Vocabulary Concept Vitalizer, Chapter 1, Week 2, Mary Kay Ward
"gender experiences" - a detailed journal of experiences that corroborate with brain-based research gives us as parents and teachers new insights into can we can interact with both male and female brains. page 16
"bridge brains" - the bridge brains are boys and girls that have almost equal qualities of both boy and girl brains. They are bridge between male and female cultures because their brains are the most "bi-gender". page 16
"dopomine" - a neurotransmitter that stimulates movitation and pleasure centers in the brains of both males and females. Male and female brains can stimulate dopamine in different ways. Too much dopomine can lead to uncontrolled or subconscious movement such as tapping, jerking and repetitive and too little dopomine can cause use to have trouble controlling movements. page 21
"myelination of the brain" - girls brains tend to mature at an earlier age than boys; usually in their early twenties while boys brains mature closer to age thirty. One of the final steps into adulthood occurs when the nerves sprial around the shaft of other nerves and are coated similar to the way vines spiral around and coat the trunk of a tree. This coating is called myelin, which causes electrial impulses to travel down a nerve more quickly and efficiently. page 25
"task focus" - the male brain becomes overwhelmed more quickly than the female due to the fact that it is not as activiated in as many places as a female brain, causing it it to decide on the importantance of stimulants, thus preferring to manage stimulation by "sticking to a plan". page 29
"amygdala" - part of the limbic system that generates feelings of anger and fear which explains why both sexes are much more aggressive at adolesence, but especially so in males who are considered "high risks". page 41
"hippocampus" - the part of the brain that focuses on memory which means a larger hippocampus means better memory. A female brain has a larger hippocampus than a male brain which may explain why girls are better at remembering some things such as names and faces in social relationships. page 41
Sunday, January 30, 2011
" Is That Why Such and Such Happens"
Essence Extractor, Week #2, Chapter 1, Mary Kay Ward
There are developmental differences between boys and girls brains.
There are developmental differences between boys and girls brains.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Differences in the Brain with Boys and Girls
Week 2, Chapter 1, Natalie Gianvecchio, Roles: Creative Connector and Literary Luminator
Connections:
1.) On page 27, I had a connection to myself while reading Boys and Girls Learn Differently. The section was talking about the differences between when a woman hears a baby crying and when a man hears a baby crying. In a woman's brain, there is a stimulation of Oxytocin which "make the female capable of quick and immediate empathic responses to others' pain and needs." I notice this often in my home with my fiance and my 5 month old daughter. When I hear her cry I immediately get up to see what is wrong, whereas my fiance will wait it out and continue to do what he is doing. Many times I will ask him if he is going to see what our daughter wants and then he will go. I would definitely not wait when I hear her cry.
2.) On page 34, there was a detailed chart on infancy between boys and girls. I notice many of the details with my 5 month old daughter in the female category and the differences in the male category. Bullets such as "Prefers soft, cuddly toys" and "At four months of age is able to recognize faces of known people in photographs" are definitely true with my daughter. I also noticed in the male category, "Gazes at mother half as long as girl does." This seems to be true with my daughter as well because I always catch her starring at me for long periods of time.
3.) On page 35, there was another detailed chart based on Preschool and Kindergarten age boys and girls. I worked as a Pre-K/Kindergarten teacher at a day care last year and noticed many of these bullets to be true in my experiences with the students. In the female category, ideas such as "Playground games are quieter and less active, more cooperative" and "Congregates in groups of other girls in smaller spaces, often huddling together" were both very evident in my classroom with the girls. I also noticed that they boys in my class played rough and involved body contact which was stated in the male category as well.
Important ideas in the text:
1.) On page 25, the second paragraph discussed physical maturity in males and females. "Myelination continues in the brain until physical maturity is reached....." I thought it was important and interesting that females are usually fully mature in their early 20s whereas males are not until they are in their 30s.
2.) On page 31, the second paragraph discussed how males and females differentiate in emotion. Males are more likely to keep things inside whereas females let their emotions out and talk about it with others often. The sections states that males are often "fragile because he cannot guide his own emotions ...." Alot of the time, males are "not often as tough as we think." I feel this is important to keep in mind in the classroom because something could be bothering a male student which would affect his learning abilities.
3.) On page 41, the second paragraph talks about memory differences between males and females. Michael Gurian states, "The hippocampus in girls grows larger than it does in boys......" This quote describes how females are able to remember things easier than males as well as multi task. This can also affect the classroom with different instruction methods for males versus females.
Connections:
1.) On page 27, I had a connection to myself while reading Boys and Girls Learn Differently. The section was talking about the differences between when a woman hears a baby crying and when a man hears a baby crying. In a woman's brain, there is a stimulation of Oxytocin which "make the female capable of quick and immediate empathic responses to others' pain and needs." I notice this often in my home with my fiance and my 5 month old daughter. When I hear her cry I immediately get up to see what is wrong, whereas my fiance will wait it out and continue to do what he is doing. Many times I will ask him if he is going to see what our daughter wants and then he will go. I would definitely not wait when I hear her cry.
