Course Contract #3

1.  Since that last course contract review, I think I have continued to keep a positive attitude and studied more often than I did in the middle of the semester.

2.  It was hard toward the end of the semester to complete the study guides.  The time came for projects in other classes to be turned in and in the end, the study guides got placed on the back burner.  I even fell behind a couple of weeks, which I usually never do.

3.  In some areas I have made sufficient progress.  The note taking goal I did for sure.  I also kept a really good attitude and studied harder.

4. One thing I do need to work on is procrastination.  I think the biggest inhibitor of completing my assignments the day they were assigned was my habit of procrastination.  Next semester I am going to work even harder on that.

5.  I think at the end of the semester, motivation gets really low for a lot of people because they have so much to get done and are kind of mentally done with the class.  In future semester, I think if I just try to remember that much of what I am learning is important as a teacher and its more than getting a good grade on the final.  I think its easier to have a performance mind set towards the end of the semester because you want the grade.

FR Question 11

11            During one class that I observed, the topic for the day was polygamy in Utah History.  Mr. Thomas used a political cartoon as a way to enhance his instruction.  The political cartoon was entitled “Uncle Sam’s Bed Problems”.  In the cartoon, there were several characters depicted including Native Americans, Irish Immigrants, Chinese Immigrants, African Americans and Brigham Young.  Uncle Sam was kicking Brigham Young out of his bed, symbolizing America kicking the Mormons out of the United States.  Mr. Thomas was using discovery learning to help the students understand how to find deeper meaning in political cartoons.  The text states that discovery learning encourages the students to actively discover and internalize a concept through unstructured exploration of to be learned information.  Mr. Thomas handed a copy of the cartoon to everyone and then asked the students to tell him what it meant.  At first the students were really hesitant and couldn’t grasp the concept.  Mr. Thomas then supported the students learning with guided discovery.  The text states that guided discovery occurs when the teacher provides enough guidance to ensure that students discover the rule or principle to be learned.  Mr. Thomas used guided discovery by asking the students guided questions.  He asked them to name to groups or individuals in the picture and how they identified that individual.  For example, the students new it was Brigham Young because he had polygamy written on him and the picture showed him with a big white beard.  He then asked what the bed represented and why these groups were “troublesome” to Uncle Sam.  Using discovery learning and guided discovery, Mr. Thomas helped the students in his classroom develop their skill in analyzing political cartoons.  It was fun to see the students make the connections and find deeper meaning in the cartoons.  They really identified with the lesson and were engaged throughout the entire class period. 

FR Question 4

In one of the classes I attended, Mr. Thomas, my cooperating teacher, introduced a moral dilemma to the class.  In the book it states, “Kohlberg measured an individual’s level of moral reasoning by presenting moral dilemmas and rating responses according to the stages.”  Keeping Kohlberg’s theory in mind, listening to the student’s responses made me realize that the students are functioning at the conventional stage of moral reasoning.  The moral dilemma they were presented with dealt with Terri Shiavo.  Terri Shiavo had a massive stroke at a young age and was put on life support.  She was on life support for many years.  The parents wanted to keep her on life support while her husband wanted to remove her from it.  Mr. Thomas presented both side’s arguments very well, making sure that the students were well informed about the pros and cons of each.  Mr. Thomas then presented information about the huge amount of publicity this case received and what happened in the end.  He then posed the moral dilemma.  He asked the students what they would do in that situation and who had the responsibility to remove life support?  The majority of the class stated that the parents should be the ones to decide because they were the ones who raised her and cared for her.  This identifies clearly with the interpersonal stage of the conventional level of moral reasoning, which states that students look to parents to determine the rules.  To help the students advance to a higher level of moral reasoning, say social authority, the teacher could of asked if there should be a law written so that these kinds of decisions can be made by the law, therefore causing less family conflict?