juliamorrow's posterous http://juliamorrow.posterous.com Most recent posts at juliamorrow's posterous posterous.com Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:13:00 -0800 Signing, Singing, Speaking: How Language Evolved http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/signing-singing-speaking-how-language-evolved http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/signing-singing-speaking-how-language-evolved

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129155123

Summary

I was interesting in reading this blog because from the title I imagined it would be about speech and sign language.  I am very interesting in learning sign language and therefore was interested in the article.  This article is describing the complexity of language and how it makes not only the human species but also many animals so advanced and complex.  It is thought that the basis of language may have come from signing among tribes that used these signs in order to be silent while hunting for prey.  Another theory is that the gestures came from a language that already existed.  While many people may think that only humans have complex language, many animals have the same sense of language that we do, even when it comes to musical rhythms.  Music is suggested to have a strong connection to language as the sounds flow together, and many animals can pick up on musical tones and rhythms.  Whether or not signing or speaking came first, it is apparent that language is an extremely complex part of what makes us able to communicate and what makes animals able to communicate.  Language is extremely important in our day to day activities and is sometimes taken for granted. 

 

Personal Response

After reading this article I understand in a lot more depth why language is so hard to learn.  There are so many complex aspects to language that as a fluent speaker I do not pick up on, however, when I am trying to learn a new language, I have a lot more difficulty.  Language is one of the most important parts of society and of the world because it is what allows communication between people.  I have a big interest in sign language and that is why this article interested me.  I would love to be fluent in sign language and I found it interesting that it is not known whether or not signing or spoken language came first.  I have always been interested in language and what makes up a language.  I like to think about how language came about and how different languages were formed because spoken languages vary so much.  However, now I understand that there is so much more than just spoken language; animals have a language and music can even be thought of as a language.  I do hope to become fluent in sign language by the time I graduate college.

 

Connections

This connects to the field of education in a great way because when children are developing there are many children that do not develop spoken language as soon as most children do.  However, many of the students that are not able to speak the language their parents are trying to teach them, have a language made up of gestures in order to help them get what they want expressed.  Even babies have a language.  It is so important for teachers to understand that there are many different ways to interpret language and I think sign language is one of those important ways.  Students should be learning many different languages as children because that is when language is best absorbed.  It is one of the most important parts of learning and having the ability to learn. 

Personal Opinion

I really enjoyed this article because I thought it was interesting how they explained the relationship between language and music, and how even animals can pick up on this language.  There are so many people that should understand how important and complex language is.  Many people do not fully understand the complexity of language because it seems like it comes so easily to the majority of people. However, in reality language does not come easily to everyone.  Educators need to understand that they should be able to work with students in order to help develop and understanding of language. 

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Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:06:00 -0800 Attention class http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/attention-class http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/attention-class

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/06/29/attention_cla...

Summary

This article from The Boston Globe explores the idea that children and adults can be taught how to pay more attention.  Many children recently have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, more commonly known as ADD, and these children are simply being medicated in order to be able to pay more attention in class.  Michael I. Posner from the University of Oregon began to conduct a study with his research partner on whether or not people, adults and children, could be taught to pay attention.  By using a computer program designed to strain the brain into having to closely pay attention to different meticulously organized tasks, Posner studied how people reacted based on what was going on in their brain.  What Posner concluded from his studies was that people can actually learn how to pay attention.  By using the computer program people are able to follow along to complicated tasks that require a large amount of concentration.  These tasks help to get the brain more focused on what is being completed and therefore help the person to learn how to pay more attention.  

 

Personal Response

After reading this article I am very curious as to why this method has not been used more to try and prevent or reverse the cycle of so many young children being diagnosed with ADD.  I find the amount of young children that are being medicated for ADD to be very unsettling because these are children as young as 6 years old that are being started on a daily medication regimen that could potentially last them for their entire school career.  I do not see any reason why students should be given medication if there is an option for them to try to overcome the problems they have with paying attention in a safe way by simply training and teaching the brain to pay attention.  The rate at which students are being drugged to avoid ADD is growing at such a rapid pace that I cannot imagine how many students will be medicated by the time our generation is teaching.  I think that this method for strengthening attention should be explored more and used as a more common practice among both children and adults.  

