School Experience

Reflection Journal
EDUC 250-Educational Psychology
NAME: Jessica Bowling

DATE: November 17, 2014

SCHOOL: Milan High School

TEACHER: Pam Minnich/Missy Bowman

GRADE LEVEL: 9-12

GENERAL EDUCATION: X
SPECIAL EDUCATION:_______
(Check one)

Once placement is established, you will participate weekly in a 20 hour school experience at an
assigned cooperating school. This journal is a way of keeping track of your experiences for
purposes of developing into a professional teacher.
To fulfill the 20 hour school experience requirement of this course, you will write answers to the
chapter prompt provided. In addition to responding to the topic, please also write a brief
reflection of something that impressed you about your experience of the particular week.
Use this Word document to type your responses and reflection to each prompt. Please use your
discretion and answer the questions when you think you have observed something relevant to the
question. You need to answer half of the questions for each of the two times that the journal is
submitted for grading.
This school experience journal will be handed in two times on dates listed in the calendar of the
syllabus. There 50 possible points for handing in each of the two journal assignments by the
due date. That is a total of 100 points for the entire school experience.
Text: Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis with Brent Jones. Essentials of Educational Psychology: Big
Ideas to Guide Effective Teaching, 4e, with eText. Boston: Pearson, 2015.
Chapter 2-Learning, Cognition, and Memory
In Chapter 2 of the text, reread sections on how to encourage storage of information in long-term
memory, especially p. 29-33.
Design a way to enhance long term memory for students with whom you are working or tutoring.
Explain what information you are trying to get them to retain in long term memory. Then
describe the specific steps you are taking to achieve that goal.

Response:
I am trying to have the students remember how to solve multistep equations and use the
Multistep Poster I created in order to remember. I used scaffolding by starting with small
problems that use only one step, then moving on to larger problems with more steps. An
example of the first set of problems would be:
1. 2x+3x=? Answer 5x
2. 2(1+x)=? Answer 2+2x
Once they learned how to solve systems independently they could then put them together using
the poster until they memorized the steps.
2(1+x)+5x+2=? Answer 2+2x+5x+2=4+7x

Reflection:
By creating the 4 step poster, the students had a visual aid that not only was consistent but that
could be carried over from one set of equations to another. The four step poster is as follows:
1. Distributive Property
2. Combine like terms
3. Order of operations (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, which is parentheses, exponents,
multiply, divide, add, subtract)
4. Solve for x if necessary
Chapter 3-Learning in Context
In Chapter 3, we discussed the differences among positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, presentation punishment, and removal punishment. Each of these types is briefly
described on p. 63 of the text.
During your work with the student(s) in tutoring or Response to Intervention (RTI) settings,
think of a time when you needed to apply some form of positive or negative reinforcement or
punishment. From the ones described in Chapter 3, explain two different examples when you
used some type of reinforcement or punishment. Be specific by naming the type you employed
as well as in your description of it.
Response:
In working with students there were many times I used positive reinforcement in order to get
them to participate. I also had to use negative reinforcement. I always attempted positive
reinforcement first and for most students that was the most beneficial. We used candy and
device time as positive reinforcers. When a student was not participating I would nudge them by
reminding them that if they completed the assignment and worked diligently they could choose
to have a piece of candy or time on their device to do what they wished at the end of the lesson. I
also had to use negative reinforcement by not allowing a student to listen to music during a
session. He had been allowed to have music on while doing independent work to be checked,

but it became a distraction and made it difficult for him to focus on the task at hand, so that
privilege was taken away.
Reflection:
I noticed that positive reinforcement had the desired effect the majority of the time. Most
students responded well to a small piece of candy or a few moments of time to themselves to
play a game on their device at the end of the session. The few that did not respond well to
positive reinforcement also did not respond well to negative reinforcement. Those few students
were students with EB disorders and even the punishment assigned by the classroom teacher
didnt seem to alter their behavior.

Chapter 4-Complex Cognitive Processes

Self-regulation is the process of taking control of and evaluating ones own learning and
behavior. It is an important skill for learners to internalize. Reread some sections of Chapter 4,
especially p. 111-115.
Explain two teaching strategies that you used while tutoring or working with the student(s)
which would promote self-regulated behavior in the student(s).
Response:
In order to have my student self-regulate we first made a document that determined what the
issue was that was preventing him from completing his work. In this case it was access to the
internet (and his overwhelming desire to play games during class since he had no internet access
at home and couldnt play there).
Once he realized what the issue was he determined that the best option for him would be to allow
me to keep the device until he had completed his assignment. I did for the first few days and
then we moved on to him keeping the device but resisting the urge to take it out of its case until
his work was completed.
In another case, a student was having a hard time being organized. He determined he would do
better if we could label folders for each class and have a homework side and a returned side
in each folder. We also attached a blank chart where he could keep track of his assignments on
his own using the school grade book that each student has access to. This allowed him to be
responsible for maintaining his assignments and finding and completing missing assignments.
Reflection:
The first strategy worked, but only for a short time. The student then was required to be put in a
teacher regulated online lockdown and only allowed access to sites determined necessary for
learning. He was unable to self-regulate without constant input from myself or the classroom
teacher.

