Pizzazz – Unique ways to write poetry and fiction

http://pages.uoregon.edu/leslieob/pizzaz.html

Writing your own children’s book

Teaching Morals in a Middle School Creative Writing Class

EDU 6526 – Module 8 Reflection

Direct instruction often gets a “bad rap” in education circles. In my classes at SPU, it was the method to stay far away from, one that should be utilized very sparingly in the classroom. It was good for me to read the D&D chapter on direct instruction, as it helped me see the necessity of it. When coupled with constructivist approaches, direct instruction can be very beneficial to students. It’s powerful as an introductory, overview, and review tool, among other things. I definitely found that to be true in my classroom last year.

EDU 6982 – Journal Entry #14

Vocabulary:

Ecological validity: (pg. 355) the extent to which a study’s results can be generalized to different settings

The ecological validity of the study on instructional approaches that benefited students the most could be generalized across the elementary grades.

Reflection:

I’m pleased with everything I’ve learned in this course. We definitely just touched the surface, but enough so that I have a beginning grasp on many of the elements of educational research. I think the biggest thing I will take away is the knowledge of how to read an article on a research study with a critical eye. As a new teacher, I want to stay up on current research and implement new strategies or ideas I come across, but I don’t want to do so without first taking into consideration who conducted the study, how it was conducted, what the results say, etc. It will be handy to have this book around if I need a refresher, that’s for sure.

EDU 6982 – Journal Entry #13

Vocabulary:

Population validity: (pg. 353) limits the results and conclusions of a study to “other individuals who have the same, or at least very similar, characteristics.”

The population validity of the study consisted of male Latino students who attended middle school or high school in the Midwest.

Reflection:

I tend to generalize a lot. I catch myself doing it all the time and try to correct my statements. The “Limitations” section of Chapter 13 was interesting to me for this reason. Generalizing even within that same group or population can be risky and downright incorrect sometimes, depending on how well a study was planned and conducted. I suppose this is probably one of the reasons why studies are conducted over and over about the same topic, both with and without mild changes. The more studies, the more evidence, the more accurate the results will be.

EDU 6982 – Journal Entry #12

Vocabulary:

Single-subject designs: (pg. 241) designs that “use one or just a few subjects to study the influence of a new procedure.”

William, a child with an exceptionally high IQ, took part in an experiment that had a single-subject design.

Baseline: (pg. 241) “a period of time in which the target behavior (dependent variable) is observed and recorded as it occurs without a special or new program or procedure.”

Before the intervention, Mr. Monroe observed and recorded a four-day baseline of Laura’s behavior.

Reflection:

These single-subject designs seem very applicable to the everyday teacher’s practice. Last year, I had several students who would have been perfect candidates for such an experiment. Many of these students had trouble staying on task and while my mentor teacher and I would often come up with “remedies” we hoped would work, we never compared the students’ productivity during the “interventions” to their productivity before and after. This is something I want to keep in mind for this upcoming school year.

EDU 6526 – Module 7 Reflection

In “Can Virtue Be Taught?”, Russell Kirk’s first few words really sum up my convictions about values and the way they’re best learned and adopted by others. He says that our country is most in need of “a virtue arising from habit and affection, rather than ideological preaching.” Too often, I think educators, parents, and other influential figures try to instill values by talking, yelling and re-emphasizing. Whatever happened to modeling values? It’s widely known that actions speak louder than words. DO what you’re asking your students to do, BE what you’re asking them to be, and watch what happens.

EDU 6982 – Journal Entry #11

Vocabulary:

Phenomenological study: (pg. 291) “a study whose purpose is to describe and interpret the experiences of participants in order to understand the “essence” of the experience as perceived by the participants”

A phenomenological study was conducted to determine students’ satisfaction with their afternoon P.E. class at Puyallup High School.

Reflection:

I enjoyed learning about the different types of qualitative studies. I had heard of case studies before and was asked to complete a short one for another class I’m taking this summer. Phenomenological studies, however, I hadn’t heard of before. I’m wondering if the course evaluations that we complete for SPU courses, although not really studies, at least fall under the category of phenomenological. They survey multiple people from the same class on their opinions and experiences in that class. It seems like phenomenological studies in education would be great for hearing people’s voices and modifying instruction, curriculum, strategies, etc., based on those voices.

EDU 6982 – Journal Entry #10

Vocabulary:

Confidence intervals: (pg. 255) “a range of values in which the population or “real” trait value lies with specific probabilities.”

The researcher’s confidence interval was from 10-20, due to the sample mean being 15.

Reflection:

I have to admit that all the numbers and statistical information in chapter 10 were very confusing to me. While reading this textbook, I’ve struggled to understand the statistics part of educational inquiry. I feel that I have gained a better understanding, but I still feel a little lost. My main complaint about this textbook is that it doesn’t present information as clearly as I think it could/should. It’s not as if I don’t understand the ideas that are being presented, in theory. I have a hard time comprehending the big picture and how the things I’m learning about play their part in a research study.

EDU 6982 – Journal Entry #9

Vocabulary:

Subject effects: (pg. 224) subject changes in behavior, initiated by the subjects themselves, in response to the experimental situation”

A student raised his hand: “Would it be subject effects if a student really respected the person who happened to be observing and tried harder because of that?”

Reflection:

I really liked the in-class activity about internal validity. It helped me understand a lot more clearly the factors that can influence it, and I also appreciated the non-linguistic representations. It’s a little overwhelming thinking of how many factors can change the results of an experiment. It’s also overwhelming thinking about attempting to control those factors.