Connections

This connects very strongly to the field of education because as I mentioned there are so many students that are prescribed with drugs to help control ADD, and students are not able to try to overcome their attention deficit on their own.  When a student is thought to have ADD they are almost instantly prescribed with medication after only a short series of tests are run to determine if they actually do have ADD.  This makes me very worried because I personally do not want to be teaching in a world where the majority of the students are on ADD medication and not given the opportunity to teach themselves and teach their brains how to pay attention.  I understand that there are many students who probably do need the ADD medication, however there are many students that do not need the drugs.  Also, I think that this method of overcoming attention deficit disorder should be tried out more often in order to make the attempt at keeping as many children off these ADD drugs as possible.  

Personal Opinion

I personally have never been affected by ADD, so I cannot fully say whether these drugs are necessary for students, however, I do not always agree with the over prescription of drugs, especially to young children and I think that is what has begun to happen with ADD medication.  I think it is very important that educators, parents, and even doctors are aware that there are other options for students and adults that have ADD.  The idea that the brain can be trained into paying more attention is something that seems very advanced to me, and I think this idea should be explored much more.  In 50 years I would hope that not all students are being prescribed ADD medication but it seems like the trend is leading in that direction and for me, that is alarming.  Educators should be aware that there is another option, and this option should be explored and studied more in order to lower the rate at which students are being prescribed ADD medication. 

 

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Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:01:20 -0700 Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/ken-robinson-says-schools-kill-creativity http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/ken-robinson-says-schools-kill-creativity

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Summary

This TED lecture is discussing the idea that schools and lower education in general do not put enough emphasis on the arts curriculum.  Many young students love expressing themselves through art, however, schools do not make art seem like something important.  As a matter of fact, many schools actually depress the idea that art is something important in a child's life by saying they will not be able to use art in the 'real world'.  Robinson discusses how students who do love expressing themselves through art, are not adequately supported by their education.  He mentions that it is important to support children that are interested in the arts and not reject them by saying they will not be able to use it in the real world.  Schools should be making more of a push to educate students through art, because in turn, this will make them more creative in the end. 

Personal Response

After watching this video I now understand why it is so important to have an art and music curriculum in schools.  Many schools cut art and music out as the first thing when there are budget cuts, however, both should stay in order to help maintain the creativity of the students in the school.  There is a strong relationship with students creativity and their ability to think and learn in different ways.  Without and arts curriculum, students cannot adequately express their creative side, which results in them not being able to think in a creative way.  It is important for students to be able to come up with their own methods and ideas and an art curriculum can help them be more confident in their creativity, which helps them think more out of the box.   

Connection

This is very important in the field of education because teachers and school boards need to realize that art should be incorporated into the basic school curriculum for students and especially young students.  Elementary students should be able to explore their creativity and let it flourish.  If students are not given the opportunity to try out being creative, they will probably never feel confident in their creativity.  A student needs to be creative for their entire schooling career and as they age, the creativity becomes even more important.  In high school, students need to feel confident that they are creative when they are writing an essay, or doing a project.  They will not have the creativity to succeed, if at a young age they were deprived of the arts and the opportunity to express and find their own.  

 

Personal Opinion

I really enjoyed watching this video because it goes along very well with a topic I am researching in another education course; whether or not standardized testing has an effect on student's creativity.  This proved to me that students need to have a creative background in order to succeed.  I think that all educators should have a sense of this video because creativity is by far one of the most important parts of a child's education.  

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Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:58:00 -0700 Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/jill-bolte-taylors-stroke-of-insight http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/jill-bolte-taylors-stroke-of-insight

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insi...

Summary

This slightly thought altering video was of a brain researcher describing the stroke that she experienced and her thoughts as she was having the stroke.  Jill Bolte Taylor had a stroke on December 10, 1996 that altered the way she thought about her own studies on the brain, and also the way she thought about life.  Taylor first became a brain researcher because her brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and she wanted to learn about how the brain worked and what was happening with her brother’s brain that was different from what happened in her brain.  Why did his thoughts not correlate with his dreams while hers did?  As she began working more and more at her job as a brain researcher, she became very busy, until the day she had her stroke. 

When Taylor had her stroke, she woke up with a pounding headache that she had never experienced before.  As she tried to go on with her day and get ready for work, she realized that something was wrong.  However, Taylor did not instantly call 911, she walked around her house for a long time, going in and out of states of what she calls reality and La La Land.  Because only the left side of Taylor's brain had hemorrhaged, her vision was fine and she was envisioned herself as a different body than usual.  The thing that was affected by the stroke was her language capacity.  As she drifted in and out of cognitive consciousness, Taylor said she went from being rational and knowing she needed to call for help, and being in a state of utter bliss.  

