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.

Classical Conditioning in Domestic Violence

What is domestic violence to do with learning right?

For one, this is domestic violence month. Secondly the survivors of domestic violence have a long road ahead of them to heal and be normal again. When I say domestic violence I am talking about domestic violence in the context of changing the behavior of the survivors. If there is a way to undo the damage of abuse by applying the learning theory, may be the survivors can escape the trauma of their experiences easily.

It is said that abused people develop PTSD, which is at a higher rate compared to military personal developing PTSD after the war.

So for an abused person their fear, their reactions to environments, their anger in situations consumes them. Most of the time facing the day today is a nightmare.

Why is that?

It is said that classical conditioning involves a response over which the learners have no control. When a person is abused their emotions, logical mind, and body start responding to certain events are involuntary. They lose control over everything. They are always responding and reacting because the conditional response makes them to anticipate and prepare for the worst. Their attitude also changes, All these happen because of association with fear.

So if we agree that classical conditioning plays a role why is it hard for the survivors be normal once they leave the abuser or the situation.

I think that is where the spontaneous recovery happens. Spontaneous recovery is recurrence of the conditioned response after a rest period. Though the response is weaker it still happens. That is why it is hard for the survivors to move forward.

When the abuser cannot leave the abuser or the situation their conditional response may develop into generalization. Generalization happens when the conditional response happens to other stimuli the same way,

When the response of the abused person is generalized can they be called as victims even though they are alive?

What learning theory can one apply to make these victims a survivor again?

Oops, We're Doing It Again

"How Amanda's Brain Works" could probably be a grad class unto itself.  I have a lot of random things jumbling around in my head and sometimes they link up in odd ways.  (The theorists and psychologists would have a field day…)  Here are two examples.  Both came to mind as I was reading the chapter in our text on Social Cognitive Theory, I was particularly intrigued by the section on Modeling, specifically symbolic models ("a person or character portrayed in a book, film, television show, video game, or other medium.") and Bandura's four characteristics of effective models:

1. The model is competent
2. The model has prestige and power
3. The model behaves in stereotypical "gender-appropriate" ways
4. The model's behavior is relevant to the observer's situation

Reflection 1:  for some reason as I read through the above list of "characteristics of effective models," point #4 got lodged in my head.  What does "relevant to the observer's situation" mean?  I suddenly remembered an episode of the TV show "Will and Grace" where, for some reason, this happened:

















Obviously there is learning taking place as a result of modeled behavior.  The model in question is competent (or at least was perceived as such in 2000, when the video originally came out; more recent events could call Ms. Spears' competency into question); has prestige and power due to her celebrity status; and is certainly behaving in gender-stereotypical ways. But how about point #4?  I cannot remember the episode of Will & Grace fully, so I'm not sure if the behavior was relevant or was presented as a non sequitur simply for laughs…

… but that got me thinking, in turn, of "what other resources exist on YouTube if one wanted to learn this routine?"  A quick search turned up this:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dance+routine+compilation+oops+I+did+it+again 

So… a LOT of people apparently thought that this dance routine was relevant enough to learn, record, and share.  (I wonder how many of them can still do the routine on demand?)  I missed the "Britney boat" -- I was in college by the time that she was taking the teens-and-tweens world by storm, so I never thought that learning to dance like Britney was particularly relevant enough to spend the time on.

~~~~~~

Example 2:  Similar to example 1, except surrounding the idea of Comic-Con (the New York Comic-Con just finished), cosplay, and this article (http://theweek.com/article/index/269570/why-the-rise-of-cosplay-is-a-bad-sign-for-the-us-economy), which a friend of my posted on Facebook earlier this week.  Again, if one's reality is one of boredom, relative powerlessness, and feeling adrift… then emulating (or modeling your behavior after) a character that, even if fictional, is powerful and competent probably feels pretty good.  But is it relevant?  How would one even DEFINE relevance in this case?

~~~~~~

I guess of Bandura's 4 characteristics of effective models, point #4 (relevance to observer's situation) is the most subjective and hardest to quantify.  A particular observer/learner's situation can be extremely nuanced and can involve a lot of invisible elements; what's relevant to me and what's relevant to you could be completely different, even if we are placed into the same situation.  That is why it's so important for a teacher to try to know his/her students to the greatest extent possible -- to find that "relevant" aspect.

Cognitive View, Tolman-Cognitive Map

I would like to start this blog with the definition of cognitivism, which is a learning theory that focuses on "how information is received, organized, stored, and retrieved by the mind."  Per Tolman, a cognitive map, which is an internal representation (or image) of external environmental feature or landmark.
My assumptions are based on personal experiences and job experiences.  I work in a class setting everyday as a TSS, Therapeutic Staff Support with children that have mental and behavioral disabilities.  I use rewards as reinforcements for my client to stay focused, complete assignments, and maintain good behavior.  Often I find that the client is capable of doing the work but they get dependent on the rewards and will start asking for the reward before they complete the work.  However, there are students that come to class daily and complete their assignments without any reinforcements.  Those students are motivated to learn and complete assignments. 
The cognitive map is something we use constantly without awareness.  I will give an example, I got a phone call to meet a friend at Pizza Hut.  Here are the questions that entered my mind:

• Which Pizza Hut?
• Where are the Pizza Hut restaurants in the area?

My mind began mapping out routes to the Pizza Hut before she told me which one.  When she responded my mind started mapping out directions from previous memories.