Mom you never encourage us

 I should start this blog with  "I hate you mom" I am never good enough for you. That is what my eldest used  to say to me when she was in fifth grade. Now  She is 20 and doing her second year Phd in biomedical engineering.
 When she was to she was tested for a gifted student and she has been doing her academic work at her pace, but during middle school years she had a tough time because she felt I did not say "good job" often compared to other parents.
 I did not understand what she was saying, so I encouraged her by asking how can you improve herself.
I did not know she was asking for my approval. I showed my approval by encouraging her. My focus is on  making her independent,
I want her to understand her own strength, but even today she feels I don't approve of her.
 I should share this link with her.
My second daughter is not a gifted one, but still she also feels the same way.
She feels that she can never satisfy me, but I know they both are independent and make their own decisions.
I trust their judgment completely, because they know their strength and weakness.
for both my children, they thrive on their achievement  than somebody's praise.
It is not to say that they are successful.
 They are academically successful but socially they don't do things for their approval of their friends. They do what makes them feel right so sometimes they have a hard time adopting to their friends
 and they do not know how to approve their friends behavior .
Some times they feel out of place in a group.
So praising the kids may look like a drawback put it helps them to understand the society that they live in.
Practically speaking, all these academic article is good for particular audience  and  great for a class room settings because the peers are also exposed to it in the same level, whereas when I did it myself at home it was very hard for my children.

Gestalt learning theory and teaching grammar in Tamil

 

When I was learning art at HACC, I came to know about the gestalt theory. I thought it was an art principle, but knowing the same as cognitive capacity of the brain makes a difference for my teaching techniques in Tamil. Though Tamil grammar rules are 2000 years old, they are living breathing rules of the language today, but they were taught as a strict rules that one needs to follow. These grammar rules were taught in a sequence. Though they were right behind the lessons in the text books there was no co-relation between the lesson and the grammar instruction that followed the lesson.

So as a student I felt very lost learning those rules and memorizing them, let alone applying them in real life writing. This problem continues even today. I know I am good writer but my grammatical errors turns my thoughts in to poor writing.

Undertaking the cognitive theory and gestalt theory as a learning theory inspired me to look at Tamil grammar in a new light.

The Transposition experiments of the chicken and the idea that humans are predisposed to structure their experiences in predictable way gave me an idea to look at grammar learning in a new way.

 I am going to base my learning on law of similarity and the law of pragnanz. Learning the grammar rules by using similarity, I can make the connection between the rules and its application

 Associating similar words to a rule will give me much more understanding. Learning the rules as a part of word which is a whole will also help me remember to apply the rules in my writing.

I am going to present my case in the other activity.

Class Dojo in the news

ClassDojo is a behavior management app that rewards students with points based on standards set by a classroom instructor.  The app is used in many schools and classrooms across the country.  The idea behind ClassDojo is that it is a motivation tool within the classroom that encourages students to participate and be on their best behavior.  In the article "Privacy Concerns for ClassDojo and Other Tracking Apps for School Children" the author Natasha Singer reports that some professionals think that ClassDojo may in fact be an invasion of privacy and not be a fair tool for the classroom.  The author also reports that some feel that the technology tool is unproven to work and that the positive reinforcement method of classroom discipline should no longer be used. 
From a teachers perspective I find ClassDojo to be very effective and appropriate for a classroom.  While the app itself may be unproven, the theories of positive reinforcement  and motivation are not.  The idea of a student following directions or completing work and getting a reward for it is very motivating and can be seen by any teacher using ClassDojo.  Within the article a few people mention that it is a privacy issue, because students information may be shared with unapproved outlets.  I don't feel that ClassDojo violates privacy of students when it is used effectively.  It is possible for a teacher to use the app inappropriately by setting ridiculous behavior standards, choosing favorites or using it without parent/administration support. Ultimately, it is the teachers responsibility to seek parent support and use it effectively by knowing the population of their classroom.  If used correctly I feel that ClassDojo can have a motivating and positive effect on a classrooms behavior management.

Conceptual learning

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conceptual learning

The human race has evolved in intelligence and their potential from their experiences because of their surroundings. Even non humans learn to adapt to the environment. Based on this basic principle the connectivism theory has come to light.

The digital age has changed the way the humans experience the information around them. It has changed the way they connect with each other.

The humans are always learning. They are learning and responding to the experiences around them.

This learning does not reflect in one's grade. It is a reflection of the growth of their potential and a positive way.

For me a housewife the digital tools like google has opened up a new opportunity. I can sincerely say that I am a student where connectivism applies.

As I watched my children learn to read and write using computer games when they were toddlers, I wished there was something like that for my language.

I used google to research to find out about how certain things are done. I came across adobe, then I learnt adobe watching YouTube.

Then I slowly got my skills in adobe software and all the windows applications wanted to learn more.

So i became a student in HACC. Meanwhile, I created learning site for my language. Now I am taking a master’s degree.

I have a YouTube channel for my language. I have a WordPress blog. To market my learning site. I tweet my lessons and post them in Facebook. Because of these classes in Harrisburg University I have presented papers on learning in Tamil computing International conferences.