Journal of Classroom Teaching & Learning: 2009-04-19

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Greetings from the editor

Dear readers,

Welcome to JOCTL—Journal of Classroom Teaching & Learning! This journal was originally created by Dr. Dengting Boyanton and her students at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB/TSC) in the spring of 2008. JOCTL is currently contributed by all the students who are taking the undergraduate course of EDI 15A Psychological Perspective: Teaching & Learning; EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescents, and the graduate course EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education at the School of Education, Long Island University, C. W. Post, Brookville, New York.

JOCTL intends to publish our students’ research discoveries throughout their exploration with these three courses. It strives to provide the best platform for our university student researchers and scholars in the LIU as well as the New York community to exchange their findings and discoveries on teaching and learning. All of our students spend one whole semester investigating one research topic of their interest under Dr. Boyanton’s guidance and supervision. Most students’ research findings were or will be presented at the Conference of Elementary Secondary Teaching & Learning (CESTL), a completely student-oriented conference organized by Dr. Boyanton and all her students.

The main purposes of JOCTL is for our students 1) to discover principles, relationships, patterns, and theories of classroom learning and teaching; 2) to create a learning community for all students to discuss and exchange ideas about classroom learning and teaching; 3) to improve students’ analytical, critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative skills; 4) to enhance students’ communication skills (e.g., writing, public speaking, presenting); and 5) to help the students develop a deeper understanding on classroom teaching and learning and be better prepared as future teachers.

JOCTL seeks to explore the multitude of issues that impact and influence student learning in the classroom setting. In accord with its broad focus, the journal welcomes contributions that enhance the exchange of diverse theoretical and practical information from other educators, teachers, students, and researchers at LIU or the New York community. It is our hope that our JOCTL can provide a channel for all classroom instructors and professors to better understand students’ needs and characteristics as learners, thus to design their instructions which produce powerful classroom learning.

JOCTL has received much positive feedback and support from its wide range of audiences from from different universities (University of Texas at Brownsville, University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia, Harvard University, Yale University, City University of New York, Willamette University, Long Island Universty). To read their feedback, click JOCTL Feedback.

We sincerely hope you will enjoy our students’ exploration on teaching and learning. If you have any comments or suggestions to improve JOCTL, please contact me directly at dengting.boyanton@liu.edu. We welcome honest feedback from you.

Thank you very much for your support!

Sincerely,

Dengting Boyanon Ph.D.
Editor, JOCTL
Assistant Professor
Educational Psychology
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
Long Island University, C.W.Post
720 Northern Blvd, Brookville, New York
516-299-4117 (Office)
Dengting.Boyanton@liu.edu
http://people.virginia.edu/~db6wq/

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Ideally realistic: The challenge of being a good teacher

By Chris Barone
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009

There is quite a difference between being an education major and being a teacher. The former is filled with idealist principles. It is so easy for us to sit in class and shout out, “We need to throw out the sex ed curriculum and rebuild it from the ground up!” or “We need to treat every student equally while also encouraging their individuality.” No idea is too radical or far-fetched because the objectives behind them are well intentioned. We are encouraged to think outside of the box for newer, more innovative ways to guide – not teach – our students.

Also, we assume the student wants to be helped. Never does the idea of an unruly child come up – and, if it does, it’s usually presented in a context that pities the student as someone who is unable to help himself or herself. Harsh realities like disrespectful or violent students are left to the professionals. We get to enjoy eternal optimism and limitless possibilities.

Teachers, on the other hand, are greatly limited. Each one must constantly try to find a balance between the two forces, idealism and realism. A teacher who holds too tightly to his idealistic views, such as giving every student individual attention every day, will fail. A teacher who is too realistic or pessimistic also fails his students, as he is unable or unwilling to take risks that will really benefit them. Despite what they were told when they were education majors, they must come to the grips with the fact that they can’t all change the world. And noble ideas – such as being a progressive guide instead of an omnipotent, omniscient teacher – are often thrown out the window when realities of standardized test scores set in.

Simply put, my observations have taught me that education majors are too idealistic, while experienced teachers are too realistic. To help find that happy medium, I think new teachers should pair up with experienced ones. Perhaps this is already in practice in some schools; I don’t know. But, imagining myself as a first-year teacher, I know it would be extremely helpful if I had a mentor. If this could happen, both teachers may benefit from getting a different perspective. Also – and, of course, most importantly – students will benefit from more effective, less jaded teachers.

Relevance: The importance of making learning related to students’ future/career

By Daniel Barone
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 14, 2009

After reading chapter 11 in Understanding Youth, I had feelings of hope, confidence and determination, especially for my future students as a prospective teacher. I found this chapter to be extremely important and significant because one of our main goals as teachers is to prepare our students for their future, particularly college. It is our job as educators to take a strategic approach in order to make school more relevant to work and career aspirations for our students.

I thought it was very powerful how the author said; “learning for its own sake” is not enough for students whose economic well-being hangs tenuously in the balance. This is extremely true because as educators we need to realize that there are so many different types of students and we need to take all of these students into consideration so that we can appropriately guide them towards a successful future. Such types include social-class status and other influences such as ethnicity, gender, and orientation.

I completely agree with the author on how he says that we need to be supportive of our students and their ideas even if they seem irrational, because they are still in the process of creating, experimenting, and exploring their options. As the author and Vygotsky suggest, “our minds grow through connections with other people’s minds.” This means that we as teachers need to connect more on an intellectual level with our students and try to learn to understand one another more because “connection” is the key to success, no matter how diverse or different our students are. Overall, we as teachers should focus more on career-development and learn to incorporate it more into our lessons because the future of our students is what is most important in the long run.

