Ariel Van Dyke's Ed Psych Blog

I will use shaping to teach my health students progressive muscle relaxation to help reduce stress and anxiety. I will guide them first through deep breathing, then once they feel comfortable with that I'll introduce the tensing of the muscle groups in small chunks at first (ie. the muscles of the arms and shoulders, the neck and face, the legs, the stomach etc.) and then all the muscles tensing together. I will guide them through recognizing the feeling of tension and then one muscle group at a time I will guide them through relaxing certain muscles as they "melt" into the floor. If the students need to we'll go back through any muscle groups they're struggling with or simply go back to just deep breathing until they're comfortable with how their bodies feel. If students struggle or are disruptive during this time of serenity I will use positive practice to help them try again with more positive behavior. I will use praise and compliments throughout the pra...

To condition my Health students to feel relaxed in my class, I will pair verbal instruction (unconditioned stimulus) to have my students stop what they're doing and take deep, relaxing breaths (unconditioned response) accompanied by the sound of a rainstick (neutral stimulus). I will continued to do this pairing it with fewer verbal instruction each time until the sound of the rainstick (conditioned stimulus) makes my students stop for a moment and take deep, relaxing breaths (conditioned response).  

   What is YOUR definition of intelligence?         A fluid and ever changing ability to adopt new information and skills and apply them in a variety of settings and situations.   How will that impact how you interact with and talk and about your students?         This definition will help me to remember to not put any students in a box. All students are capable of learning and growing and developing new skills and behaviors. Furthermore, all students have valuable insight and skills based on their personal intelligence and their unique abilities are invaluable in my classroom. Everyone has something positive to give and it's my responsibility as their teacher to recognize and encourage those contributions in my classroom.

What is my current definition of learning? Learning is the process of internalizing new information and connecting it to current information to create lasting change in our knowledge, feelings, and behavior. How do I believe people learn? First, I believe people learn best when they feel safe and appreciated. I believe people learn by getting to know their strengths and then tailoring information to their learning needs whether that be through visual, audio, oral, or action based learning.    What will learning look like in my classes? In my classes that I take myself learning will look like a lot of flashcards, reading, and oral repetition.  In my classes that I teach learning will be flexible and accessible to all students by creating a safe environment of open and honest communication with my students so they feel they can trust me to help them with their learning needs. Furthermore, I hope to tailor lessons and activities to a variety of learning styles...