Once Taylor got help and woke up in the hospital, she said she felt she had reached Nirvana, and now that she was still alive after it, any person that is alive can reach Nirvana if they allow their brain to do so.  It took Taylor 8 years to fully recover from the stroke, however, she now teaches people about what happened to her and is back to doing brain research. 

Personal Response

I was shocked as I listened to and watched the video of Taylor discussing what happened to her as she had a stroke because I had not clue that people could be conscious of so much happening to them if they were having a stroke.  The experience that Taylor was describing seemed like nothing any human being could actually experience.  When Taylor said she felt her spirit being lifted out of her, I actually got the chills because it was so weird to me to think that Taylor could be aware of that happening to her.  I have never heard of a story even close to what Taylor was describing.  It made me a little bit scared about stokes because they are something that could happen at any given time.  Taylor happened to be a brain researcher who knew what was happening in her brain, but still that does not explain the experience she had with her stroke.  It makes me wonder if other people have had the same time of experience and just do not discuss it. 

Connection

I do not really see any connection this video has to the field of education but I completely understand the connection it has to our Brain Research and Theory class.  The brain is broken up into two completely different and separate hemispheres.  Listening to Taylor describe what was happening between the two hemispheres of her brain and how her left hemisphere was not working, made me understand the importance of both hemispheres working at once.  Without her left hemisphere working, Taylor was not able to logically understand what was happening to her body and that explains the feelings she had when she looked down at her body, only to see the shaped but no boundaries.  The brain works in such magnificent ways that we do not even know until we experience that, and I think that is the point of this class. We are learning that a brain can do so many different things and work in so many different ways, which as future teachers we can then connect to our classroom and teaching style. 

Personal Opinion

I once more have to say that this was by far one of the more interesting educational videos I have ever seen, simply due to the fact that her story blew my mind.  There were so many emotions that Taylor was experiencing and as she described them, I felt as though I understood what she was going through.  This is a great video for people to watch, especially if they are trying to understand the brain and the connection the different parts and hemispheres of the brain have with each other.  I think this video really helps to understand how connected everything in the brain is and how those connections help us to process information we do on an average day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:16:45 -0700 Ask the Cognitive Scientist Inflexible Knowledge: The First Step to Expertise http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/ask-the-cognitive-scientist-inflexible-knowle http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/ask-the-cognitive-scientist-inflexible-knowle

http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/winter2002/willingham.cfm

Summary

This article was discussing the different types of knowledge; rote, inflexible, and flexible. Rote knowledge is when the definition of something is understood and can be recalled very quickly but no meaning is understood.  On the other hand, inflexible knowledge is when someone has an understanding of something but not in a large sense.  Instead, the understanding is very limited and "narrow".  The main idea highlighted in this article is that the goal of education is to change inflexible knowledge to flexible knowledge, which is when both the meaning and the definition of the concept are understood.  Inflexible knowledge is the normal expertise that many people can achieve because flexible knowledge can be too advanced.  

A study was done where a group of people were split up into 3 sub-groups and given a problem to solve.  The first group did not see the problem at the same time as the other two groups.  The second two groups were given a logic problem that was outlined so the answer was easy to find.  Then the third group was given a hint to solving the second problem (that this problem had the same way to solving the solution as the first) that neither the first or second group was able to see.  Finally, all three groups were given a problem similar but a bit more difficult than the first.  The group that was given the hint had almost a 100% rate of solving the problem.  The group that saw the first problem but not the hint had a little more than half able to solve the problem.  And the third group that only saw the second problem had a very small success rate of solving the problem.  Thus showing that prior knowledge about a topic and strategy will help with knew knowledge.  

 

Personal Response

This article helped me to grasp the idea of the three different types of knowledge and why flexible knowledge is the most useful type but the hardest to achieve.  It makes sense that flexible knowledge, which requires being able to think about a topic in a way that is different from the "normal" way of thinking.  For example, the group that only saw the second problem, had to think flexibly in order to solve the problem.  Without the prior knowledge of the strategy for solving the first problem, it would be extremely difficult to realize that the doctor would need to shoot the laser from many different points at a lower intensity.  This example made it much easier to understand how the different types of knowledge worked as well.

Connections

I can connect this very strongly to our Brain Research and Learning class with Ken because we did the exact same experiment/ problem in his class.  The results were very similar to the results in the study from this article, showing that this does happen in real life and the information from the article is true.  This also helped me realize that it is important to think about concepts in many different ways; the reason why Ken will teach us a topic in three different ways before giving us a quiz on that material.  I was happy to see that this information proved to be true what we are learning right now in the class. 

