The Case of Two Million Minutes (Feb. 24)

Q1.) What do you think most American's think are different between American and Asian students?
A.) I think most American's think that Asians have longer school days and the school work is more strict. I think Asians work harder at math then Americans do. For example my sisters boyfriend who is from Taiwan is very good at doing math in his head. He said that they practice it a lot. When he didn't have a calculator before a test he said that some of his classmates were saying oh my gosh how are you going to do well? He thought that was the least of his worry's and that he was confident not having his calculator. I think we rely on to much technology instead of our brains.

Q2.) How is American's impression of Asian students related to Americans impression of the Asian culture?
A.) I think most American's think that the Asian culture is more strict. I think that it is more conservative. After having an Asian roommate I realize how different we have grown up. She will study until 3 in the morning and then get up early and do some more. I feel like here most people ask first to borrow your things, but she doesn't. I think that she looks at us as close so it doesn't matter. For me that is strange because I am close to my sister, but I still ask to use her things. Before I get mad I have to constantly remind myself that we come from two different places.

Ecological Models of Human Development (Feb. 23)

1. Q) Organize the ecological system in which students develop into 5 main pieces. Give definition for each.
A.) 1. Microsystems- It is the different situations in different environments that people will face that helps make and change who the person is. Examples of microsystems is at home, school, jobs and etc..
2. Mesosystems- It is when two microsystems connect together. An example would be home and school. It would be parental involvement with the school.
3. Exosystems- It is when two setting connect together. One of the settings does not involve the person and the other does. An example would be home and the parents workplace. The workplace can affect the home of the child. The parent may be busy all of the time.
4. Macrosystems- This is the culture, beliefs and things like that impact the environment. These things affect decision that one may make.
5. Chronosystems- How at different times the environment can affect the person. Tough times in the economy may make it hard to provide the child with enough attention.

Q. 2) Describe one or two example of things, you personally, can see better with this model.
A.) Learning about the macrosystem helped me to see better. I have a roommate from Korea and she always uses my things with out asking me. I have always asked to borrow thing, but she may come from a place where you just share everything. Another thing she does is when she wears my shirts she hangs them up dirty. To her it may seem normal not to wash clothes you wore once. When I wore a shirt of hers the next day she wore the same shirt without washing it. It made me take into consideration how she was raised and to not get mad because it is what's normal to her.

The Multiple Contexts of Middle Childhood (Feb. 18)

1. Q) What make their model of child development ecological? What are the main elements of ecology?
A) It is an ecological model because it shows that the child is influenced by the family, other people and places the child and family are involved with. The model shows how the outside world affects the child. The model shows how development is affected by social positions, culture and the media. Some elements of the model are cognitive, emotional, behavioral development and the child's school and neighborhood.

2. I think one thing they talked about that related to my middle school development was feeling connected with my teachers and peers. They said having a positive relationship with those people helped with academic motivation and achievement. I do believe that is true. I felt motivated because I had support around me. If I didn't I don't know how well I would have done.

Overcoming Obstacles (Feb 11)

In this reading they discuss how racism and discrimination in schools has created a negative influence on African American people when it comes to school and jobs. Fordham thinks to do well in a dominant society African Americans must break away from their culture. Other people disagree with Fordham. Some people think that African American's have responded well to racism and discrimination. They say that it has help with with their academics. A study by Benjamin, Edwards and polite show that many African American's that are aware of different kinds of racism has helped them succeed in many areas. Another study that was done shows that a variety of awareness about racism still exists among African American people. The information from this study also shows that more information and more African American adolescents are needed to understand more about this topic.

I think that it is a shame that people still feel discriminated against. A lot has changed through the years. I am always shocked to hear about racism issues. I am not around it, but if I ever come across it I am in complete shock. I hope African American people work hard to not let racism bring them down.

