Sunday, August 31, 2008

8/31/08

I was reading a "what is qualitative research" handout from EDEF 678. It stated the three orientations to research. Positivist, interpretive, and critical. The characteristics of a qualitative research is ...

Saturday, August 30, 2008

8/30/08

Oops. I forgot to write yesterday. I was really tired.

Today my karate sensei said something very interesting. The more someone is able to concentrate, the more they can enjoy the fun things. He was saying that if someone can really concentrate on school, work, TV, etc. then they are able to enjoy is more.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

8/28/08

I thought I was going to miss a day because I had a paper due tomorrow. But I finished it. It was a terrible paper. The title, "Using Reflection as a Tool to Increase Homework Completion." Blah.

Too bad I'm not in Educational Administration. If I was I'd write my dissertation on about how bad ********'s administration is.

Yesterday I substituted for a SPED teacher. It was upper elementary. So I wasn't too worried. However, once I knew I had to teach this one extremely SPED kid reading, I got nervous. This kid does raspberries randomly, verbalizes random things, etc. I don't know exactly what I did but, he didn't have any outbursts while working with me! He even showed extreme concentration when I was reading. I was amazed. I don't think I'm fit to be teaching SPED though...

I was once told by a parent of twins I used to tutor that I should document my teaching style, but it's hard. Maybe I can hire someone to observe me and decipher what exactly it is that I do. I sometimes feel I have a gift in making a connection with students.

Maybe I can write my dissertation about discipline strategies used in my karate class that can be used in the classroom. Or the effects of karate on a student's academic achievement, concentration, and motivation. I read that in Switzerland, students concentrate on school while they are there, but once they leave school, Swiss people don't think about or deal with academics. Maybe I can investigate the skill of concentration when you need to and relaxing between sessions to enhance the amount retained or academic achievement when concentrating in chunks.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

8/27/08

Today, I went to my EDCS 653D class. This class deals with geometry and measurement. It sounds like an interesting class. I know I would like it because the professor is good (Dr. Dawson). I had professor Dawson last semester and I enjoyed his course.

However, I stayed after class to tell him that depending on my Chaminade schedule, I might drop the class. He asked me what I was interested in, and I told him about combining SLS and math; how can we best support students learning math when their first language isn't English. He said, "That's a language problem, not a math problem." I guess that's true. Back to the drawing board.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

8/26/08

Ok, so I might not be writing a lot but at least I'm writing everyday. Second day at substitute teaching today. I think it went well. The students seem to be focused.

Anyways, yesterday the EDCS 767 class was very interesting. The title of the class is Issues and Trends in Curriculum. In class we talked about the hidden curriculum. What is it that the teacher are teaching their students without explicitly saying so? We also talked about curriculum alignment. Curriculum alignment checks to see if what the teacher is planning to teach matches with assessment.

Monday, August 25, 2008

8/25/08

First day at substitute teaching. Overall, I think it went better than I thought. One more day tomorrow.

It was fun teaching first grade math. Today they were reviewing what number comes before, after, and in between. Most students were able to do it. However, there were about three students who couldn't. Other students would get it wrong independently, but when prompted with a question, they immediately knew their mistake. No one in the class seem to be struggling from not understanding English.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

8/24/08

Got busy today because a classmate from high school is in town.

I need to write a Review of Literature for my Chaminade ED 604 class. I chose to write about "reflection" as a means to improve homework completion. A handful of students in the 4th grade class I'm currently observing don't turn in their homework. I'm thinking that through reflection, students will complete more assignments.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

8/23/08

PhD orientation from 9AM. It was informative and helpful. I spoke with Dr. Slaughter too. I don't think she remembers speaking with me...which actually might be a good thing.

Anyways, I talked to Dr. Slaughter and she recommended that I use my SLS credits toward my Cognate classes and take math classes for my Emphasis classes.

I just got the APA Manual. The dissertation is suppose to be in APA format, right?

Thinking about the topic...
-On supporting English Language Learners in elementary mathematics
-What type of instruction/curriculum is needed for ELL students learning math?
-How do previous notions of math affect learning math in English?
-On understanding the different methods to teach math in Japan and America
-On mathematic learning centers in schools
-Struggling children in mathematics: A case study
-Individual differences in problem solving
-Elementary math problem solving: An error analysis study

Friday, August 22, 2008

8/22/08

What is a dissertation? According to the American Heritage Dictionary it is a length and formal treatise or discourse, especially one written by a candidate for the doctoral degree at a university; thesis. Basically, it's an original research that is really long.

*note: Answer questions on page 42 and 43 of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day.

Original research means no one has done it before, right? What sort of research do I want to do? What am I passionate about? It needs to be something I can stick with for a few years. Is it second language acquisition in the early years? Is it going to be on bilingual studies? Is it going to be on elementary math? What about classroom discipline? Regular academic discipline? The program I entered is titled "Curriculum Studies". Does that mean that it has to do with studying a type of curriculum? Does that mean I'm coming up with my own curriculum? Am I analyzing curriculum? Comparing and contrasting curriculum? I really don't know. Maybe I can choose a topic and if it doesn't fit, I can switch programs? Is that a lot of hassle? Is that possible? Does an original research require money? For travel? Data collection? I think I need to re-read what exactly curriculum study is about first.

Ok, so specialization in curriculum and instruction is a specialization in developing educational leaders in curriculum development, teaching, curriculum evaluation and/or teacher education and professional development.