2.) On page 34, there was a detailed chart on infancy between boys and girls. I notice many of the details with my 5 month old daughter in the female category and the differences in the male category. Bullets such as "Prefers soft, cuddly toys" and "At four months of age is able to recognize faces of known people in photographs" are definitely true with my daughter. I also noticed in the male category, "Gazes at mother half as long as girl does." This seems to be true with my daughter as well because I always catch her starring at me for long periods of time.
3.) On page 35, there was another detailed chart based on Preschool and Kindergarten age boys and girls. I worked as a Pre-K/Kindergarten teacher at a day care last year and noticed many of these bullets to be true in my experiences with the students. In the female category, ideas such as "Playground games are quieter and less active, more cooperative" and "Congregates in groups of other girls in smaller spaces, often huddling together" were both very evident in my classroom with the girls. I also noticed that they boys in my class played rough and involved body contact which was stated in the male category as well.
Important ideas in the text:
1.) On page 25, the second paragraph discussed physical maturity in males and females. "Myelination continues in the brain until physical maturity is reached....." I thought it was important and interesting that females are usually fully mature in their early 20s whereas males are not until they are in their 30s.
2.) On page 31, the second paragraph discussed how males and females differentiate in emotion. Males are more likely to keep things inside whereas females let their emotions out and talk about it with others often. The sections states that males are often "fragile because he cannot guide his own emotions ...." Alot of the time, males are "not often as tough as we think." I feel this is important to keep in mind in the classroom because something could be bothering a male student which would affect his learning abilities.
3.) On page 41, the second paragraph talks about memory differences between males and females. Michael Gurian states, "The hippocampus in girls grows larger than it does in boys......" This quote describes how females are able to remember things easier than males as well as multi task. This can also affect the classroom with different instruction methods for males versus females.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Diversity: My Own Experience
You and I grew up in a completely different environment; you with so much diversity surrounding you for most of your life and me growing up in a small town in the south that was pretty much white bread with not very much variety in or out of school. I want to say you probably have a better connection with the students and families that you come in contact because of your exposure in an urban setting and have an understanding of might be going on and I envy those experiences. As different as our lives are, I do agree that we can use our experiences, whatever they may be, to enhance our classrooms and teach our students that it is okay to be different as long as we teach them to make good choices and look at the positive things they have going on all around them. Mary Kay Ward
Monocultural, but moving in a multicultural direction
Being the older one of the crowd, I am somewhat suprised that you saw yourself more on the side of moncultural. Two of my four children are around the same age as you and I feel that they are at a greater advantage because they can look at the world and understand it in a way that I never thought I could. I guess as much as we are different we really are the same when it comes to educating the future and trying to give our students the tools to be able to cope and understand that sometimes life it really complicated but we are all human and it is okay to come from different walks of life and still have great and caring relationships with one another.
Diversity: My Own Experience
As I look at my self-assessments on diversity in my own experience, I guess I would say that I am a little surprised with the results. Growing up in the Rochester City School District all of my life, I have been exposed to a wide span of diversity. I had friends who came from "broken homes" and had struggles with violence and abuse. I have friends who came from different cultures, and whose families had come to America from different countries around the world. I also had friends who were just like me. Had two parents, siblings and pets. So I sit here thinking about the way I've grown up, yet am surprised at the results in these surveys.
In my Scale for Assessing My Life Experiences, I recieved a score a total of 76. I fall into the "Slighty Multicultural" category, which I wasn't very surprised at. To this day, I still live in an urban area. I go to a church with many different members in it from all aspects of life, so I think I am most definitely more exposed to diversity, in a sense, more than others might be. But the assessment that really opened my eyes was the Personal Contact Inventory and Could You Survive In Poverty? questionaire. Which by the way, even though I grew up in the city... I don't know if I could survive.
Thinking about the contact I have had with individuals with disabilities, I mostly answered with "sometimes". I am a substitute teacher in many districts in the area, and I have come in contact with many students who have special needs. So, of course, I do have this contact. But when asking myself how often are individuals with disabilities spoken about in television? Or movies? I thought about it... and for almost every one of those questions, I wrote "never". In movies especially, we are always exposed to the negative. We are shown what the cons are to having a disability, and these individuals are mocked and made fun of in a way. And it's very sad to me. As we discussed in class, we need to focus more on the positive.
Using these tools and self-assessments, we really get a feel for what we are like as human beings and as teachers. We can use our own experiences to enhance our classrooms, and teach our students about diversity and differences between in one another. We all are part of this planet - this one place where we all come together. We need to not only teach our students acceptance and tolerance, but we need to learn these skills as well in order to better ourselves as individuals, and as teachers.
Meghan C. Koch
In my Scale for Assessing My Life Experiences, I recieved a score a total of 76. I fall into the "Slighty Multicultural" category, which I wasn't very surprised at. To this day, I still live in an urban area. I go to a church with many different members in it from all aspects of life, so I think I am most definitely more exposed to diversity, in a sense, more than others might be. But the assessment that really opened my eyes was the Personal Contact Inventory and Could You Survive In Poverty? questionaire. Which by the way, even though I grew up in the city... I don't know if I could survive.