Personal Opinion

I found this article very interesting and helpful as I described above, and I think it would be extremely helpful for many teachers.  I would also use this information to a great advantage in my own classroom, because it showed me that students learn and think in many different ways and as a teacher you need to address all of those ways in order for the students to learn.  I think this is a topic that will stick with me through the rest of my life, as I will try to use it to my benefit for studying and learning new things. 

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Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:47:23 -0700 Brain doesn't mature until 20s, experts say http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/brain-doesnt-mature-until-20s-experts-say http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/brain-doesnt-mature-until-20s-experts-say

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/mar/30/brain-doesnt-mature-until-20s-experts...

 

Summary

 

This short article was about how the frontal cortex of the brain does not actually mature until around age 20.  Just as we were learning about in class, many car rental companies are fully aware of this fact and that is why they do not allow people to rent a car until the age of 24.  There are studies that prove that damages occurring to the brain before it is fully developed can seriously effect the development of the brain.  For example, when drugs and alcohol are consumed before the brain is fully developed, there is more of a chance for habit and damage to occur.  If a habit is picked up before the brain is developed, it is more likely to continue through adulthood, than if that habit was acquired as an adult.  This is because the brain is developing while the habit is something normal causing that habit to stick with the person.  

 

Personal Response

 

After reading this article, I really understand why it is important that the drinking age is 21.  If people are drinking and doing drugs before this age, their brain is definitely not fully developed and that is the reason that many people who drink before they are 21 develop a habit.  I also understand why the driving age in Europe is much higher than the driving age in the US.  Teenagers driving at 16 seems extremely strange after reading the facts about brain development because the brain of a 16 year old is not developed enough to be able to learn how to drive.  There is strong evidence that should suggest that the driving age should be raised and the drinking age should stay at the age it is at, despite what many people would want. 

 

Connections

 

This does not connect to the field of education as much as it connects to teenage life.  As I described above, teenagers should not be drinking and driving as young as they have been today.  However, the connection to education that I can find, is that teenage and children's brain are developing most when they are in secondary schooling.  This is the age where there is the most impact and teachers can make the most impact on a students life.  For example, a teacher can instill certain moral values at this age that can stick with the student for the rest of their life.  

 

Personal Response

 

As I explained in my connection to education, there are many reasons that teachers should be aware of these facts.  They have the opportunity to greatly impact the lives of their students at this age and teach them what they should and shouldn't be doing.  When students are in high school their brain is at the stage when it is developing the most important things and developing certain habits that can easily last them through adulthood.  This is the opportunity for teachers to teach their students what they should and should not do for the rest of their lives. 

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Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:02:14 -0700 Memory and Forgetting http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/memory-and-forgetting http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/memory-and-forgetting

http://www.radiolab.org/2007/jun/07/

Summary

 

This interesting NPR podcast is discussing the idea that animals and people remember and recall experiences based on senses.  A study was done where a rat was shocked at the same time that a high pitched beep was played.  This sent a wave of neurons through the rat's brain that would remind the rat, every time the beep went off, that it was about to be hurt by the shock on the bottom of the cage.  However, when the rat was injected with chemicals that stopped the neurons from sending messages to the brain, the rat did not remember that the noise meant something painful was about to happen.  Instead of freezing every time the noise went off, the rat would move out of fright and therefore get shocked.  This is the same for humans.  When a human knows that a smell or taste, for example, means something is going to happen, such as something painful, they will react in a way to try and avoid the situation.  

 

Personal Response

 

I have always heard that there is a large connection between senses and memory and how people react to the different experiences they have had according to their senses.  After listening to this podcast, I understood the reason as to why this happened a lot more than I did before listening to the podcast.  The reason is, that neurons are sent to the brain to tell it a message if a certain stimuli happens to a sense.  Once the brain knows that this stimuli will cause pain or something un enjoyable, the memory is released in order to avoid feeling that same un enjoyable feeling.  This podcast brought much more of an understanding to me about the reason certain tastes and smells bring up memories for me, whether they are enjoyable or un enjoyable.  The stimuli that cause the memories to be made does not just have to be something horrible, they can also be created in order to remind us of things that make us happy such as the smell of a mother's cookies, or the sound of your favorite childhood song. 

