Student Learning and Development

The research and knowledge of how children develop is vast, complex, and at times conflicting, and it's clear that the way children learn and develop is nothing short of complicated. When it comes to child development, I believe that nature and nurture both play a very large part. However, between the two, nurture dictates more of a child's development. It is clear that some things are inherently biological. After all, I have my father's eyes and my mother's butt. I still think environmental factors have the stronger impact. For example, my father is a chemist. He's been this all my life; I love

his job and I love Science because I grew up watching him do what he does. I also love science fiction and fantasy media in any form, likely because I grew up watching sci-fi and fantasy movies and tv shows with my family. In my short time teaching, I've noticed that a children growing up in environments that lack love and support, seek that love and support in other places, from other family members, teachers, mentors, gangs, etc. 


My students' development is also reflected in social and cultural interactions and experiences within different environments. It's clear that the culture a student is raised in is going to effect their values, ideals, and beliefs. Also, their experiences like losing a parent (to incarceration, death, or divorce) or consistent bullying at school will also effect the relationships they form. Vygotsky's theory of sociocultural development blends well with Bronfrenbrenner's Ecological Theory to support my point of view. Vygotsky "emphasizes that culture and social interaction guide cognitive development" (Santrock 23). Culture is complex and involves many things from behavior patterns to beliefs and other products passed from one generation to the next (tools, mythology, social hierarchy, etc.). Environment is also complex because it is everything from the setting in which a child lives to the many different settings they visit (church, school, work, etc.), and even includes the connections made between settings. Students are always immersed in some type of culture and environment (sometimes more than one at a time). I cannot deny it influences their development, and I must understand how it does in order to teach them.


As far as learning goes, I know all children have different strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. I think it is crucial to use those strengths and build upon those weaknesses in achieving student success in the learning process. Gardner's multiple intelligences is the theory that I most prefer. Teaching in consideration of multiple intelligences forces me to present the content in various ways, which allows me to appeal to the many learning strengths of my diverse audience. This also allows me more opportunities to differentiate instruction for my diverse learners. For example, I can use more visuals to help my autistic and dyslexic students as well as my visual learners. I also believe heavily in different forms of social interaction in the classroom, not only to promote learning for my interpersonal students, but to help all my students build social and

emotional skills. Now we've moving back to Vygotsky again. His ideas of scaffolding

and the zone of proximal development fit perfectly into my constructivist view of teaching. I think children learn and retain more knowledge when they are building that knowledge with just enough help from someone else (teacher or peer) that the challenge isn't insurmountable. Learning and child development is very complex, but most important, my students are all different. I have to use the knowledge of how they develop coupled with my knowledge of who they are as individuals to help them be successful in learning.

~References~ 

Santrock, J. W. (2014). Child Development. New York: McGraw Hill Education.

Oh, Old Spice

You know those hilarious Old Spice commercials? Well, in case you are some sort of hermit who has been absent from society for a LONG time, here is what I'm talking about:

Anyway, the following is what my friend, Becca, posted on my Facebook wall saying, "I knew you would appreciate this as much as I do." Yes, yes Becca I do. And I appreciate you showing it to me. It was just the kind of mental break/refresher I needed during my homework.  

Thank you Old Spice and Sesame Street.  Thank you very much.  

BK

Articles, Articles, Articles

We are finished up our final round of articles discussions in Teaching Creative Writing last night. It was bittersweet (sort of).  We've had a lot of good discussions in this class, but the semester is coming to a close, and I'm ready for it. Thanksgiving was not the break that I needed.  I'm ready for Christmas Break, and I need it.

One of the articles we discussed is called "Inspiration, Creativity, and Crisis".  This article was interesting because it made me think again about the "writer's myth" that we've so often talked about in class. The myth I'm referring to is the one involving Divine Inspiration basically being the only way that people are able to write. Anyone who is in a creative writing program or has done any creative writing knows that creative writing is hard work. Lots and lots of hard work. Blood, sweat, and tears hard work...sometimes. Anyway, I thought about it, and I think I used to buy into the writer's myth" when I was younger. I'm pretty sure I thought that only brilliant people or tortured people could become writers.  I may have even thought that ideas happened randomly (that Divine Inspiration), as if they sort of fell into people's minds.  Oh, how wrong I was. I'm glad I know better now.

Being teachable also comes up in this article.  That is a critical part of creative writing. You can't become a better writers if you're unwilling to learn, to grow and change.  So open yourselves up to (constructive) criticism people! It's there to make you a better writer.

