Journal of Classroom Teaching & Learning: 2009-06-14

Monday, June 15, 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 550/551 Psychology 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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Inspired to Learn: Learning from Our Role Models

Inspired to Learn: Learning from Our Role Models
By Brittany Leigh
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 3, 2009

Tonight’s class was so incredibly moving. The segment of class on role models was beyond inspiring. Listening to the different hardships that classmates’ family members and friends went through and how they strived above and beyond everyone’s expectations is a level that I hope to achieve at some point in my life. It was such a great way to drive home the importance of learning from others. These stories showed the importance of positive reinforcement and impact you as a teacher can have on a student’s life. I get so angry when educators say there is not much they can do to help the student because their parents need to be the motivating factor in their life. They are so wrong, and hearing all the people that were motivated by an educator shows the need for educators to step up to the plate and help inspire students, that may otherwise not be inspired at all.

The different lessons each week that we learn also help me to understand how to motivate students. Learning these tools has become increasingly important. While working on my research paper, I can now see how different role models and simple observation have helped me learn. If I, as an educator, can help students see this, than I am giving them more opportunities to achieve their goals.

Inspired to Learn: Learning from Our Role Models

Inspired to Learn: Learning from Our Role Models

By Indre Both
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 3, 2009

I think most of us can agree that the role model sharing portion overshadowed today’s lecture. I must say that maybe it’s a sign of me maturing but I felt so deeply touched and affected by almost every person’s recount of their role model and the reasons why. As different as we all are, it seems we all hurt the same. There were some really powerful stories shared.

What was inspiring to me and my take-home message was really the perseverance and drive that most of those adverse recounted situations created. Whether it was inspiration found from a father’s work ethic, innovative and creative former teacher to an incredibly moving story of a mother on the run from her abusive husband and wanting to protect her kids. We all carry some wounds or have people close to us that have been hurt. However, the beauty was that all of my classmates were able to find pure inspiration and motivation from those crushing circumstances.

Another part of the lesson where I gained tangible knowledge was sharing with our partners what we as future teachers can do to motivate our students. I hope we will continue to share our thoughts with real-life examples in the remaining lectures as sometimes these examples can have the greatest teaching value.

My Role Model, My Motivation, My Mom

By Ilana Johnson
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 4, 2009

Yesterday was a fantastic class; I did not expect my classmate's stories about their role models to be as emotionally stirring as they were. For this journal entry, I thought that I would expound a little bit further about my role model.

As I shared yesterday with the class, my role model is my mother. Today, she is a fabulous woman at the age of 66; but for more than three decades, she was an educator.

In 1967, she was working at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. When she saw an article in the NY Times, announcing an intensive, summer-long program for prospective teachers. She entered the program, began teaching the following Fall, and the rest is history.

Throughout the years, people have asked me what is was like to have a teacher for a mom. When I was young, I would always complain that I was rarely allowed to stay home if I was ill (I had to practically be on my deathbed), my bed time was much earlier than my peers, and homework always came first. It's obvious that I only focused on the negative because as a child, I wasn't able to understand the “greatness” in having a teacher for a mom. As I grew older, my answers to the same question changed to: my education was a priority, my education is a priority, my education will always be a priority!

I will always proclaim that if were not for my mom, I would not be the person that I am today. I would probably be a school-dropout and floundering, clueless like an empty oyster shell, through life. My mom has my back at all times and is my greatest cheerleader. When I became pregnant, I was ummarried, not making much money and still living at home. She was in my corner from the beginning, never discouraging me, and respecting the fact that I wanted to keep my child She is my everlasting source of inspiration with her warm spirit, sense of compassion, and dedication to her former craft as an educator.

My mom has faced the most horrifying adversity in her personal life; and yet, she remains standing tall, proud, and unwavering. This is why I adore her, why she will always be my friend, my sister, my rock, my mom!

