Cohort 17 - Week 1 Flashcards
Open Classroom Model
A large group of students of varying skill levels in a single, large classroom with several teachers overseeing them. students are typically divided into different groups for each subject according to their skill level for that subject.
Montessori Method
An educational approach developed by Maria Montessori and characterized by an emphasis on independence,
- Mixed age
• Student choice of activity
• Uninterrupted blocks of time
A constructivist or “discovery” model, where students learn concepts from working with materials, rather than by direct instruction
• Specialized educational materials developed by Montessori and her collaborators
• Freedom of movement within the classroom
• A trained Montessori teacher
In addition, many Montessori schools design their programs with reference to Montessori’s model of human development from her published works, and use pedagogy, lessons, and materials introduced in teacher training derived from courses presented by Montessori during her lifetime.
diphthong
two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable.
Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. For most dialects of English, the phrase “no highway cowboys” contains five distinct diphthongs.
Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs, where the tongue doesn’t move and only one vowel sound is heard in a syllable. Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables—for example, in the English word re-elect—the result is described as hiatus, not as a diphthong.
Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by listeners as single-vowel sounds (phonemes).
rubric
A standard way of scoring so as to be consistent and transparent. In education terminology, a scoring rubric means “a standard of performance for a defined population”. The traditional meanings of the word rubric stem from “a heading on a document (often written in red — from Latin, rubrica), or a direction for conducting church services.” As shown in the 1977 introduction to the International Classification of Diseases-9, the term has long been used as medical labels for diseases and procedures. The bridge from medicine to education occurred through the construction of “Standardized Developmental Ratings.” These were first defined for writing assessment in the mid-1970s and used to train raters for New York State’s Regents Exam in Writing by the late 1970s. That exam required raters to use multidimensional standardized developmental ratings to determine a holistic score. The term “rubrics” was applied to such ratings by Grubb, 1981 in a book advocating holistic scoring rather than developmental rubrics. Developmental rubrics return to the original intent of standardized developmental ratings, which was to support student self-reflection and self-assessment as well as communication between an assessor and those being assessed. In this new sense, a scoring rubric is a set of criteria and standards typically linked to learning objectives. It is used to assess or communicate about product, performance, or process tasks.
A scoring rubric is an attempt to communicate expectations of quality around a task. In many cases, scoring rubrics are used to delineate consistent criteria for grading. Because the criteria are public, a scoring rubric allows teachers and students alike to evaluate criteria, which can be complex and subjective. A scoring rubric can also provide a basis for self-evaluation, reflection, and peer review. It is aimed at accurate and fair assessment, fostering understanding, and indicating a way to proceed with subsequent learning/teaching. This integration of performance and feedback is called ongoing assessment or formative assessment.
Several common features of scoring rubrics can be distinguished, according to Bernie Dodge and Nancy Pickett:
• focus on measuring a stated objective (performance, behavior, or quality)
• use a range to rate performance
• contain specific performance characteristics arranged in levels indicating either the developmental sophistication of the strategy used or the degree to which a standard has been met.
pedagogy
is the science and art of instructional theory. “How you bring the lesson plan to the student.” An instructor develops conceptual knowledge and manages the content of learning activities in pedagogical settings.
Modern pedagogy has been strongly influenced by the cognitivism of Piaget, the social-interactionist theories of Bruner, and the social and cultural theories of Vygotsky. These theorists have laid a foundation for pedagogy where sequential development of individual mental processes—such as recognizing, recalling, analyzing, reflecting, applying, creating, understanding, and evaluating—are scaffolded. Students learn as they internalize the procedures, organization, and structures encountered in social contexts as their own schemata. The learner requires assistance to integrate prior knowledge with new knowledge. Children must also develop metacognition, or the ability to learn how to learn.
archetype
a constantly recurring symbol or motif in literature, painting or mythology. This usage of the term draws from both comparative anthropology and Jungian archetypal theory. In the first sense, many more informal terms are frequently used instead, such as “standard example” or “basic example”, and the longer form “archetypal example” is also found. In mathematics, an archetype is often called a “canonical example”.
trope (literature)
commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works.
