Learning Log

What?

I learned so much in class last week! Learning about the brain is so interesting. There are many different parts of the brain and each part has a specific role. We were able to research in pairs about a specific part of the brain. This was a very good way of letting the students teach themselves and others. In my group we looked up Amygdala. This one-inch almond shaped part of the brain is located in the temporal lobe. It is important because it deals with memory, emotion and fear. After looking up our part of the brain, we were able to get into groups and discuss all parts of the brain. I never knew how complex the brain is. After this lesson, the brain makes more sense to me.

There are four different studies that we read and studied; descriptive, correlational, experimental, and action research. We made a chart and also had a bell quiz about these. With these studies we can become better teachers because we will have background knowledge on how students learn and preform.

So What?

With the knowledge that I obtain this week I am more prepared to be a better teacher by understanding how the mind works and how to assess my students. This will give me a chance to know what level a student is and help that student progress in his or her learning. I believe that these topics were chosen because it is so crucial to the development of children to be taught at there own level. That is why we as teachers need to know the level of the child and help them.

Now What?

There is so much that still needs to be learned. This is a life long process but I believe that we are off to a good start. By learning the development of the brain we know that to increase our knowledge we first must know where to store all our information. While growing up I had teachers explain that out minds are like a library with unlimited files. We must keep all of our files organized or we will just have a big mess. I believe that teacher was right. We all have the ability to learn and remember things throughout our lives, we just need to keep it organized. By knowing this I am able to teach this to my students and help them organize their thoughts so that they can learn. I also will be able to use the different studies and apply them to my teaching so that I can be the best teacher for my students.