Interesting: Importance of making your class fun

Interesting: Importance of making your class fun

By Jennifer Grenville
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 14, 2009

As a disciplinarian today’s lesson in my EDI class was a sobering reminder of the enormous role and responsibilities that teachers have not only to teach subjects matters, but also to address student’s behavior in the classroom, without being bias or judgmental. Our class on student’s behavior was very edifying. Prof. Dengting did an excellent job of engaging the class and tonight was extra special. Not only did we have the opportunity to share our opinions, but we were able to demonstrate them too. I think the highlight of the evening was our presentations on the Theater of Behavior Management.

Student’s participation is encouraged in each class session by our Prof. and today was no different. We were given the opportunity to express our views on several, subjects related to students behavior , our discussions were broad base each of us was given a slip of paper with a question on students behavior .

My question was when dealing with student’s misbehavior; teachers should be strict and immediately apply the consequence with no exception. I disagreed with this statement mainly because the role of a teacher is not to be a judge, but he/she should analyze situations before coming to conclusions. Given the fact that some students are problematic, and will always find a reason to be disruptive, it is also equally important for the teacher to make wise discussion. Get to the root cause of a student behavior, and allow for some form of flexibility. Many of my peers shared their opinions also, since I am not in the classroom day to day, I was especially glad to hear from some of my peers, who are constantly in the classroom and their methods of dealing with behavioral problems.

One thing I learned from this aspect of the lesson was, if you set ground rules for the classroom, they should be maintained, however you should also allow room for flexibility and as such you will most likely have less behavior problem.

To further enhance our learning we were also shown a clip, base on one teacher’s complete failure to maintain control of her classroom, needless to say because of the
nature of the clip, everything about the teacher’s approached to her class was negative. Her methods of presenting her lesson in this case “reading” was totally unacceptable, students, were moving furniture around, and in short being very disruptive. After several attempt of trying to control the class she did two things that were very distasteful assigning a lengthy essay for all students including the ones who were not misbehaving.

When that method was unsuccessful, she walked away from her class. Thanks Prof. for sharing this with us. A perfect example of a teacher who has lost complete control of her classroom.

Theater of behavior management, I really enjoyed this aspect of our lesson, we were divided into several groups each, group was asked to present a lesson on some form of student’s behavior in the classroom, and needless to say it was enjoyable. I was especially impressed with the presentation made by my peers who presented their aspect of two a kindergarten students fighting over a pencil and the teacher inability to console one of the students who were crying uncontrollably. This presentation was so real so effortless it was almost as if you were in an actually classroom confronting the situation.

In conclusion I must say amongst all the fun, it is also equally important to remember that as teachers we do face real problems in the classroom, how we handle these situations will determine who we are as teachers and our capabilities of managing student in our classroom. Pro. Dengting, this was a very excellent topic and again thanks for sharing you many talents with us. I WAS VERY MOTIVATED BY THIS LESSON.

Reflecting: Importance of writing reflections in student learning

Reflecting: Importance of writing reflections in student learning

By Louiza Mark
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 22, 2009

It is always said that hindsight is always 20/20. If we accept that saying as truth, then we are all reflective in our decisions and practices. The main purpose of looking back at our actions or decisions is to evaluate what it is that we said or did wrong. Therefore, in a literal sense we are all reflective in our lives. We all reevaluate occurrences in our lives on a daily basis in order to understand ourselves and to try and correct or replicate our behaviors. Education is a field that not only requires, but instead demands daily reflection.

To actually think that a teacher does not reflect on his/her daily actions is quite unfathomable. Understanding one’s own capabilities and shortcomings is rudimentary in the teaching profession. By reflecting on your day a teacher is able to determine if the lesson went as planned or if it was a disaster. By understanding the outcome of the day a teacher can either alter or duplicate their actions so as to be efficient in the future.

Being able to accommodate all student’s needs, and modifying lessons in order to reach all students within their realm of learning cannot come to fruition if the teacher does not reflect. I feel that reflecting will be part of my daily routine in order to help me prepare and modify my lessons for the next day. I will definitely replay my actions and lessons everyday in order to help myself be a better teacher and my students to learn everything that they are supposed to.

Teaching them wrong: A pre-service teacher's fear

Teaching them wrong: A pre-service teacher's fear

By Beautiful Cloud
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009

My biggest classroom fear is providing students with the wrong information. To one day find out that what I taught was incorrect and then to have these students live believing what I taught them was the ‘golden rule,’ I would be devastated. I think this has a lot to do with why I originally didn’t want to become a teacher and went to school for business. In the business world, you make a mistake, like, losing a huge amount of money or client and the worst consequence would be getting fired. However, as a teacher, who is responsible for molding the future lives of his/her students, I believe the consequences are much greater. Every bit of information, big or small, that my students retain from my lessons become contributing factors in who they become as adults.

I can recall a discussion I was having with my brother. He said that light reflects off of light colors and is absorbed in higher amounts by dark colors. I, on the other hand, disputed this comment. I knew that light colors absorbed more light and dark colors reflected it. I mean, how could I be wrong when this information was taught to me by an extremely intelligent science teacher that I worshipped? This teacher, whom I had in elementary school was so smart and had an excellent method of reaching out to the students. He made science fun and easy to learn and therefore, whatever he told me, I believed and tried to retain to the best of my knowledge. After adamantly rebutting my brother’s comment that my teacher was a moron, I went and did my own research. I will only say that, disappointed was an easy way of describing the horror I discovered.

Scenarios like the one I’ve experienced me strike me with fear when I think of my classroom applications. However, I take it as another way to prepare myself to work harder to be better prepared so that I do not make the same mistakes made by my former teacher.
Today’s class gave me an additional sense of comfort. To know that I am not the only one with this worry and that everyone has a fear when approaching the classroom. In addition to finding people with similar fears, I became aware of worries I didn’t really think of before today. By discussing different fears present in everyone’s minds, I believe we were all able to find comfort through each other.

