Final Blog

I appreciated Dweck’s quote, “I’m going to teach you,” not “I’m going to judge your talent” (p. 191).  That statement speaks volumes to the effect of mindset on teaching practices.  In the article by Dweck, I was surprised by the fact that a teacher at a college would be reprimanded for expecting students to aspire to her high standards.  I remember when I first began teaching in Kentucky.  The statewide accountability system was somewhat new. I recall a conversation I had with a veteran teacher who informed me that all children needed to be proficient, so on a scale of one to four, they needed to be at a three.  A three not a four, I wondered.  I taught to the “four” standard anyway, setting high standards for my students and informing them that with hard work and a good instructional plan, they could do it.

In consideration to Outliers, Gladwell made several interesting points.  Interestingly, the idea that stuck with me dealt with language.  How does language impair our memory?  The information he wrote regarding our number system and language as compared to the Asians was quite profound.  I immediately made a connection to Mayer and cognitive load theory.  Imagine if we could simply restructure our language better to represent numbers how that might both reduce cognitive load and make mathematical practices less complex for children.

I feel like this semester has challenged my thinking in both how people learn and what I can do as an instructor in assisting my students’ development of deeper understanding of concepts.  I believe   people learn best with they have the time to make sense of the world around them as well as an instructor to help guide instruction and explain when misconceptions arise. People have cognitive limitations that teachers need to be aware of and plan for to make the time we have in a classroom beneficial and not overwhelming.  

RR # 11

Question: To what extent do teachers explicitly teach metacognitive strategies to students in their classrooms?

Pintrich made several important points in his article regarding metacognition and learning. The point that I found myself drawn to dealt with the need to teach to metacognitive knowledge explicitly. Pincher stated, “many teachers assume that some students will be able to acquire metacognitive knowledge on their own, while others lack the ability to do so” (p. 223).  If you were to ask teachers what they teach, I am certain the list of responses might include content knowledge, behaviors or perhaps a list of state mandated standards. I am not certain a large number of them would list metacognitive skills as a top priority, but instead listed as a fleeting afterthought of something that should be included. 
As a student, I used memory techniques and mnemonic devices to assist in the recall of various information such as the order of colors in a spectrum to the elements on the periodic table.   As a classroom teacher, I encouraged students to organize ideas in graphical formats, summarize paragraphs into their own language and ask themselves questions about their own learning.  It was several years before I realized such learning tasks helped students acquire metacognitive knowledge, I taught my students in the way I had learned best. They were strategies that worked for me.  Teachers often fail to include important instruction in the area of metacognitive knowledge, problem solving, creativity or other thinking skills because of a narrow focus on standards, assessment and accountability.  I wonder what students would be able to accomplish if given instruction in these areas along with content information.

RR #10

Question:  How does cognitive load theory relate to the ability to multitask?

In the Rosen article, the author addressed several concerns in regards to multitasking, including studies on how multitasking could lead to health issues, less productivity and the inability to retrieve learned material easily. Rosen made an excellent point in regards to attention in this statement, "When we talk about multitasking, we are really talking about attention: the art of paying attention, the ability to shift our attention, and, more broadly, to exercise judgment about what objects are worthy of our attention" (p. 109).

As people watch TV, play a computer game and instant message a friend, they are shifting their attention from one object to another.  I have done this myself, not really paying complete attention to all three things at once, but shifting my attention to be able to juggle all three events at the same time and keep up with them. However, I could not multitask and read our William James book for class. Due do the complexity of the text, I had to focus and think about each sentence.  If my husband or daughters asked me a question while reading, I often went back to the beginning of the paragraph to reread.  Reading that text, initially provided some cognitive demand for me.  Perhaps, William James would agree.  Our attention is one stream and not a small group of meandering creeks clustered together.

I found this great video on multitasking and the brain, providing some explaination of the physical process our bodies go through when we work on two tasks at once:

Module 7

Below is a TED talk from Jeff Hawkins about how brain science will change computing:




In his talk, he discussed how our brains are memory systems and not really information processors.  I found his explanation of why we remember things from a physical stance interesting.  He explains the memory systems of human brains and the fact the we are intelligent stems from our ability to predict based on our memory.  Human memory systems are now being used to create smarter computers.

