Module 2
In Chapter 4, there is a section about Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences which are linguistic, musical, spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. I think that this theory is a very important concept to consider in regards to students' intelligence because people often define their intelligence by IQ scores. As a part of my Psychology class in freshman year, we took a test that helped us determine our areas of strongest intelligence. I ended up with a strong interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. Respectively, this means that I am able to understand the needs and desires of others and respond appropriately, and that I am knowledgeable of my own strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities. Our class was also given a chart that described each Intelligence's skills and possible career paths that could be applied with them. One of the career paths that was listed under interpersonal was a teacher, which made me feel confident in my abilities to become an effective special education teacher because I was planning to be one. I had a higher level of intrapersonal intelligence, however, which also made me doubt my abilities as a future teacher. Now that I am planning to be a para-professional, though, my intelligence levels make more sense since I have a clearer understanding of my abilities. I also like to regard the MI theory because I will be working with people who have disabilities whose strengths should be determined and acknowledged as often as possible. This can be done by knowing their strongest areas of intelligence in Gardner's model. The theory can also help with individualized instruction since there are "six Entry points--narrative, logical-quantitative, aesthetic, experiential, interpersonal, and existential/foundational..." (Woolfolk 126). In other words, if I know what the student's strongest intelligence is then I can use one of these Entry points to help maximize instruction for them.
For a section in Chapter 5, Woolfolk discusses two approaches for English Language Learning. Although there was also a section about addressing the needs of ELL students who have disabilities, it was mainly talking about the considerations that have to be made before referring them for special education. Since I am going to work with individuals I have disabilities, I was disappointed that there weren't any teaching strategies for the latter section; however I could still use the former two approaches if I have to work with a student who is also an ELL. The first approach "focuses on immersion in English-only teaching to make the transition to English as quickly as possible" and the second "attempts to maintain or improve the native language and use that language as the primary teaching language until English skills are more fully developed" (Woolfolk 193). When I was living in Spain, I attended British schools where most of the students were already fluent Spanish speakers. So whenever we had Spanish class, they were learning material that was at a much higher level than what I knew. This is because I would only speak English at home and in church because mostly everyone would speak English there as well. The teachers at my school tried to teach me Spanish by giving me lower-level work but I still did not learn the language very well. I was able to learn most of the rules in classes over here, fortunately, but I am still not very good at talking conversationally in Spanish. Therefore, I think that I would choose the teaching approach according to what the student does and doesn't know about speaking in English. If the student is not familiar with English at all, I would use the second approach until they are comfortable with attempting to speak in English. As for the first approach, I would use it if the student knows the general rules of English and would like to try applying them in conversations.
Finally, in Chapter 6, there is a section about gender roles which are "expectations about how males and females should behave" (Woolfolk 232). Although societal factors largely help girls and boys form gender schemas, biology also plays a role in their gender-role development: "Very early, hormones affect activity level and aggression, with boys tending to prefer active, rough, noisy play" (Woolfolk 232). This was interesting to me because I never knew that biology also affected gender-role development. As I said earlier, however, societal and environmental factors can have a large effect on developing gender schemas. For example, I enjoyed playing with boys when I was younger because I would often play with my younger brother. I liked to play with girls too because I had the same interests as them. In fact, I used to love the color pink and I would happily wear dresses and nice outfits when I was younger. Now, however, my interests changed and I no longer feel comfortable wearing dresses or having anything mostly colored pink. In other words, every person is unique and should not be treated as the stereotypical gender roles. This is especially important when working with students in school because their parents, and even their peers, could have gender-based expectations of them which could affect their academic performance. These expectations are mentioned when Woolfolk states that "a preschool girl is more likely to tell you that she wants to become a nurse than to say she wants to be an engineer" (233). If I end up working with students in a school, therefore, I will encourage them to pursue their interests and to be their own person no matter what society will think of them.
For a section in Chapter 5, Woolfolk discusses two approaches for English Language Learning. Although there was also a section about addressing the needs of ELL students who have disabilities, it was mainly talking about the considerations that have to be made before referring them for special education. Since I am going to work with individuals I have disabilities, I was disappointed that there weren't any teaching strategies for the latter section; however I could still use the former two approaches if I have to work with a student who is also an ELL. The first approach "focuses on immersion in English-only teaching to make the transition to English as quickly as possible" and the second "attempts to maintain or improve the native language and use that language as the primary teaching language until English skills are more fully developed" (Woolfolk 193). When I was living in Spain, I attended British schools where most of the students were already fluent Spanish speakers. So whenever we had Spanish class, they were learning material that was at a much higher level than what I knew. This is because I would only speak English at home and in church because mostly everyone would speak English there as well. The teachers at my school tried to teach me Spanish by giving me lower-level work but I still did not learn the language very well. I was able to learn most of the rules in classes over here, fortunately, but I am still not very good at talking conversationally in Spanish. Therefore, I think that I would choose the teaching approach according to what the student does and doesn't know about speaking in English. If the student is not familiar with English at all, I would use the second approach until they are comfortable with attempting to speak in English. As for the first approach, I would use it if the student knows the general rules of English and would like to try applying them in conversations.
Finally, in Chapter 6, there is a section about gender roles which are "expectations about how males and females should behave" (Woolfolk 232). Although societal factors largely help girls and boys form gender schemas, biology also plays a role in their gender-role development: "Very early, hormones affect activity level and aggression, with boys tending to prefer active, rough, noisy play" (Woolfolk 232). This was interesting to me because I never knew that biology also affected gender-role development. As I said earlier, however, societal and environmental factors can have a large effect on developing gender schemas. For example, I enjoyed playing with boys when I was younger because I would often play with my younger brother. I liked to play with girls too because I had the same interests as them. In fact, I used to love the color pink and I would happily wear dresses and nice outfits when I was younger. Now, however, my interests changed and I no longer feel comfortable wearing dresses or having anything mostly colored pink. In other words, every person is unique and should not be treated as the stereotypical gender roles. This is especially important when working with students in school because their parents, and even their peers, could have gender-based expectations of them which could affect their academic performance. These expectations are mentioned when Woolfolk states that "a preschool girl is more likely to tell you that she wants to become a nurse than to say she wants to be an engineer" (233). If I end up working with students in a school, therefore, I will encourage them to pursue their interests and to be their own person no matter what society will think of them.
The problem with the immersion approach for ELLs is that they are taught all the content subjects in English, which has something to do with their missing important concepts. Since they don't know English as well, and let's say science is taught only in English, these students may not fully grasp certain scientific concepts, which in turn leads to their not having the basic foundation to learning other more complex concepts, and so on. I think it makes more sense to teach everything in both languages so they don't miss out on their content.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reflection on this chapter! I found it interesting what you had to say about learning Spanish while you lived in Spain. I think it is really important to recognize where students are at in general with learning, but it is especially important to pay attention to ELL students because if they are having a hard time understanding the language, they will have an even harder time understanding the material being taught. Because of that, I think it can be important to teach the student so they learn English but are still able to grasp the concepts being taught in class.
ReplyDeleteI also liked what you had to say about gender roles. Students are all unique and should not be grouped into categories based on what they like to or don't like to do. Some girls like dolls and others like cars, and that should not have an effect on how we view each student.