Behavior management: A pre-service teacher’s fear

By Melissa Pfeffer
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009

I felt today’s class was an important one because I learned I have a strong connection to many of my classmates. Each of us got a chance to air out our fears about teaching in the classroom. Personally, I have wondered how I will be able to do this every day straight out of school. Will I be able to handle the classroom and the children in it? Do I have what it takes to earn the respect of the staff, the parents, and most importantly the children who I will be teaching? I feel that I will ultimately be fine, but it is still scary to think about until you are actually doing it in real life.

My observations have already begun to make the transition easier for me to manage. They have allowed me to learn many of the standard teaching procedures that all first year teachers have to learn on their own. I feel that my experiences will serve as a guide when I begin to teach children. For instance, there is a set homework sheet that all of the first grade must follow. This has advantages, namely that teachers do not have to create new homework assignments everyday. However, I feel it takes some of the creativity away from the classroom.

Seeing all the statements given to each student really allowed me to see how people view behavior management and how each person will handle the classroom and situations at hand. I believe that the way each person responded to the statement allowed their true demeanor and personality type to shine through. It is hard to teach in front of an entire classroom and not give a slight glimpse into your personality.

Overall, I have to say I was fairly shocked as I watched the video of the teacher handling her class. You could really tell that she had no handle on the student’s behavior judging from how they were acting up. She set the tone wrong from the start by sitting on a desk instead of on a chair. Do some teachers really do this? Apparently, they do. Her lack of respect for the classroom and the students completely fed into how the students behaved in return. This calls for a famous quote. “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.” How could a teacher ever expect respect from her students when she disrespects the sanctity of the classroom just the same? The student that picked the chair up over his head clearly felt comfortable doing this in light of the teacher sitting on the desk. I am not solely blaming the teacher, but it is hard not to place a certain level of responsibility on the teacher when it is his or her responsibility to lead a group of impressionable young adults. That child picking up the chair could have led to a disastrous incident in which the teacher would have been held accountable for the actions that occurred in her classroom.

My favorite part of the class was the acting portion where people got the opportunity to let their creativity flow. It felt good to let out creative energy. Watching the class act out many of the different experiences you will find in a classroom allowed me to learn and grow as an amateur professional. I feel I will be more ready now when I face some of these challenges on my own. I liked channeling the way I used to act in H.S. and J.S.H. during our skit of being disrespectful students. It was nice to see everyone having a good time and seeing the shock people had for some of the things Joe and I had to act out during the skit. This type of group exercise represented many of the things that I have really come to enjoy about being in this class and this program.

I hope that my other classes continue to be on the same wave length and keep things fun and interesting instead of just a 2 hour lecture.

Respect + confidence: Two key factors in behavior management

By Scott Mines
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009

Today’s class on behavioral management taught me one important thing. How I do not want to teach. The video we saw was very compelling. I could not believe how the teacher responded to her class acting out. It seemed as if she had no formal training, and was teaching for the first time. The students were so out of control and so was she. She had no skills at behavior management. In my opinion, I would have gotten the class under control by some of the techniques we learned in class. First of all there was absolutely no respect for the teacher, and the teacher did not have any respect for the students.

When I begin my teaching career the first order of business for me is to earn the respect of the students, and show them that I respect them. I will find out their backgrounds to start with. What students were like in previous classes? What assessments were made regarding their learning styles? What kind of test takers are they? A teacher must then begin to instill confidence in her students individually by getting to know their interests, home life, hobbies, and what subjects they excel in or don’t. These two aspects of teaching, respect and confidence are paramount to beginning a new school year. Once you establish these aspects your life as a teacher becomes so much easier.

In response to the statement I received, “When dealing with student’s misbehavior, teachers should have a behavior management plan and not randomly decide the consequences at the moment. I think a teacher should have an overall behavioral management plan, as well as individual plan for each student.

By getting to know a student and his behaviors you can adjust to the situation. Every child responds differently. As I stated in class, students’ behavioral aspects will change during the day. I learned this first hand by a very respectable educator who went through a situation like that. He stated that children may react slower in the morning, be hyped up before lunch, and tired at the end of the day. A teacher must adjust at the moment and use different behavioral techniques that pertain to different times of the day. This was a really good observation on his part, and I will keep this in mind when I begin my career.

Behavior management: Dealing with students' complain

Behavior management: Dealing with students' complain

By Beautiful Cloud
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 22, 2009

I teach English at a community center twice a week to middle-aged women. I have been teaching there for over a year and this semester is my third semester. The crowd isn’t too big, approximately 15 students. A few of the students have been with me from the first semester I started teaching at the center. Through the past three semesters, I have used different methods and approaches to effectively reach all the students.

The first semester I taught grammar, last semester I taught reading comprehension and this semester, due to popular request, I went back to teaching grammar. The materials I used the first semester are different from what I am using this semester. While I used to create all the worksheets, I now use a really reliable book to teach out of. This has lessened the pressure for me and has allowed me to keep this job while attending school. While I do not sit in front of the computer investing tireless hours onto creating materials, I know that my approach to teaching these students has improved.

First, I am more familiar with the needs and desires of the students. Second, I am more understanding and attempt to be more empathetic to their needs. Third, I have become more easy-going; meaning that I no longer create ridiculous deadlines that I attempt to achieve, rather I move along with the students at their pace. This being said, I figured I was doing an okay job. However this past Monday, I was greeted with a rude awakening.

I came home to find a message from a student wanting me to call her back. It seemed urgent so I called her assuming she wanted help with her homework. To my surprise she answers by telling me, “I was really upset with you today and wanted to get this off my chest. You made a comment in class to ‘Student A’ in regards to me and that was really offensive. You said, ‘Next time you (Student A) should copy off of Student C rather than Student B (speaker)’ because I told her the wrong answer. You should never compare students in class like that.”