My Role Model, My Motivation, My Coach

By Adam Cirnigliaro
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 4, 2009

Yesterday’s class was extremely emotional, but at the same time, fascinating to see classmates describe those people who have meant the most to them over the years. It caught me a little off guard how difficult it was for some people to present. It is clear that many of the people in our class have had difficult times and these role models have either directly helped them or inspired them to persevere. In my personal situation, my role model provided both types of motivation. He was always there encouraging me to work harder and to believe in myself. This wasn’t just rhetoric though. He lives the words he preaches, which makes you believe you should be as dedicated as him. He volunteered all of his free time to his students and really earned the love and respect of all of them.

One aspect of his life that was important to my role model was running. He was not a very athletic individual, but he was extremely competitive. He ran this same local 10k race every year and had a goal of finishing it in less than 45 minutes. Every year it seemed as though he barely missed his target time, but he never quit. I think most people would have become frustrated, yet he continued to run every morning before work. Last year he finally beat that 45-minute time, which I imagine must have been very satisfying for him. I know this is a very small thing, but it exemplifies how he approached life and every task he took on. Finishing a race in a certain time might not be that important, but it showed me that if you dedicate yourself to something, you could accomplish it.

He was an extraordinary teacher as well. I talked to him about his preparation for class and it was amazing to me how much time he spent making sure he was able to introduce topics and help students develop a strong grasp of the material. More importantly then academics though, he was always there for me, as well as other students in all aspects of life. He was very approachable and sincerely cared about how your life was going. He has always been there to help me through difficult times and still continues to be today. He is one of the main reasons I want to become a teacher. I would love to be able to have the impact on just one child’s life, the way he had on mine.

We Are Family

We Are Family

By Lisa Pratt
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 4, 2009

I am rarely at a loss for words but today’s class left me speechless. I am quite sure that when I return to Post on Monday I will look at each and every one of my classmates with a new perspective. Each person’s story was inspiring, moving and in many cases uplifting. I am sure that I am not the only person who went home and hugged everyone in my family: life is precious; we need more reminders of that.

I think we now fully realize that teaching is a unique career that touches lives years after students have left the classroom. I will carry memories of Wednesday’s class and summon them if I ever second-guess my career path. We all have the ability and opportunity to impact lives the likes of which we heard in great detail during our last class.

It was interesting to hear about the impact that self-efficacy has on learning as well as examples of several ways to increase a student’s confidence in the classroom. It is clearly a vital part of any learning process. The importance of self-reflection is often neglected; it is imperative that educators continually evaluate and adjust their immediate and future goals in the classroom.

The climate we establish with our students should provide a learning environment free of harsh judgment coupled with an upbeat, positive atmosphere which will enable them to grow as learners. I believe that if Dengting had not helped facilitate those feelings of acceptance and respect without judgment in our classroom, we would have never been able to achieve the level of intimacy and trust that was evident during our “mentor” presentations.

Learning is A life-long Journey

By JLT
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 8, 2009

Professor, I appreciate that you do not want your students discussing you outside of class, so I hope that my sharing our discussion with you will exonerate me. Essentially, the discussion revolved around the fact that I am extremely surprised and impressed by the self-reflection you prompt in us. Furthermore, you will be happy to know that we our using our formal operational skills by comparing your class to others in our educational career and noting that although other classes required journals, your questions are not only motivating, but impressively thought provoking.

I am experiencing great retention with little effort due to your approach and success of tying the academic knowledge we are acquiring to real life experiences. Life, not just the classroom is a learning environment, and if we are not consistently introspective and motivated to learn and modify our behavior; that is, grow which in my opinion only happens when we self-evolve, then we are not prepared to be a potential role model or positive example. Only through self-evolution does growth occur. Thank you for leading us toward growth.

A Letter to My Mom

A Letter to My Mom

By Chuck
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 4, 2009

The stories from our class on Wednesday were motivating and touching. I envy the people that were able to talk about their mothers like that. In so many ways I wish I could do the same, but for as long as I could remember my relationship with my mother has been rocky at best. If I had the courage and conviction to tell her what I have grown to know I would tell her this:

Mom,

I know for my whole life that you worked very hard. While dad was in and out of work you took on another job to make up the difference. I am sorry for not understanding this, as it was most difficult for me as a child to understand. As I grew older our relationship continued to fall apart. As a grown man I should understand what you had to go through but the pain still lingers. This is not what you deserve, you did everything you could for the four children you had.

