Reflective Journal 4: Chapter 7 and Week 5 Discussion

Description

The focus of the readings and discussions for EDAT 6115 this week were on the concept of creating an effective lesson and the discussion question of how would the  level of preparation and participation change depending on the format of the class lesson set for that day. Teachers have to be ready for anything that a class may throw at them. Being able to create an effective lesson can lead to not only great learning but it can control classroom management and distractions. Within a lesson and day to day instruction teachers must be prepared, flexible and ready to make sure that all students are learning to the best of their ability. When teachers are able to acquire these methods their teaching goes from just talking to an education.

Analysis

Chapter 7

Slavin argues that an effective lesson can take a teacher from talking to being an educator. An effective lesson incorporates multiple teaching methods from the basic to the advanced in order for all students to grasp the concepts, skills and content knowledge (Slavin, 2012). Within the chapter Slavin outlines some crucial and important teaching methods that have been known to allow for the greatest impact on student learning. The first teaching method that Slavin discusses is direct instruction. He defines is as a teacher transcribing information directly to the student (Slavin, 2012). Direct instruction is a foundation of a lesson. It provides the basic knowledge and learning objectives, or what the students should know or be able to do at the end of a lesson (Slavin, pp. 188, 2012). A study done by the National Science Foundation for Education Psychology research illustrated that teachers who used direction as a teaching method have an “increase in their students' meta-cognition, motivation, learning, and preparation for future learning as well as the development of better self-efficacy skill sets” (Zepeda, C. D., Richey, J. E, Ronevich, P., Nokes-Malach, T. J., 2015). Not only do students receive the knowledge from the lesson but through direct instruction from an educator students start to develop a sense of self education. They understand that the information they are being given needs to be applied to their future educational goals and career.

After the teacher develops the direction instruction of a lesson there are multiple parts that need to fill in for the lesson to run smoothly. Slavin argues that an effective needs to be clear, set specific expectation and incorporate different learning simulations for students who may have a different learning style than others such as visual and hands on (Slavin, 2012). Throughout the lesson teachers need to make sure that their students are grasping the knowledge being taught. By using checking for understandings, question probes and summarizing assessments teachers can get an idea of how their students are retain the information. This can allow for differentiated lessons, reteaching or advancement within the lesson.

I have always argued against schools that require very detailed lesson plans from their teachers. Page after page of detailed instruction, assessments, differentiation, openers, summarizers and so on just for a hour class period. My best teaching and instruction lessons have come from me being able to change the lesson completely in an instant because I see that my students are not interested or just not understanding the material. I argue that a detailed lesson and an effective lesson are two very different things. Details sometimes take away from great teaching and can lead to unfocused and uninformed students. Slavin argues that effective lessons are the foundations for a teacher's craft and that an effective lesson ,which uses many different teaching methods, allows educators to have the greatest impact on student learning (Slavin, 2012).  An effective lesson is derived from many parts that are put together in order to gain students attention, hold it, allow for different learning styles and finally the learning of concepts, knowledge or skills. According to Kaufman and Scott effective teaching and lessons can create a  “student-centered model of teaching”. This can cause a shift from a traditional school setting and could allow a teacher to become a facilitator of education and learning instead of simply giving out information or a skill to a group of students (Kaufman and Scott, 2016).  Furthermore, Swartz and Parks argue that an effective lesson and a prepared teacher allow for the development and fostering of higher order thinking skills as well as critical thinking, creative and an educational discipline that can help students further on in their educational careers (Swartz and Parks, 1994).

When teachers are prepared with an effective lesson a classroom become more than just four walls. It becomes an environment where students do not realize they are learning or developing necessary skills they will need for the future. Lessons and teaching are ever changing and teachers need to be prepared to change on a dime if they see a lesson is not working. Depending on what type of teaching is going on such as direct instruction where there is little student participation and a lot of teacher involvement to small group instruction where there is a lot of student involvement and little teacher guidance, teacher preparedness and participation is ever changing depending on the lesson that is in place for that particular instruction day.