I was a bit taken back since I said it in a friendly manner and did it to poke fun at Student A for copying off of another student. I was extremely flustered and at that instant, a sense of anger surged through my body; to have this lady critique me for such a childish reason, I was insulted. I really wanted to tell her, “grow up and stop being so sensitive” but rather, I decided that I should listen to what she had to say and try to alleviate HER state of anger. Quickly I apologized for anything I did to offend her.

Rather than defend myself, I chose to listen to her and take this experience as another learning step to becoming a teacher. I mean, I will never be perfect to everyone and I’m bound to have a parent complain at one point or another. This experience hit me with a dose of reality. If this isn’t a true learning experience, I don’t know what is.

Spiritual development: A reflection on religion and faith

Spiritual development: A reflection on religion and faith

By Dana Larose
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009

I believe not that religion is necessarily important, but faith is important. I do not think they are one in the same. I was raised Roman Catholic but yet it is not what I believe in. My family is very religious and so they look down upon me because of this. I do not think I believe in one type of religion but I like ideas of many. I believe that it is important to be a good person while on Earth whether there is an afterlife or not. Many religions are based on being a good person so that your life after death will be good. I think that it is more worth it to be a good person while you are alive because that is when it will affect you most. I think everyone should act in a moral way to better themselves, not just because a book tells you to.

I was recently having a conversation about having children and whether or not I would bring them up any religion. I suppose I would bring them up depending on my husband’s religion because I believe they would miss out on an experience if they were not taught anything. I do not know how possible it would be to truly educate them on all religion. Just because I did not fall into that spot does not mean that they will follow me.

I believe each person has the right to choose what he/she believes in and I do not think that that should change how another person judges them. I do not think it is right that I have to explain to my family that I am a good person and I do have faith even though I do not believe in the Roman Catholic religion. I do not feel that you need one to have the other, they can be connected or they can be separate. I feel like religion is just a history of different moral beliefs and I do not think that people should follow it too literally.

Spiritual development: Do you need religion to live a meaningful life?

By Eric Morris
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009

I really enjoyed yesterday’s class discussion on religion and faith. When it comes to teaching religion and faith in the classroom I feel that the history of religions should be taught rather than the spirituality side of religion. What I found interesting about our discussion is the fact that parochial schools such as St. Anthony’s as well as other parochial high schools can actually have more kids with behavioral problems than in the public schools. I wasn’t expecting this.

I think when people are forced to follow a religion that they don’t take serious or believe in they tend to act out and rebel against the norm. I think this is why more kids rebel in parochial school. Many kids are forced to go to Sunday school when they are younger not by choice, but because their parents want them to go. This can turn kids off to religion in general and I think parents should reconsider forcing kids to go to Sunday school.

We also discussed whether a person needs to have faith and religion in order to live a meaningful life. My answer was that they don't. People don’t need religion to lead a meaningful life and religion isn’t for everyone either. In order to live a meaningful life your life has to have some sort of purpose that you as an individual find meaningful. Some people want to help others or raise a family to make their life have meaning. For me, religion can be used to make a person’s life more meaningful to them but it isn’t the only way, nor should anyone tell you that you need religion in order to obtain a meaningful life.

Spiritual development: A on-going personal struggle

Spiritual development: A on-going personal struggle

By Thomas Brouillard
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009

I thought today’s class discussion was very powerful, but also very controversial. Religion is a very controversial topic for all ages. Religion is one of the biggest influences on human beings. It is the backbone of many major historical events that have taken place over time. I must admit that for myself personally religion can be an uncomfortable topic.

Although I did feel comfortable in the class, it has been a personal struggle for myself for the last few years. One of the most asked questions throughout time is the question of if there is a higher power. For myself personally I believe that there is a higher power. But I do not necessarily believe in organized religion.

Organized religion in my point has become something that is prone to manipulation. I sometimes feel that people use organized religion for their own personal benefit. Now not everyone does this, but there have been plenty of cases where this has happened. I don’t attend church regularly and I do not consider myself religious but one thing I am is open-minded. Everyone has an opinion and I am open-minded to them.

I thought an interesting point made in class was the impact that religion has on adolescents in today’s society. In my own experiences I noticed that there were very religious kids in high school. But the majority of adolescent students I think were generally indifferent to it. At that age a lot of adolescents tend to have other things on their mind. I think once adolescents get older and mature the question of religion becomes more important, or at least they think about in some capacity.

To conclude I still struggle with what my beliefs are, I am not really sure what I believe, but I do not judge a person not by their religious background, or lack there of, but instead on their character and how they live their life and treat others.

Do we still need tests in our schools today?

By Scott Fialkoff
EDI 15A Psychological Perspective: Teaching & Learning

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 14, 2009

Our class on Tuesday was a lot of fun and it was very interesting. We had a debate regarding the subject of testing. Many of the students believed that testing should be mandatory and kept intact in schools throughout the country. I was in this group because I think that tests should be kept intact. The other group believed that testing should be abolished and that it is not fair.

The opposing group had good arguments but I just cannot agree with their ideas and points. This is because testing has many valuable effects for the teachers and the students. It gives the teachers rubrics regarding the grades of the students. Testing shows whether or not, the students are putting time and effort into the course materials. The tests provide the students with some type of motivation. One of the female students in my group made an excellent point when she said that she would have never studied if there were no tests given. If tests are abolished many students will become lazy because they will see no point in putting in the needed time and effort.

The other group mentioned how some students are just not good test takers. That was a great point but these students can have other opportunities to improve their grades such as extra credit assignments, papers, participation grades, and homework grades. My group won the debate which proves that we had the better argument.