RR #9

As I read the King-Friedrichs article, I considered all of the elements of good instruction that surfaced. She had engaged her students by making a connection to personal experiences and then used those experiences as a common playing field to build instruction.  She incorporated real problems, sensory experiences, authentic assessments and fun.  I related to the statement, ‘Classroom teachers face the challenge of making the encoding of the information and skills that we are attempting to teach students as elaborate and deep as possible”(p.77).

After I taught 5^th grade for the first year and my students took the end of the year state assessment, I remember how my feelings of excitement turned to disappointment.  Many students could not recall social studies content that I taught early in the school year, even though I had asked questions about the material periodically throughout the remainder of the year.  I had failed them.  That summer, I spent time reflecting on my own learning experiences. As I pondered over all of the reasons why I remembered information, which seemed so random, a common theme emerged.  I had participated in simulations.   The first unit I taught the next year in 5^th grade social studies was Explorers.  I decided to provide my students with some experiences in exploration, from the perspective of an explorer and the perspective of Native Americans.  In order to feel like an explorer, I hid a chocolate bar in the classroom and placed the class into unequal teams.  The disgruntled voices seemed to soften when I explained how different countries spent different amounts of money in exploratory endeavors.  The benefit of a larger team meant more individuals searching for the chocolate, while a smaller team meant a larger portion of the reward for each person.  Immediately following the victory for the winning team, I asked everyone to write about the experience and to include their personal thoughts and feelings about the exercise.  The next day, a few fellow teachers entered my classroom during social studies, placing a flag on the door and speaking a foreign language.  The students had no idea what was going on and I played along. We offered the strangers treats from the treat box and they presented us with a deflated basketball and a pair of wooden shoes, both of which were useless to us. The strangers communicated to us that they were taking over the classroom and would be back.  On the way out, they took our treat box with them.  I knew these simulations made lasting impressions for many of my students, some of which stopped me years after later recalling the events as if they had happened yesterday.  I am sure William James would say I had captured their stream of consciousness.  He would also say they had made multiple associations. I had managed to make these students angry, excited, disgruntled and elated.  I end this post wondering about this big question: How do emotions influence how we remember experiences?

RR #8

As I read Pinker’s article, I became intrigued with his ideas of language and thought.  Language is a vehicle we use to communicate ideas and thoughts to others as well as a tool used to assist in our own retention of material.  Pinker continued to describe how infants and animals thought without formal language and the fact that I could not recall verbatim every word from the last page I read but instead just remembered the main points.  In his third discussion point on language, he stated, “We often grope for words, are dissatisfied with what we write because it does not express what we want to say, or discover when every combination of words seems wrong that we don’t really know what we want to say. And when we get frustrated with a mismatch between our language and our thoughts we don’t give up, defeated and mum, we change the language” (p. 210).  This passage made me think about children in our classrooms.  How does language create a barrier to learning for children?

When talking about language barriers in classrooms, many are quick to assume that English language learners and students with special needs are the only students who may have trouble communicating.  As a former classroom teacher, I remember working with bright students who did not have the advantage of growing up in homes where they heard academic language spoken.  This did not mean these students were not intelligent, but simply lacked the academic language necessary to be successful in school.  How frustrated I know many students are, sitting in classrooms and having the knowledge of understanding concepts but not the language to express this understanding either written or verbal to the classroom teacher.  As teachers, we need to make sure we are teaching domain specific vocabulary and other academic language for children to have the tools they need for communicating their understandings of concepts and skills to both teachers and peers.  We also must remember to provide students time to think, gather the words in their mind to express what it is they desire to say. 

William James would agree that a child understands and remembers better, when associations are made.  Students need to associate specific language to content to have a clear understanding and the ability to communicate their ideas.