The second strategy worked very well. The student has brought his grade up two letter grades by
being better organized and following his own plan.
Chapter 5- Cognitive Development
Chapter 5 examines cognitive development and intelligence. Think about your interactions with
the student(s) in the grade level of your placement. Think about the teaching strategies you used
during tutoring or working with the student(s).
Explain whether or not the teaching strategies that you employed encouraged development of
logical thinking abilities. You may want to reread p. 153-157 in your textbook.
Identify types of activities that are enhancing intellectual development. What activities did you
use that exemplify ways of addressing multiple intelligences? You may want to revisit multiple
intelligences on p. 162 in your text.
Response:
In attempting to help students display their best work and effort some students were allowed to
complete certain assignments in a different format. Some student did better by completing the
assignment on paper, while others excelled when completing it in an online format. There were
also assignments that allowed the student to choose what they would like to do, such as write a
paper, create a poster, create a video, or write a song. This allowed the student to use a medium
they were comfortable with and incorporate the new information. Scaffolding was used as well,
by taking current concepts being taught and showing how they worked in real life. In algebra,
the variable was no longer just a letter. It became a price of one object while the other variable
was the price of a different object. For example, 12x+3y=total price. X=$2.00 and Y=5.00. The
student could then determine the cost of something.
Reflection:
By allowing students to choose what project they wanted to do, and giving them some autonomy,
made them more likely to jump on board with the work. They liked the opportunity to be
creative and showcase other talents besides just writing a boring paper. Also, by scaffolding
and moving general concepts into a notion of actual use in the real world made the students more
likely to understand the concept AND why it was important to learn the concept.
Chapter 6-Motivation and Affect
Review the characteristics of learners exhibiting mastery goals and students demonstrating
performance goals on p. 202. Be mindful that students who have mastery goals desire to acquire
additional knowledge or learn new skill for the sake of learning. Students who exhibit
performance goals wish to demonstrate high ability and make a good impression.

How would you categorize many of the students in terms of goals (mastery or performance) in
the tutoring or RTI setting that you regularly visit? What caused you to reach this conclusion?
How might you encourage students to engage in mastery goals?
Did you see any signs of anxiety or other forms of affect in students in the tutoring or RTI setting
of your school experience? Revisit p. 217 and explain your response.
Response:
Many of the students in terms of goals were having a difficult time reaching them. They
struggled with many issues outside of the concepts being taught that were preventing them from
mastering them. Some were dealing with issues outside school that would tend to distract them;
no matter how many times redirection was attempted. I reached this conclusion by seeing the
students continue to struggle with many concepts that one would think were fairly simple. Some
learning was also impacted by concepts that were not learned prior that were necessary in order
to learn the concepts being taught currently. I encouraged students to do better today than we
did yesterday. I felt that by taking baby steps they may have been able to gradually see that
they were capable of doing better. I noticed anxiety in a few students about concepts they felt
clueless about. Math and English were the two subjects that brought the most anxiety out,
especially when there was an assessment to be completed or a large paper to be written.
Reflection:
I feel that all the students are capable of mastering the goals set before them, but some seem to
need more extensive help than is/was being provided. Time is also a large issue that prevents the
students from mastering concepts. Timed tests created much anxiety as did a short time limit on
completing large papers.

Chapter 7-Personal, Social, and Moral Development

Think about the concept sense of self and its implications for teaching and learning. Review
the developmental trends on p. 245 in your textbook. Did you see indications of sense of self
affecting learning of the student(s) with whom you worked? Explain.
What effect did perspective taking have on the teaching and learning environment? Reread p.
255 in your textbook to understand developmental trends.
If you observed aggressive behavior, explain the type of aggressive behavior that you witnessed.
See textbook p. 254-255 for an explanation.
Response:
I did notice how sense of self affected the learning of one particular student. This student
would answer a multitude of questions correctly but if he became stuck on one problem or
answered it incorrectly he would hit himself and repeat Im stupid, Im stupid, Im stupid. He
would then either refuse to complete the rest of the assignment by refusing to go any farther, or