Do we still need tests in our schools today?

Do we still need tests in our schools today?

By Louiza Mark
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 15, 2009

Assessment is the most important element in everyday situations in the classroom. It is necessary to assess because it enables teachers to know whether or not they are effective in their teaching or not. There are multiple ways to assess students and good teachers take the time to analyze all of their student’s performances every single day.

One of the most common assessment tools is homework. It should be distributed everyday and studied by the teacher in order to determine student understanding of the work at hand. Everyday assessment can also be completed by participation and by a simple task at the end of each class. Simply ask three questions pertaining to what was taught that period and ask the students to answer them with one to two sentences. Upon leaving class they hand them in. these are great pieces of assessment because they allow the teacher to know what level of comprehension the students have of what they were taught that day. This can also help the teacher assess his/her own delivery and alter it for the next day in order to help benefit the students.

I think that assessment is only useful when teachers are trying to discover the level of knowledge that their students possess. I feel that it is detrimental to the psyche of students to have to strive to compete for the best grades possible. Too much pressure is placed on students with their grades, test scores, and college entrance exams. I believe that the true purpose of teaching is to actually have students learn, and by having them cram for exams is learning without substance. I would focus my teaching more on learning and place less emphasis on scores and grades.

A great substitute to grades is a student portfolio. By having students create a portfolio a sense of pride is put into the process. Students are able to reflect on their work and assess themselves. This ability to create work is beneficial in helping to promote critical thinking and higher order thinking. I am a proponent of student portfolios and will definitely use them with my students.

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

By Caroline Schipani
EDI 15A Psychological Perspective: Teaching & Learning

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 22, 2009

It’s really sad that this class is coming so close to an end. This is one of the only classes that I actually enjoyed during my two years at C.W. Post. I wish that more teachers should be like Professor Boyanton (she should even hold a workshop where she shows her methods of effective teaching!), I really learned a lot of helpful information in her class.

I was really nervous about the CESTL conference coming up, but Professor Boyanton talked me into it and I’m really glad she did. I always had a problem with talking in front of people, but she encouraged me to do just a poster where people can ask me questions directly and I’m not the center of attention. I went from being extremely nervous, to extremely excited! I even invited some of my family and my boyfriend to attend.

As I write my paper, I come up with many creative ideas to make my poster appealing and informative. It is coming really quickly, so I am worried about making my deadlines, but I will work harder to meet the required deadlines. I know that when it is all over, I will feel really good and proud of myself that I overcame my nervous feelings.

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

By Chris Barone
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 25, 2009

I consider there to be two categories of public speaking. The first happens before the speaker utters a single syllable. It is the forethought. In this instance, it is the months of planning and preparation, the research, the interviews, the observations, the late nights spent in the library with a dozen books in front of me. That part is no problem. The other is, obviously, the speaking. It is the I’m-actually-up-in-front-of-an-audience-and-words-are-coming-out-of-my-mouth part. Enunciating, proper posture, and confidence are essential. It’s that part that terrifies me.

I have a tendency to, when speaking in front of an audience, forget what I’m saying. Last year, when I was observing for another class, I had to introduce myself to the class. Nervously, I stood up, clung to a desk to help support myself, and said, “Hey, I’m Chris. Wow, it feels weird to say that. I feel like I’m an at AA meeting.” Nice, Chris, mention to a bunch of 16-year-old students that you feel like you’re an alcoholic! No one seemed to notice or care that my comment was a little inappropriate, it certainly affected me. I said it because I felt uncomfortable and, for the moment, forgot how old I was and what college I went to. Still, once I was able to regain my ‘cool,’ so to speak, I was ok. But my earlier blunder continued to affect me.

With the CESTL conference quickly approaching, I am forced to reexamine my public speaking skills. I have gotten better since my AA days, but I will still do several practice runs before it’s time to do it for real. If I keep practicing and remember to take deep breaths and keep my cool, I might just get out of this alive.

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

By Lindsay Springer
EDI 17 Psychology & Development of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 24, 2009

I thought that today’s class was very informative. I felt that the people that presented their slides did an excellent job. I give them a lot of respect for getting up and being able to present their stuff when they just started making it. When looking at some of the power points I found them really interesting even though a few were on the same topic nobody touched on the same thing.

The conference is going to be a lot of fun. I have gotten my poster ready and it is almost done. During class I was writing notes on seeing what everyone was putting up in their slides so I would include some of the same things so I had an idea of what to have and what not to.

I am really excited for the conference. I think it’s going to be great opportunity for everyone in our class to share information with everyone on the research that we did. This is going to be a great opportunity for all of us to grow professionally and take these experiences with us when we go on to teaching. All of our classes that we have had have been great learning lessons that we can use with our students.

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

By Michelle Evangelista
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 25, 2009

Today’s class was very informative. It gave me more ideas for my power point. I must admit; I am terrified about this presentation. In prior experiences during presentations, my heart feels like it is going to pound out of my chest and I sound like a blabbering fool. I know I am going to be nervous, but I am going to try to sound as intelligent as possible about my research and make it an interesting presentation.

I really appreciated the time you took out, to explain how a power point presentation should look. It is very important to make slides that are POWERFUL. I was thinking of adding in two video clips; of the shooters, that portrays how negatively their peers treated them. In your opinion, would that be too much? Would my audience, be turned off? OH, I might not have enough time.

Even tough, I am petrified of May 2 and CESTL; I know once I relax and look back on my experience, I will be rewarded for facing a huge fear. As long as I am prepared, positive and proud of my research, it will go smoothly. This conference opened my eyes to the life of a graduate student. It has hit me that this is not college anymore. This is the real thing.

