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FEATURES FOR TEACHERS |
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Ideas and
Features For New Teachers |
Volume 4, Issue 8 April 2008 |
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A look at Multiple Learning
Styles: I am an early elementary teacher and at a recent staff meeting our Principal urged our team to be innovative with our lessons, specifically utilizing multiple learning styles. Each member of our team is researching multiple learning style according to a specific discipline, mine being science. What do you think? JG, Kansas City, MO Dear JG, “I applaud your Principal for her stance and your team for approaching this in a professional manner. Multiple Intelligence theory is not new and has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence in the past few years. Research indicates students learn in different ways. Some are visual or verbal learners, others are musically or artistically inclined while others learn effectively using bodily motion or working within a group. Still others exhibit a tendency toward mathematical structure and some learn best by themselves. Research also points out there is a dominant learning style in each of us and yet we all have some of each style. Experts say that explains the world class musicians and athletes. To address your question I'll refer to a 2nd grade science lesson I observed a few years ago. The teacher began with a question leading to a class discussion focusing on the Planets (Interpersonal). He then displayed pictures of planets (visual) and explained (verbal) their rotation (logical/mathematical). At this point he asked the students to close their eyes and try to visualize the movement (Intrapersonal) of the planets. He did a quick check of understanding then explained they would go into the multi purpose room and actually act out the rotation. Talk about excitement, the students were totally charged! In the multi purpose room students were assigned a specific planet with the instructor providing directions. I was totally amazed as they moved (Bodily/Kinesthetic) through the activity. Throughout, he stopped and verbally checked their understanding. They returned to the classroom and processed what they had learned. There is no doubt in my mind that the students met the lesson objective. By utilizing multiple intelligence theory at different stages in the lesson more students were reached resulting in an increase in learning. I urge your team to explore MI and experiment with it in your daily teaching. The interest and excitement created will be tremendous and student achievement will increase. Isn't that what we are striving for? Good luck and good teaching! Dr. Manute
The page-in-progress shown below is an example of an exercise that uses several quotations, an abstract image, and a poem to initiate a creative writing exercise. As of this
date, seventeen teachers of English at all levels have contributed ideas
to include in a special “How Some Teachers Use Photographs To
Stimulate Writing” section of Write What You See. Here are a
few examples.
Frank Holes, Jr. is the
editor of Star Teaching and an English teacher at Inland Lakes
Middle School, Indian River, Michigan. Holes shows his students
photographs of children performing daily activities and asks them such
questions as Who is the child? What is his/her name? What is the
subject’s family like? How old is the subject? What is he or she
feeling? “I also ask the students to give a full description of the
setting that includes sense impressions,” writes Holes. Then he asks
questions related to a possible plot before he directs the students to
write a story that places the child in the setting. If you’ve used photographs to stimulate writing in the classroom and would like to share a successful activity with others, Kellner would like to hear from you. Contact him at hankpix@yahoo.com. Please include your name, school/organization, and city/state.
Obsessions are thoughts and ideas that the sufferer cannot stop thinking about. Common OCD obsessions include fears of acquiring disease, getting hurt, or causing harm to someone. Obsessions are typically automatic, frequent, distressing, and difficult to control or put an end to. People with OCD who obsess about hurting themselves or others are actually less likely to do so than the average person. Compulsions refer to actions that the person performs, usually repeatedly, in an attempt to make the obsession go away. For an OCD sufferer who obsesses about germs or contamination, for example, these compulsions often involve repeated cleansing or meticulous avoidance of trash and mess. Most of the time the actions become so regular that it is not a noticeable problem. Common compulsions include excessive washing and cleaning; checking; hoarding; repetitive actions such as touching, counting, arranging and ordering; and other ritualistic behaviors that the person feels will lessen the chances of provoking an obsession. Compulsions can be observable — washing, for instance — but they can also be mental rituals such as repeating words or phrases, or counting. Most OCD sufferers are aware that such thoughts and behavior are not rational, but feel bound to comply with them to fend off feelings of panic or dread. Because sufferers are consciously aware of this irrationality but feel helpless to push it away, untreated OCD is often regarded as one of the most vexing and frustrating of the major anxiety disorders. In an attempt to further relate the immense distress that those afflicted with this condition must bear, Barlow and Durand (2006) use the following example. They implore readers not to think of pink elephants. Their point lies in the assumption that most people will immediately create an image of a pink elephant in their minds, even though told not to do so. The more one attempts to stop thinking of these colorful animals, the more one will continue to generate these mental images. This phenomenon is termed the "Thought Avoidance Paradox”, and it plagues those with OCD on a daily