You were the one who told me to switch classes into photography and pushed me to go to R.I.T. You have opened more doors for me then I can count. All the amazing deeds and sacrifices you have made were not in vein.

I promise I will make a better effort to be a better person to you. I only hope that I live up to all the dreams you had for me.

Love Your Son,

Chuck

Morality: A Subjective Notion

By Gregory Cioffi
EDI 550/551 Psychology of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 4, 2009

Morality is one of the most important aspects of humanity, and yet, it is one of the most subjective and controversial notions we have. Morality is essentially, a code of conduct that deals with right vs. wrong. Although this seems like a fairly simple concept, morality tends to be defined by various factors such as, society, religion, and even personals beliefs on what it is to do the right thing.

I too must agree that there are MANY gray areas in doing what is “right.” For instance, one can question something as trivial as whether or not it is right to tell a lie for the sake of protecting someone from some situation. Morality can also be debated on issues such as war, gay marriage, abortion, and capital punishment. Some might believe that some of these occurrences are acceptable while others find them repulsive and utterly wrong. I believe the sad part is that these debates will rage on alongside
humanity for as long as we last.

My Personal Morality

By Michael Wimmer
EDI 550/551 Psychology of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 4, 2009

When it comes to the issue of morality, I feel that there are two definitions. There is what society defines as moral, and what a person defines as moral. Obviously, to be a moral person, one’s personal morality has to work within societal standards. By this I mean, one cannot be moral if they feel it is ok to engage in criminal activity. That being said, I feel that I am a moral person because I stand by the morals that I set for myself, which have been both passed down by my parents and learned from my life experiences.

One moral that I set for myself deals with honesty. While sometimes this gets me into trouble, because I do not lie to people even if the truth can be harsh, it is something I truly believe in. To me, there is nothing to be gained from lying. If it is someone whose opinion you care about, then you should not hurt them with a lie. If you do not care about the person, what is the point of lying to them? I have always been someone who puts a fair amount of trust in people. Therefore, when I am lied to, I am genuinely hurt by the situation. I have always looked at honesty as being a chief priority of mine, and because I stick to this, I consider myself moral.

Another strong moral that I follow deals with children. I am a firm believer that when a child looks up to you, you must do everything you can not to disobey that trust. I am around high school kids a fair amount, as I essentially coach all year. Because of this, I have developed strong relationships with my players and they come to me for advice regularly. I do everything I can to be there for them, and would never do anything to let them down. Once again, by sticking to my convictions, I consider myself moral.

To me, morality is very important. It is what allows a person to realize what they should or should not do. Therefore, I have always been a firm believer in setting my own morals and living by them. While other people might consider me immoral for not having as strong a belief in something they believe in, or not think that these two examples make me moral, I am not concerned with that. Morality is a personal struggle, and one I am proud to say I follow.

My Favorite Instructional Approach

By Ilana Johnson
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 9, 2009

Out of the three instructional approaches, I identify most with the Cognitive Approach with a touch of the Humanistic Approach. I will compare these to the Behavioral Approach and list the reasons as to why I'm not fond of this approach.

I like that the Cognitive Approach is student-centered while the teacher acts as a facilitator. I think that this method encourages students to be vocal and limits passivity. The Behavioral Approach, being teacher-centered with the teacher having all of the knowledge shouts of a domineering, dictatorship-like classroom. It immediately reminded me of my second grade teacher, Mrs. Classowitz. She was didn't give us many opportunities to speak, using the classroom as her platform of authoritativeness. Instead of being a motivator, she chose to scream and punish, scaring us on a daily basis. When a student doesn't feel comfortable expressing his/herself, the growth of learning is stunted.

