Models of Teaching Essay Example for Free

Models of Teaching Essay This paper explores the experience of synectics, a teaching model that comes from the informational-processing family. This model is known as the art of enhancing creative thought and through our group experience it has given us proof. Creativity is a huge part of the model and its purpose is to bring out creativity from the students. Synectics brings all children the process of metaphoric thinking known as the foundation of creative thought. As my group and I continued to study the model we discovered great connections and outcomes from teaching a lesson through synectics in two different grade levels. This paper will serve as a reflection from my experience using the synectics model as well as my group experience. Synectics Model In the beginning, my group and I were very puzzled about the model because it was something we were unfamiliar with and it took a while for us to comprehend the book. So, our first thing we decided as a group was to go home and read the chapter and explore the model and do personal research that could benefit our understandings. When Amanda, Tessa, Doug and I met up again we shared what we learned, but once again we remained stuck. My group was still feeling fuzzy about the model because we understood the rational but we did not know how to put it into practice. The Models of Teaching by Joyce, Weil, and Calhoun provided great information and examples but we still had no clue on how and what we were going to conduct a lesson using the model. Amanda and I brought in some lessons that we found on the internet that could be helpful for our group. One of the lessons was called â€Å"Running the Mile† by Jennifer Hoffman and just by reviewing it on my own it clicked and I understood what we needed to do. I know Amanda had an idea but I was not sure about Tessa and Doug because they still seemed unsure. The day we met in class for the last time was when our group asked our instructor for guidance and what she did was read the Synectics part from the Models of Teaching out loud and our group’s light bulb lit up. It was very interesting on how that happened because right after our instructor left the table we began coming up with a plan and lessons. As we group we decided that we were going to carry out two lessons. Doug and Tessa worked together to create a lesson for juniors at Doug’s school while Amanda and I collaborated on lesson for her 6th graders. We decided to carry it this way so we could compare the different outcomes for out final reflection. Once we figured out the synectics model we quickly put together two lessons less than ten minutes and began scheduling dates to teach and observe in the actual classroom. Working with Amanda we talked about an appropriate lesson that could connect to her current theme in the classroom. She mentioned that they will be studying the Holocaust so from there we came up with a lesson that dealt with Adolf Hitler whereas Doug and Tessa created a lesson that involved the Great Depression. Both lessons seemed very interesting and exciting because using the synectics model to teach it had unlimited outcomes. On November 15, I arrived at Amanda’s classroom as an observer and began my note taking. When I got there Amanda shared with me that she taught the lesson to another class of hers and said that it went very well because she got them to compare Hitler to a computer as well as a shark. Synectics consists of six phases and is easy to get confused at first but when it is successfully carried out it offers a creative outcome. I will provide the lesson summary that we will use to conduct the lesson. Lesson Summary: Step One: Phase One- Provide background information over Hitler and the Holocaust. The main resource for this is: http://www. ushmm. org/museum/. This will provide a ton of information over the different groups that were targeted and it provides background information over the process of the Holocaust. Step Two: Significant Question: How is Hitler like a Machine? This will be written on the front board and students will be asked to complete their answers in their journals that are stored in class. This will be a warm up to the lesson that we will be doing. Step Three: As a class, we brainstorm different machines. Students decide on one machine to become. They are to then write what they would do as this machine. Step Four: Compressed Conflict- Write adjectives on the board that describe the machine. Then have a discussion over the antonyms and the adjectives that conflict with one another. Example: Violent versus Quiet. We will then choose these as a class to compare together and discuss. Step Five: Now pick and animal to compare the compressed conflict with. Ask students, how is this animal like the compressed analogy? Example, say we choose a lion. How is a lion both quiet and violent? Step Six: Going back to the Holocaust, how can we compare this animal to a machine? Why