Moral Development

Kohlberg’s levels and stages of moral development include three stages and in those three stages, there are two levels. The stages and levels include: 1. Preconventional, which means that the child does not yet attain conventional thinking. The two stages within this level are a) Punishment, meaning the child will avoid getting punished. B) Hedonism meaning the child knows his or her actions are wrong, but chooses to do it anyways. The second level is Conventional, which means the person accepts the rules. The first stage of that level is “nice girl/boy” which means that the child is now living up to the social expectations and roles either at home and/or in a classroom. They take into consideration of how their actions may influence the relationships they have with other people. The second stage is called Law Order, which means that people are now considering society as a whole when they are about to do something. They are following the rules and respecting people and their society. The third level of Kohlberg’s moral development is called Post conventional, which means that people are now weighing their options and deciding things for themselves. The first stage is called Social Contract which means people are agreeing to live by certain rules of their society. And the last stage is called Universal Ethical which according to Kohlberg, virtually no one reaches this stage.

I believe that i am in Kohlberg’s second level and second stage, Conventional, and Law and Order. This is because i accept to living by the rules that were made, and i follow those rules because it is the law. I may also be a little bit in his third level and first stage because i do agree to live by the rules that are made.

Success

In class we watched a video about what leads to success. And the important key points which help accomplish being successful. In Richard St John’s video he interviewed successful people and asked them what they thought was an important aspect of achieving success, and lists the things that he found. His list included: passion, hard work, to be successful at something you have to be good at it, focusing yourself on one thing and striving to accomplish it, pushing yourself physically and mentally to achieve a goal, serving others something with value, ideas, and persistence. All of these things are important to keep in mind when wanting to succeed at something in life.

          The things that i believe to be most important in succeeding at something would have to include: effort and hard work, time, support, passion, dedication, access to resources, goals, sense of humor, to stay positive, to have good communication skills, commitment, a good night’s sleep, to study, and to think outside the box. Those are the important point i believe to be key when wanting to succeed at something.

Jean Piaget

Throughout my educational psychology class i have come to learn about a man named Jean Piaget. Before this class i had never heard the name Jean Piaget. Piaget has these four stages that i find very interesting. They talk about the different skills children acquire at different ages.

His first stage starts from birth to the age of 2, and it’s called sensory motor. It has to do with a Child's sense of touch and taste. The second stage is from ages 2 to age 7 and it’s called the Preoperational stage. This means that the child now knows the difference between mom and dad, and is able to recognize people’s faces, also could be referred to as symbolic thinking. The third stage is from ages 7 through 11 and it’s called the Concrete Operational stage. During this time the child gains a better understanding of mental operations. The child is now thinking logically about concrete events but can’t quite grasp the understanding of abstract or hypothetical concepts. And finally the fourth stage which starts from ages 11-15 and carries on into adulthood. The stage is referred to as the Formal Operation stage. Piaget believes that during this period, people are able to develop the abilities to think about abstract and hypothetical concepts.

Piaget also talks about a schema, which is a framework for organizing ones knowledge. I would have to say that what i have learnt, i will be putting into my schema.

Work Experience =)

Starting in about grade ten, i took a course called work experience. I had no clue what it was and i didn’t really have any interest in taking it. I went to see the teacher that held the course, her name was Mrs. Harrington. She explained to me what the point was in the course. So she told me i had to pick a place that i wanted to do my W.E in. I ended up just randomly choosing to do it in the school right next to ours, John Wilson Elementary. She placed my in a kindergarten class.

    The next day i had to go and meet with the teachers that i would be assisting. I had to help out in two kindergarten classes, and there were three teachers. One of the classes taught by Mrs. Bliss, who happened to be the principal of the school, and the other teacher of that class, was Mrs. McKinney. The teacher of the other class i was helping in was Mrs. Ible. On Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays i was helping in Mrs. Bliss’s room, and when the kids didn’t have school and she didn’t have anything for me to do, i would go next door and help out in Mrs. Ible’s class.

In the beginning i didn’t have much of a role in the class, but as the weeks went along i became more and more involved. The kids were starting to warm up to me, they all called me “Miss Britney” and would start coming up to me, asking me to play with them at centers and help them when they needed it during their class time. Now Mrs. Bliss must have noticed that i really enjoyed working with the children, so every day she would have more things for me to do that involved working with the kids. I would work one on one with some of the children that needed a little more assistance with some of the class work. I would also sit in the back of the class room and have them read to me what they could and i would help them with the words they didn’t know and couldn’t pronounce. The children got so comfortable with me there, that they would even come to me if they had a problem or needed advice on how to solve something. I got so attached to these kinds and the teachers and the other T.A that i wasn’t quite ready to leave at the end of the semester. I ended up asking to be in the same class again the next term so i could finish out the year with them. I loved working with that class, and in that school. I ended up going back every year until there were no more credits i could earn for it.

That experience was the reason that i want to become a teacher. I absolutely loved working with the children, and helping in the classes. When i see their light go on, and they get it, whether it’s a math question or even something as simple as being able to read a whole book to me, it’s one of the most amazing feelings. I knew right away that that was the career i was going to be most happy in.  

Teachers

Throughout my elementary to high school years, there have been teachers that i have liked and that i have disliked. What makes a teacher likable? What makes that teacher better to you than the rest? What are some of the qualities that make this teacher one of everybody's favorites? My most favorite teacher was Mrs. Hunter, she is an English teacher. I had her for English 20 and English 30.

What made her likable is that she was an outstanding English teacher; she is a lot of fun in the class room; she always started her classes off with a story or something funny to tell us; she treated her students as if we were her kids, she didn’t treat us like we were beneath her, she treated us as though we were equal; and among many other qualities, she rarely ever got mad and when she did she would literally bark at us rather than yell because she thought if she yelled at us we would need therapy or something along those lines. Mrs Hunter is probably the most liked teachers in the Innisfail Jr. Sr. High School. I bet if you asked around more than 60 percent of the kids that have had her would agree.

The qualities that i believe make Mrs. Hunter a good teacher and excellent model is that she actually cares about her students. She goes out of her way to make sure you understand. She makes you get things that other teachers would not. She holds after school sessions to also help her students with things that they have either missed or just don’t quite understand. She goes above and beyond the English teachers duties; in our graduating class she would help us with our post secondary schooling. She acted as a guidance counselor and assisted us a best she could. She wasn’t a guidance counselor but she took on the task anyways to help her students as best she could.

Mrs. Hunter isn’t just an amazing high school English teacher; she is also an amazing person as well. If i could be half the teacher that Mrs. Hunter is, i would be very happy. She is one of the few reasons that i wanted to become a teacher. She has taught me more than just English. She’s taught me some affective ways to teach, what works and what doesn’t. Overall Mrs. Hunter was and still is my favorite teacher that ive had throughout my high school years, and i will always remember her and what she did for her classes and what she did for her students.