Jim

**PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION**
The primary function of education is to meet the needs of the students. I recognize that every student has something to contribute. I feel that I can draw out and satisfy their curiosities, by providing an environment that is comfortable and also by providing new experiences that quench their thirst of knowledge. There’s an old expression that says, “Give a man to fish and he’ll eat for the day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for life.” My aim is to inspire and motivate students, providing them with the necessary skills that will one day contribute to their success in life.

**MY FRAMEWORK**
My framework takes the shape of a flow chart reading left to right: objectives, teaching, demonstrating, practice, and comprehension. I utilized the ideas of Madeline Hunter's direct instruction chart and made some modifications to better suit my understandings.

**CATEGORIZING KEY CONCEPTS**
1.) Assimilation/Accommodation Assimilation and accommodation is the process through which we adapt to our environment. Assimilation refers to the process through which people use existing schemes and structures to organize new experiences and understandings. However, sometimes new data does not fit into our existing scheme, so a person must make a modification. This is what's known as accommodation. As people adapt to their environment, they are understanding new information. This concept fits into my framework under **comprehension** because they are able to identify the new event and organize it into their scheme.
 * __Chapters 1 & 2__**

2.) Piaget's Stages of Development Piaget's four stages of cognitive development consist of sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete-operational, and formal operations. Each of the four stages can be categorized into different parts of my framework. To begin with, both the sensorimotor stage and preoperational stage can be placed into the **objectives** category of my framework. In the sensorimotor stage, childrens' thinking involves all of the senses as they are developing object permanence. Children might be introduced with an objective, but they lack the ability to hold onto memories. In the preoperational stage, children organize their schemes within physical actions. Organizing past experiences and information has yet to be mastered. Thinking in this stage can present a challenge. The concrete-operational stage falls into my framework under **objectives, teaching, demonstrating,** and **practice**. Here, children are able to master the principles such as identity, reversible thinking, conservation, decentering, and compensation. With a logical understanding of the world and how they fit into it, children still lack the ability to undertake abstract problems, which prevents them from the final stage of my framework. Finally, the formal operations stage falls into each of the categories. Students in this stage can reason hypothetical situations and hypothesize. With the ability to think and solve problems from different approaches, comprehension is obtained.

3.) Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development ZPD falls under **teaching** in my framework. According to Vygotsky, the zone is the gap between what students already know and what is to complicated for them to learn. At each point in development, children are able to learn more and more if the content is appropriate for their level of comprehension. Through structure, reminders, encouragement, and restricted help, students can break through barriers and solve new problems. This approach is labeled as scaffolding, or learning support. Since the theory focuses on what students can learn, the idea is suitable for the **teaching** category.

4.) Types of Thinking (Literal, Interpretive, Creative) Within my framework, I placed literal thinking under **demonstrating** and **practice**. Literal thinking is valuable and appropriate for many situations. Because this type of thinking is concerned with the facts, it may not be necessary to consider why those facts are indeed important. Literal thinking leads to demonstrating and practice, but may not fully achieve comprehension as this is the foundation for higher forms of thinking. Both interpretive and creative thinking fall under comprehension. Interpretive thinking involves the use of factual information and then connecting this information to concepts, decisions, or other facts. This is a higher level of thinking where comprehension is reached. Creative thinking builds upon interpretive thinking as it leads to synthesizing interpretations into new ideas. Although new ideas may fail or be inadequate, the process calls for a highly functioning mind that has reached comprehension.

__**Chapter 4**__ 1.) Learning Styles There are many individual styles in which people learn. Zhang and Sternberg categorize individual styles into three groups: cognitive, personality, and activity. Cognitive centered styles examine the way people think, personality centered styles consider personality traits, and activity centered styles assess each of the first two and determine how someone will approach activities. Learning styles, is an idea referring to how people approach learning and studying. Because this is at the beginning stages of learning, it falls into my category of **objectives**. Anita Woolfolk makes a good argument that "learning preferences" is a more accurate term because most research in this area portrays inclinations for particular learning environments.

