Chapter 5: Intelligence

You have now read several views about intelligence. What do you think about intelligence? Is it one trait or many? More heavily influenced by nature or nurture? A fixed capacity or a modifiable ability? Articulate your views in a paragraph of 6-8 sentences.

In my view, intelligence involves a combination of mental processes and cannot be defined as one single trait. I believe both nature and nurture have an influence on how intelligence develops, but I think that the nurturing aspects plays a much greater role. Children are born with the capability of learning (nature); however, without the proper environment and support, intelligence is not allowed to thrive, flourish, and grow (nurture). Intelligence can be modified over time. Again, it depends on the environment. The environment can have many influences on how a child's intelligence develops and also can influence what aspects of intelligence a child most often uses. Since intelligence involves many mental processes, those processes can be nourished or hindered over time.

Chapter 4: Class

For the Chapter 4 info, I read two chapter excerpts from the book Understanding Poverty. I found the first part of this reading to be very interesting. The author wrote in a way that encouraged the reader (a teacher) to think in the perspective of children who are living in poverty. The author provided many examples for the reader to put him/herself in the shoes of a child who may be struggling with the issue of moving from place to place, living with several other people (related or unrelated to them), or lack of access to resources. After creating this image, the author goes on to give specific strategies teachers can use in the classroom to support these particular students.

It appears that the author feels that possibly teachers lack the resources they need in order to support children living in poverty or that teachers are not recognizing what can be done to effectively support these children in such conditions. It was great to see these specific issues brought to light and put out on the table, because I think it is very easy for teachers to forget where their children are coming from, and I think some teachers (unconsciously) let children such as those living in poverty fall through the cracks without recognizing that they need help. While this specific chapter does not address signs for children living in poverty (although it may be obvious in some cases), I think the strategies and tips given by the author are helpful in future situations when I will be dealing with children in my classroom who come from a less than fortunate background.

One section I was surprised to read about was at the end of the first chapter excerpt titled "Great Expectations." In this short, two paragraph section the author specifically tells the reader (teacher) that they cannot allow themselves to hold students that come from poverty situations to lower standards and expect less of them when compared to their peers. It may be easy for some teachers or to make excuses for children who come from poverty situations such as, "Oh, he's had a hard life," and think that excuses like that can suffice for possibly getting out of certain situations. The author stresses that as teachers, we should expect great things from all of our students, not just students from a particular social class, culture, race, or any other defining factor. Great teachers will expect great things from their students and expect them to overcome challenges instead of letting challenges overcome them.

Chapter 3: Personal and Social Development

Personal and social development can have a major influence on both individual student learning and the learning environment as a whole. Identify a case from the CSEL guidelines*that you would like to address in your paper. Then, examine the possible developmental factors that could be influencing your target student(s) or classroom in the case study. Consider all dimensions of personal and social development, including cognitive, language, social,
emotional, and moral development. *CSEL guidelines can be found under CSEL Artifact. Cases are included at the end of the document. Choose the case that best suits your desired grade level.
Willard seems to be lagging in his social develpoment when compared to his peers. While many of his peers are most likely moving towards the Industry vs. Inferiority stage of Erikson's psychosocial stages of development, it appears that Willard is still trying to succeed in Erikson's stage 3: Intiative vs. Guilt. During this stage, children are to begin asserting control over the environment through taking initiative to plan activities, accomplish tasks, and face challenges. It seems as if Willard is relying on adults in his environment to tell him how and when routines take place and is unsure of how to act when there is not that authority there to tell him what he should be doing. It could be possible that throughout this stage, Willard has been exposed to parents or other adults that have been discouraging to his attempts to "branch out" and take control and has caused him to become overly dependent on others.