My mother is also coming to the conference to give me moral support. In which, I am so grateful. I am also excited to have her see and participate, in what I have been working on all semester. As we have spoken about during one of our previous classes, she is my role model and I cannot wait to make her proud. She also has always wanted to be a teacher herself, so she will really appreciate this day as well.

I am also excited to see what my peers have done this semester. This class has allowed me not only learn from my teacher, but also from my peers. I have learned so much from my classmates. They have helped me look at things in a more subjective manner. Therefore, I do think that I have become a reflective learner and will be a reflective teacher.

Overall, I hope that my presentation makes you proud and that I come across as an expert of my research. I keep over thinking what I am going to say, wear and do. Ha, Ha and most of all that it goes successfully/smoothly! One thing I am positive about is that my slides will be to par!

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

By Joseph Scauzillo
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
April 22, 2009

I really enjoyed today’s class; it was great to learn all the tips to making a great power point or poster board. I think my favorite fact was that your IQ drops 20 points when you get up to speak. I feel like mine drops 40 points sometimes. I am very excited/nervous to present at the CESTL. I think it is going to be a great learning experience for me in many ways. I am not only excited that I got to research a topic that interests me but it is also helping me become more of an open person in the classroom. Get me in front of 20 children and I can speak no problem. But for some reason a class of my peers it is the complete opposite.

I really am excited to do this because I have really been pushing myself this semester to speak up more and overcome my fears. I am going to focus on eye contact when I speak. That is usually my biggest problem. I tuck my head down and try not to look at anyone. I am also going to pay attention to my body language and hopefully when I talk; I won’t turn into a giant tomato (my face I mean). All in All, I am really excited about the opportunity to present at something like this. It will be interesting to be part of a conference like this instead of being a spectator.

Useful links

The following links are provided by the generous readers of JOCTL! We sincerely thank them for sharing!

You make some good points above.
However, I also think that this can be helpful to you:
The book and Training Video: PREVENTING Classroom Discipline Problems

If you can get this book and video: [they are in many libraries, so you don't have to buy them] email me and I can refer you to the sections of the book and video [that demonstrates the effective vs. the ineffective teacher] that can help you.

If your library does not have them, you can get them at:

http://www.panix.com/~pro-ed/

that are also used at this online course:
www.ClassroomManagementOnline.com

See: Reviews at: http://classroommanagementonline.com/comteach.html

If you cannot get the book or video, email me anyway, and I will try to help.

Best regards,

Howard

Howard Seeman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus,
City Univ. of New York

Prof. Seeman
Hokaja@aol.com
================

Judy Armes said...: I agree that "intrinsic" motivation is probably the factor that will most impact a kid's involvement and success in school. The trick is to find ways in which the student can feel good about his/her accomplishment. This would be a good forum topic to find out what high school teachers do that works.
Thanks for bringing it up, again.
Judy Armes "TheHomeworkCoach"
http://www.homeworksuccessnetwork.com
-----------------

Hi,; I think you and your readers might love this new mnemonics creation site:
http://www.joglab.com
I'm looking for some volunteers to help out at the moment- if any of your readers has a particular interest in mnemonics and a couple of spare hours to help please email me (danofweaver@googlemail.com).; Dan Weaver
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Dan, a life- loving bloke, is a research associate at Nottingham Uni, holds degrees from Leeds, Coventry & Nottingham and has particular love for: sustainable development, disaster management, neural-networks, efficient learning, human memory & geographical information science (GIS).
-------------------: Hello -

I write for our blog and I hear readers referring to a post of yours from time to time - which is what brought me to contacting you.We are headed to Seattle to blog at the NSBA's T+L Conference. Would you be interested in mentioning our posts in your blog?

Our blog is at:http://www.iqinnovations.org/educational-technology/

Keep up the good work on the blog and we'll keep reading it!

Sincerely,
Teresa Berry
IQity
Seattle Real Estate Agent

´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´
You make some good links here.
However, I also think that this can be helpful to you:
Go to: http://www.panix.com/~pro-ed/

If you get this book and video: PREVENTING Classroom Discipline Problems, [they are in many libraries, so you don't have to buy them] email me and I can refer you to the sections of the book and the video [that demonstrates the effective vs. the ineffective teacher] that can help you.

[I also teach an online course on these issues that may be helpful to you at:
http://www.blogger.com/www.ClassroomManagementOnline.com ]

If you cannot get the book or video, email me and I will try to help.
Best regards,

Howard

Howard Seeman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus,
City Univ. of New York

Prof. Seeman
Hokaja@aol.com
http://www.blogger.com/www.ClassroomManagementOnline.com
------------------------------------------------
A collection of remotely-accessible, online library resources provided by Dr. Red Owl

This is web page with a menu of library links related to education, teaching and learning, educational psychology, counseling and development, educational technology, educational policy, education law, educational leadership and educational research (including testing and measurement). It includes links to major periodicals search engines; selected academic journals and professional periodicals for browsing; scholarly and general textbooks (via ebrary); selected yearbooks, encyclopedias and annuals; citation indexes; periodicals' directories (such as Cabell's); and APA citation style guidelines and examples. The menu page also includes instructions (and a web form) for creating persistent links to LIU's online library resources.

* Links to almost 500 selected browsable scholarly journals and professional periodicals related to education: http://journals.edlibrary.net

* Link to a service to find whether specific journals are available at LIU:

* Link to Ebrary (an electronic library offering access to more than 25,000 books from such major publishers as John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, Random House, Taylor & Francis, Yale University Press, Greenwood, etc.).