is the Holocaust a quiet and violent lion, for example? Students will now gain an understanding of being able to connect Hitler/Holocaust to an animal that they are more familiar with. In the classroom this is what I observed. Phase One: Substantive Input- Teacher provides information on new topic which was carried out by Amanda the day before I came. She provided a PowerPoint about the Holocaust as well as information about Hitler. Phase Two: Direct Analogy- Teacher suggests direct analogy and asks students to describe the analogy. Amanda asks her 6th grade students to create a list of machines and gives them two minutes. These are the machines they came up with disposal, computer, microwave, car, oven, washer, lawn mower, shredder, copy machine, blender, toaster and vacuum. Phase Three: Personal Analogy- Teacher suggests students â€Å"become† the direct analogy. Amanda then tells her students to choose a machine and write about how it would be to be the machine. For example, a student chose a vacuum and this is what she wrote, â€Å"My owner always uses me to clean up stuff. In my point of view, I get fed. I am always sucking up all kinds of things like junk etc. Whenever they dump stuff out, I become hungry and it makes me feel like my whole stomach has been taken away. † Phase Four: Comparing Analogies- Students identify and explain the points of similarity between the new material and the direct analogy. Amanda then asks her students to vote on a machine as a class that they will use to compare Hitler with. The class voted on a shredder and came up with a simile. This is what one student wrote, â€Å"Hitler is like a shredder because he killed people and a shredder also kills paper. Also since a shredder sounds torturous, Hitler also tortured people. They are also both powerful. † The students came up with adjectives for the shredder such as hungry, happy, choking, short, powerful. Phase Five: Explaining differences- Students explain where the analogy does not fit. Amanda explained this step as the compressed conflict and had the student create a list of oxymoron from the adjectives in step four. This is what her class came up with†¦ Short vs. Powerful, Choking vs. Happy, Torturous vs. Happy, Choking vs. Hungry. Phase Six: Exploration- Students reexplore the original topic on its own terms. Amanda then gave her students 2 minutes to list some animals. The students listed zebra, tiger, lion, cheetah, pony, and bear. As a class they were told to choose one animal that matched their compressed conflict of being torturous vs. happy. Hence, they all agreed on a lion. Phase seven: Generating Analogies- Students provide their own direct analog y and explore the similarities and differences. Amanda then instructed her students to compare a lion to Hitler. Here are some of the responses her students gave. * â€Å"Hitler is like a lion because they are both like leaders and have followers. They also kill a lot and they are both smart. † * â€Å"Hitler is like a lion because they are both very powerful and vicious. They both kill things they don’t like and are both big leaders and have followers. † For the extension part we agreed that they could illustrate their outcomes if there was extra time available. Overall, the experience of using the model was a success because it brought so much creativity to the table and I was shocked that her class chose a lion for the animal to describe Hitler. I was shocked that no one brought up Lion King the Disney movie, because that movie makes a lot of reference to Hitler and dictatorship. It was very interesting how her students made a connection to it without thinking very hard. The rational of the model synectics gives students an opportunity to express their ideas creatively and make connections with the unknown. As students are prepared to start mixing analogies and similes together to create a connection, it gives students a chance to make a much more interesting connections in their daily writing and for the purpose of this assignment. Using the Holocaust as our main focus to teach about Hitler was an achievement because by overlooking what the students made connections with was obvious that they could express what Hitler felt and acted. In conclusion, this model at first seemed more challenging but after awhile it began to fall into place. It deals with thinking outside the box and for me being a creative person I enjoyed learning about the model and having to teach students to also think outside the box and not be afraid of the unknown outcomes. As a future educator, I feel that this model has been very beneficial and I look forward to utilizing again in my own classroom as writing warm ups to new stories or materials. This model helps students make connections with their background knowledge as well as concepts they are unfamiliar with and it also challenges them to bring their creativity out. Reference Joyce, B. , Weil, M. , amp; Calhoun, E. (2009). Models of teaching.

