Teaching Young Minds : Learning, Motivation, Behavior, And Development Theories

Jasmine Keller is a fourth grade student who has been monitored and reported as a student at-risk. Jasmine has a, “weak short-term memory that affects her involvement and progress in the general education curriculum in the areas of reading decoding, reading fluency, reading comprehension, spelling, and math calculations. Her reading level is at second grade. Broken down word recognition is at an equivalent of grade 1.7, and comprehension at 1.3. She has relative strength in vocabulary. If given classroom assessments with a screen reader she is very successful. Her writing skills assessed to be uneven with only weak spelling skills, which is at a first or

EE107’s teachers referred EE107 to the Determination Team. EE107 was retained once in kindergarten and placed in a transition classroom for a portion of her 4th grade year. She currently receives math and reading interventions. However, she is not responding to the interventions based on progress monitoring data. Thus, the Determination Team has requested a comprehensive evaluation of EE107 to assist the team in determining whether or not she would qualify for assistance through the Exceptional Children’s program.

Victoria Dickerson is a second year teacher at Carolina High School teaching in the Self-Contained special education classroom. Victoria’s expectations for her students are high and she often uses innovative techniques which include project-based learning strategies. Her students are always solving real world problems that will not only prepare them for work but provides them with the necessary life skills they need to be productive after high school. The students in the classroom range from being low-functioning intellectually disabled students to students how are on the middle school level in reading and are categorized as learning disabled. Even with the population she serves, she still challenges her students to be excellent. During

Presently, Morgan attends seventh grade at St. Pius X School. Her IEP includes resource room support. Her program modifications include checking for understanding, graphic organizers, reading and simplifying directions, study guides, and copies of class notes. In addition, Morgan’s testing accommodations include alternative locations, place keepers/trackers/pointers, extended time, and repeating oral comprehension

Jennifer is a 2nd grader being referred for possible learning disabilities in reading. Jennifer has always attended Sand Hill Elementary and has not repeated a grade. She is eight years old. She has been screened for vision and hearing problems and was found to have normal vision and hearing. Her teachers have described her as cooperative and likable. She does not exhibit behavioral problems.

Overall, Gianna is currently performing below grade level. She currently receives remedial reading and math services. Furthermore, Mrs. Cartwright occasionally reviews math concepts with her during lunch. In the beginning of the year, Gianna had a hard time completing her homework on a consistent basis. Over the course of the year, she has made progress in this area. In addition, her reading decoding and comprehension skills have improved. Gianna’s

Growing, developing and learning are the facts of life for all children. Each day children are faced with many new concepts and various challenges. Can you imagine how it feels for a child to face not only new challenges life has, but to face these challenges while living with a learning disability? These challenges are met not just when they begin school either. Students suffer from learning disabilities from the moment they begin learning, not when they start school. Learning disabilities are real and they affect millions of people. “One such disability that affects over approximately 15 percent of the total American population is dyslexia” ( Nosek 5).

“Special education labels don’t define children; Children define themselves” (Dalien, 2015). I am interested in becoming a special education teacher because I have always loved being around children, and I have a soft spot for kids with autism and other disabilities. The first time that I ever thought about working with special needs children was when I was in the fifth grade. My mom worked at my school as a teacher assistant in a first grade classroom, so in the morning I would go to her classroom and wait for the bell to ring. A little boy named Alex who had Cerebral palsy and a spinal problem, came into class early as well. I immediately connected with him, and began going to my mom’s room every morning to play with him before class. It soon became the highlight of my day. Alex could not talk very well and could not walk, so we rolled cars around the floor, traced shapes on to the whiteboard, or sometimes crawled on the floor chasing each other as monsters. I loved seeing how me playing with him made him smile so big and become more outgoing. My dream is to give kids like Alex a reason to smile and help them reach their full potential. In this speech you will learn all about special education teachers, including, but not limited to: What they do, where they typically work, their environment, how much they get paid, benefits the job entails, the education and skills required to become a special education teacher, and information on the job outlook.