* Link to more than 30 education-related encyclopedias, yearbooks and annuals:

* Link to check the status of one's library account

* Link to APA citation style guidelines and examples

* Link to a web form for creating persistent links to online articles and books

The above links are provided by Dr. Red Owl
Red Owl
R. H. Red Owl, Ph.D., Professor of Education
Department of Educational Leadership & Administration
and Department of Educational Technology
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus

------------------------------------------------
A classroom observation software: eCOVE Software Provided by Dr. John Tenny
eCOVE was created by Dr. John Tenny. It is a software program that collects objective data during an observation. If it would be of use to students who are doing classroom observations. The students can download a trial version (the full version that runs for 30 days). With it, they can do objective research at no cost (just limit the data collection to a 30 day period). I hope it adds to the experience of your students.

Peace, John
Professor Emeritus of Education
Willamette University
Pacific City,Oregon
United States
------------------------------------------------
Discipline management link: http://www.panix.com/~pro-ed/ provided by Dr. Seeman

If you get this book and video: PREVENTING Classroom Discipline Problems, [they are in many libraries, so you don't have to buy them] email me and I can refer you to the sections of the book and the video [that demonstrates the effective vs. the ineffective teacher] that can help you.

[I also teach an online course on these issues that may be helpful to you at:
http://www.classroommanagementonline.com/

If you cannot get the book or video, email me and I will try to help.
Best regards,

Howard

Howard Seeman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus,
City University of New York
------------------------------------------------
Parenting link: http://www.alankazdin.com/ Provided by Dr. Alan Kazdin

By the way, in case you know individuals parenting young children--evidence-based parenting for normal challenges of everyday life. Please peek at http://www.alankazdin.com/. Thanks.
-
Best wishes,
-
Alan
-
Alan E. Kazdin
John M. Musser Professor of Psychology at Yale University
Director of Yale's Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic
President of the American Psychological Association (APA)
------------------------------------------------
All kinds of fun games/activities: Provided by Ms. Mary Couzin

It is true that many of the traditional games are static as you say, but the new/modern and the eurostyle games are quite different. I think you will find them interesting, fun and fresh play every time as in many cases the board is ever-changing.

Have fun!

Mary Couzin
Founder of the Chicago Toy and Game Fair
Inventor of Hollywood's Reel Schpeel
mary@discovergames.com

JOCTL Feedback

Your approach to education is exciting. I wish I had young children for you to teach. Good luck in your graduate studies.

Anonymous reader

-------------------
Dr. Sanford Aranoff said...

A lot of stuff about learning, interactions, etc. When it comes to math or science, we must understand how students think, their pre-conceived ideas, etc., and build from there. See "Teaching and Helping Students Think and Do Better" on amazon.

Dr. Sanford Aranoff
Professor of Mathematics
Rider University
Lawrenceville, NJ
http://www.analysis-knowledge.com/

-------------------
Hi,

I think you and your readers might love this new mnemonics creation site:
http://www.joglab.com
I'm looking for some volunteers to help out at the moment- if any of your readers has a particular interest in mnemonics and a couple of spare hours to help please email me (danofweaver@googlemail.com).
Dan Weaver
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Dan, a life- loving bloke, is a research associate at Nottingham Uni, holds degrees from Leeds, Coventry & Nottingham and has particular love for: sustainable development, disaster management, neural-networks, efficient learning, human memory & geographical information science (GIS).

-------------------
Hello -

I write for our blog and I hear readers referring to a post of yours from time to time - which is what brought me to contacting you.We are headed to Seattle to blog at the NSBA's T+L Conference. Would you be interested in mentioning our posts in your blog?

Our blog is at:http://www.iqinnovations.org/educational-technology/

Keep up the good work on the blog and we'll keep reading it!

Sincerely,
Teresa Berry
President, IQity
Seattle Real Estate Agent

-----------------------------------------

Thank you for sharing your understanding of "How to be a great teacher?" Your role models: Erikson, Piaget, & Vygotsky would be proud of your discussion.

As we all can see by the Journal of Classroom Teaching & Learning blog, the computer is a great tool for us to listen, read, respond, and learn together.

Thank you for sharing your learning and enriching our knoweledge.

Roberta Levitt
Assistant Professor of Education
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
Long Island University, C.W.Post
-----------------------------------------
Congratulations, Dengting!
This is such a brilliant idea.
You are making research more real to your students.

Well done!

Efleda

Dr. Efleda Tolentino
Assistant Professor of Education
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
Long Island University, C.W.Post
------------------------------------------------
Dear Dr. Dengting Boyaton & Students,

Until I can write more, thank you for the exciting writing that you shared.

Roberta

Dr. Roberta Levitt
Assistant Professor
Department of Special Education & Literacy
School of Education
C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University
------------------------------------------------
Thanks for sharing. Very nice way of having the class interact amongst them selves.

Isaac Oddoye
Information Analyst
School of Education
Long Island University
------------------------------------------------
I love this idea. What a great way to make your course processes visible to others.

Dr. Joan Walker
Assistant Professor
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus
------------------------------------------------

Hello Dr. Boyanton,

I love this idea and will share it with our music education students who are involved in our Rompertunes Early Childhood Music Teaching and Learning Partnership. Hopefully we can get something going.

Best,

Dr. Jennifer Miceli,
Director of Music Education
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus
------------------------------------------------

Dengting,

Your online Journal Classroom Teaching & Learning is a wonderful resource, and I want to congratulate you for your vision in creating this opportunity for your students and bringing it to LIU.

Welcome to LIU and the C. W. Post Campus School of Education! I'm delighted that you have joined our faculty, and I look forward to working with you.

Cheers,

Red Owl
---
R. H. Red Owl, Ph.D., Professor of Education
Department of Educational Leadership & Administration
and Department of Educational Technology
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus

------------------------------------------------
As an Editor of three refereed journals, the last being the Journal of Counseling & Development (2002-2008), the flagship journal of the American Counseling Association, I send you warm congratulations and much success with your SOE journal.

