Observation: Theories Of Cognitive Development: Kindergarten Children

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Observation #1: Theories of Cognitive Development To begin, my observation was at Webster Elementary School, a school placed in the city surrounded by houses and other schools. The specific classroom I am observing is full of Kindergarten students who seem to very advanced than I had imagined. The classroom walls are brick and white, but the classroom teacher Mrs. O'Brien does an amazing job keeping the space use for both an upbeat and educational vibe, especially for environmental print. Everywhere you look there are educational posters, numbers, and mental state vocabulary words, as well as, students completed work. To add, students sit in medium sized tables with 4-6 other students when they aren’t having whole group instruction on either …show more content…

O’Brien continuously pushes the students to be the best they can be. She does this by not only setting high expectations, but helping and guiding each and every student to reach those expectations. According to “Cognitive Development and Learning in Instructional Contexts,” by James P. Byrnes, Thorndike believed in “other regulation,” not self regulation. He believed that is was up to teachers to help students regulate themselves and succeed. Though this, he recommended that teachers take an active role in students lives. Instead of pushing information at students while they sit and listen passively, teachers must regulate the students and take steps to extend their learning. (Byrnes, 2007, p 12) Mrs. O’Brien may believe the same as well, because she uses these strategies in her classroom during all her lessons. For example, while I was observing this literacy lesson students were completing an individual assignment. Mrs. O’Brien then stated that once the students were done with the assignment, sitting nicely, and quietly, they would be given a heart on their paper and then a skittle to eat and enjoy! Mrs. O’Brien took Thorndike’s idea and strategy by not expecting the children to stay on task, finish their work to completion, and regulate themselves. She kept this in mind and used a form of reinforcement, in order to keep these children regulated and on top of the task at …show more content…

According to “Cognitive Development and Learning in Instructional Contexts,” by James P. Byrnes, in order to best predict a students reading achievement, it is best to see if children are able to repeat stories that were just so recently read to them. This is a better way of assessing the students than any digital span. (Byrnes, 2007, p. 175) With this in mind, I asked questions that provoked a lot of thought and guided the conversations. I also implemented turn to talk into my lesson to hear what the students were saying to their peers about the story as

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