2.) Intelligence Intelligence is defined as the "ability or abilities to acquire and use knowledge for solving problems and adapting to the world." This concept is very broad, as intelligence can be broken down much further. Intelligence can refer to abilities such as general reasoning, memory span, creativity, reaction time, and much more. It can occur on eight different levels according to the Multiple Intelligences Theory, and possibly more. These include mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and and naturalist. Intelligence is a process that all people use. Because abilities must be learned at the start of this process to solve problems, intelligence is placed under **teaching** in my framework.



3.) Learning Disabilities Students with learning disabilities fall significantly below average for their level. Difficulties can occur in one or several areas including academics, coordination, attention span, organization, memory, speech, and much more. This label can also be deceiving as it is often over used. Proper diagnosis is significant so that strategies can be used to encourage and meet the needs of these students. Learning disabilities can stem from physiological and/or environmental sources, however, students can connect to information with assistance and learning help. Learning disabilities could fall into each category of my framework, but if I had to choose one, it would be **objectives**.

4.) Gifted Students Under the same premises as learning disabilities, gifted students also fall into each category of my framework but most specifically, **objectives**. Gifted students are advanced learners that reach above average level expectations. Similar to the learning disabled, gifted students can achieve highly in one or more areas of multiple intelligences. These students may face conflicts with their peers, teachers, and even themselves with high expectations. Gifted students also risk inadequate education because states are not required to provide special programs to meet the needs of these students.

__**Chapter 6**__ Chapter 6 focuses on the processes of behavioral learning. To understand behavioral learning theories, one must understand that learning is more then merely memorizing key facts outlined by a teacher. Learning can occur anytime and anywhere, as one's knowledge permanently changes resulting from an experience. It's through this process that I place all the concepts of chapter 6 into each category of my framework, but if I had to choose one, it would be **demonstrating**. Behavioral learning is experienced at each stage.

The chapter distinguishes classical conditioning from operant conditioning. Classical conditioning refers to automatically learning and involuntary response to a stimuli. Because this response is involuntary, it can frequently be an unwanted condition. For instance, a supervisor observing you work may cause your hand to tremble. On the other hand, operant conditioning refers to intentionally learning a behavior caused from an experience. Teachers can benefit from this strategy if properly executed in the classroom. If a teacher wanted to reinforce good behavior, they could offer frequent compliments to students, causing them to feel good. The positive reinforcement experienced by the student is the operant conditioning. This is best suited under **demonstrating.**

Reinforcement is another key tenant of the chapter. It describes the consequences to strengthen a behavior, whether negative or positive. Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior my applauding the action, while negative reinforcement strengthens a behavior by removing the undesired source of the stimulus. Even misbehavior can receive positive reinforcement if it gains attention and encouragement from other students. Reinforcement should be implemented on a schedule, either interval or ratio, to achieve the desired behavior. Reinforcement best falls under **teaching**.

Another main concept of chapter 6 is self-reinforcement and self-management. The chief objective in education is to develop students into mature adults that can take charge of their learning and their lives. In self-reinforcement, students take control of their own reinforcers. Sometimes it can even be a small reward to yourself for a completed task. This allows one to manage their own lives and goals, leading to self-management, referring to behavior learning principles to change your behavior.

__**Chapter 7**__ 1.) Sensory Memory I categorized sensory memory into **objectives** of my framework. Through this process, stimuli is transformed into information that is useful to us. Whether it's a sight, taste, sound, smell, or feeling, this is the initial process through which new experiences enter our sensory register. The stimuli is new and on the path to becoming information, so I can relate it to objectives.

2.) Long-Term Memory Long-term memory can be organized under **comprehension**. I think of long-term memory as a hard drive for computers. This is the storage house for permanent knowledge. Long-term memory is believed to be unlimited, but access to this information can be slow compared to working memory. Some even classify working memory into long-term memory, because it's memory that "works on." Long-term memory may be harder to reach because it's not always information used each day. Regardless, it consists of knowledge fully comprehended.

3.) Procedural Knowledge Procedural knowledge refers to information that has internalized and can be automatically retrieved without demands of working memory. For example, if you make a mistake with a pencil and need to use the eraser, you're not going to think about it. Instead, you'll just do it and carry on without much thought. Procedural knowledge makes you an expert at the skill/ability relevant to the information. This to fits under **comprehension** of my framework as it exists as long-term memory.