basis, for no matter how hard one tries to get these disturbing images and thoughts out of one's mind, feelings of distress and anxiety inevitably prevail. Although everyone may experience unpleasant thoughts at one time or another, these are usually warranted concerns that are short-lived and fade after an adequate time period has lapsed. However, this is not the case for OCD sufferers. People who suffer from the separate and unrelated condition obsessive compulsive personality disorder are not aware of anything abnormal about themselves; they will readily explain why their actions are rational, and it is usually impossible to convince them otherwise. People who suffer from OCPD tend to derive pleasure from their obsessions or compulsions, while those with OCD do not feel pleasure but are ridden with anxiety. OCD is ego dystonic, meaning that the disorder is incompatible with the sufferer's self-concept. Because disorders that are ego dystonic go against an individual's perception of his/herself, they tend to cause much distress. OCPD, on the other hand, is ego syntonic — marked by the individual's acceptance that the characteristics displayed as a result of this disorder are compatible with his/her self-image. Ego syntonic disorders understandably cause no distress. This is a significant difference between these disorders. Equally frequently, these rationalizations do not apply to the overall behavior, but to each instance individually; for example, a person compulsively checking their front door may argue that the time taken and stress caused by one more check of the front door is considerably less than the time and stress associated with being robbed, and thus the check is the better option. In practice, after that check, the individual is still not sure, and it is still better in terms of time and stress to do one more check, and this reasoning can continue as long as necessary. Not all OCD sufferers engage in compulsive behavior. Recent years have seen increased diagnoses of Pure Obsessional OCD, or "Pure O." This form of OCD is manifested entirely within the mind, and involves obsessive ruminations triggered by certain thoughts. These mental "snags" can be debilitating, often tying up a sufferer for hours at a time. As of 2004, specialists continue to make headway. It is believed by many that Pure O OCD is in fact more prevalent than other types of OCD, although it is likely the most underreported as it is not visibly apparent, and sufferers tend to suffer in silence. In this disorder, the sufferer tries to "disprove" the anxious thoughts through logic and reasoning, yet in doing so becomes further entrapped by the obsessions. "Pure O" OCD is thought to be the most difficult form of OCD to treat. Some OCD sufferers exhibit what is known as overvalued ideas. In such cases, the person with OCD will truly be uncertain whether the fears that cause them to perform their compulsions are irrational or not. After some (possibly long) discussion, it is possible to convince the individual that their fears may be unfounded. It may be extra difficult to do ERP therapy on such patients, because they may be, at least initially, unwilling to cooperate. OCD is different from behaviors such as gambling addiction and overeating. People with these disorders typically experience at least some pleasure from their activity; OCD sufferers do not actively want to perform their compulsive tasks, and experience no pleasure from doing so. OCD is placed in the anxiety class of mental illness, but like many chronic stress disorders it can lead to clinical depression over time. The constant stress of the condition can cause sufferers to develop a deadening of spirit, a numbing frustration, or sense of hopelessness. OCD's effects on day-to-day life — particularly its substantial consumption of time — can produce difficulties with work, finances and relationships. The illness ranges widely in severity. OCD is not curable, but it can be treated with anti-depressants. This illness affects millions of people worldwide, and the number keeps growing.
Poetry, for those not totally familiar with the
conventions of the language-arts classes, is a generic term for forms of
writing using highly specific words and phrases to instill images in the
reader's mind. Some poetry follows particular forms and patterns, and
other types of poetry can be free flowing. Poetry can be simply
individual (though connected) words or phrases, or found in complete
sentences. As you can see, there is no limit to the types of
poetry that can be created.
Interested in FREE writing activities you can print out and use immediately in your classroom? Simply click the following link to our writing page: http://www.starteaching.com/writing.htm
If we did not know our age, some of us would appear to be very young, and some of us would seem very old. Sometimes, people use age as a convenient excuse. "I'm too old to start something new", or, "I couldn't learn that at my age." Other people, though, go on to achieve their greatest accomplishments in life in later years. Take, for example, Colonel Harland Sanders who started franchising his chicken outlets when he was 65 years old. Up to the age of 90 years old he traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting KFC franchises. He not only overcame personal and business adversities, but more importantly, he didn't let age stand in his way! Feelings lead to attitudes, attitudes become beliefs, and beliefs become the basis for actions. it is how you feel, how you think, and what you do that is important. To quote Satchel Paige, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?" See more of our Freebies as well as Special Reports on our website by clicking the quick link below: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm Make sure to BOOKMARK our website so you can keep up with more changes and additions through the year. And feel free to share our site by EMAILING it to a friend.
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Manute: School
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