.
There are many ideas and possible solutions for students with cell phones, but I believe, like most things, the true solution to problems such as this start with the parents and how much they are willing to become involved with their children's life and potential.