Module 6

When a person solves problems in a multimedia environment, information is received through auditory and visual sensory receptors. Poor designs in multimedia environments and print materials increase cognitive load for learners. The video below explains split attention effect:

Mayer and Moreno (2003) discuss the split attention effect and different ways to reduce cognitive load in their article, Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning.  One scenario mentioned in the article describes a learning environment in which the student is asked to watch a simulation. Located beneath the simulation is the text supporting the activity.  The learner is left with two areas of a screen to pay attention to, both of which are visual.  A solution to reduce cognitive load is to offer the text in the form of narration.  The simulation would still be received through the visual receptors, but the text as narration is received through audio.

As I read Mayer and Moreno's article, I considered how I structure web environments, PowerPoints and other instructional materials consisting of multimedia.  Perhaps, I create unintended cognitive load through the design of these tools.  Split attention effect is something classroom teachers should consider when creating paper materials for assessments, review or learning especially if the student is required to view a diagram, image or graph to answer a question.


Mayer, R. and Moreno, R. (2003). Nine ways to reduce cognitve load in multimedia learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 43-52.

Answers to Questions on Piaget

Q1: Explain in your own words the principal contributions of Piaget's cognitive constructivist theory as a theory of learning. Make a list of questions you still have.

Piaget contributed to cognitive constructivist theory as a theory of learning. He challenged the behaviorist theorists of his time and raised questions regarding human cognitive processes. He changed the focus from how people respond to a stimulus to how people think about a stimulus. People are active learners and construct their own knowledge. I feel his principal contributions in this field center around his work of development stages. His work shed light on the cognitive growth of children. For preschool and elementary teachers, the stages of development are important considerations when designing instruction. Piaget provided a foundation for developmentally appropriate activities in a classroom. However, children do not grow physically or cognitively at the same rate. Do children get stuck in a stage of development? If so, how do we move them from one stage to the next? How do we accommodate the instructional needs of students who have rapidly moved through the stages?

Q2: Make a connection between Piaget's stages of development and what James argued the teacher should know about cognitive development.

Piaget’s stages of development are similar to James’s ideas on constructivism. Piaget’s preoperational stage states children mentally act on object and are not capable of thinking abstractly. James also emphasized the importance of training in construction and object teaching from Kindergarten through the first years. Both would agree this period of exploration of the world around them allow a child to make sense of their environment. Piaget’s concrete operational stage shares how a child begins to make logical sense of the world around them. James believed objective and experimental methods were crucial to knowledge construction. He stated, “Compared with youth taught by this methods, one brought up exclusively by books carries through life a certain remoteness from reality: he stands as it were, out of the pale and feels that he stands so; and often suffers a kind of melancholy from which he might have been rescued by a more real education”(p. 30). Two additional connections between Piaget and James are the development of habits and connection of new information to what one already knows or believes.

Q3: What would authors Airasian and Walsh have to say about the learning environment in which Bart was placed? Is this an example of constructivism? What are your own thoughts about constructivism as a theory of learning so far?

I believe Airasian and Walsh would have said that Bart had been placed in an environment which attempted to be constructivist in nature. Bart attempted to make meaning for himself through participating in discussions and even turning himself green in chemistry. Bart initially showed great enthusiasm when he thought about a learning environment which allowed him the freedom to structure his day as he pleased, yet Bart was not successful in this environment. Airsian and Walsh might say Bart’s failure was a result of the teacher’s ability to implement instructional strategies and provide appropriate feedback. The classroom design provided Bart with a “learn as you go” model, but the teacher was not in tune to Bart’s constructed knowledge nor did she provide specific feedback to guide him on his learning journey. Airsian and Walsh might also argue the fact the teacher did not ask Bart to share with her his thought process or justify his reasoning when answering a question. One might argue that Bart was not successful in this environment because he lacked the ability to communicate effectively with peers, traditional classroom exposure has stifled his ability to make decisions about his own learning paths and the classroom structure reflected needs for different students. The gifted students in the classroom, however, seemed to be successful in this environment. I believe constructivism is a valuable theory for learning. When given the opportunity to explore and create their own meaning, students have a deeper understanding of the material. I am not certain a “one size fits all model” is best for any classroom, though.

