The Webinar that I attended

Bringing Computer Science and Robotics to the Youngest of Learners

    The webinar I attended was on February 27th 2018 and was title " Bringing Computer Science and Robotics to the Youngest of Learners. It was presented by Dr. Katrina Keene a strategic Outreach Education manager for Wonder Workshop and Bryan L.Miller the director of Strategic Outreach  in Education for Wonder Workshop.
The speakers Dr. Katrina and Mr. Bryan welcomed the attendees warmly before going deep to the topic.  After that Mr. Bryan talked about some webinars tips. Also he mentioned that at the end of the webinar all attendees can have the opportunity to get their certificate. Mr. Bryan welcomed Dr. Katrina where she started to introduce her self. The first question they started by is "Why computer science?" It's an important question for Dr. Katrina because when she started to teach in college computer science she found that there is a huge gap between grade 12 and college and especially in computer science and from here Dr. Katrina wanted to talk about computer science and that it should be taught from school in order to prepare them. Dr. Katrina believed that its better to teach students when they are young because they are as sponges and it will be easy for them to take the skills of computer science. Students will get more engaged and they will be willing to study more and more by computer science. Teaching computer science is such as teaching them a new language where we begin teaching them from small ages because it will be more easy for them to learn a new skill. Mr. Bryan also reflected on the majority of the schools that don't teach computer science. In USA 40% of the schools don't teach computer science and 90% of the parents want their children to learn computer science, but this is in USA and not in all countries. Dr. Katrina talked about the STEM problem is in computer science and that 58% of all new jobs in STEM are in computing however 8% of STEM graduates come from computer science, so there is a huge need for the students to be educated with computer science but either they are not having the opportunity or they are not being interested. Dr. Katrina also talked about a topic that is interesting and that she likes which is what subjects do students like a lot? The studies showed that students like computer science and art the most. Mr. Bryan announced that every 21st century child should have a chance to learn about algorithms, how to make an app, or how the internet works. Just like they learn about the photosynthesis, digestive system and electricity, because for here our world is moving through. Children have been born in a world that is full of I Pads, that exist from the past 10 years. So these are things that children need to be comfortable with and understand it and not just be the consumers of this material. Also students need to know how to decide how to use it and to be creator in creating new applications.
Dr. Katrina re-explained why at the early ages with the young students, they engaged introducing young students with computer science because it's a foundational and we want to build this foundational. The instructors shed the light on, "Where Should We Start?"-Strategies, which are Identify key Curricular topics, Design activities that promote the skills acquired  in CS through non-academic instruction, the SAMR MODEL OF INTEGRATION, and centers and hands on learning opportunities. The key curricular topics such as: Sequencing in Math can be substituted with CS activities. Designing activities that promote skills acquired in CS such as,  opportunities that promote team work, offer puzzles and brain teaser and provide for them activites where they can express them selves with something creativity.
They talked about the SAMR MODEL OF INTEGRATION where it's divided into two categories which is transform that includes: radiation and modification ( MR) and enhancement that includes augmentation and substitution (AS).
At the end they presented examples about Literacy and encoding and it appeared that there isn't alot of them that are founded around.

Birth Order & Sibiling Relationships

Adler's Birth Order 

Alfred Alder developed theories of personality that focused on the therapist's need to understand an individual within the context of social environments. According to Adler, character traits and behaviors derive primarily from development issues, including birth order.

Oldest child in the family:

- The center of attention
- Responsible                                                                                   
- Dependable                                                                                    
- Hard working
- Center of joy          
                                                                                 

Second child of only two in the family:

- Feeling always in a race
- He/She wants to be as the oldest child and to be the
  best                                                              
- Always want to do something to achieve the best

The middle child in a normal family:

- Unfairness
- He/She will have a status as "poor me
   attitude"                                          
- A problem child
- The peace maker
- More social with the society
- Align with the first born





 
  

The youngest child:

- The baby of the family
- To be the most pampered and because of that the youngest child
   may develop helplessness
- Tend to go their own way

The only child:

- Share the characteristics of oldest one
- High achiever
- May not share or cooperate with other children
- Will learn how to deal properly with
   adults                                          
- The will be overprotected by their parents
                                                                                                                    

Students are Not the Same!!!