I won't Learn From You! (Feb, 11)

In this article it talks about people not wanting to learn. Some people do not want to learn because they do not want to form to the way society wants them to be. In order to learn they must accept who they are being taught from and lose part of who they are. Some reading have racism in them and the students must over come their feelings towards that or the students will not do well in a class. In the reading you learn about two boys that have been in racist situation and how they handled them. You also learn about a grandfather who does not want to learn English because he does not think his family will keep on speaking Spanish.

I never really thought much about things I read and thought they were racist. I know I will take a second look at how things are said. I thought the story about Akmir was very interesting. If I was the teacher of Akmir I think I would of thought this is a disrespectful kid. This article opened up my eyes to see it from his point of view. I learned about an issue some students go through that would not of crossed my mind tell now. As a teacher I must be considerate of my future students feelings and why they are acting a certain way before judging them.

Classic Definitions and New Directions (Feb. 9)

In this reading they gave examples of motivation. It showed that the amount of motivation does not necessarily change, but what the person is motivated by can be different for many different people. If someone is intrinsically or extrinsically motivated can change by how good the person is at doing the the task. Someone would more likely be intrinsically motivated if they are good at something, then if they are bad at something and keep on failing. Extrinsically motivated people can dread the task or they can want to do it. Students may not always enjoy the task the teacher is giving that is why extrinsic motivation can be affective for teaching the students. Intrinsic motivation was first seen in experimental studies with animals. They saw that the animals did task because it gave them a positive experience. The animals were not forced to do the task they chose to. People are not always intrinsically motivated in every activity and some are never intrinsically motivated. Research shows that intrinsic motivation becomes less and less through out school. Extrinsic motivation is used more because not everything that a student is taught is interesting to them. Introjected regulation is a form of extrinsic motivation. Introjected regulation is when a person performs a task so they don't feel bad for not doing it. Integrated regulation is another form of extrinsic motivation. Integrated regulation is done because of a reward, but the person also sees it as something that will help them. Studies have shown that extrinsic motivation that is motivated by the person will have a more positive outcome of the task.

I enjoyed reading this reading. I could place myself in different categories of motivation that sometime motivate me. One motivation I found was interesting was that people may work hard at something because of the connection between a person or would like to feel connected to that person. For example in the school students may work hard because they want the teachers respect and care. The reason I found that one interesting because my dad always said how important my relationship was with a teacher and how my sister on the other hand doesn't care as much. He worried that if I didn't enjoy the teacher that I wouldn't work as hard. He did not want me to let the teacher control me in how well I did. In high school I enjoyed going to class more because I enjoyed the teacher and I wanted to work extra hard, but now I do it for myself. I have two math teachers in college that I am not very fond of, but I look at the class as something that will help me in the future so that's what keeps me motivated to do my best. It does make me feel better if I am nervous about a class and I email the teacher and they email me back right away. That makes me feel that they care about what they are teaching and they want to help their students. I know I shouldn't even care about that, but there is a part of me that still does.

Brophy Chapter 5 (Feb. 4)

In this reading they talk about children that are having a hard time learning. They say it is better to give them hints in the right direction then just encourage the student. Students that need help with something they are struggling with need to be taught in a different way then the way they were already taught. Students that are struggling need to be able to have one on one time with someone. That allows them to catch up to the other students so they don't fall more behind. The teacher needs to provide the with encouragement and to not set low achievement goals for the students. It is good to address the problem right away so it does not become a bigger problem. Students need to motivate themselves in a positive way. The student needs to grow from academic failure so it does not bring them down.

I think that there needs to be more one on one time available to students. When a student is struggling they keep on struggling tell they get help or figure out the problem. If someone is there for them to go to they will learn that they can figure out anything, they may just need a little extra help. Any student can do anything if they are given the right tools to succeed with. Teachers need to continue to believe in their students even after their failed attempts. Students need to be given high expectations that the teacher know that if they work hard they will reach those expectations. Low expectations will make the student believe that they are only able to accomplish something little.