R#7

Within a school environment, there exist many differing views of how children learn. Typically, teachers of special needs children rely on behaviorist approaches to shape behavior and knowledge acquisition. Classroom teacher views vary from the same behaviorist approaches to instructional strategies based on constructivist theory or some combination of the two. Imagine a school where the administration insisted on the use of direct instruction, the use of charts for students in need of behavior modification and the use of rewards and punishments for both students and staff. Teachers believing in the constructivist theories of learning would be at odds most of the time with their supervisors. Perhaps, this scenario is extreme but the idea of contradictory philosophies of teaching in a school is not farfetched. How do conflicting views of behaviorist and constructivist theories affect school culture and student learning?

Time to teach the required curriculum is a constant battle for classroom teachers. As a believer of the constructivist theories, I often found myself attempting to pour knowledge into the minds of my students instead of taking the time to construct activities that led to meaning making due to a lack of time. My students recalled information correctly but lacked a deep understanding of content and displayed difficulty in applying skills learned to a new situation. Airasian and Walsh state, “It is easy to say that constructivist teachers must create an open, nonjudgmental environment that permits students to construct, disclose and expose their constructions to scrutiny. But listening and responding to student constructions will be difficult and time consuming” (p. 448). The authors make a good point and teachers do need to consider the element of time; however is the time a teacher takes to tell a student about a topic time well spent. One constructivist-like model of teaching is the 5E model of instruction. Students share in a common set of exploratory activities to provide a foundation for understanding. During this phase, the teacher talks to students and observes student constructions, providing thought provoking questions and guidance. Explanations are brief, direct and to the point. The teacher clarifies misconceptions and introduces domain specific vocabulary. Students then apply this new knowledge to a new situation. Formative evaluations made at each phase allow the teacher to make the instructional decisions regarding a student’s readiness to move to the next step. The process is quite time consuming in the beginning for both maintaining student engagement and allowing adequate time for exploration. The time spent allows students to acquire a deep understanding of the intended content and apply the information. How are classroom teachers using their time for student instruction?

Monetary Rewards and Feedback

I consider tipping a type of reward for good service at a restaurant.  The reward is given to the waiter or waitress at the end of dinner.  Check out this video from Third Rock from the Sun, where Dick attempts to change tipping. He moves from an after dinner reward to a feedback model:

R#6

We live in a society of rewards and punishments. This current system is evident in the home, in schools and in the workplace. Children receive an award of a toy for purchasing a Happy Meal. Customers receive an award for purchasing products and using a shopping loyalty card. News reporters write articles regarding the need to reward teachers for student performance. When are the use of rewards and punishments most effective in the classroom?

After reading the articles this week by Noddings,Chance and Kohn, I thought about a video I recently watched about the use of monetary rewards and performance.

Daniel Pink video on motivation:


The study conducted by MIT and other major universities focuses on using a three level incentive as reward for performance on tasks ranging from mechanical to cognitive. The low performers received no reward, the middle performers received some reward and the high performers received a large reward. The findings stated for mechanical skills, the bonus system of rewarding worked. However, as the tasks required additional cognitive skill, the higher the reward resulted in lower performance. Alfie Kohn's statement reflects the findings at MIT, "the more cognitive sophistication and open-ended thinking required, the worse people do when they are working for a reward"(p.123). The video also notes when people are given the opportunity to be self directed, they are engaged and produce more. William James talked to teachers about the importance of gaining a student’s voluntary attention and develop interest in curriculum by connecting it to items of student interest.. In addition, Alfie Kohn discussed the need for curriculum to be engaging and connected to the lives and interests of students. These ideas can help the practice of a classroom teacher. If a reward for great performance resulted in a poorer performance as the need for cognitive skills increased, then teachers should not use rewards for class work. I believe rewards have a place in the classroom in regards to behavior management. I have used rewarding to train students to raise a hand to speak, walk without talking in the hall and even toilet training my own children. The use of rewards did not work for students to perform better on local assessments. One year, the school I worked in decided to reward students who performed better on a mid-year local assessment. My top performing students performed worse and the decision to reward students for performance moved to a reward for effort. Even then, I did not see a large increase in the attention to or excitement for testing by my students.