4.) Mnemonics Mnemonics are strategies to help in remembering. If information has no meaning when taken in, one can use a mnemonic to connect the information and establish meaning. It's a process that everyone has done at some point. It can prove very effective and can also be used in conjunction with other mnemonics. Mnemonics falls under **practice** of my framework, because the information is still be learned and will soon be comprehended.

__**Chapter 8**__ 1.) Metacognition Metacognition refers to knowledge about ones cognitive learning process. It is used to regulate thinking and learning, which incorporates three essential skills: planning monitoring, and evaluating. The steps are practical to carry out when a task is complicated, but not necessary for a simple task like writing your name. Metacognition falls into **comprehension** of my framework. This is fitting because it uses declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and self-regulatory knowledge to accomplish goals. Exercising metacognition means having control over learning.

2.) Learning Strategies Learning strategies falls into my framework under **teaching** because they make up the ideas for accomplishing learning goals. Students can use many different tactics for gaining knowledge, so exposure to many different types of strategies will benefit students. These strategies include summarizing, highlighting, note taking, graphic organizers, reviewing, and making connections. Woolfolk explains the most effective strategy is to teach students to learn how to learn. To effectively use strategies, students must be taught appropriate content and become goal orientated.

3.) Problem Solving I placed problem solving under the **practice** category of my framework. Problem solving allows us to use what we have learned and apply it to a circumstance. Problem solving strategies assists one in understanding the situation and formulating a technique to reach the answer. A student must have a solid base knowledge of the content to utilize their abilities to solve a problem. Once adequate problem solving is achieved of the lesson, the student is near comprehension on my framework.

4.) Critical Thinking This higher level style of thinking fits into **comprehension**. Critical thinking can be applied to the classroom and real life. It demonstrates one's comprehension and pushes expectations. Critical thinking skills can be difficult to develop because it goes beyond standard classroom procedures. Because these skills are not easily transferred to different areas, it is important to practice and reinforce critical thinking. Students will achieve stronger critical thinking skills when they are asked to interpret and analyze rather then to simply describe.

__**Chapter 14**__ 1.) Formative and Summative Assessment These categorizes describe the purpose for assessments. A formative assessment is given before a lesson to determine the skill level of the students for a particular topic. This is typically not graded, and used to gauge the students' abilities. Teacher's can use the results to plan their lessons. A summative assessment is administered at the end of a lesson to test the student on the current unit. These results should reflect what has just been taught. The formative assessment falls under **objectives** of my framework because it is used to determine how the content should be taught. On the other hand, summative assessment falls under **practice** because the test enables students to utilize the knowledge they have learned.

2.) Assessing Assessments According to Woolfolk, it's not uncommon for tests to be interpreted inaccurately. This occurs due to the misconception that tests are an exact measurement of ability. I place this topic under **comprehension**, because interpreting test scores depends on reliability, validity, and absence of bias. Reliability refers to the consistency of test results, while the validity refers to the degree of which a test measures what is intended. In judging assessments, absence of bias refers to the qualities of an assessment that unfairly penalize students because of gender, race, intelligence, etc. The bias can sway test results in either direction.

3.) Objective and Essay Testing Objective tests include short answer, multiple choice, true false, and fill-in the blank questions. The main principle is that there is essentially one answer, so the question is not open to interpretation. Objective testing is ideal for testing students on multiple areas . Essay tests are a suitable format when the topic of assessment is open for interpretation. It can be answered in more then one way and students have to back up there statements. Interpretations of the essay can also be complex as poor answers can be confused with good writing, or vica-versa. Objective and essay testing fit into **practice** of the framework because it is a process that utilizes new information.

4.) Grading Grading is a sensitive topic because it can invoke competition, self-confidence, failure, and more among students. It can cause stress for teachers as well because they most decide if grading should be a comparison of students, or an indicator for the level of understanding. The section points out that assigning a grade that is not deserved can be more harmful then failure. Failure presents the students with a challenge, and possibly motivation for improvement. Grading falls into **teaching** of my framework as it can indicate the level of ability and determine the next direction.