Secondly, I like that the Cognitive Approach encourages sense-making and personal interpretation. The Behavioral Approach decreases the opportunity for a student to figure out why for the answer, if it's concern is to only establish only one correct answer without focusing on the why. This doesn't always help a student who needs to see and understand the steps to problem-solving. I believe learning happens best when a student can make direct correlations to areas of his/her life in order for the material to make sense; and also, when they are given the appropriate amount of time to figure out answers instead of being force-fed the material under the time of a stopwatch.

The Behavioral Approach also doesn't appear to reward, only evaluate. I believe that recognizing achievement and fostering a sense of creativity is crucial for motivation.

Third, I like that the Cognitive Approach provides meaningful context with learnable amounts set to be mastered in realistic time periods. The Behavioral Approach practices small, easy-to-learn steps but are they easy-to-understand? The focus seems to be on instruction, not necessarily comprehension. The Cognitive Approach stresses the act of making connections, enabling students to make the material relevant to prior knowledge and to their own lives. When students are allowed to parallel information between school and life, learning occurs.

The Humanistic Approach has a philosophy that really appeals to me, especially since, as I wrote in my research paper, I have had less-than-nurturing teachers in my lifetime. I like the community building aspect, the addressing of negative feelings, and the method of lesson delivery: exploring problems and developing insight.

I believe that a combination of these two approaches are the best for developing a classroom of healthy, able-minded and motivated students.

Children's Awareness of Morality of Today

By MJ
EDI 550/551 Psychology of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 5, 2009

Today in class we went over the different levels of comprehension on the laws and rules to ones’ behavior. We spoke about many adolescents and the problems that they face today. My partner and I came to a conclusion that it is the technology that has such an impact on everything that they do. Kids today are easily influenced by media. They see adds on television and in magazines on the “cool” thing to do. There are adds on people cheating, teen dramas, and all kinds of disorders that deal with teens.

Our job as a teacher of high school students is to try to help this situation to the best we can. Students are not prone to cheating. It is rare when you find a student that does not know how to cheat to get through a big exam. Like one fellow classmate stated “when we get the high school kids, it is like leaving spilled water on the floor for 16 years. It is very difficult to clean up.” I agree with Mike on this situation. I feel that it is very difficult to help someone that has been doing this for so long. I also feel that parenting has the most influence over a child.

Just like the phrase “Monkey see what monkey do”, children see what their parents do and the mimic it. All parents need to set a good role model and watch and monitor their children closely. This is will help the problem of our students be extremely shade and sneaky. If they feel that they are being watched, they will work harder to make sure they are careful of what they say in front of adults.

Ignoring Gender When Approaching Adolescents

By Michael Wimmer
EDI 550/551 Psychology of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 7, 2009

As teachers, we have been handed the futures of each student that comes into our classrooms. For those of us who end up teaching in schools with both male and female students, we are going to come across the issue of gender on a daily basis. To address the issue of helping students reach their full potential, I really feel the best thing to do is to ignore gender and just treat them like adolescents.

Obviously there are going to be certain situations where gender cannot be ignored. However, for a majority of the time in a classroom, it does not matter whether the student is male or female, but instead whether or not they are learning. I do not believe that girls have more academic potential than boys or vice versa. Instead, I think that it comes down to how well the teacher makes his or her points and teaches his or her lessons. If we simply treat the students like students, that is what they are going to respond to.

Teaching is all about the response you get from your students. We are not teaching them material that is impossible for them to grasp, therefore it simply comes down to making the student want to learn what we are trying to teach. While I have had no experience as a teacher, I have worked with both genders as a coach. The reason I have had some success in this field is because I do not treat girls like girls or boys like boys. Instead I treat them all like athletes. When adolescents realize that you are not bringing their gender, which at this time is can be confusing for them, into your dealing with them, they feel more comfortable. The more comfortable they are, the more you can accomplish.