Chance argued his side quite well, noting the importance of feedback as a reward. I see constructive feedback as a necessary component in the learning process. Yes, the odds of Johnny figuring out 7 + 3 = 10 without some form of reinforcement from a teacher or peer are low. However, lets say Johnny sat on the floor in his classroom and decided to build a castle with LEGOS. Johnny carefully placed seven LEGOs together for a tower. He noticed the tower did not stand as tall as he desired, so had connected three more LEGOs to the top. When Johnny built the second tower for his castle, he reasoned 7 LEGOs plus 3 more. This experience lays the foundation for a teacher to provide feedback to Johnny, praising his discovery and providing the explanation of 7 +3 + 10. I think teachers turn to the use of rewards in a desperate attempt to capture student interest. If teachers could provide a curriculum relevant to their students, allowing choice to study topics of individual interest, the student reward would be intrinsic.

Homer's Swear Jar

I came across this funny video clip of Homer Simpson and his attempt to stop swearing. Poor Homer encounters people and events he doesn't like, causing him to unleash a mouthful.  To stop his behavior, his consequence for swearing is putting money in a swear jar.  The first video depicts Homer in the beginning of his conditioning and the second video is the result of his efforts.

Homer's Swear Jar #1
Homer's Swear Jar #2

R#5

After reading Skinner's articles, I engaged in an interesting conversation with my oldest daughter about operant conditioning and the ways in which people and animals respond to stimulus. She asked, "Mom, where in the body does this need to respond develop?" I immediately explained that this type of response is learned, so this need to respond occurs in our brains. Feeling my response satisfied her question, I had grossly underestimated the direction she managed to take our conversation.

"Mom," she replied, "I watched a fascinating show where scientists trained jellyfish to respond to light. It seemed liked they had learned to do things based on light."

"How interesting," I quickly responded, "I didn't know scientists were interested in teaching jellyfish how to do anything."

"Well," she said, "where in the body does this need to respond to light occur in a jellyfish?"
Not hesitating for one moment, I replied, "in their brain."

"Mom, jellyfish do not have brains, so how do they learn?"

I found myself completely baffled. A quick Internet search led to an interesting article on the biology of invertebrate learning. These creatures learn through stimuli and response, reactions occurring within their nervous system. Skinner's statement,"Just as we say that species-specific behavior did not evolve in order that a species could adapt to the environment but rather evolved when it adapted," can provide some explanation. Perhaps how invertebrate respond to light and sound through the nervous system is a result of evolving and adapting to the environment.  I wonder how that transfers to humans and other animals that have brains and can make decisions.

Students in the classroom are conditioned as well. I spent numerous hours training students to raise a hand to speak.  When a student raised a hand to speak, I gave a sticker as a reward.  Initially, the student received the award everytime the hand was raised, then after some time I phased the reward out. While thinking of my intentional training of student behavior, I wondered about a different question. In what ways do external stimuli cause humans to respond without our knowledge? When my phone "dings," without effort I pick it up to read the text sent. When my name is called, I turn my head. Have I been conditioned?

R#4

What is the relationship between free will and habits? This question immediately surfaced in my mind as I read James’s chapter on free will. If we choose to establish a habit, work on it, hone it to the point that it has become automatic have we given up our ability to voluntarily act against it? Let’s say that I have worked to develop a habit of walking. At the same time, every day for five years, I walk the same two mile radius. The habit of walking becomes so strong that I grab my shoes and put them on without looking at the clock because I just know when it is time to go. Then, one day on my daily walk, I encounter a snake. Due to this unforeseen circumstance, I decide to cut short the walk and go home. The next day, would I immediately go for a walk since it is habit or would I reconsider because the snake inhibits me?

James gave teachers some important points in this chapter. I appreciated his view on a child’s will and the classroom. When a child encounters a problem that is difficult, many times they just give up because they feel inhibited. This feeling becomes overwhelming and the problem becomes impossible for the child. At the moment the child gives up or refuses to put forth any effort, many teachers want to punish them. The wise teacher, however, steps back and leads the child in a different direction for awhile, coming back to the problem in a different way. I connected this idea to differentiation in the classroom. When a student finds one method of solving a problem difficult and is afraid to try, differentiated activities can reengage them in the learning process. By presenting information in a different way, a teacher may overcome the student’s inhibition to solve the problem.