Check out tables 3.1 (p. 75), 3.2 (p. 83) and 3.3 (p. 91) with particular attention to the age ranges you are interested in teaching. Identify your personal favorite ways that an educator can promote a child’s sense of self, perspective taking, and moral reasoning skills.
For sense of self, I looked at the grade level 3-5, and my favorite strategy I would use in my classroom is to focus the student's attention on improvement over time rather than what happens in the present. I think it is important to help students see how they could improve certain skills over time rather than what is going on in the moment. Through this, I think that also it would be a good time to teach long-term goals and how to help students achieve those goals.
For perspective taking, I chose to focus on grade level K-2. I really liked the strategy that involves asking children questions about thoughts and feelings while reading a book. Not only does it incorporate literacy, but children can relate to how the characters in the book feel in very concrete ways. Since at this age many children are reading or having read to them picture books, they can use visual clues to determine what the character(s) might be feeling. These same visual clues can be used in everyday life. I would probably ask my students to think about how they would feel if they were in a particular character's shoes in order to gain a different perspective. This would promote the children to take on a different view of the situation and think more in depth about their own feelings.
Again, for moral reasoning, I looked at grade 3-5. My favorite strategy here is "Talk about how having rules enables classrooms and groups to run more smoothly." Rules have this sort of negative connotation attached to them and you are not supposed to break them or you will be in trouble. I think now it is important to focus on why we have rules in place and to get children to understand that the rules aren't there to slow them down but to make each workspace enjoyable. It is important to stress the reason for rules and that they are safety measures for all students as well as teachers. (Teachers should follow the rules too!) As far as "punishment" for "breaking the rules" I think that there should not be such a thing. I saw a video the other day where the teacher used a "Refill Station" (a chair where students went to regain composure, think about good actions, etc) in place of a time out chair or in place of a privilege taken away. I think this is a good idea because it gives the children a time to reflect and allows them to think about how they can improve.

Chapter 3 Song

"Don't Let Me Get Me" - Pink

 

Never win first place, I don't support the team
I can't take direction, and my socks are never
clean
Teachers dated me, my parents hated me I was always in a fight cuz I can't do nothin'
right
Everyday I fight a war against the mirror
I can't take the person starin' back at me
I'm a hazard to myself

Don't let me get me
I'm my own worst enemy
Its bad when you annoy yourself
So irritating
Don't wanna be my friend no more
I wanna be somebody else

I wanna be somebody else, yeah
LA told me, "You'll be a pop star,
All you have to change is everything you are." Tired of being compared to damn Britney Spears
She's so pretty, that just ain't me

Doctor, doctor won't you please prescribe
somethin
A day in the life of someone else?
Cuz I'm a hazard to myself

Don't let me get me
I'm my own worst enemy
Its bad when you annoy yourself
So irritating
Don't wanna be my friend no more
I wanna be somebody else

Don't let me get me
I'm my own worst enemy
Its bad when you annoy yourself
So irritating
Don't wanna be my friend no more
I wanna be somebody else

Doctor, doctor won't you please prescribe
somethin
A day in the life of someone else?
Don't let me get me

Don't let me get me
I'm my own worst enemy
Its bad when you annoy yourself
So irritating
Don't wanna be my friend no more
I wanna be somebody else

 

 

2. Page 73 - 74

 

3. This song reminded me of Erikson's psychosocial stage identity vs. role confusion. In this stage, adolescents struggle with finding who they are and essentially "try on" all these different identities to find the one that fits them the best. In this stage, adolescents integrate their perceptions about themselves into a more multifacted sense of self.

 

4. This song in it entirety relates to Erikson's fifth stage, but I believe the highlighted parts strongly exemplify the stage teens are going through. The artist of this song is singing about how she perceives herself in comparison with how others see her too. She realizes that who she is is not widely accepted and seems to be expressing a feeling of neglect from her peers or the world. She describes herself as not being the type of person that supports (what I think, sports) teams and she does not win at anything. She sings about how she is compared to a pop star- Britney Spears and her view that she, herself, is not pretty and does not live up to the same standard. She was even told by high-up, record artists that she had to change who she was to make it in the business. Repeatedly in the song she states that she "wants to be somebody else" and she is "her own worst enemy." I think this song gives an example of how teens take on temporary identities to discover who they are, and the artist has figured out that her current identity is not working for her in her best interest.

 

5. In my future classroom, I do not believe I will be working with an age group that is beginning to develop such harsh negative views about themselves and really comparing themselves to their peers in such a harsh way. However, I do think that even at a young age children can begin to develop a sort of negative view about who they are through what other people say about them. If the child is exposed to generally negative comments about their abilities, I think it is possible for that child to just take on that role (ex: if the kid is always being told he is lazy). To apply this knowledge, I would start off the year in the right direction. I would make explicit to my children that actions such as bullying or demeaning another person's ability will not be accepted and that we treat everyone with equal, mutual respect. If I were to encounter this child mid-year, I would do what I could to bring out the positive in the child and help that child as well as the other students see the positive. i would help that child build on what they do best to maintain a positive self perception.