Dr. Scott McGowan
Professor
Dept. of Counseling and Development
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W.Post
------------------------------------------------
Your work is very inspiring and your students are having a grand experience. At the university where I was director of the School of Education until retirement we had a similar 'Leadership Experience' that brought to our students great personal awareness of their own growth and capabilities.

A side note: after retirement I wrote a software program that collects objective data during an observation. If it would be of use to your students, they can download a trial version (the full version that runs for 30 days). With it, they can do objective research at no cost (just limit the data collection to a 30 day period). I hope it adds to the experience of your students.

eCOVE Software

Peace, John
John Tenny, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Education
Willamette University
Pacific City,Oregon
United States
------------------------------------------------
You make some good points above.
However, I also think that this can be helpful to you:
Go to: http://www.panix.com/~pro-ed/

If you get this book and video: PREVENTING Classroom Discipline Problems, [they are in many libraries, so you don't have to buy them] email me and I can refer you to the sections of the book and the video [that demonstrates the effective vs. the ineffective teacher] that can help you.

[I also teach an online course on these issues that may be helpful to you at:
http://www.classroommanagementonline.com/

If you cannot get the book or video, email me and I will try to help.
Best regards,

Howard

Howard Seeman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus,
City University of New York
------------------------------------------------
Dear Dengting,
-
Great to look at your web page and see wonderful accomplishments! Keep up the great work.
By the way, in case you know individuals parenting young children--evidence-based parenting for normal challenges of everyday life. Please peek at http://www.alankazdin.com/. Thanks.
-
Best wishes,
-
Alan
-
Dr. Alan E. Kazdin
John M. Musser Professor of Psychology at Yale University
Director of Yale's Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic
President of the American Psychological Association (APA)
------------------------------------------------
Congratulations, Dengting!

What a creative undertaking to begin your own journal.

Best wishes for a productive spring!

Harrold Strang

Professor
Educational Psychology
Curry School of Education
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
------------------------------------------------
Dengting,
-
Congratulations on starting your journal.

All the best,

Kurt Fischer

Charles Warland Bigelow Professor
Cognitive Development & Learning
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Harvard University
------------------------------------------------
Hi Dengting,
-
From my perspective, the Journal of Classroom Teaching & Learning is truly a wonderful thing to see happen in our school of education. You have done a superb job in this regard. This effort is definitely contributing to the University community.
I wish you the best. Thank you very much for your time.

Sam
-
Cheng-Chang (Sam) Pan
Associate Professor
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------

Thaks for doing this Dengting. I know how much work it takes, but the papers give us such insight to our students and life here in B'ville.

Betsy Price
Support Office for Part Time Faculty
University of Texas Brownsville Texas Southmost College
------------------------------------------------

Dengting:
-
Wow!! I find your integration of technology, pedagogy and content exceptional. Your project is a great idea! I'm interested in doing something similar for educational leadership.

Dr. Chuey Abrego
Assistant Professor
Educational Leadership
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
I certainly enjoy the JOCTL, Dengting!

Dr. Michael Sullivan
Associate Professor
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
Dengting,
-
I love this. Have you thought about asking your students to do a little survey of other college students as to their perceptions related to this (motivation)? Might be interesting.

Dr. Gayle L. Brogdon
Dean
School of Education
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
Dengting,

I just wanted to comment that I’m very impressed with you work regarding the electronic journal. I hope to post some comments soon!

Take care,

Dr. Manuel Zamarripa
Assistant Professor
Counseling Psychology
School of Education
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
Hi Dengting!
-
I want to commend you on the nice journal. I clicked and found it. It looks very professional, and it will be helpful to our students. I’m sure your students learn the writing process through it, also. Congrats!

Dr. Kathy Bussert-Webb
Assistant Professor
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
Thanks for your time and effort - and well done with the blog!

David Pike
TTT Tech Specialist
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
Dengting,
-
I enjoyed reading the journals and the honest comments from the students. This is a great idea.

Dr. Sandra Murillo Sutterby
Assistant Professor
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
What an excellent idea!

Dr. Terry Overton
Associate Professor
Special Education
School of Education
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
I like the idea of your blog. It's a good idea and should be good for a professional journal article.

Dr. Yvonne S. Freeman
Professor
Curriculum & Instruction
School of Education
University of Texas at Brownsville
------------------------------------------------
This subject is very interesting to me since I work with the part time faculty here at UTB. Professors are just as anxious as students.

Betsy Price,
Support Office for Part Time Faculty
University of Texas Brownsville Texas Southmost College
------------------------------------------------
It is true that many of the traditional games are static as you say, but the new/modern and the eurostyle games are quite different. I think you will find them interesting, fun and fresh play every time as in many cases the board is ever-changing.

Have fun!

Mary Couzin
Founder of the Chicago Toy and Game Fair
Inventor of Hollywood's Reel Schpeel
mary@discovergames.com

Journal of Classroom Teaching & Learning

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Greetings from the editor

Table of Contents

Ideally realistic: The challenge of being a good teacher

Relevance: The importance of making learning related to students’ future/career

Interesting: Importance of making your class fun

Reflecting: Importance of writing reflections in student learning

Teaching them wrong: A pre-service teacher's fear

Behavior management: A pre-service teacher’s fear

Respect + confidence: Two key factors in behavior management

Behavior management: Dealing with students' complain

Spiritual development: A reflection on religion and faith

Spiritual development: Do you need religion to live a meaningful life?

Spiritual development: A on-going personal struggle

Do we still need tests in our schools today?

Do we still need tests in our schools today?

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

CESTL: Are you ready for it yet?

Useful links

JOCTL Feedback

4th CESTL

Copyright © Dr. Dengting Boyanton Assistant Professor of Education 2008

Blog Archive

Long Island University C.W.Post