Many teachers might fall in dealing with students as if they all know nothing. This is not the case nowadays. Students do come laden with experiences and knowledge. The problem is that students experience and knowledge differ from one student to another. Many factors do affect this, it might be to the socio economic statues (SES) of students family or the social status...etc For example, a student with high SES might be introduced to many experiences that a low SES one would not be introduced to. Also, a student with a regular family is not the same as those whose parents are divorced, dead...etc so, students come with previous knowledge to our classes. Our role as teachers is to deal with them in a fair way and to fill the lack of knowledge for those who are less experienced in order to have a healthy class. However, many found that it's impossible and they thought that separating schools for rich and poor students. Do you think this is the solution? If not, what would you recommend?     

Online Learning vs Face-To-Face Learning

Face to face learning is better than online learning because of the interactions and examples of face to face learning that the learner will benefit from. One of the most beneficial reasons is the physical being in a classroom, is the direct response that one would receive from a real person such as from the teacher. During face to face learning, a person's question will get an immediate answer whereas the online learning means waiting for a response which is something annoying. 

In a classroom environment, you may also have the advantage of working in a small group, where you can collaborate on difficult topics and receive an immediate feedback from your peers as well. Sometimes discussing issues and problems with the instructor is a lot easier than typing it or trying to explain it in face-time online. Another important point, attending classes creates a discipline, structured student. The advantage of the online learning is that the student is not forced to attend a certain class at time, the student has the free option to attend it whenever he/she is free. One of the best ways to make new friends and meet new people is not online while it's by socially interacting with them is in the classroom. Meeting new people is a great way to sharpen your social skills and socializing face to face is the perfect way to make future jobs, because of that students that are studying business major are not told to study it online because they need to strengthen their social interaction with people. 

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The Effects of cheating in the Exam

Cheating is an act that is committed usually by the students. Cheating has become a habit for the students who are lazy, they prefer to get everything easily without thinking about the consequences.

Cheating can lead to some effect for the students. First, they would be stupid and lazy, they will never learn and will be used to get something without trying it first. Secondly, they will never feel satisfaction of their own work.Third, if caught cheating, students may be excluded from the class and not getting value. In addition, once they cheat they will usually be supervised more closely and labeled as a cheater again and again. Students who are used cheating would be a liar.  
As a conclusion, cheating is an act that should not be done by any. By cheating they will harm themselves and others such as disappointing their parents. The only way the students do not cheated is to believe in themselves, in this way they will learn and seek for hard work with the best result.

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance

Sleep is an important biological necessity that all people need in order to maintain a normal, healthy life. Sleep helps people to focus while working and also helps the brain to function normally. It helps the cognitive functions such as memory, learning, taking decisions and critical thinking. Unfortunately, not everyone receives adequate amount of sleep in order to function properly during the daily life. Researchers found that sleep deprivation is one of the main causes that students receive low academic scores and especially colleges that is due from stress. College students have such busy work, school, and social schedules to keep up with, so their sleep cycle will be affected negatively. 

Students Coming from a Dysfunctional Family

How can you know if your student is coming from a dysfunctional family?

- They lie when it would be just as easy to tell the truth. Lying becomes a part of what it
   could be useful for them, because lying is normal in their house.
- They judge themselves without mercy. They always blame themselves because their
   parents blame them too, they see themselves as the main cause of whatever the problem
   was.
- They are very serious and barely have friends, they have difficulties in making good
   relation ships, in the classroom teachers will notice that because they prefer to be isolated
   from others.
- They always make comparison between their life and others life.   
- They are extremely loyal.

What are the causes?

- Addiction
- Divorce
- Used as a pawn
- Violent Behavior
- Financial Situation
- Authority

How can we deal with them? 

- Make learning relevant.
- Help students establish positive peer relationships.
- Teach behavior management skills.
- Identify and deal with depression. 
- Help students cope with stress. 

Don't Take Me Back!

 In one of the courses I was told to write about my experience at school and what do I remember from that old days and this is what I wrote.

 If you can read this, thank a teacher. Succeeding was my goal but failing was always the result.  Screaming, making fun, not caring, physical abuse were the objectives in class from 8am till 2pm, it
 was just a nightmare for me that hated waking up from sweet dreams to attend the terrible nightmare
 every single day. What if the teacher could give some encouragement for the learners? What if the
 teacher smiled for the learner every morning? What if the teacher had taught that physical abuse is
 not a solution of a problem? What if the teacher taught the learner that every single person makes a
 lot of mistake? 

