Ariel Van Dyke's Ed Psych Blog

I think that the main thing the teacher does in her classroom to encourage student's metacognition is that she doesn't regulate how students take notes or organize the information they get in class, she decided that that is the responsibility and decision for the students to make on their own. This decision requires that students use their procedural and conditional metacognitive knowledge to decide what strategies and skills they have and when to use them to best help their learning in class. The teacher encouraged declarative metacognitive knowledge by providing the students with bell ringers that allowed them to think about what they already know about the topic for the day and what their preconceived notions are. There was one assignment in particular that I observed being assigned where I saw some of the metacognitive skills being used. The students were assigned to make a video presentation of their Natural Highs and pledge to live naturally high and avoid substance use. ...

Overall, I did not observe a great deal of constructivist themes in the class that I observed. The usual structure of the class went: bell ringer, lecture and notes, activity, closing discussion. I noticed aspects of constructivism in some of the activities though. For example, one activity was a jigsaw where the students explored the characteristics of one category of illicit drugs and then taught their peers what they learned. In a different activity the students analyzed media ads and looked for hidden messages then brainstormed on their own what strategies they could use to be more aware and conscious of negative media ads which reminded me of problem based learning. Other than that I didn't notice very many constructivist techniques in this classroom. I did notice the tenets of constructivism throughout my time in her classroom. This teacher did a really good job of broadening topics so students could see how they related to them outside of the classroom. She used related curr...

The teacher that I observed encouraged growth mindset by continually encouraging and rewarding students for thinking beyond what they already know. If they expressed an opinion or a goal she would ask them to elaborate with her or pursue further knowledge so that their idea could continue to evolve and develop. She also validates their exploration and follows up with them which I see as a motivating factor because it increases their sense of competence and autonomy because they're being validated and encouraged for their own efforts. Also in the classroom she encourages a lot of collaboration and she's very careful to make sure everyone is included in a group, I feel that this would motivate learners by increasing their sense of belonging in the class. I saw that she encouraged intrinsic motivation by assigning projects that were very personal. For example, in the drugs unit they had to complete a project demonstrating their "natural highs." It's a very personal a...

Overall, the teacher that I observed this semester primarily used stimulus driven attention grabbing techniques in her classroom. She grabbed student attention with videos featuring celebrities, music that positively contributes to her lesson, and thought provoking questions that required students to think critically and past the surface of a question. She also uses controlled attention when the subject taught required direct instruction and focus on a difficult concept like body image/eating disorders. However, she also provided a PowerPoint with pictures to stimulate the dual processing function of the student's brains. She always puts pictures to the vocabulary she introduces to students and then references the pictures to make sure the students notice and remember them. She also used distributed practice to break up class time into learning and review so that students were sure to get adequate exposure to new and old information. The teacher also used review worksheets and exit...

The students in the classroom that I observed at I feel are primarily facing Erikson's psychosocial crisis of Identity vs. Role Confusion and bit of Intimacy vs. Isolation. I noticed that a lot of students would get embarrassed after contributing in a discussion or would cower in the face of talking in front of the class about something personal that they thought about in regards to the lesson. Observing them in groups and then with their friends also showed that they were not completely in tune with their identity because they acted so differently in different groups of people. It was also fun to observe the students navigating the roads of intimacy. In the class and wandering the halls I saw a lot of people mingling with friends and people of the opposite gender and it was so precious and amusing to watch them navigate social dynamics in their pursuit of connection. The most prevalent of Marcia's identity states that I saw was Moratorium because the student's had a lot of...

At the beginning of the year I will try and establish trust by being kind and reliable in my classroom. I will establish an environment of respect for my students and I will do what I tell my students I will do so that they can know I take their education and development seriously. By showing kindness to all students they can feel secure coming to me with their needs and by being reliable they can develop a sense of security in the routines of my classroom so there is not uncertainty or doubt about what to expect in my class.  I will then help my students establish autonomy by giving them the background knowledge and skills they need and then allowing them to rely on their own skills first. We will do activities that begin with individual work and work up to pair work, group work, and then class work rather than the other way around. This will allow students to learn to depend first on themselves before relying on my or other student's skills or knowledge. Then I will allow ...