Week #7 Blog

Rhonda Adams's picture

This week's definition of learning: Anything that helps better your life.  What impacts learning?  Anything you come into contact with.  Can you tell I have the summer blues with all the rain?  Well, who is to say our students are any different!?  So I am reflecting on my own motivation to do this work because today, for the first time in over a week, it's georgous outside and I'm in here typing a blog to you fine folks.  So, in the interest of celebrating mother nature,I am keeping it short this week. 

I don't believe my definition has changed much, other than it has gotten more simple.  I do still believe that learning can only be achieved through personal change.  However, Dr. Belland said something interesting in a blog response to me.  He said that some evidence has shown that students who are resistent to change can keep from progressing developmentally.  I find that fascinating.  If that's true, then our job as teachers just got a whole lot more difficult.  Not only do we need to motivate our students to learn, but if we fail to motivate them, or they don't motivate themselves, they may be stunted developmentally as well as academically.  No pressure there huh?

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Submitted by Rhonda Adams on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 12:47pm
Brian B.'s picture

well, I think the thing to

Submitted by Brian B. (not verified) on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 6:16pm.
well, I think the thing to remember is that teachers are only one part of students' lives. A lot of students have all kinds of issues that they deal with on a daily basis. My Dad taught a high school math student who kept falling asleep in class. Well it turned out that the student had to work the graveyard shift to keep his family afloat financially. It's hard to reach all students but teachers just need to try the best they can to do so. Just as with anything else, perfection is impossible, but it is a worthy goal to strive for. The goal of this class is to provide some tools for your teacher tool box. Certain tools will work better with some students and some content than others.
Angela Sauro's picture

As always your posts are

Submitted by Angela Sauro on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 6:41pm.

As always your posts are very interesting to read.  You have such a passion for teaching which is awesome. I have to agree with you on the weather.  Better get outside and enjoy the sun while it last.  I agree that students who are resistant to change can keep themselves from progressing but I think there is more to that than anything a teacher can do.  There is probably many factors involved and home life or parents would probably be the start of it.  Teachers can only do so much even though they want to do more. 

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Any opinions expressed here, except as specifically noted, are those of the individual authors or commenters and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, or Utah State University.