Reflection

These concepts were definitely not new to me. I have implemented many of these teaching methods into my everyday lessons. Direct instruction is a huge tool for me because I am a history teacher. I do understand how to use them within a classroom environment, however I did not understand how to use them at a level that the chapter describes as well as how to have the greatest impact on my students. I did not realize the deeper effect that these skills could provide for students.  I feel that these concepts can be used a great deal within a classroom to showcase to students why it is important to learn the material and skills being taught, but also to make other aspects like preparation, classroom participation and classroom management easier for me. Within the context of my classroom I can use these concepts to make the biggest impact on the my development of my lessons so that the content information and concepts are better organized. By using multiple teaching methods within my lessons I can make sure that all of my learners have a chance to gain the information. There are some positives and negatives to the concepts. Positives are having effective lesson plans make me a better educator and my students better learners. Negatives are the time constraints to create an effective lessons. Many veteran teachers still need skills to develop these lessons and as fast as education changes it could be hard to stay up to date so that I do not fall behind with my learning.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: a foundation for teaching. Educational  psychology: Theory and practice. Chapter 7: The effective lesson. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Kaufman, N. J., & Scott, C. (2016). Innovation in Higher Education: Lessons Learned from Creating a Faculty Fellowship Program. Journal Of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 4497-106 10p. doi:10.1177/1073110516644239

Swartz, R. J., & Parks, S. (1994). Infusing critical and creative thinking into content instruction: A lesson design handbook for the elementary grades. Pacific Grove, CA: Critical Thinking Press & Software.

Zepeda, C. D., Richey, J. E., Ronevich, P., & Nokes-Malach, T. J. (2015). Direct instruction of metacognition benefits adolescent science learning, transfer, and motivation: an in vivo study. Journal Of Educational Psychology, 107(4), 954-970.

 Lesson Process Image. (n.d.). Retrieved June 1, 2016, from https://www.adelaide.edu.au/learning/teaching/curriculum/outcomes/learning-outcomes-diagram-640w.gif

Reflective Journal 3: Chapter 6 and Week 4 Discussion: Information Processing and Cognitive Theories of Learning

Reflective Journal 3: Chapter 6 and Week 4 Discussion

Description
     The focus of the readings and discussions for EDAT 6115 this week were on the concepts of information processing and cognitive learning theories as well as the discussion of  the importance of teachers using multiple strategies during teaching instruction. Teachers must do their best when trying to reach all of their students. By using different teaching and instructional methods, educators are able to do that a little easier. These methods ensure that children who may learn at different paces or through different methods get the same content knowledge and skills as the other students in the classrooms. This makes for a well rounded and fun learning environment centered on student success.

Analysis
Chapter 6

This chapter focuses in on how information is processed through the brain. It also goes into effect of getting educators to understand how students process information differently as well as the best tools to help them understand and succeed in the classroom. Slavin argues that the first thing a teacher should understand is how to gain the attention of their students stating that changing the volume of their voice, putting more emotion into the content being taught and having the students understand the importance of the material can be a crucial step in getting students to make connections with the material (Slavin, 2012).

Students today have an issue with keeping the information they learn within a classroom in their long term memory so that they can apply it for further reference. According to Slavin there are tricks that teachers can instruct their students to do in order to make converting information and skills from short term memory to long term memory easier. First, rehearsal is the easiest tool to be used. Rehearsal is important to learning “because the longer and item [or skill ] remains in working memory, the greater chance it will be transferred to long term memory” (Slavin, pp. 147, 2012). Slavin then goes into simple practices that most educators do every day which are practice test, note taking, summarizing and creating an outline. These practices allow for information to be organized, rehearsed and memorized at the greatest level for the impact on student learning (Slavin, 2012).
      Education has evolved tremendously throughout the years. Educators have come to understand that teaching is more than just standing in front of students and spitting out information. Educating a child is the ability for a teacher to give content knowledge or a skill to a student, that student realize its importance and then use it in a real world connection. In a modern classroom the term “differentiation” is used a great deal. According to Carol Tomlinson, a pioneer of differentiated education, differentiation is simply “teaching with the child in mind” (Coleman and Cross, 2005). Differentiation is one of the key standards that teachers themselves get graded on within our own evaluation system. It is not only important for our jobs to use a variety of teaching methods, but more importantly it is vital that we do to ensure that all children are reached with the content and skilled needed to maintain a higher impact on their learning.
According to Slavin because the human brain is such a complex organ teaching has to shift from “hierarchical learning to complex, thematic and integrated activities” (Slavin, pp.156, 2012). This allows teachers to be able to reach every student, because all students learn differently, at different paces and through different methods. Slavin also argues that not all learning will happen at the same pace as others. This can be influenced by the teacher themselves, the content being taught and the learning environment. An educator must understand at minimum how cognitive theories work in order to reach the most students possible with the correct teaching methods if that be videos, graphic organizers, projects, readings, essays or simply repetition of information (Slavin, 2012). According to Eric Jensen “the the brain and balances this information with tips and techniques for using the information in classrooms” (Jensen, 1998) and when a teacher uses a variety of teaching methods within their classroom these tips and tricks can become more useful at connecting background knowledge and previously learned skills to allow that student to develop easier deductive and critical thinking skills. All of this making the main goal of learning possible.

