Ima+Lost

Hello! My name is "Ima Lost"

Project Page. I am currently enrolled in the extensive track ElEd post-bac program here at the University of Vermont! At the end of 1.5 years (and a couple of other classes) I will be able to apply for my teacher's license!

For the past 3 years I have worked as a special educator. This has been a wonderful experience as I love to meet children "where they are at", to work with them and see them grow. There is something magical about watching a child gain confidence as they become independent learners. I am excited to take that passion for working with children into my own classroom in the future.

This will be an exciting year and a half as I balance the challenges of the post-bac program with my dynamic personal life. I have one child going off to college this fall, and three more still at home! The support of my husband, family and dog will make this a great time.

You should check out the Edutopia website. I will give you a lot of information and inspiration!

I hope to become more familiar with the computer during this course so I'm no longer "lost"...

7/18/06 Project Planning I'm interested in learning about how teachers address individual learning styles within the classroom. How can a teacher help students become aware of the tools they need to use to be able to work at their highest level of achievement.

Comments on Reading Integrating...(7/18/06)

P.22 "Learning happens within students, not to them."

p.18 "Responsive teaching necessitates that a teacher work continuously to establish a positive relationship with individual learners and come to understand which approaches to learning are most effective for various learners." Check the following 6 steps to teaching responsively...P.18

p.19 "Feasibility suggests that classroom teachers can work to benefit many more students by implementing patterns of instruction likely to serve multiple needs." 10 teaching patterns, p.20, #5 talked about "exit cards"

p.13-15 "Elise, Yana, Jason, and Noah are much like all other students. They came to school not so much seeking mastery of geometry and proficiency in paragraph writing as SEEKING THEMSELVES." continue reading on p. 16 what students are really looking for in their high school experience. Perhaps high schools miss the mark because teachers are teaching to the information rather than using the information to help students learn about themselves and their communities etc.

p.8 Axiom 5; "It is not the case that struggling learners must master the basics before they can engage in thinking. Rather, evidence clearly suggests that for most students, mastery and understanding come through, not after meaningful interaction with ideas." Vigotsky?

p.2-3 Effective Classrooms, teachers attend to at least 4 elements: 1. whom they teach- students 2. where they teach- learning environment 3. what they teach- content 4. how they teach- instruction

July 21, 2006 Notes on my discussion with Charlie: Reflections on the book, "A Mind At A Time", by Mel Levine, M.D. Talked about the neurodevelopmental systems, the memory system in particular Made a poster of this for my project. Will briefly describe all parts of this system.

Quotes from Dr. Levine's book I plan to use in my presentation: "Our school years involve more strenuous exercising of memory than at any other time in our lives. In fact, much more memory is needed for school success than is required in virtually any career. To varying extents, every course in school is a memopry workout." (p.32)

"There are countless intellectually competent kids who unravel in school because they understand far better than they remember. Ironically, there are many students with superb rote memory who succeed with flying colors through their school years simply by regurgitating factual data. They may be far less successful during adult careers when memory plays much less of a starring role." (p.32)

"A well-documented finding that report cards are notoriously poor at predicting how your child will eventually do in a career....Adult life offers many more opportunities for infinitely more kinds of minds than are available during child life. Parents need to find things to praise in a struggling child and make sure he doesn't give up on himself and get depressed and distressed while waiting for his day to come." (p.37)

"...When you get back to school on Monday, take a good look around your classroom and pick out a kid you really envy, someone who gets fantastic grades, is good-looking and is a super jock, too, you know, a kid who always seems to do everything right. And who is popular. Look closely at that kid, and seriously consider the possibility that this may well be his finest hour! There is a good chance he'll be working for you someday." (p.37)

Memory: "Approximately 30 trillion synapses or nerve linkage exist within the human brain. That crowded network allows for plenty of strong connections, disconnections, and misconnections. Any misconnections can cause negative results, bringing on a backlash of emotional and motivational complications." (p.30)

Three different parts of memory: Short term memory allows for the very brief retention (usually about two seconds) of new information. While long term memory is the warehouse for permanent knowledge. (Address, phone number Active memory is the memory you operate when you temporarily hold in mind all the different components of what you are trying to do right now. (Remembering the instructions a coach is giving a player while he is carrying them out.) Active memory fits in between short and long term memory. Information rests in active memory for seconds to minutes to hours. Longer than short term memory, but not as long as long term memory.