Teens Choice to Drink :: essays research papers

Article Summery Beyond Invulnerability: The Importance of Benefits in Adolescents’ Decision to Drink Alcohol Introduction: Many things affect the choice of an adolescent to drink alcohol. It is thought that this particular age group thinks that they are not vulnerable to the risks involved with drinking alcohol. Studies in this area have resulted in mixed conclusions; some support the idea of adolescent invulnerability others do not. Intervention programs seem to work better if they are aimed at reducing risk taking behaviors than helping an adolescent realize their true invulnerability (in fact vulnerability). Older adolescents seem to be more likely to participate in risky behavior because of positive outcomes of previous risky behavior. This experiment is to find out how adolescents perceive the benefits of risky behavior and how the perceived benefits motivate risky behavior. Five main questions will be discussed: 1. How do individuals perceive both the benefits and risks of drinking alcohol? 2. How do risk and benefit perceptions differ across age group? 3. Experience differs with age, so how do risk and benefit perceptions differ by experience? 4. Do risk and benefit perceptions predict drinking and smoking 6 months later? 5. What is the relative contribution of perceived benefits (or perceived risks) in predicting risk taking behavior? This article is about a longitudinal study, but only focuses on the last two (of three) experiments which were spaced 6 months apart. Methods: The sample for this experiment is taken from fifth, seventh and ninth graders in Northern California. The participants were chosen by one of two methods mail based or classroom based. The mail method (letters were sent to the home) recruited 89 fifth graders, 130 seventh graders and 58 ninth graders. The classroom method (information was given to students at school) resulted in 36 fifth graders, 18 seventh graders and 102 ninth graders. Participants were given surveys to complete (and later compensated with $$). The answers on the surveys were measured in a few different ways. An individual’s benefit versus risk perception was measured by having the participants fill in a certain probability (percent) that a benefit or risk will happen as a result of a risky behavior. To measure a participants’ previous experience with benefits or risk they were asked yes or no questions, for example, have you ever liked the buzz you got from drinking alcohol? Or have you ever gotten sick from drinking alcohol? An individual’s experience with drinking was also measured by a 5 point Likert scale, participants could chose any point on a range from none to more than 10 times to answer the questions how many times have they drunk alcohol and how many times have they have had six or more drinks.