Waldorf Based School
based on the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner
stresses the role of the imagination in learning and places a strong value on integrating academic, practical and artistic pursuits.
The educational philosophy’s overarching goal is to develop free, morally responsible, and integrated individuals equipped with a high degree of social competence. Teachers generally use formative (qualitative) rather than summative (quantitative) assessment methods, particularly in the pre-adolescent years. The schools have a high degree of autonomy to decide how best to construct their curricula and govern themselves.
The Waldorf method is a large independent alternative education movement, which has a worldwide following. In central Europe, where most of the schools are located, the Waldorf approach has achieved general acceptance as a model of alternative education. Waldorf education has influenced mainstream education in Europe and Waldorf schools and teacher training programs are funded through the state in many European countries. Public funding of Waldorf schools in some English speaking countries has been controversial, with questions being raised about the role of religious and spiritual content in or underlying the curriculum, and whether the science curriculum, which has achieved notable results, also includes pseudoscience and/or promotes homeopathy. The Waldorf movement has said that concerns over its stance on these matters are unfounded.
Feng Shui
A Chinese philosophy of harmonizing the human existence with the surrounding environment.
term feng shui literally translates as “wind-water” in English. This is a cultural shorthand taken from the passage of the now-lost Classic of Burial recorded in Guo Pu’s commentary. Feng shui is one of the Five Arts of Chinese Metaphysics, classified as physiognomy (observation of appearances through formulas and calculations). The feng shui practice discusses architecture in metaphoric terms of “invisible forces” that bind the universe, earth, and man together, known as qi/chi/energy. Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water.
Historically, feng shui was widely used to orient buildings—often spiritually significant structures such as tombs, but also dwellings and other structures—in an auspicious manner. Depending on the particular style of feng shui being used, an auspicious site could be determined by reference to local features such as bodies of water, stars, or a compass. Feng shui was suppressed in mainland China during the cultural revolution in the 1960s, but since then has increased in popularity.
Modern reactions to feng shui are mixed. The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience states that some principles of feng shui are “quite rational”, while noting that “folk remedies and superstitions… [have been] incorporated into feng shui’s eclectic mix”.
scaffolding
The support given during the learning process which are gradually removed as students develop autonomous learning strategies
thus promoting their own cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning skills and knowledge. Teachers help the students master a task or a concept by providing support. The support can take many forms such as outlines, recommended documents, storyboards, or key questions. The best and most effective use of instructional scaffolding helps the learner figure out the task at hand on their own. It is best to think of the use of instructional scaffolding in an effective learning environment as one would think of the importance of scaffolding in the support of the construction of a new building. Instructional scaffolding is most effective when it contributes to the learning environment. In an effective learning environment, scaffolding is gradually added, then modified, and finally removed according to the needs of the learner. Eventually, instructional scaffolding will fade away. This learning process should never be in place permanently. Eventually, the goal should be for the student to no longer need the instructional scaffolding.
EURYTHMIC
(esp. of architecture or art) in or relating to harmonious proportion.
LINKLATER METHOD
designed to liberate the natural function of the vocal mechanism as opposed to developing a vocal technique.
SOCRATIC METHOD
Learning based on asking and answering questions between individuals to stimulate critical thinking
It is a dialectical method, often involving a discussion in which the defense of one point of view is questioned; one participant may lead another to contradict himself in some way, thus strengthening the inquirer’s own point.
TABULA ROSA
theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that all of their knowledge comes from experience and perception.
Generally, proponents of the tabula rasa thesis favor the “nurture” side of the nature versus nurture debate, when it comes to aspects of one’s personality, social and emotional behavior, and intelligence.
EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
Occurs when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engage in an activity in order to earn a reward or avoid a punishment. Examples of behaviors that are the result of extrinsic motivation include:
• Studying because you want to get a good grade
• Cleaning your room to avoid being reprimanded by your parents
• Participating in a sport in order to win awards
• Competing in a contest in order to win a scholarship
In each of these examples, the behavior is motivated by a desire to gain a reward or avoid a negative outcome.
