Reflections on EDCI 7520

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching & the brain: promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand Oaks: CA: Corwin. Main Points: 1. S chool systems write off the “culture of poverty,” which further perpetuates the achievement gap. 2. Educator l abels and create a “pedagogy of poverty” which dumbs down the cognitive skills, rigor, and engaging work, by underestimating what our “labeled” children are capable of. 3. A growth mindset would foster resilience in our students and can be accomplished through the vehicle of culturally responsive teaching. 4.  The singling out of children, even with the best of intentions, causes them to feel as though they do not belong, and students will, therefore, withdraw from the learning community, perpetuating gaps and stereotypes. 5. T he brain, and especially the amygdala and neocortex, play crucial parts in the detection and minimizing of social and physical threats.   ...

Fox, E. & Alexander, P. A. (2017). Learning to read. In Mayer, R. E.  & Alexander, P. A. Handbook of research on learning and instruction (2nd ed.), pp. 8-32. New York: Routledge. Main Points: 1. Through a developmental lens, reading is behavior as opposed to a skill or process.  2. Research from the past 10 years fits within the framework of six broad principles by Gray (1951). 3. These principles are "recognition of the changing role of reading as communication practices evolve; broadening the concept of reading beyond word recognition; an acknowledgment that growth in reading continues throughout the lifespan; consideration of students' developing interests and needs; instruction in domain-specific reading practices; and attention to reader's individual differences" (p. 9). 4. More research and longitudinal studies should be conducted to better understand what children are learning about their reading as they continue through the learning process over the ...

Bernard, S. (2010). Neuroplasticity: learning physically changes the brain. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/neuroscience-brain-based-learning-neuroplasticity Main Points: 1. Brains grow and change at any age, adapting to their environments. 2. Repetitive practice or access activates, organizes, and strengthens neural pathways and connections. 3. Neural pathways that aren't used are "pruned" or eliminated. 4. Making students aware of neuroplasticity positively impacts student achievement. 5. Ways to incorporate in the classroom: repetition, contextualize new information to tap into existing pathways, and teach students about how they can change their brains. Discussion: In my experience teaching high school, when students learn about neuroplasticity, it helps to encourage them to try to learn new things. Students feel less defeated, and more engaged in learning when I tell them about the relevance of our work. It also helps to support why we review and re...

Darling-Hammond, L., Rosso, J., Austin, K., Orcutt, S., & Martin, D. (2014). Session 1: How people learn: Introduction to learning theory. The Learning Classroom: Theory Into Practice. Annenberg Learner website, www. Learner.org/courses/learningclassroom/session_overviews/intro_home1. Html Main Points: 1. Learning is a continual and complex process, the heart of which is essential to the art of teaching.  2. Four major areas that impact learning are the learner, the environment, the process of teaching and learning, and the interactions of those factors which impact motivation. 3. It is imperative to understanding multiple intelligences of children as well as development.  4. Feelings, culture, and social aspects play important roles in the classroom learning environment.  5. The central ideas important to the process of learning are cognitive apprenticeship, metacognition, and transfer 6. Teaching requires constant reflection and adjustments on the part of the ...