Religion and Truth Essay

All Religion is TruthWhat is insanity of the religion? According to Ramakrishna, no One religion is truth, however, all the integral transmissions of sacred wisdom and contemplative practice that survive the test of time are true. (43) That means, the complete devotion to the source of knowledge and actions through prayer are the fundamental and most important walks of life that constitute to the wholeness of truth. These most important aspects of religion constitute to the wholeness of truth by what they place on the individual, which is the Grace of God. The belief that My Religion Alone is true is not the correct belief because all religions are truth from what the religion does to the practitioner. If the practitioner is in complete consciousness of God and life, that alone is the key to truth. So the basis of all these religions, be it Hindu, Christian, Jew or Muslim is primarily through the sanctity of God and that is the willingness to devote time and life through veneration to the Divine Reality, which is God, that brings all the religions together. As time transcends and religion expands, reality becomes the critical starting point through where we begin our destiny of truth. That means, knowledge is transcendent and that it is the gauntlet or tool that creates the value of truth within the individual. To understand this point fully, we must break down what Ramakrishna meant by integral transmissions of sacred wisdom. Integral means the completeness of the whole, and in this case it is used to exemplify the wholeness of truth in being the basis of knowledge. By the basis it is then completed through transmission or rather a passage of possibly enlightenment of knowledge. That is why knowledge is referred to as sacred, because of the qualities of truth that it brings within the individual. Furthermore, what constitutes to truth is the emphasis the individual places on eternal goal or spiritual peace by a means of illuminating the sacredness of knowledge. Persistence of intense awareness is the truth that Ramakrishna is trying to convey. Moreover, the goal of achieving a manifested state of sanctity is through complete sincerity. That is sincerity works in the favor of the practitioner because they not only work for truth and knowledge for themselves but indeterminately for God alone, and this is what is achieved in all religions, in essence making them very connected and similar. According to Ramakrishna, its supposed to be about what we fight for in religion, not what we fight for outside of religion. In addition, what we fight for is suppose to be for the ultimate being, God, through Divine Nature. Divine Nature is achieved through a balance of realization in our daily life. The key tool is sincerity. Sincerity is about being genuine and honest; however it is about being honest first and foremost to the individual. Because without being able to be truthful to yourself, there would be no decisive factor that contributes to inspired belief and thus creating a problem within the individual. The way to obtain divine nature is not simple, because it takes time, but those who are sincere can and will achieve it. Divine nature consists of being able to learn from our daily trials and tribulations and learning very critically from them. At the same rate, the most fundamental thing that helps us on our path is the presence of God within us. (42)Why does Ramakrishna refer to God being the only living presence within us and how do we achieve this? The benefits of having God within us are bliss and freedom. What it means to have bliss could potentially lead to freedom, freedom of the self. It is freedom of the self because the presence of God is the only thing that we become conscious of and creates a sort of ripple within us that really brings out the bliss of God. Moreover, it is the awareness of God that structure our daily life and thus creates a Divine Nature that we live. Religions create a sense of supreme happiness and that reveal an urgent desire to be at peace. Through understanding that God is present everywhere is the beginning stages of awareness, but moving to the stage that God is present with in us creates motivation and an incentive for the individual to complete his or her goal in life. Furthermore, in order to maintain a balance of the spiritual self, there are certain spiritual ideals that are really crucial in understanding the truth in all religions. Devotion seems to sound easy, whereas it is serves as a purpose for the individual. Devotion is the dedication to belief in God and resulting in profound piety. It is correlated with the idea of ideals. Ideals are processes that work hand in hand in achieving the individuals ultimate goal, which is developed by the means of devotion. Ideals are the realization of something more and that something more is the supreme presence. Ideals exist in the mind but at the same time in the heart and the entire body. It takes form in the individuals day to day action and helps in creating a balance within the individuals spiritual conscience. Once this process of ideals is followed up by proper actions and proper living, then harmony is reached in the form of the manifestation of God. Manifestation of God means that the cause of being completely habituated in living the proper way creates the effect of harmony. Harmony is a consistent pleasing effect that is caused by this absolute idea of consciousness and bliss. That is to say that all the important aspects that were stated from the beginning to now, are the primary purpose of the truth in all the religions, in essence showing the beauty that God brings forth through each and every religion. Finally we must go back to the original question of insanity. Ramakrishna in essence is saying that it is insane to believe your religion is the only and ultimate truth for we have no basis for that belief. We can see through the process of spiritual development that the beauty lays in the truth and sincerity each and every religion places on the individual in such a balanced and consistent manner. BIBLIOGRAPHY1. Philip Novak. The Worlds Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World. Harper SanFrancisco. -1st ed. Pg 42-44.

The Battle Of Mons During World War I Essay - 1619 Words

The battle of Mons was one of the first interactions between the British and German forces in World War I. This battle ended with a clear, although heavily battered victory for the German First Army. Although the British fought valiantly and with fewer casualties than those of their German antagonist; the outcome of this battle could have been altered. Through the use of proper intelligence preparation of the battle field, and human intelligence, the outcome could have been a British victory. Over the remainder of this paper, I will explain how the battle was fought and lost, how the improper planning of the Allied forces directly caused the loss in this battle and how proper implementation of scouts as human intelligence could have given enough warning to change the outcome even with the poor planning. The battle of Mons began on 23 August 1914 in the early morning hours. The British Expeditionary Forces (BFE) attempted to hold the line of the Mons-Conde Canal against the German 1st Army. This battle took place as a part of the Battle of Frontiers, in which the German armies and the Allied armies clashed along the France/ Belgian and France/ German borders. The BEF were stationed to the left of the Allied line stretching from Alsace-Lorraine in the east to Mons and Charleroi in the south. The BEF in this area consisted of II Corps lining the Mons-Conde Canal and I Corps positioned to the right along the Mons–Beaumont Road. The German 1st army was in position to invadeShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Movie The Guns Of August 939 Words   |  4 Pagesthe beginnings of the First World War. After negotiations with her publisher, Tuchman states that the purpose of this novel is to tell the story of â€Å"the wars first month, which contained all the roots, including the Goeben and the battle of Mons†(xix). 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