Taking Ownership Of Your Learning

Before reading Becoming a Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education by Matthew Sanders, I saw my personal role as a student in higher education to obtain an education degree so that I can start my career. I was frustrated with all the time and money that I had to take this summer semester to relearn unneeded formulas in Beginning Algebra, write numerous unnecessary essays in English Composition and memorize useless information in General Psychology as they are required core classes in the Education Assistant Program. I just wanted to be able to get into the classes that really mattered. Classes with interesting titles like: Individual Education Programs, Effective Teaching, Develop & Adapt the Curriculum, Behavioral Intervention & Classroom and similar ones that will prepare me to do my job as a teacher's assistant upon graduation.

As a teacher it is important to know who you are as a learner because it allows for you to help improve your educational experience and to help increase your knowledge. It also allows for you to open your mind to remembering that every person and every student in unique and how they learn will be completely different from one another. This means that in one class you could have thirty unique learners and it will be your job to make sure that you make each child’s educational experience meaningful to them.

My classroom management philosophy is rooted in B.F. Skinner’s Behavior Modification theory. I believe that negative and positive reinforcements are a key aspect in classroom management. Providing reinforcement increases the probability that a desired behavior will occur, while undesired behaviors will stop because they are not being reinforced (Manning and Bucher 47). Students who are demonstrating unacceptable behaviors may even begin to change their behavior in hopes of gaining approval through reinforcement (Manning and Bucher 47). In particular, I advocate for this theory because it also serves as another way to continuously reiterate classroom expectations. Through daily dialogue in the classroom, students will be able to understand which behaviors are supported, acceptable, and encouraged and which behaviors are ignored, unacceptable, and discouraged. Continuously putting this into practice will foster a supportive classroom climate with clear expectations. Throughout my field experiences in Horry County, I have seen this strategy used with success. I believe that once I have established relationships with my students this will be the most effective course of action for modifying their misbehaviors.

Reflect on what you have learned in this course and discuss how it might influence your work as a professional

I have learned to engage in practice-informed research and research –informed practice while at Mason and partners clinic as there are many challenges faced by the community we serve. The community faces many barriers as most of the Manassas clients are mostly undocumented Latino immigrant families. I have learned that many of the patients are used to living in crisis and continue to live in crisis as they migrate to the United States. Many of these patients run away from their countries due to corruption and violence. I have learned to meet people where they are and assist them in getting the most each time they are referred to social work while at the clinic. I continue to learn through Seminar 495 and 496 of what are the best approaches

That being said, I have high hopes for the quality of the courses I am taking. I expect to constantly learn new things about myself and God’s creation. One of my fears is that I will find class boring or monotonous, one that could be remedied before I even turn in this paper, but it is one of my fears never-the-less. I do trust that SAU will prepare me for the “real world” and that I will be fully equipped with all that I need to further God’s kingdom in my field. I also am afraid of being responsible to read each of my classes’ textbook(s) on my own. There a significant amount of onus when you have to spend more time on your classes outside of class than in the classroom. That will be intellectually pushing and will hopefully broaden the way I think and

The idea of shared control is a really interesting concept that works amazing. When students are given choices, the task is no longer a boring assignment or something to dread but rather something that isn’t terrible. They get their own opinion in the option and while it doesn’t affect the teacher, it allows to the students to have some say in what they are doing. The best thing about shared control is that it works on almost all children.

Many people in history, as well as my mentors, have influenced my personal learning philosophy about early childhood learning.

Teaching and Learning consists of various different theories that educators may or may not feel applicable to their individual philosophy. There are bits and pieces of a variety of theories that many educators feel are important in the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to explain the personal learning theory and how it is applied in a classroom. After an educator takes the time to research and do further learning by reading a variety of written books, the educator may or maynot change things in the classroom or focus on a different topic that they had not previously focused on in the past.

In comparing my behavior and my cognition, I noticed that I had small difference with regards to my study habits as I had two ineffective cognitions and one ineffective and one effective behavior. I think the difference exists due to several factors that influence my cognitive process. The first is that I was in a severe car accident many years and I have trouble remembering through rote reading and memorization. This has caused me to become frustrated and self-critical, believing I cannot learn like other people. I have also found through this exercise that I have tied my self-worth to my grades. I will need to accomplish several tasks to make them more congruent in a positive way. I will need to find a more effective way to study, which will account for my impairment. The second task will be to develop a more set of positive cognitions. In order to accomplish this I will need to find my learning style, which I now believe is a combination of aural and social. The second task will involve challenging my perceptions and cognitions. I will accomplish this through making an honest self-assessment with the help of my mentor. My plan also includes making use of audio recordings

Ultimately, I believe that children should have constant opportunities in the classroom to creatively express themselves. As Maria Montessori posits, "The child is a spiritual embryo." This legendary theorist 's notion states that the growing human being is not simply a biological or psychological entity,

Taking ownership of my learning means that, as a learner I do take the driver 's seat in the advancement of my educational career. There is greater autonomy at my disposal when I am able to interact with the subject matters being taught to me in more flexible and involved manner. Tools availed to a learner who is in charge of his learning process are quite effective. These include peer reviews, which enable me to get involved with fellow learners’ work. Particularly, peer review learning greatly encourages students to employ their judgment and to be able to encouragingly do so. Many a time, when I encounter another student’s work during review, it gives me a different perspective from my own. In some cases, it would be similar but with slight variations that are more inclined to the way my fellow student understands the subject as well the questions being asked. Therefore, it allows for flexibility, continuous learning through other people’s work and to be objective when giving feedback. I do take the feedback I get from fellow students seriously and use it to patch up my weak points. This guarantees an ongoing development and at the same time, makes learning a very enjoyable experience. Everyone loves to be in control and I am no exception. Taking charge of my learning gives more clarity to me because I am able to have a bigger picture of where I am headed; in other words, it makes goal setting quite easy. Whereas, when the teacher has the reigns in my learning, it is a

The professional development of a teacher can be a challenging task yet not impossible. During the process of this course I have learned how to face this challenge. However developing my own ideas and style of language teaching is still a work in progress. As a prospective language teacher I take in all methods and principles this course as given me. In doing so I believe it will make me a better professional. This course has presented me with some thoughts ELT teachers need to have once the period of formal training is over.

The learning experience should be that of a collective nature where students are able to indiscriminately relate to the information, re-teach the information and have a balanced incorporation of all the learning centers in society; including the home and the church. The goal of this incorporation is to create a balanced learning environment that facilitates holistic development in the young mind. As professionals entrusted with the shaping of young minds, teachers must facilitate learning and personal, spiritual, ethical and academic development. My philosophy for education is a multi-part philosophy that encapsulates the idea of holistic and inclusive learning. The philosophy caters for the overall shaping and development of the young mind and includes aspects of balanced training, incorporated teachings and it generally focuses on training students to become teachers.

Learning is an important thing in life, no one can promote to the next level with out learning. Now a days learning should be improved in multi ways, since that everything in the life is based on the learning, education and experience. Learning can be found mostly at school, where the students learn from their teachers. But unfortunately sometimes schools conduct the learning or education in a way that doesn’t help the students to use their ideas and abilities. And this learning named as ‘’dependent learning’’ or “Spoon-feeding”.