5.) Standardized Testing Standardized testing can detract from the intent of lessons. Standards are created and enforced by educators and policy makers with the interest of evaluating students on specific content. Preparing for these test can be daunting. Content may not be part of the curriculum, teachers might stress about reaching adequate yearly progress, and schools need to exhibit adequate scores. It's hard to say if this process is fair. On one hand, all students nation wide are subjected to the same test, yet students are prepped in numerous ways depending on their teacher, location, school, background, etc. Nevertheless, standardized testing falls under **practice** of my framework because it is yet another way of demonstrating knowledge.

__**Chapter 10 & 11**__ 1.) Modeling Modeling, or learning from others, is an aspect of social cognitive theory. Modeling is more then just simply copying. It's a behavior learned through others. Some of the factors that contribute to this behavior include age, the ability to retain information, motivation, and the competency of the model. This learning behavior falls under **teaching** of my framework because it is a form of self-directed learning.

2.) Self-Regulation Self-regulated learning is the process for individuals to learn independently without the aide of teachers. Goals are reached in the process of activating and sustaining thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. The three key components that influence self-regulation are knowledge, motivation, and volition which refers to self discipline. Self-regulation also falls under **teaching** as it demonstrates another process of self learning.

3.) Complex Tasks Complex tasks help develop students abilities of independent learning. Complex tasks should not be overwhelming or frustrating. If it creates the proper level of challenge, the students will benefit from motivation. Complex tasks should be designed to achieve multiple goals and carry out over extended periods of time. This concept fits into **practice** because the students are using new knowledge to solve challenging problems.

4.) Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation Our source of motivation may differ based on the goal or activity. When the reward of completing the activity is the motivation, this is known as intrinsic motivation. However, if the motivation derives from external factors of incentives like rewards and punishment, the motivation is extrinsic. Although the two types can be difficult to determine, each falls into **objectives** because it marks the start of a process in working towards comprehension.

5.) Maslow's Hierachy of Needs Maslow's model addresses human needs in ranked order. The most important needs are at the bottom which address survival and safety. Higher level needs communicate intellectual achievement and ultimately self-actualization. The theory is controversial, but it is believed that when the top level is reached, motivation moves towards further fulfillment. Because the theory addresses needs aside from intellect, I categorized it into **objectives**. If a person were on a specific level, they would change in my framework as well.

6.) Emotions and Anxiety Both emotions and anxiety can significantly affect learning. According to Woolfolk, when student achievement is increased, positive achievement emotions are also increased. On the other hand, anxiety can have a negative affect on achievement as it interferes with attention, learning, and testing. This could easily fit into all categories of my framework, but I place it under **objectives**.

__**Chapter 12**__ 1.) Student Cooperation One of the most important components of teaching is gaining the cooperation of students. In order for the class to be productive, everyone needs to be on task. In order to gain cooperation, teachers need to be prepared, be ready with plans, give clear signals, transition smoothly, foresee problems, and deal with misbehavior immediately. Student cooperation falls best under **objectives**, because it is sought from the beginning of any lesson.

2.) Routines and Procedures Running an efficient classroom correlates with clear routines and procedures. These should be explained and demonstrated how they can be accomplished. Woolfolk recommends set routines for administrative tasks, student movement, housekeeping, accomplishing lessons, interactions between teacher and student, and talk among students. Routines and procedures also fall under **objectives** of my framework.

3.) Consequences It's important to have procedures set in place for when rules are not followed. This helps the teacher maintain authority, and the students won't be surprised when a consequence is administered. Typically, the best consequence is to have the student repeat the process properly. For example, if a student is running, they can go back and walk. This to most accurately falls under the **objectives** category.

4.) Recognizing Violence Violence in schools is a subject matter that is not taken lightly. Violence prevention lies in identifying potential signs early on. Although surveillance can not be everywhere, teachers should convey the message that they care about their students. If the situation calls for it, teachers can confront the student or help them seek counsel. This too falls under **objectives**.