Laurin is a seven-year-old, female that is referred to the examiner by her mother, Shari W. She has referred Laurin because she needs assistance developing her writing skills. She understands the basic components of writing yet she still needs help developing sentences with appropriate punctuation and grammar usage. In her language arts class she maintains a B- letter grade. However, her mother would like assistance to continue her development in this area. Her mother states that Laurin has good knowledge of vocabulary and spelling, yet she has trouble with the construction of complex sentences. The area that Laurin's needs assistance is considered a performance deficit, meaning that she has the ability to accomplish and receive acceptable grades. A possible explanation for Laurin’s difficulty is that Laurin has not been formally educated about all of the rules of the English language due to her age. Upon completion of

My adapted lesson for my fieldwork placement at Abilities First was challenging yet satisfying in the end. I have never adapted an entire lesson plan so it was defiantly a learning experience. When I was planning and developing this lesson plan, I wanted to make sure I captured and aligned my content with the educational policies and recent special education research. This was important for me to consider because all students should have the opportunity to learn and succeed in a general education environment just like their nondisabled peers. Through this fieldwork, I truly saw how important it is to make students with disabilities a part of the general education curriculum as much as possible.

Psychosocial and Cognitive learning are just a few of the theories that describe the makeup of human development and behavior. Psychosocial theories explore the relationship between the social environment and an individual’s psychological condition (Crawford and Hawford, 2011). Whilst Cognitive Learning Theory explains certain behavioral responses of people based on their understanding and mental representation of what is happening at the present time. This theory also explores a person’s everyday interaction within their environment and recognizes various social treatments as having an influential impact on a child’s development (Crawford and Walker, 2010). More specifically, this review of literature will be focusing on key aspects of Psychosocial and Cognitive Learning theories through the Attachment Theory and Piaget’s work respectively.

I believe that every individual responds to learning in different ways and retains, develops and applies knowledge and information using methods that are specific to them and their abilities. I believe that these strategies evolve from personal development and are preferences that have emerged from previous success. Although, whilst we might prefer to be taught or to learn in a specific style I do not think students are unreceptive to other methods and if information can be presented in a variety of forms, is relevant and engaging, any person, of any ability will be able to learn. However, this idea has been debated on numerous occasions, and psychologists and professionals continually disagree over the relevance and need to identify and

Learning is the keystone to American society. It has brought society trough times of economic darkness, religious revival and social instability. Learning has always been debated in the context of when does the learning start in human development, Is learning the result of nature taking its course as was argued by rationalist like Plato and Rene Descartes. According to (Bee&Boyd, 2007) Rationalist view point on education is entrenched in the idea that ( “knowledge is inborn”). On the other end of the spectrum you have Empiricists like John Locke who believed that learning was something someone would have to teach a child, he believed a child had no previous inclinations about anything and, that child could only learn by being taught by a

Motivation is an important factor in one’s life. You learn what motivates you at a very young age. Although you may not know the word or understand what it means, you still accomplish a goal to receive a reward or know not to do something that will get you in trouble. Why do you do the things you do? Why do you get excited when presented with a positive reward or upset when presented with a negative reward? It’s all about you and what you desire most or want to avoid; and it differs in each individual. When a young teenager is told to clean his room and then he can go to the movies, this is a positive reinforcement or motivator to get the parent’s desired outcome. When you apply the motivation theories in the workplace, the main goal is to have the employee perform their duties to achieve the company’s desired outcome. There are several motivational theories offered as templates for organizations to utilize the way they see fit. The ultimate outcome of these theories is that the employee with the right motivator, whether it’s positive or negative reinforcement, will encourage the employee to perform at their best. The leadership-follower aspect is crucial in motivating correctly in the workplace.

I conducted my observation at La Vina Middle School as well as Harvest Elementary in Delano California. In addition, I had the privilege to observe Mrs. Mendivil’s seventh-grade classroom, which was moderate to severe, as well as Ms. Camacho’s kindergarten classroom which was also moderate to severe. Students in both classrooms had various disabilities, however, in Ms. Camacho's classroom, the majority consisted of down syndrome as well as severe autism. In Mrs. Mendevil’s classroom, the majority of the students were emotionally disturbed. Furthermore, both teachers taught me excellent methods and techniques that I will for certain utilize in my classroom. I learned effective methods that I did not even know existed that I will for sure use in my classroom. Moreover, I will discuss all the information I gathered from observing both classrooms as well as what I learned and interest me.