Impact of Media on Gender Stereotypes

Impact of Media on Gender Stereotypes

By Krystal Barrera
EDI 550/551 Psychology of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 10, 2009

Today’s class was very interesting. I really enjoyed the way the class began on having the boys and girls define the different stereotypes and characteristics associated with each gender. It was very interesting to see how both males and females classify themselves but what was even more interesting was seeing the films on “Killing us Softly” and “Tough Guise” and the way in which media portrays each gender.

The way in which media portrays different genders is something I had never really thought about. If I learned something from today’s class it was how media imposes different expectations on both genders. Coming from a female perspective, it was quite disturbing to see the way in which females are degraded and made to look inferior next to males. Although it was something I had not often thought about, the portrayal of females and the types of images that are included in the media could be harmful to the way in which females view themselves.

The part of the film that really stuck out to me was how the image that is portrayed of females only makes up about 8% of the population. It is unfortunate that many females are trying to live up to this expectation and making themselves sick to look like the females that rarely exist. Just as this was an eye opening film for me, it could be for many other females who suffer from different types of eating disorders and are constantly struggling with their physical appearance.

It is unfortunate that the media is such an influential part of everyone’s life and sending out messages that are harmful to both genders. There should be more commercials and advertisements that express the real image of men and women like the Special K commercial incorporated in the “Killing us Softly” film. These types of commercials could be more empowering than sending women false hope and false images.

Differentiating Your Instructional Approach

By Adam Cirnigliaro
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 9, 2009

After learning about the different approaches to instruction, it is clearly important to incorporate behavioral, cognitive and humanistic styles. Watching the mini lessons during class, it appears that even when your goal is to use one approach, it is not always easy to teach the lesson the way it was intended. You must be very conscious of the method you use, otherwise the information might be presented in an unintended way. Some of the groups wanted to implement the cognitive approach, however, they ended up displaying behavioral characteristics.

It wasn’t until afterwards when we discussed their lesson that they realized their execution varied from what they had planned. It is easy to fall into this teaching style because teachers are anxious about making sure students get all of the information. It is natural for teachers to want to get the material out there and explain it themselves because they do not want to miss any topics and they have an idea of how they want the students to learn the material. Although there is a time and place for all three styles, I love the cognitive approach because it initially creates excitement by introducing the material with some sort of demonstration. The students are engaged and are forced to work out the problems with assistance from the teacher. Students learn better when they are actively partaking in the learning process because it makes the new information personally relevant.

I also think the humanistic approach is very important because it is critical to recognize student’s emotional states. Students always learn better when they feel safe, comfortable and as though the teacher truly cares about them. It is essential to give students praise so they feel proud and confident about what they are doing. It is also important to find out how students are doing on a particular day. Children come to school with a wide range of emotions and it is good for them to be able to express themselves. Related to this topic, it was interesting to hear classmate’s views about hugging students.

I think it is unfortunate that we live in a time where we as teachers are not allowed to show this type of affection. I agree that there isn’t a place for this in high school and middle school, but at the elementary level I believe there are times when it is appropriate. It shouldn’t be done every day, but there are periods when young children are going through difficult situations and need a hug. It must be somewhat confusing for children when a teacher can not reciprocate this gesture. I know teachers can explain why they cannot, but children are always reading into things and often take things as personal faults.

Having Fun with the Gender Box

By Daniel Dombrowski
EDI 550/551 Psychology of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 10, 2009

Today was a very interesting and fun class. This was especially true when the class was doing the gender box exercise. It might sound kind of cliche, but when the guys were in their own room, it felt like we were a team, or even a representation for that matter. Having fun, laughing, and writing down all the ideas we could think of was a pretty entertaining exercise. To have an almost “battle of the sexes” where we had to say what were the characteristics, or stereotypes for that matter, of men and also what “men” were not.

