Understanding Your Students Brian Parr- The University Of Georgia

The Reflective Teacher  Students were thought of as empty vessels -“Tabula Rosa” Teachers were the source of knowledge and it was the student’s responsibility to learn.

The Reflective Teacher  The reflective teacher constantly evaluates the effectiveness of their instruction.  Then adapt their instruction to the needs of their students.  Draw on the experiences of the students  Deemphasize lecture and encourage student involvement.  Poor Scholar Soliloquy

Adaptive Teaching  Achieving a common instructional goal with learners of differing learning styles, abilities, etc.  2 effective approaches  Remediation Approach  Compensatory Approach

Remediation  Effort is made to level the playing field.  Review of math skills before you teach a lesson that involves math.

Compensatory Approach  Method “compensates” for lack of ability or knowledge among students.  Group work  Visuals  Authentic Situations

Intelligence??? Howard Gardner Frames of Mind (1983) Challenged that “intelligence could be objectively measured and reduced to a single number or “IQ” score MA12 ma 12 ma IQ = IQ= IQ= PA12 pa 9 pa

Environment vs. Heredity  Are learners born or made?  Language in the homes of minorities.  Can you make up for bad genes??

The Eight Intelligences  Linguistic Intelligence - the capacity to use words effectively, either orally or in writing.  Logical-Mathematical Intelligence - the capacity to use numbers effectively and reason well  Spatial Intelligence - the ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately and perform transformations upon those perceptions

 Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence - expertise in using one’s body to express ideas and feeling.  Musical Intelligence - the capacity to perceive, discriminate, transform, and express musical forms.  Interpersonal Intelligence - the ability to perceive and make distinctions in the moods, intentions, motivations, and feelings of others.

 Intrapersonal - self knowledge and the ability to act adaptively on the basis of that knowledge.

 Naturalist Intelligence- observing, understanding, and organizing patterns in the natural environment.

Sternberg’s Definition  Intelligence is the ability to learn and think using previously discovered patterns and relationships to solve new problems in unfamiliar contexts.

Peer Groups  Build groups from different peer groups.  Use students as mentors for less mature.  Build students up to each other before forming groups.

Systems-Ecological Perspective The learner’s behavior is a product of multiple influences that may be conflicting.

Biases in the Classroom  Expectations- The self-fulfilling prophesy.  Tigers, Cardinals and Clowns.

Eliminating Bias  Spread interactions evenly.  Give special assignments randomly.  Pair opposites.