Reflection
These concepts were not new to me. I do understand how to use them within a classroom environment, however I did not understand how to use them at a level that the chapter describes as well as how to have the greatest impact on my students. I feel that these concepts can be used a great deal within a classroom to showcase to students why it is important to learn the material and skills being taught, but also how to make it easier. Within the context of my classroom I can use these concepts to make the biggest impact on my students ability to gain the content information to better organize it and then lead it into long term memory. There are some positives and negatives to the concepts. Positives are having new methods that students gain add to their school career in order to memorize and retain information. Negatives are that students learn in so many different ways that even with all of these methods, students still may need more assistance than these learning theories can give.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: a foundation for teaching. Educational  psychology: Theory and practice. Chapter 6: Information processing and cognitive theories of learning. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Coleman, L. J., & Cross, T. L. (2005).Being gifted in school: An introduction to development,         guidance, and teaching. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.

Jensen, E. (1998). Teaching with the brain in mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Reflective Journal 2: Chapter 5, and Week 3 Discussion

Reflection of Chapter 5, and Week 3 Discussion: Behavioral Learning Theories

Reflection of Chapter 5, Week 3 Discussion

Description

The focus of the readings and discussions for EDAT 6115 this week were on the concepts of Behavioral Theories of learning  and the discussion question of possible benefits and positives of being sent to the principal’s office. Within a classroom all teachers can benefit from the use of understanding behavioral theories of learning to better understand how to redirect and reinforce the good behaviors and canceling the unneeded ones. By understanding that different methods of behavioral learning can allow a student to prosper to the best of their abilities by simply modeling the correct behavior or eventually getting a student to develop self-regulated learning can make a classroom more than a learning environment. It can allow a teacher to focus more on their students education and learning than classroom management and discipline.

Analysis

Chapter 5

According to Slavin, “all children are great learners, what they learn however, might not always be what we intend to teach” (Slavin, pp.115, 2012). This is a great explanation for all children of any age. I have always argued that children will constantly be in the “monkey see, monkey do” stage for the rest of their lives. Many children grow and learn by simply mimicking and watching what is around them. These behaviors that are mimicked can sometimes lead to bad behaviors or bad habits. When a teacher or parent can better understand how behaviors are formed and what to do about them once they are we can grasp a better understanding on how to fix and redirect them so they are no longer hindering the child.

Learning is defined by Slavin as “a change in an individual caused by change” (Slavin, pp. 116, 2012). This again is sometimes intentional or unintentional. Within behavioral theories you have multiple realms.  You have social learning theories, cognitive learning theories and behavioral learning theories. Social learning theories are when an action focuses on a thought or visa versa. Cognitive learning theories deal with mental processes that are not observed by the naked eye, but how people learn or memorize a new skill or information set. Lastly behavioral learning theories focus how pleasure or un-pleasurable consequences change the course of behavior over time within a person or subject (Slavin, 2012).

Two pioneers within the behavioral learning theories were B. F. SKinner and Ivan Pavlov. These men allowed for others to see how humans and animals not only learn but how they respond to different stimuli. Pavlov studied how different stimuli affected dogs, primarily what behaviors dogs had control of and what they did not. Stimuli that has no prior training or knowledge to the subject that would provoke any kind of reaction automatically would become known as an “unconditioned stimulus”, and the automatic response to that stimuli would become an “unconditioned response” (Slavin, pp. 117). After testing these unconditioned responses and stimuli Pavlov set off to see if he could control them, to which he did. His theory of classical conditioning allowed researchers to see that learning could affect responses once though involuntary (Slavin, pp. 117, 2012). B. F. Skinner worked closer with seeing how different reward prompts affected behavior within animals. Skinner proposed that operant behaviors that appear outside of any unconditioned stimuli operate solely on the environment that the subject is placed in. His work focused more on the correlation between consequences and behaviors (Slavin, 2012).