 

 

Connections

 

This is important in the field of education because there are many things that can scare and/or excite children when they are in school.  For example, the idea of having a test in school probably scares many children.  However, if those students know that something good comes after the test such as story time, they will always remember that after something bad comes something good.  There are many ways that teachers can create a stimulating environment for their students if they keep in mind the reason that certain stimuli to senses can cause memories, either good or bad.  If a teacher wanted the students in the class to become excited about something such as story time, they could use a song to remind the students that story time is coming.  Getting a story read to you as a child is usually something very enjoyable to children.  If the teacher were to play the same song before every story time, eventually the students would be able to recognize that when the song was played, story time is soon to follow and they should get themselves prepared.  This theory can be used for many different things such as this in education and teachers should be aware of that. 

 

 

Personal Opinion

 

This podcast was interesting to me, however, I was a little thrown off by the simultaneous talking of the broadcasters.  There were many times when ones of the speakers would be talking, but in the background there was another person talking about a different thing.  This was a bit confusing to me because I would try to concentrate on both and listen to what both were saying, but I was not able to do that.  Although I was not completely fond of the way the podcast was set up, I will say that the information I learned was very helpful, and would be especially helpful to teachers.  As I explained earlier, I think that teachers could use this information to help their students recognize when a certain time of the day is about to occur, such as story time.  I also think this would be useful information for many parents if they wanted a way to let their children know that it was a certain time of day, like bedtime.  In general, I found the information in this podcast to be very informative. 

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Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:13:00 -0700 Think You're Multitasking? Think Again http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/think-youre-multitasking-think-again http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/think-youre-multitasking-think-again

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794

Summary

 

This NPR article that I read was discussing the idea of multitasking.  Multitasking has long been believed to be only a myth, and the research that is discussed in this article shows evidence for that myth.  Earl Miller, a neuroscientist at MIT did a study on multitasking and discovered that people cannot actually multitask, but rather they can switch the focus of their brain from one thing to another very quickly.  This brain action makes humans think that they are multitasking when really they are not.  An example is used in the article to describe how difficult it is to actually multitask.  If you we to try typing and email and talking on the phone at the same time, it would be impossible to focus on both at the same time.  Instead, the thoughts would quickly switch from email to conversation, however, when the brain was working on writing the email, the information heard on the phone conversation would probably not be absorbed. There is no way for the brain to concentrate on two things simultaneously, therefore making it impossible to actually multitask.  

 

Personal Response

 

After reading this article I understand in a lot more detail, why the brain cannot multitask successfully. I personally have never been "good" at multitasking and I have always wondered why some people are much better than me.  The only explanation I can think of is that some people's brains can switch focus on different things much quicker than other people.  Or, the people that claim they are great multitaskers are really just lying about being able to do 4 different things at once.  Reading this article helped me understand a lot more why I was never good at doing my homework in front of the TV, or while I was listening to music.  The ability to listen to words and write words at the same time is something that I have never been able to do and now I understand why; my brain does not switch topics as easy as some people's brains do. 

 

Connections

 

This is very significant to the field of education because so many children watch TV and do other things while they are studying and doing their homework.  When students do this, they cannot successfully absorb the information and recall that information from memory when needed for a test or quiz.  With the immense amount of technology that students are in possession of today, there is the continuing worry among educators that students are spending more time using technology than doing schoolwork.  Also, when students are doing their homework at home, I would guess that more than not those students are doing their homework in front of the TV just as I did when I was a high school student.  This is a problem that needs to be addressed or students will continue to multitask while doing schoolwork. 

 

Opinion

 

In my opinion, I think there are many people that would benefit from reading this article.  Not only would teachers and students benefit from the information described in this article, but almost all adults and teenagers would too.  There are so many people that believe they can do anything, whether it be eating, using the phone, or listening to the radio, while they are driving.  This is something that is extremely unsafe, and this article proves why.  When a person is driving they need to be completely focused on the task they are doing, which is driving, but when they are doing something else, the focus of their brain is quickly switching from one thing to the other causing them to become distracted.  Many people know that this is an unsafe activity but I think this article really shows why it is so unsafe and maybe knowing the reason would help people realize the dangers more.  

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Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:20:37 -0700 Exercise Helps Students in the Classroom http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/exercise-helps-students-in-the-classroom http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/exercise-helps-students-in-the-classroom

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5742152

 

Summary

This article is a conversation between many teachers and reporters, discussing the effects of exercise on the performance of students in the classroom.  There have been many studies where a class of students is broken up into different groups, and given different exercise plans.  The studies all show that the students that did exercise, are much more focused in school than the students that did not exercise.  Exercise helps to focus students so they are not distracted and antsy in class.  The studies that are discussed in this article show that exercise benefits the learning for both elementary and high school students, including all ages between.  Many teachers are trying to incorporate physical activity into every school day so their students learn at a much more progressive rate.  Exercise has been long believed to help stimulate the brain.