I made a personal connection to the reading when James referred to a quote by John Wesley. As a United Methodist and daughter of a United Methodist minister, I remembered conversations I had with my parents in regard to self will. James quoted Wesley when discussing punishment of children by teachers. James states, “Such will-breaking is always a scene with a great deal of nervous wear and tear on both sides, a bad state of feeling left behind it, and the victory not always with the would be will-breaker”(p. 89). I believe Wesley’s quote about breaking a child’s will needs to be taken in the context Wesley meant it. Though his words are strong, I believe Wesley’s message to parents focused on the importance of a child to listen and follow God’s will for their life instead of growing up full of self will.

IAT Test

I completed two IAT tests, one on age and one on presidents.  I thought the tests were interesting, but did not always agree with the results.  Perhaps, if you feel strongly about a topic prior to taking the test the results may lean in one direction.  I questioned what factors the researchers considered when determining the results. Did they consider internet connectivity, delayed response or environmental distractions for the end user?

In regards to memory and associations, I caught myself  talking, outloud, to keep track of the letter and the task. The further into the test I went, the harder it became to focus.  My response time slowed down.  Once I experience the inital task  it became difficult to break the association for the new task.  I believe this excercise lends itself to understanding the relationship between associations and memory.  Associations become your memory.  The initial association I made, such as old is good, became the tool to answer the question correctly.  When then asked to associate old with bad, it became difficult to complete the new task.
I believe the designers of this excercise took to heart James's idea, "don't always ask the question, for example, in the same way; don't use the same data in numerical problems; vary your illustrions, etc., as much as you can" (p. 145). 

"To break up bad associations or wrong ones, to build others in, to guide the associative tendencies into most fruitful channels, is the educator's principal task"(p.137).  What a profound statement James makes.  I believe as educators to assist students in the formation of good associations is easier than breaking bad ones.  Once your mind creates an association it is difficult to undo it. 

R#3

R #3

William James suggested teachers join uninteresting information a child must learn to an interesting topic. James stressed the importance of classroom teachers to keep in touch with the interests of their students. James pointed out items dealing with blood, living things or dangers are objects natively interesting to children.  Silly bands are popular among many children today. Children purchase them, trade them and in a since, create an economy of silly bands. A teacher could connect a lesson about supply and demand to silly bands. The teacher might ask a child, "Why did you trade four monkey silly bands for one glow in the dark unicorn silly band?" The child might respond, using his own language, the difficulty of obtaining the unicorn over the monkeys. The silly band question provides a level of interest to the child, capturing their stream of consciousness and allowing for the connection to the idea of supply and demand.

James makes an excellent point discussing the role passion or motivation plays in learning.  He remarks that a person passionate about a subject can get better results than another who is less passionate but more attentive. As a parent, I made a connection to video gaming and children.  Children are passionate about gaming and work consistently within a particular level to beat it.  I did not see this determination to conquer long division.  James’s statement adds light to this idea, “The prescription is that the subject must be made to show new aspects of itself, to prompt new questions; in a word, to change” (p. 82). Video games change frequently.  Animation, music and difficult challenges draw a child into virtual world.  Teaching long division does not lend itself to excitement.  A teacher need to connect long division to something of interest to a child and change the pace of the lesson or questions asked to maintain a child’s attention. Within the 5 E Model of instruction, the ideas of interest and attention represent the engagement phase of instruction.

As I read James’s thoughts on memory, I agreed with the relationship between a good memory and the forming of diverse and multiple associations.  James points out the importance of thinking over your experiences and making connections in your mind.  In what ways do classroom teachers provide the opportunity for students to think deeply?  When faced with the mass amount of content to cover in a short amount of time, teachers fall into the trap of cramming information.  I believe additional techniques assist with the retention of information and the ability to recall it, including chunking and presentation of material.