Within a classroom setting a teacher can learn a great deal from Skinner and Pavlov’s work. Skinner’s work boils down to something teachers use every day, consequences. Good consequences strengthened a behavior and bad ones are supposed to deter them. In most cases that does work but children today are more in tune than what we give them credit for. Teachers need to understand on a mental level why the child is exhibiting the behavior, is it appropriate or not and then how can the inappropriate behavior be redirected and hopefully eliminated. According to Pedrini and Pedrini “materials build upon past experiences so as to capitalize on student preferences for associative rather than cognitive learning and that ” (Pedrini and Pedrini 1972). Operant conditioning techniques can be used to build upon good behaviors that are needed in the classroom. When a teacher models the appropriate behavior, uses reinforcers for the good such as praise, privileges, or even grades at a timely and organized manner the child becomes more aware of what they should be doing. This in turn can lead to students being able to self guide and self regulate their own behavior and already know and understand what is expected of them without having to have a teacher guide them (Slavin, 2012).

One of the best reinforcers and consequences for a student can be that of the principal's office. For the most part, students look at the principal of a school as an authoritative figure. This is the person that is in charge of all of their teachers as well as every other aspect of the school itself. Many principals walk a line of fear and fairness and those who are able to do both run a great educational institution. However, many students do fear ever been called into the principal’s office. If a child ends up within those office walls they can usually attribute that to misbehaving consequences or a meeting with the parents or guardians.  Sadly, when a student misbehaves a natural response for a teacher is to send them to a higher authority, doing nothing to resolve and redirect the said misbehavior. Slavin argues that a “punishment should always be used as part of a careful plan that is thought out carefully and never out of frustration” (Slavin, pp. 125, 2012). This can lead to a child not understanding what they did wrong or even reinforcing the bad behavior because they know by doing it they can get out of class because then, according to Slavin, it becomes a reinforcement, not a punishment (Slavin, pp. 124, 2012).

There can be great reinforcing attributes to being sent to the office for a child. According to Slavin a reinforcer is defined as “as consequence that strengthens or increases the frequency of a behavior” (Slavin, pp.119, 2012). Slavin argues within the chapter that feedback can be used as a wonderful reinforcer for students to understand their behavior if wrong or right as well as make the information given more valuable to the student (Slavin, 2012). Furthermore, according to Robin and Alvy a main job of a principal is “communication, communication and communication” to both teachers and especially students (Robins and Alvy, 2014). A huge benefit for a child going to the office can be illustrated when that administrator gives good constructive and positive feedback that lets that student understand that he or she is doing a great job, or that he or she has improved from a possible unwanted visit. Being in such a power position a principal office visit needs to have some positives for a student to not discourage the student at an early age and for them to realize that yes, you misbehave in class and you could possibly end up in the office, but you do what is expected of you and you can get praised by the highest authority.

Reflection

These concepts were not new to me, however I did not understand how to use them within a classroom environment. I feel that these concepts can be used a great deal within a classroom to showcase to students the proper procedures and behaviors needed for the learning environment. Within the context of my classroom I can use these concepts to model the proper behaviors and reinforce the once I want with positive consequences and those that i do not with negative or ignoring ones. There are some positives and negatives to the concepts. There will be children that just do not respond to any type of stimuli or consequence good or bad so a teacher has to learn what works and what does not and sometimes that does involve the worst of all consequences with the child being removed from the classroom for periods of time. I learned that there are better ways of getting your students to focus in on the good behaviors and redirecting those who are not following procedures by doing simple things such as a tap on the shoulder or a look rather than calling the student out. Based on this information I can handle situations more effectively now because I will be able to notice if a child is doing a behavior for attention or not and how to redirect that child into doing to correct behavior for the classroom.

Reference

Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: a foundation for teaching. Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Chapter 5: Behavioral learning theories. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Robbins, P., & Alvy, H. B. (2014). The principal's companion: Strategies to lead schools for student and teacher success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication.

 Pedrini, B. C., & Pedrini, D. T. (1972). The Educational Philosophy of the Three Legged Stool: Psychologically and Educationally Sound Materials, Operant Conditioning Procedures, Structured Classroom.