When we finally got back to the room, it was interesting to see, at first glance, what colors the guys and girls picked. The guys picked blue, red, and green while the girls chose pink and purple. Almost a stereotype in itself. Then, once we finished with our results, both groups showed the stereotypes and the girls had a lot more than the guys. I feel that we really got most of the stereotypes of men, even though they seemed to be much more physical in nature and less relying on emotions. It was interesting to see that all of the words on the outside of the girls box could go on the inside of the guys box and vice versa for the most part. It was a very entertaining to see how each group reacted to the others stereotypes and was a very educational class in a sort of unorthodox method.

Tough Guise? What does it mean to be a real man?

By Gregory Cioffi
EDI 550/551 Psychology of Adolescent Students

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 10, 2009

I feel pretty much the same about both videos we watched in class. Killing us Softly made some great points, but it was wrapped in “crap” as far as I'm concerned. The host tried to connect things that really didn't need to be connected, and I started to feel like it was a feminist film. She poked fun at half of the ads yet scrutinized society for doing the same. Half of those ads were comical, or ironic and should be treated as so.

Tough Guise certainly brought up a good point about the pressure put on modern males. However, once that message was established the rest of the film seemed repetitive and unnecessary.

I personally feel that pressure as a male too, and I also feel that in the last decade the media has portrayed men in the same unfair way as they have showing been women. However, you really don't hear men complaining about it as much. I feel like part of the “being a man” thing is a very positive lesson. It means that, as a man, you are responsible, trustworthy, protective, rational, and at the end of the day you get that job done and provide for you and your family. The advancement of women in society certainly makes our job easier and I think all men really want female equality. Being a man is how we ensure our independence and our success.
I actually think there aren't many real men out there anymore, in that stereotypical way, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I think men, by nature, are very sensitive and caring creatures. We just show it differently, and hide our emotions more than women because sometimes those emotions come into conflict with this proper male image we were taught to encompass. This is why the few people to see our emotion would be the wife, or girlfriend because we are closest to those people. Being a man carries a certain degree of self-respect that many males seem to lack nowadays. I think it was very important for people to realize that this is what being a man is all about, and that does not include things like violence, cursing, and insensitivity. When I'm unsure of what to do Marlon Brando pops into my head with, “You can act like a man!” and that simply means do the right, responsible thing.

Defining Motivation

By Indre Both
EDI 600 Psychology of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 7, 2009

Today we watched a powerful and memorable film “October Sky” and discussed what is motivation. We all submitted virtually the same suggestions for defining the word motivation. Students wrote words on our poster such as “inspire,” “believe,” “encourage,” “nurture.” However, what I found particularly interesting was that although we all had very similar word definitions, we had quite different ideas on what motivation actually is.

My personal take was that people are born with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Those who are stuck so to speak in the middle, or the unmotivated ones can be lucky to have someone inspiring in their lives to give them that extra kick. However, if we reflect on the whole picture, who is anyone to say that a particular person is or is not motivated?

Motivation is really the reason why we do the things we do. Our capitalistic culture likes to define a “motivated person” as one with primarily financial success. Another word that Americans like to use to describe such people is “go-getters.” Does that mean that a mom putting her career on hold to raise her four children and not put them in day care is not a “go-getter” and therefore not motivated? To her, the motivation is her view of what is best for her children. Therefore, defining of what a motivated person can be highly subjective. The most I can wish is that I will be a great mom, passionate and content with my life. That’s my goal and motivation in life!

Motivation: You Can Do It!

By Adam Cirnigliaro
EDI 600 Psychology of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 10, 2009

It was intriguing yesterday to hear everyone’s point of view concerning motivation. It seemed like the majority of the class initially held the view that motivation only refers to the intrinsic kind that truly engenders passion towards a goal. I think as we continued our discussion, many people softened their stance on this and realized that motivation is any reason why we do something. When I was younger, I used to be much too critical of other people’s motivation. I believed that anyone who didn’t have a goal that they were overly passionate about then they were not motivated people. I realize now that I was extremely lucky to have something in my life that I felt so strongly about.