BK

*GASP*

Yesterday (my birthday), I wrote to Daniel Pink, author of such books as Drive, A Whole New Mind, and The Adventures of Johnny Bunko. I've read A Whole New Mind and Johnny Bunko.  They are fun, easy reads.  Anyway, HE WROTE BACK TO ME! Here is his reply:

Bethany --

Thanks for the terrific note. I'm grateful you picked up copies of the books -- and I'm delighted you enjoyed them. Wonderful to hear -- and high praise coming from someone with your major.  Much appreciated.

Cheers,

Dan

I gasped...loudly.  My roommate asked me what was wrong, and I had a brief girlie moment of freaking out that a well-known, established author replied to my simple email. Drive is currently on my "To-Read" list. Also, I cannot recommend Whole New Mind and Johnny Bunko enough.  So go, go now and get your own copy of both books. You won't regret it.  

BK

Properly Querying Agents

So the Best Damn Creative Writing Blog conveniently did a post about how to properly query an agent. I say conveniently because we recently talked about this in my publishing class. Doing your homework is important before querying an agent.You want to make sure that you've selected the right person to send your work to, and it's good to know what an agent likes/dislikes in a query letter.  Still, it's more important to please the agent professionally than it is to please them personally. They will care more about your "pizzaz and personality", your marketable product than about how much you know about their personal life.

Just be careful about what you put in your query letter.  Do your homework on the agent, but be professional, and SELL YOURSELF. Good luck!

BK

Thank You, Ariel Gore!

In my publishing class, we recently discussed Ariel Gore's book How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead.  How-To books tend to be boring, but this book is a fun easy read.  She tells you the truth about writing and publishing that she has learned from personal experience and interviews with other established published authors. The book even comes with exercises to put the advice into action.

What I like most is that her advice is genuine, and although some of it may seem obvious, other bits are things I would never think about. For example, Gore advises you to make a fool of yourself. Your first publications will be imperfect, but that's how things go. Live and learn, and use it as a stepping stone to become a better writer and publish more.

I really love Gore's funny snippets of advice. She writes, "be an anthology slut" because the competition to be published in an anthology is usually less than a literary magazine or journal, and even a small publication in an anthology is publishing credit. Stepping stones, people, stepping stones! Also, I liked her advice of choosing a good vice. Heavy drinking and smoking doesn't have to be your vices as a writer. In fact, it would be better for you in the long run to choose something like yoga classes or fizzy water as your vice. That way, you can live longer and enjoy your fame as a published author.

I obviously really enjoyed this book. It has definitely earned a spot on my bookshelf. On a side note, Gore has a blog where she posts information about writing workshops. She also does manuscript consultations with anyone who people who are serious writers.

Anyway, go grab a copy of this book.  I don't think you'll regret it.

BK

The Visiting Poet

C.D. Wright visited is visiting UCA today and tomorrow. Tonight, I went to the "lecture" in which she read some poetry from her most recently published book. It was beautiful, poignant, and the poems in the book were linked by one character and based upon a truly tragic tale of discrimination in West Memphis (at least I think it was West Memphis, I could be wrong about that).

Anyway, it was nice to hear her read it, and then she answered a few questions, but only because few people asked questions. Her "craft talk" (usually a small conference room crowded with Creative Writing majors) is tomorrow during my American Postmodernism class. So I won't be able to go. Going to the lecture tonight really made me appreciate the craft talks of the visiting authors that I've been to. They are more interesting than the lectures, but that's because its a crowed room full of people eager to learn anything and everything from a visiting published author. The crowd at the night lectures tends to be a smattering of people with very different majors, but it's still good to go to.  Fun and interesting. I still had a good time. Use any chances you have to meet and talk with a published author whether they publish what you're interested in or not.  You won't regret it. I certainly haven't.

BK

P.S. - I garnered the courage (after a lot of prodding from friends) to ask her why she is published as "C.D." instead of Carolyn D. Wright. One's published name was something that we discussed in my Publishing class because once you choose one, you need to stick with it (that's what your fame and reputation are attached to). Anyway, she said that she chose "C.D." because there was already a Carolyn Wright publishing at the same time and she didn't want them to be mixed up or mistaken for each other. It had nothing to do with erasing any stigma associated with publishing under a female name (look up S.E. Hinton if you don't know what I'm talking about). So that was cool, for her to answer my question, and I was really nervous.

BK