Chapter 9 & 10

1. It seemed as if chapter 10 was a review of chapters 6 & 7 when discussing the importance of community learning and assessment. Chapter 9 was more appealing to myself as a professional in realizing the potential technology has in our classrooms. The chapter discussed visuals and how visuals can help students learn difficult concepts. This reminded me of using the visuo sketchpad and phonological loop in order to interpret and encode the problems presented. But, technology is completely changing the way we learn. We are moving from rote memorization to applying information and skills which can impede the old information and become mixed up or in with the new. Context was also discussed as far as being able to transfer learning from school to home based on the context students learn. Matlin discusses the importance of learning in context and how that helps students correctly encode and remember information. And who could forget A.I.? Need I say more, Matlin?! We must also use technology to scaffold learning and allow our students' learning about technology to be built in order to become an expert rather than a novice.

2. As I read the chapter on technology, I could not help but wonder about ambiguity (Matlin, ch. 9). Sometimes it is difficult to know what someone is saying unless you are face to face reading their body language and listening to their voice pitch changes to find more of the meaning behind what people are saying. ClassTalk was discussed as an online discussion (seems to me like blackboard) but I have found (from my blackboard experience) sometimes ambiguity can exist within the words we place on the computer. How can we, as a tech savvy world, figure out how to combat ambiguity and make sure everyone is on the same page when we are unable to see faces and know whether or not the work that was produced was actually produced by the student (or, did someone else do the work for them?). And, what about the social norms that could occur? I think I have offended some students in the class because they were of a different nationality and I didn't realize it at the time and said some brash words. How are we teaching students to be proper when speaking and how to hold a conversation when the conversation bats back and forth among screens?
3. As a teacher, I must be considerate of scaffolding my students' learning with technology. I need to provide some tech in my class so I do not limit my students in a world that will rely almost solely on technology in the near future. The learning programs discussed would greatly help my students when adjusted to their level and open the lines of communication (dialogue) and excitement in my classroom. I would love to use more of the internet to communicate with my parents as far as blogs and homework to give extra tips and hold all accountable or to provide online chatting with my parents. I need to help my students become successful in the competitive world as far as academics are concerned, but I must also be conscious of the fact that I need to prepare them for the world of technology so they can compete in it as well.

Chapter 6 & 7

1. Learning environments are essential to classroom learning and we must differentiate our instruction to meet the needs of our students. Chapter 6 discussed how learning is no longer rote and that ties into all that we have learned this semester with using higher order thinking and questioning which uses more cognitive processes because one is actually "thinking" and processing rather than simply memorizing. Education is becoming more stimulating! (Well, we hope that it will!) Within learning environments, in relation to diagnostic teaching, one must use students' known misconceptions and teach the students how to combat that (ambiguity, chapter 9). We discussed how we as teachers must inform and teach our students ambiguity not only in learning, but also in the world we live. Page 135 hit home with the learner-centered environment. It was interesting to see that this author and Matlin are on the same page when using context to teach. The text discusses using home and community to reinforce learning or provide additional learning opportunities which are helpful or complimentary to classroom learning. Matling discusses how we learn better in certain context and it helps information to become encoded into our long term memory. And isn't that the goal of learning?!
2. I'm a bit tired of hearing about the assessing but chapter 6 gives some insight to testing...but it does not answer my question. If assessing should be ongoing and truly drive our instruction, then why do we waste our money on state testing that really appears invalid and doesn't give us a reliable source of information on how we can drive our instruction? A lot of people teach to the test, so then why assess at all if we are teaching it? Why are we not teaching that higher thinking and showing our students how to apply one formula to multiple situations? Assessment is no longer a tool, it has become a way for teachers to put a grade on a grade card. Most teachers don't assess more often because it takes too long and taking the info and applying it takes time out of the designated "plan time" so the tests simply pile up and waste not only the teacher's time preparing, copying, and administering, but also the students' time because they took a test for no reason at all...just to be thrown in a trash can.
3. As a "not so seasoned teacher," I found the information on assessments to be important and to turn the wheels in my head. I want to be a more reflective teacher and providing more mearningful assessments should help that reflection. We need to take a step back and look at our teaching and how we are teaching and assessments will keep myself and my students on their toes. Having lower readers, I need to constantly see what my students need and this is one way to go about finding what they need. I also liked when the book said we must have a balance of activities in our day. I need to do more of this with my kids. We seem to have the same routine so every now and then, I need to balance the activities with them to make sure I am covering other topics and/or ways of learning using their intelligences.

Chapters 10 & 13

1. Multiple cognitive processes are utilized in both language and written production using the phonological loop, executive executive, visuospatial sketchpad, and working memory. Oral language production also exercises the tip-of-the tongue phenomenon while it also allows for ambiguity due to prosody. Not only does oral language produce discourse but it is only polite to use more positive directives rather than negative. Writing uses the multiple cognitive processes including (in addition to those above) long-term memory, semantic memory, and schemas. But, writers beware, overconfident writers must make sure that their writing matches what they mean to say!

2. This week's reading made me wonder if hesitations in speech are considered stuttering. I also found the section discussing activation (329) to be highly confusing. I even tried the example at the bottom to be helpful but I'm not sure what completely constiutes what always makes sounds more highly charged. I was also wondering, pertaining to writing, why there is limited research on writing and why they don't study emails that could provide more information and understanding into young students and language.

3. I have multiple students who have language production issues and the vocabulary and terminology from the chapters helps me to understand why my students use the language "errors" they do. It also reaffirms that the sign language (Tucker signing-phonemic sounds are related to hand signs) is research based and helps students to remember words. Since writing requires multiple cognitive processes and can be difficult for many students, it is important for us to encourage our students in writing through self-efficacy and allow them multiple opportunities to help by allowing students to outline their thoughts in writing at any time in order to not overload their attention.

Chapter 9-I read it, but I don't get it! (Chris Tovani wrote this book title)

1. Chapter 9 discusses language and comprehension. Previously discussed semantics relates to language because language and comprehension ARE meaning. Everything we say, read, or listen to are attached to meaning that we must keep in our working memory until we are able to interpret it and place it either into long term or stay in short term and then possibly vanish. Ambiguity was a meaningful part of this chapter and discussed how our eyes pause longer with eye saccades when encountering ambiguous words. This could effect comprehension because the information stored in working memory could be lost during these longer pauses in eye movement.
2. When it comes to artificial intelligence...I just don't get it! I have absolutely no background knowledge on this topic and some of the words used are a foreign language to me. I just cannot grasp how a computer could try to act like a human. No human is perfect so why would they make a computer program that is perfect to match up against an imperfect human? I understand they could be beneficial in some aspects, but how could a system emulate our cognitive processes when all we have are theories and not facts about our cognitive processes.
3. This chapter was tailor made for my students. I work with struggling readers and find that my students have low language abilities and low comprehension. After reading this chapter, I have reasons as of why they might be struggling with the oral language they hear and interpret along with why they might be low comprehenders. I am now more aware of how I must word my language with my students and how I can scaffold their understanding when they might misinterpret the text due to ambiguity. I'm also beginning to wonder if some of my students suffer from Broca's aphasia or Wernicke's aphasia. The symptoms tend to sound like some of my kids and I'm wondering if I could somehow help them by being more understanding and rethink my language I use with them.