Principles of Instruction and Learning image - Web Quest.  (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2016, from

http://erincunia.com/portfolio/MSportfolio/ide621/ide621f03production/learningtheory.htm  

Reflective Journal 1: Chapters 1, and 2/ Week 1 and 2 Discussion

Reflection of Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Week 1 Discussion and Week 2 Discussion

Description

The focus of the readings and discussions for EDAT 6115 this week were on the concepts and questions; “What was my reasoning for becoming a teacher”. “What makes and effective teacher”, “How do children develop their cognitive skills” and “ What are the implications of the Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development”.  Becoming a teacher is more than just wanting the summers off. It is a calling that people obtain when they know they want to help others. An effective teacher stems from that outlook. Building relationships and fostering a love of learning helps make an effective educator and successful students.

Analysis
Chapter One

According to Slavin and chapter one, there are many attributes that make up an effective teacher. Slavin discusses that simply believing in oneself and that you can make a difference is one of the best ways to become a great teacher (Slavin 2012, pp. 6). Educators who are open minded to change and help also make a better impact on their students learning. Teachers who become teachers for the love of student success and education; who are content and happy with their career choice are the greatest effective teachers. Effective teachers are able to take their knowledge and understanding of something and effectively communicate it to a learning child in a way they they understand best, this leads to better learning and overall progress in a student’s educational career (Slavin 2012, pp.3). A teacher’s love of student educational progress as well as their content shines through and their students want to embody that. These educators build relationships with their students that fosters learning and safety ( Ripley, 2010).

Slavin also discusses that teachers need to understand their students. Where they come from, what developmental stage they are in and how they are able to learn (Slavin, 2012). By doing this teachers are able to better themselves and their teaching methods to have the greatest impact on their students. Teachers who understand how to transmit information to their students also have a great effect than those who just “teach”. Slavin argues that teachers who simply “challenge their students to give their best efforts, help them make conceptual leaps and stay organized” receive the best from their students and therefore build longer lasting relationships and better cognitive learning (Slavin, pp. 4-5, 2012).

Based on my personal experience I can attest to student teacher relationships being a huge part of teacher effectiveness. Students who trust and respect their teacher beyond the classroom, are able to gain more out of education than just content knowledge. Being flexible, firm and understanding to change and implementing new criteria or ways of delivering information make up a great part of being an effective teacher as well. A teacher has to be able to adapt to any situation or student to ensure the best impact on their education.


Chapter Two

Jean Piaget became one of the leading researchers for developmental psychology. Later in his life he took his findings to that of the developmental stages of children. Piaget decided that based on his findings and data that human development is based on biological factors and that humans develop at different stages in their life. His theory of Cognitive Development or “a child’s intellect, or cognitive ability, progresses through 4 distinct stages” (Slavin, pp.31, 2012). These stages are found at specific growth times or age within a child’s life and they are known by the ability to do different fundamental skills and abilities. Through the use and research of Piaget’s theory and work this has set the basis for other developmental psychologist to further their work and research and give a better understanding of child development (Slavin, 2012).

Piaget was able to identify that children develop different skills and understandings at different age levels. He divided these stages up into four main groups “sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational” (Slavin, pp.32, 2012). Children pass through these developmental stages at different times and at different rates. Children go from discovering the world around them with only relying on their senses to being able to think abstract, critically and develop hypothetical occurrences. During the concrete operational stage is ages seven to 11. At this stage “children can form concepts, see relationships and solve problems; but only with familiar situations or skills that are already known” (Slavin, pp.36, 2012). However, children of this age tend to have difficulty understanding reality versus appearances. Therefore children at this stage can only observe and infer what they already know and understand but they cannot correlate other outside instances or information of the same sort. Children of different upbringings can accumulate other worldly experiences that can allow for a better understanding and development of the concrete operational stage. According to Gomal University Journal of Research, within a Science class of students in the age bracket of the concrete operational stage, those who were of a higher economic status and were further along in this developmental stage did better on Science subjects like Biology, Chemistry and Physics because they had the prior background information to connect to the other Science subjects to make them understandable (Ghazi and Ullah, 2015). Within the formal operational stage a student has the ability to deal with potential or hypothetical situations that is separate from the content being taught or learned (Slavin, pp. 37, 2012). This is where a student can apply all background, content knowledge and skills to a completely new concept and be able to deduct a reasoning or answer to a proposed problem. Within a science class older children who are in the formal operational stage are usually ages 11 to adult, these students think critically and their reasoning is far more advanced than those of other children, therefore they are able to elaborate and connect other criteria needed for a science lesson (Moore, 2012).