he would tear it up. I attempted to have him use perspective taking by showing him how well
he did on the other problems and also offered instances where I had made mistakes to show him
that we all make mistakes and that is a very important part of learning. He was not receptive to
perspective taking at all.
I did not observe aggressive behavior.
Reflection:
In order for a students sense of self to not negatively interfere with learning they must be shown
and reminded about the positive traits and characteristics quite often. They should be praised for
doing what is expected, even if its quick thanks for working so hard praise. They should
never be told they are stupid or dumb or be made to feel stupid or dumb, because it can then
affect learning later in life.
Chapter 8-Instructional Strategies
Many instructional strategies are summarized on p. 312 of your textbook. Describe two of the
ones you used for tutoring or RTI in your school placement. Be sure that you give a rationale for
the instructional strategies that you selected to use.
Response:
Inquiry learning was used to complete a lab about genotypes and phenotypes. The rationale for
this was because it allowed students to tangibly touch and visualize the difference of genes. This
was done by using two pennies that were labeled with genotypes and phenotypes and allowing
the student to flip the pennies and record the instances of certain characteristics represented by
the genotypes and phenotypes. It made the material more than just funny letters on a page.
Direct instruction was also used when showing the students how to use the distributive property.
This had to be used because it was a new concept and in order for them to later be able to use it I
had to show them on the board what it was and use multiple examples prior to allowing them to
practice it on their own.
Reflection:
Both instructional strategies worked well for the concepts they were used for. Inquiry learning
may have been difficult to use for distributive property but direct instruction may have caused
the student to lose interest in regards to genotype and phenotype.

Chapter 9-Strategies for Creating an Effective Classroom Environment

Chapter 9 discusses many ways to enhance the classroom environment. What were some of the
ways that you helped to create an environment that was conducive to learning?

Explain which of the suggestions on p. 347 in your textbook for addressing undesirable
classroom behaviors you utilized in the tutoring or RTI setting of your school experience.
Response:
In order to create a room conducive to learning students knew first off that my room was a safe
place and that we did not say things that could be hurtful or disrespectful to anyoneat all.
They also knew they could talk to me about issues they were having (and some did). I made sure
to have plenty of materials available also (pencils, paper, markers, crayons, notecards) in case
they didnt have them. Some students parents were unable to purchase these items but the
students knew they could get them from me.
In order to address undesirable behavior, the students had to sign a contract that listed the rules
of the room and the possible consequences. We discussed the rules together and the
consequences. This allowed the students to know ahead of time the expectations and what would
occur if those were not met.
Reflection:
This seemed to be a wonderful exercise and the students, for the most part, fully participated.
They still know they can talk to me, they still know the room is a safe place, and they still know
that if they need certain materials they are free to come to my room for them. For me its a small
price to pay to make sure they are able to learn without worrying about other things.
Chapter 10-Assessent Strategies
What types of assessments did you employ with the student(s)? Did you choose to use different
types of assessments? If you did use a variety of assessment tools, explain why different
assessments were necessary?
Response:
Formative assessment was used quite often in order to find out if students were learning the
concepts or if we needed to work on them some more. We had discussions, pop quizzes, and had
students do short worksheets at times (not for a grade) to assess where they were at and what
needed to be covered again. We also played certain games where students chose an answer and
the teacher could see how many students chose correctly but it did not show the students names.
This allowed us to gauge what was understood but didnt single any students out.
Summative assessment was used at the end of the chapter for certain subjects and was also used
once a concept was covered, prior to moving on to another concept.
Reflection:
Formative assessment was a wonderful tool in letting myself and the classroom teacher know if a
student understood the concept taught or if it needed to be covered again or if one student just
needed extra time or extra help.

Summative assessment helped determine if each individual student was ready to move on and
determined if they adequately understood the concepts that had been presented, practiced, and
discussed.
Final Reflection:
Take some time to think about your responses and reflections in this journal. Respond to the
following questions.
1) In terms of the major concepts presented in this class, how do you think your school
experience and reflections on it has helped prepare you for classroom responsibilities as a
teacher?
I have gained a large amount of experience during this exercise and have learned lots of
strategies that I will be able to use. I currently use quite a few different concepts in my
classroom now with my students that come into my resource room.
2) Briefly sum the impact that this school experience has had on your professional
aspirations. You will not be penalized for constructive criticism.
This exercise, and my job daily, has strengthened my desire to become a high school special
education teacher. I want to be able to help those students that seem to be at a disadvantage
compared to others. These students are all capable of reaching their potential and mastering
goals and concepts but they need a strong foundation and caring individuals to push them to
succeed by believing in them and letting them know they are capable.