Thinking about the contact I have had with individuals with disabilities, I mostly answered with "sometimes". I am a substitute teacher in many districts in the area, and I have come in contact with many students who have special needs. So, of course, I do have this contact. But when asking myself how often are individuals with disabilities spoken about in television? Or movies? I thought about it... and for almost every one of those questions, I wrote "never". In movies especially, we are always exposed to the negative. We are shown what the cons are to having a disability, and these individuals are mocked and made fun of in a way. And it's very sad to me. As we discussed in class, we need to focus more on the positive.
Using these tools and self-assessments, we really get a feel for what we are like as human beings and as teachers. We can use our own experiences to enhance our classrooms, and teach our students about diversity and differences between in one another. We all are part of this planet - this one place where we all come together. We need to not only teach our students acceptance and tolerance, but we need to learn these skills as well in order to better ourselves as individuals, and as teachers.
Meghan C. Koch
Monday, January 24, 2011
How Diverse Am I - Just what I Thought - Monocultural
Thinking about my life and my experiences as I enter into this blog, not much surprises me about how I answered the survey and what it told me. Most of my experiences up until the past four years have had to do with growing up in a monocultural environment in southern Virginia and then moving to upstate New York and raising a family of four children. It was not until I entered the teaching world four years ago that I realized what a diverse world we live and the children we teach come from many different cultures and come with much diversity. Therefore, even before answering any of the questions, I knew what side of the spectrum I was going to fall into. After answering all the questions and tallying the results, I had seven 1's, six 2's and one 6 - which was in the catogery of "current work experiences". I have spent my few years of teaching in suburban schools with the exception of teaching one class in the Rush-Henrietta school district in 2009 which is as close as it comes to teaching in a city school district.
In reviewing my answers in the "Person Contact Inventory" once again I realized that I have had very little experience in dealing with individuals with disabilities. I feel like I have lived my life inside a box and have very little knowledge of others' diverse cultures. My hope is that I can learn more about how diversity affects us as individuals and how I can create a classroom where all students are able to learn and feel comfortable no matter what their circumstances are.
As far as the "Could You Survive in Proverty" part of this questionnaire, this is an overwhelming NO. I grew up in a middle class family and I have continued to live in a comfortable environment. These past few years have been harder because my life is not what it used to be because of a divorce and the money has not always been there the way it once was but I realize that my experiences have made me a stronger individual and a better person. I hope that I can bring some of my own experiences into my classroom and my students can see me as a real person and someone they can come to if they feel comfortable.
I look forward to reading the book "Boys and Girls Learn Differently" because I teach a subject that has traditionally has been geared toward females and now is for both boys and girls. Also, having raised three boys and one daughter, I see a hugh difference in the sexes but do not understand why. With the completion of this book, hopefully I will be able to be a better teacher and a better parent.
Mary Kay Ward
In reviewing my answers in the "Person Contact Inventory" once again I realized that I have had very little experience in dealing with individuals with disabilities. I feel like I have lived my life inside a box and have very little knowledge of others' diverse cultures. My hope is that I can learn more about how diversity affects us as individuals and how I can create a classroom where all students are able to learn and feel comfortable no matter what their circumstances are.
As far as the "Could You Survive in Proverty" part of this questionnaire, this is an overwhelming NO. I grew up in a middle class family and I have continued to live in a comfortable environment. These past few years have been harder because my life is not what it used to be because of a divorce and the money has not always been there the way it once was but I realize that my experiences have made me a stronger individual and a better person. I hope that I can bring some of my own experiences into my classroom and my students can see me as a real person and someone they can come to if they feel comfortable.
I look forward to reading the book "Boys and Girls Learn Differently" because I teach a subject that has traditionally has been geared toward females and now is for both boys and girls. Also, having raised three boys and one daughter, I see a hugh difference in the sexes but do not understand why. With the completion of this book, hopefully I will be able to be a better teacher and a better parent.
Mary Kay Ward
Monocultural, but moving in a multicultural direction
While going through the surveys and assessing myself, I was somewhat surprised with my results. I felt that I have had much more experience with diverse cultures. Most of my experience has been recently in my life such as when I was in college or working as a teacher in different school districts and child care centers. I had mostly 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s and only one 10. The 10 that I had was in the category "Current work experiences." I found that my childhood was very monocultural because I was not exposed to anything different in my family, neighborhood, schools, clubs, or even friendships. It was not until college when my monocultural experience started changing into a multicultural direction. I was able to do field placements in Rochester City Schools and worked with many diverse learners. I also worked as a Preschool teacher after college and had diverse learners in my classroom.
I also felt that my experiences with individuals with disabilities did not take place until college and my current work experiences. The only "O" for often I had was "Study about in school." I did not have many classmates or teachers with disabilities while I was in school. I hope to learn more about individuals with disabilities and look forward to teaching in a diverse classroom.
Natalie Gianvecchio
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