 The teacher was so strict with the learners, the learners used to wonder why the teacher won’t smile or say hello for anyone of the learners. It was something that all students in the classroom were wondering what happens if the teacher smile or what will happen if the learners smiled to the teacher. Learners were feeling priceless that the teacher never said hello for any of the learners. This attitude reflected on m at when I reach home I never said “hello mom”, my mother asked the author “why don’t you say hello” I claimed, "The teacher doesn’t say hello why should I say?” According to Wise (2016), saying hello and greeting your student everyday will make them feel that you are happy to see them. A situation that I will never forget is that one time the teacher shouted, “You tall stupid girl get up to the board” which made all the class laugh at the student and also the teacher made fun at the student by laughing and making jokes toward the student, the second day the learners in class where wondering where is that tall student, the answer was the student left school and till now the student never went back to any school because of that thing that happened. Most student will get teased and bullied not only by their pal also by their teachers. Being teased by the teacher cause your child bully others, it will distract the student from being able to focus on schoolwork for the rest of the day. Less focus and less interest in school leads to the failure of the student in the academic performance claimed by (Sherwood, 2015). 

Cooperative Learning

Definition:

Cooperative learning is a teaching method where students of mixed levels of ability are arranged into groups and rewarded according to the group's success, rather than the success of an individual member. Cooperative learning is sometimes thought of simply as 'group work,' but not all time the groups of students working together will be working collaboratively.

 

 Students must work in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic goals. The teacher's role changes from giving information to facilitating students' learning^. Everyone succeeds when the group succeeds. Its doesn't depend on the performance of one individual in the group, it depends on the overall/general result, which includes the success academically and socially.

David and Roger Johnson are researchers that identified the five elements that are responsible for the cooperative learning:

1. Face to Face:
     During cooperative learning the most important thing is to make you students sit face to face to
     each other and not back to back, here the students will stay on their toe and they will have a direct
     communication with the rest of the group members.
2. Positive Interdependence: 
    Here the students will have the sense of responsibility and the sense that they are all together, one
    hand and one grade. The students here will be aware more about each one performances because
    the effort of each individual wont help this individual alone, but it will help the whole group. The
    grade is dependent on the effort of the whole group.
3. Individual Accountability:
    Each student is accountable for their own contribution of the group. Each student will know the
    goals clearly and knows what is her/ his responsibility and what is the whole group responsibility.
4. Social Skills:
    The social skills that the teacher need to teacher her students in order for a successful cooperative
    learning. Students don't learn not only the subject matter or the academic goals, but interpersonal
    skills and how to work in teams. Students are taught skills of communication, leadership, trust-
    building, friendship development... etc
5. Group Processing:
    Students here analyze their group work and reflect on it to see how far they worked successfully
    whether they applied the collaborative skills or not.

The teacher's role:

Lots of people believe that when they here cooperative learning it means that it's the time where the teacher can have a rest, but they are wrong. The teacher's role begin before, during and after the group work begin. The fist step that the teacher do is to make sure that her/his students received the instructions of the group work clearly. It's important to teach skills of collaboration. During the group work the teacher need to keep on circulating around the groups to make sure all the groups are working correct and that each student is participating without being ignored. At the end the teacher need to assess her students as a whole group and each individual alone in order to observe if each student understood the lesson properly.

Different Styles of Cooperative Learning:

There are different techniques for applying cooperative learning. Some cooperative learning includes students pair work, while other include small groups that are made up of four-five members. Such technique are known as:
  Think-Pair-Share, Say and Switch, Round table, Three-Step Interview, Corners, Graffiti, Jigsaw, Group Investigation, Team-Games-Tournaments.

Educational Media and Technology

Waking up and noticing that today is Monday and I'm going to attend the class of Mrs. Amal which is Educational Media and Technology motivates me to wake up, this class creates excitement and joyful, it's hard to feel bored through it. It's an excitement class for me because I'm learning a lot of useful and new ideas that helps me in my field of teaching. As I'm looking ahead I'm expecting that I will be able to be more familiar with technology and media in a simple, fun and helpful way.