I’m sure most people would love to be able to have something in their life that creates excitement every day in their life. One pet peeve that I still do have is when people claim how badly they want to achieve something, yet their work ethic does not match their statements. I struggle to understand this type of motivation. You claim to be dedicated towards an ambition, but do not put in enough work to succeed and still get upset and angry towards others when things do not work out. I think examples of this type of person are much too prevalent.
When it comes to working, it is an unfortunate truth that not everyone can be intrinsically motivated towards their job. Many people desire to do other things, but motivation to start a family or just individually survive forces them to settle into a job they do not love.

I think as teachers we are lucky because we all got into this profession because we really want to help kids. I think education is one profession where it is necessary to be intrinsically motivated. I imagine it is hard to maintain the same level of enthusiasm over the years, but it is dangerous if it fades. I work with an older teaching assistant who has become extremely cynical. She is always saying things such as, “She can’t do it” or “she’s finished, she needs a half day”. It has become very sad to hear her say these things every day even before school starts because she is creating a defeatist attitude that I’m sure the students recognize. It must be extremely deflating for any student, but especially these ones who all have learning disabilities, to have a teacher that clearly does not believe that they can achieve anything.

October Sky: Motivational Movement

By Stacia Roth
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 11, 2009

I think that motivation is the key ingredient in teaching and learning. Watching the movie in class brought so many issues in motivation to the table when we had a class discussion. Motivation is the reason behind our behavior. In the movie, Homer’s motivation to pursue his passion in rockets can be attributed to a number of things. I think that his strong will to get away from mining and the life he was forced to grow up in was a major motivational factor. I also think the lack of recognition from his father throughout his life also motivated Homer to prove himself and be noticed for something other than mining or football. Homer’s teacher, Ms. Reilly also motivated him because she encouraged him to take action and believed in his potential. While most of these factors could have caused Homer to be de-motivated and accept his destiny in life and status in the family, they in fact were used in a positive movement to change course and do better.

As a future educator I will be faced with many stories of students with discouraging and de-motivating circumstances in their lives. I not only have to motivate these students to learn, but also motivate them to do better than what they believe their predisposed fate holds. Often times teacher’s focus on what they are doing in the classroom and forget the important roles that family life and social status plays in their student’s lives. It is commendable and necessary to motivate students to learn subject matter and make great effort to get them excited about school. However, it is equally as important to make personal connections with students and learn about who they are, where they are coming from, and where they are expected to go. The student who comes from a working class family and has grown up to believe that they are destined to do what his/her father or mother do may not be as easily motivated to learn something that has no relevance to them. It is crucial to make goals reachable and relevant in order to ignite and maintain motivation.

We have to always remember to take the time to know our students and find out what will really motivate them, not only to learn what we need to teach them, but also to have dreams and goals and aspirations to go further. It is not enough to make a general “stab” at motivating our students to learn. It takes careful design that requires digging deeper into our student’s thoughts, perceptions, experiences, and preconceived notions. If Homer didn’t perceive his undesirable circumstances as a motivating force and display an interest to break out of the cycle, would Ms. Reilly have encouraged him to find his own way? Would she have maintained the expectation that his destiny held or would she still have planted the seed in his mind of alternative avenues in life?

October Sky: Understanding Motivation

October Sky: Understanding Motivation

By Brittany Leigh
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 9, 2009

Today’s topic, motivation, is such an important topic to be discussed as future teachers. How do you motivate an unmotivated student? Haw far do you push? What part should you play in the child’s motivation? Are there circumstances where, as a teacher, you should give up? These are all questions that teachers are faced with on a regular basis. And the answers are not easy. During class, watching October Sky and discussing our “graffiti” to several of the questions made the definition of motivation clearer. I always had a view of motivation being intrinsic and that outside people could help support that motivation which you have. However, I now believe that is a multitude of layers within motivation and so many different forces, whether positive or negative, can help motivate an individual.

The class had a discussion on the impact of the father’s actions towards Homer and if, in fact, you could call his negative reinforcement motivation. In the beginning, I did not comprehend how his negative actions were motivation to Homer. After an in depth look at the character’s and their reactions to each other, as well as out conversation in class, it began to dawn on me how much the father’s negative actions were a motivation to Homer, in his pursuit of rocket science. This was an important lesson for me to learn, so that I can better understand motivation and the many different ways to help motivate a student.