Personal Response

This topic was not really anything new for me.  I have heard that exercise makes people more focused in general, and especially in school for many years now.  It makes sense to me that exercising would keep students more focused because they get out all the energy that is making them fidget and not pay attention in class when they are exercising.  Exercise personally makes me feel a lot more relaxed and able to pay attention to what I am doing.  When students are not able to go to gym class or recess, they are being subjected to not being able to learn as well.  Not only does exercise make students pay more attention, it also keeps them fit which is something that is so important today.  Exercise is shown to significantly help learning.  

Connections

This is very significant to the field of education because it is an opportunity for teachers to help their students become more studious and concentrated in class.  If all teachers knew that their students would pay more attention and absorb more information if they had exercise that day, maybe more teachers would take their students outside for exercise breaks.  When elementary school students go outside for recess they stimulate their brains and get rid of all the energy that is keeping them from concentrating.  However, when they are not able to go out to recess as a punishment, they are being fully deprived of an opportunity to increase their learning. 

Personal Opinion

This was a very interesting article for me even though I already knew this information.  It gave me a better idea of the reason exercise helps students concentrate and do better in school.  I would recommend this article to any teacher or parent in order to help their student be a better student.  Education is so important for a child, and if exercise is a way for them to absorb the information better, all students should be exercising. 

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Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:12:19 -0700 Students' View of Intelligence Can Help Grades http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/students-view-of-intelligence-can-help-grades http://juliamorrow.posterous.com/students-view-of-intelligence-can-help-grades

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7406521

Summary 

 

This NPR article discusses the idea that when children are taught that they can increase their intelligence they will become smarter.  Carol Dweck a research psychologist from Stanford University conducted a study to see if this theory was true.  In the study she asked several hundred students entering 7th grade if they thought their intelligence would change or not.  Over the next two years she noted the change in their math grades.  The students that thought they could change their intelligence had improved math scores, while the children who thought their intelligence would stay the same, had decreased math scores.  Dweck found this interesting and conducted another study, where she split a group of 100 seventh graders that were not doing well in math into two different study groups.  One group taught the students better study skills and the other group taught them how their brain works when they are learning new material.  The group that learned how their brain worked showed significantly more improvement than the other group of students.  Dweck's studies showed that when a student is told they can succeed and have the support from parents or guardians and teachers, they are more likely to improve their intelligence.  

 

Personal Response

 

After reading the article "Students' View of Intelligence Can Help Grades", I have a better understanding of the importance of children having a good support system for learning.  A student's intelligence will develop, as they get older especially if they are aware of this fact.  When students are told that they will become more intelligent and that their intelligent is not "fixed" they are more likely to actually become smarter.  Something I have learned from personal experience that this article helped make more sense of for me is that when teachers tell a student that they are capable of learning and they just need to try, the student is much more likely to actually make that effort and learn the material.  However, if a teacher was ever to tell me that I probably would not learn anything from the material he or she was teaching and that it would not make me smarter, there is no reason I would pay attention.  Reading this article helped me understand that teachers and parents need to support their students and give them motivation in order for them to succeed and become more intelligent.

 

Educational Connections

 

The material in this article is very significant in the field of education because it pushes the idea that a teacher has the ability to change a student’s view of what they can learn and how intelligent they can be.  If a teacher were to tell a student that he or she was not capable of learning the course material then they would probably not even try to learn.  However, if that same teacher told the student that they were capable of learning the material and becoming more intelligent, that student would most likely work a lot harder and achieve that intelligence.  This is important for the field of education because students need motivation to learn and succeed.  Without support from teachers, students have no drive to try their best and put forth enough effort to reach a higher level of intelligence.  The ideas in this article should be shared among the education community as a way to show just how important support from school faculty can be in a students learning career. 

 

Personal Opinion

 

I thought this article was very interesting because prior to reading it I had no idea that studies like this had been conducted.  It was surprising for me to realize that a students intelligence level could decrease simply because they thought their intelligence would stay the same for their entire life.  I would recommend this article to anybody in the field of education because it is important for teachers and school faculty to know that they could have such a great impact on how students learn.  Teachers should be aware of the fact that they have the ability to alter the way student learns for the rest of their life. This article was very eye opening for me and I believe it would be for any teacher as well. 

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