When a science teacher who is familiar with Piaget’s findings and his developmental stages wants to implement a new lesson into their classroom, they need to be familiar with their children to understand what level they are on first of all. Simply because they are of the developmental age does not mean they are at that stage of learning fully. Within a second grade classroom the teacher needs to make sure that the assignment given is of already known information and relationships to the students. If the students do not understand the real world connection they will have no understanding of the lesson; they have to be able to connect it to prior knowledge. Within an eighth grade class, seeing as the students should be at the formal operational stage the teacher could allow the students to conclude understandings about the new concept on their own findings through their prior knowledge and background information, then allow them to see if they made the correct inquiries.  

An argument to Piaget’s development is Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky argued that unlike Piaget’s theory, children are not influenced by biological factors but simply their surroundings. Their culture, symbols that they see and especially their surrounding language and written system (Slavin, pp.41, 2012). Vygotsky states that children first develop independent thinking then lead into speech to help them solve problems. Vygotsky is a leading influence in how important vocabulary and reading fluency is when it comes to the development and cognitive ability of a child. Slavin argues that “children who develop high vocabulary become effective speakers and readers which leads to children being more successful in school” (Slavin, pp.44, 2012). An argument made by Rao and Babu, Indian educators teaching English “an extensive reading program integrated into the syllabus may have a significant positive effect on learner's language learning abilities” (Rao and Babu, 2016). Educators have to implement these reading and vocabulary skills early on in a student’s academic career because it will effect them in every subject not just reading and language.

Reflection

I never knew that children went through so many developmental and cognitive stages that encompassed learning in different ways. Students and children alike understand things in different ways. Piaget and Vygotsky allow educators to understand these skills and stages in life. I also did not realize how much simple vocabulary can impact a student's success rate in school.
These concepts of being an effective teacher, cognitive development and the importance of literacy and reading skills are very important to me as an educator. They allow me to understand my students and how they learn. They also teach me how to make sure I am impacting my students education to the best of my abilities by making sure they have the skills and abilities needed for their future academic career. I feel that these concepts are something that educators need to understand early on in the teaching field. Many people who go into teaching fail at the aspect of teaching versus being an educator. Some who go into this field leave simply because they do not understand their students and how they need to learn and what influences they have on their education.

Within my classroom I can greatly implement these concepts. I teach middle grades which are suppose to be in the last cognitive developmental state according to Piaget. Many of these students however have not had the proper vocabulary or reading skills in their early education nor do many of them have the best home life and learning environment outside of school to give them the background information they need to close the developmental gaps and stages that they lack. Within the classroom I plan to understand my children better, see what stage they are at and implement more vocabulary skills to try and better their stages so that they will not fall further behind. However, the drawbacks of these concepts is how much society and an outside learning environment can influence a child's development and their ability to be successful in school. The positives though outweigh because if a teacher can figure out the stages and level of their students than learning can be made.

These concepts are going to allow me to be a better teacher because now I can better understand my students and the different learning stages they are at. Being a middle school teacher comes with its trials because this age is very difficult so understand. I can handle activities and lessons in my classroom better now because I will know what and how the students learn and what they are able to bring to the lessons themselves. These concepts are going to influence my teaching and understanding of children a great deal more now.

Reference

 Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: a foundation for teaching. Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Ripley, A. (2010). What makes a great teacher?. Atlantic, 305(1), 58-66.

 Ghazi, D. R., & Ullah, K. (2015). Concrete operational stage of piaget's cognitive development theory: an implication in learning general science. Gomal University Journal Of Research, 31(1), 78-89.

 Moore, J. C. (2012). Transitional to Formal Operational: Using Authentic Research Experiences to Get Non-Science Students to Think More Like Scientists. European Journal Of Physics Education, 3(4), 1.

 Rao, C. S., & Babu, K. S. (2016). Importance of extensive reading in language learning. language in india, 16(2), 251-260

Kayla Kilgore Introduction EDAT 6115

         Hello everyone, my name is Kayla Kilgore. I am a graduate of Georgia Southwestern State University. I am currently a middle grades teacher in Ware County Georgia. I specifically teach 7th and 8th grade Social Studies, but I have also taught high school history. This year I will complete my third year of teaching. I have enjoyed every year of my teaching and educational career. I am taking this course to complete my masters degree from Valdosta State University in Accomplished Teaching.