What Killed My Motivation to Learn?

What Killed My Motivation to Learn?

By Ilana Johnson
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 11, 2009

As I've said before, I love to read. To be able to pass on this love, especially to students who have literacy development challenges, is a rewarding prospect for me. It is one that I greatly look forward to. But what really motivates me to teach is the desire to be the complete antithesis of what my teachers were like during my time growing up.

There have been times, in my childhood and adulthood when I felt such hate toward some of my teachers. Frequently, I felt misunderstood, neglected, and inconsequential; some of them not even apparently concerned with whether I was learning or not. It's hard to admit, but admittedly it's something that I must do in order to move on in life and become a better teacher than some of the people that I unfortunately had the displeasure of being taught by.

In the past, I was never able to express why I wasn't fond of school; I only knew that it was a place that held a source of anxiety for me. It's only been in recent years that I've become aware that the reason I felt so uncomfortable in school was because of past teachers and how they made me feel: dumb, lazy, unambitious, and the list could go on all day.

As a prospective educator, it is my goal to make my students feel nurtured and bright in a warm, attentive and patient environment for the fostering of learning. I will create an atmosphere that I was hardly ever fortunate enough to have been accustomed to.

A Model Class of Cognitive & Humanistic Approach

By JLT
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education

School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June 10, 2009

Leaving class this evening, it became clear to me that the format of the lesson was an excellent model of the Cognitive instructional approach. The movie we watched, October Sky was a wonderful way to make the topic of motivation relevant and was an excellent way of sparking discussion that clarified different aspects of motivation, the lesson topic. Furthermore, the proceeding Graffiti activity motivated us to brainstorm and analyze the topic as it pertains to the movie we watched, and the classroom experience, from the perspective of educators.

During our last class we learned about and modeled different instructional approaches in teaching. We also learned that learning strategies and styles are often taught to the students indirectly by modeling. In this case we are being taught teaching strategies via model; using different mediums - the film, the graffiti sheets, working in a cooperative setting, sharing of analyses and classroom discussions are all typical of the student driven classroom.

We explore the topics and make them relevant and memorable by sharing our personal experiences. I am in awe at how intimate this class has become. I have been in class with some of the same students and barely recalled their names, now I really KNOW every one. It’s wonderful and makes me feel like we are a little community. I hope to see these comforting, warm, friendly faces in future classes. This didn’t happen by chance, the dynamic was created in this particular classroom environment by this particular professor. I hope that I can create the same comfort and secure feeling in my students and my classroom in the future. Thank you.

Useful links

The following links are provided by the generous readers of JOCTL! We

Anonymous said...: Be sure to read Rocket Boys, the book the movie is based on. It's a great read and truly inspiring. Then you'll know the real story. Hickam has help for teachers who use his book and movie in their classes. Go to www.homerhickam.com.; 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

Monday, June 15, 2009

Greetings from the editor

Table of Contents

Inspired to Learn: Learning from Our Role Models

Inspired to Learn: Learning from Our Role Models

My Role Model, My Motivation, My Mom

My Role Model, My Motivation, My Coach

We Are Family

Learning is A life-long Journey

A Letter to My Mom

Morality: A Subjective Notion

My Personal Morality

My Favorite Instructional Approach

Children's Awareness of Morality of Today

Ignoring Gender When Approaching Adolescents

Impact of Media on Gender Stereotypes

Differentiating Your Instructional Approach

Having Fun with the Gender Box

Tough Guise? What does it mean to be a real man?

Defining Motivation

Motivation: You Can Do It!

October Sky: Motivational Movement

October Sky: Understanding Motivation

What Killed My Motivation to Learn?

A Model Class of Cognitive & Humanistic Approach

Useful links

JOCTL Feedback

4th CESTL

Copyright © Dr. Dengting Boyanton Assistant Professor of Education 2008

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