R #1

In the first seven chapters of his talks to teachers, William James made an important connection to the science of psychology and the art of teaching referring to the two as congruent. At the time James delivered these talks to teachers, the classroom looked different.  Schools began to mirror the industrial era. Teachers at this time graduated from normal schools and I wonder if teacher preparatory programs devoted time to the area of psychology.  James delivered this important message to teachers, “To know psychology, therefore, is absolutely no guarantee that we shall be good teachers” (p. 3). It is commendable to acknowledge the work of successful teachers, knowing they lacked the background science of psychology or even the physiology of learning. In what ways do current teaching practices reflect the psychology of how children learn?  The notion that some instructional practices from long ago are still in place led me to this quote, “No reception without reception, no impression without correlative expression,-this is the great maxim which the teacher ought never to forget” (p. 17). These powerful words from the turn of the century shed light on the importance of deep understanding instead of the parrot like rote memorization that many teaching methods relied on.  I agree completely with James’s idea that learning requires more than just an impression on an eye or an ear, but require the pupil to act upon an impression and connect to it so that memory has been stored.

James logically connected the importance of imitation and emulation to the classroom teacher and while I agree with his idea of a pupil’s admiration for a skillful teacher, I did not agree with the statement, “A teacher should never try to make the pupil do a thing which she cannot do herself” (p. 26).  Drawing on my experience in teaching gifted education, many times I lacked the skills and knowledge in areas of interest for my students. I could, however, guide them on their own individual learning path and provide instruction in problem solving, research or other skills necessary to assist in finding answers.  With access to technology, a pupil today can connect to experts in a field of study, so the role of the teacher changes from the provider of information to a support and guide.

After reading James’s statement, “One genius will do his work well and succeed in one way, while another succeeds as well quite differently” (p. 3), a child’s story came to mind. In the book, Henry Hikes to Fitchburg (Johnson, 2000), Henry and his friend both decide to travel to the town of Fitchburg and arrive on a certain date.  Henry decides to walk to Fitchburg and his friend decides to work and earn money to take the train.  In the end, both arrive in Fitchburg, but each had a different successful journey.  Even though James’s quote refers to the relationship between the science of psychology and the art of teaching, I think of it in terms of the individual learning journey of a child. Both can do their work well and be successful, but take different paths leading to the same outcome.

Overall, I am amazed at James’s insightfulness of the teaching profession.  His ideas are still relevant and applicable to today’s classroom and pedagogical methods.

Works Cited
James, W. (1962).  Talks to teachers on psychology and to students on some of life's ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover.

Johnson, D. (2000).  Henry hikes to Fitchburg. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.

R#2

William James made insightful connections between the importance of habits and learning in his talks to teachers. James explained how, as humans, we are subject to the law of habits. His description of how the nervous system of humans supports the creation and continued refinement of habits immediately caused me to consider two ideas that did not officially surface or resurface in educational circles until the late twentieth century, schema theory and cognitive load theory. James's emphasis on the importance of developing habits early in life as to commit them to be automatic so our minds could be freed to do other work, shed light on the idea that our minds can only handle a limited number of processes at a time. By assisting students in habit forming, either physical or mental, would allow for deeper thinking of other subject matter. I considered the law of habits as a means of clearing the stream of consciousness of unnecessary debris.

As I considered James’s thoughts on habit forming, I question why as educators we do not spend more time on the development of habits in the area of thinking. Just this past week during a professional development for teachers, a participant asked how to assist our early learners in the development of thinking skills. My response simply stated the need to teach thinking skills, all of them, intentionally and provide opportunities for students to hone them. Students from an early age need to develop habits in the areas of critical and creative thinking and as educators we are providing a disservice to our students if we neglect it.

In the next chapter, James discusses his association of ideas in two laws, the Law of Contiguity and the Law of Similarity. James states, “If, arresting ourselves in the flow of reverie, we ask the question, ‘How came we to be thinking of just this object now?’ we can almost always trace its presence to some previous object which has introduced it to the mind, according to one or the other of these laws" (p. 66). I connected his thoughts on these two laws to metacognition. I found his perspective of the teacher's role in guiding correct associations or dissolving wrong associations of thoughts from one object or idea to the next as a principal task enlightening.  The ability to accomplish this task is in the art of teaching.