Module 2

-From Learner Differences & Learning Needs to Language Development, Language Diversity & Immigrant Education, through Culture & Diversity, and Cognitive Views of Learning.

Woolfolk started chapter 4 discussing Intelligence, as well as the differences between a handicap and a disability. I completely agree that without person-first language, students and peoples with learning disabilities are seen more as their condition than as a person (Woolfolk, 117.)  Following this, the author delves into several theories and views regarding intelligence and multiple intelligences. In this section I found Howard Gardner's theory of eight intelligences particularly interesting, as well as his six Entry Points in designing curriculum (Woolfolk, 122.)  I believe that these will be rather helpful to use when teaching, and plan to use them in the future.  Next, Woolfolk goes into measuring intelligence and the concept of intelligence quotient, or IQ.  While I believe that learning ones IQ score could be helpful for things such as studying achievement, I do not agree with some that think an IQ test should be part of standard testing for students.  Just because a test has a certain outcome does not determine who a student is or what they can or cannot accomplish, in my opinion.  Chapter 4 goes on to highlight individual differences and the law, explaining IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 as well as Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  Because I have only limited experience working with children with disabilities or disorders, I found it very helpful and interesting to learn more about the different challenges, disorders and some good ways of approaching students with these.  Growing up, I had a classmate who was deaf, and we had the opportunity to learn more about his impairment, and as such I can speak some American Sign Language. Looking back, our teachers were very wise to help Ravi to not feel like an outsider by encouraging him and his interpreter to give weekly (and sometimes daily) lessons on ASL.  Lastly, this chapter covers gifted and talented students.  When I was young I was in my school's Gifted and Talented program.  While a member, I found it to be just a great after school program that sometimes allowed me to participate in alternate activities during and after school, as well as being "allowed" to read the books that the older kids were reading.  Eventually, funding for the program was cut in the younger grades and the G&T program moved more into the Quizbowl, Academic Decathlon and Forensics team. It would be interesting to do some research on how student achievements would have changed if the program had not been cut.
Moving on to chapter 5, the main topic was language.  To me it was very intriguing to learn about bilinguals, and how children develop while learning two languages. Growing up I was not exposed to any second languages (unless you counted the odd curse word uttered in Norwegian or Swedish by my elders) until 5th grade, when Spanish became mandatory until high school.  After this we were given the choice as to what language we wanted to take, as long as we took two years of language courses.  As we were such a small high school, the only on-sight foreign language teacher was Spanish, however we did have a virtual classroom of sorts, called the I-TV network through which I was able to take German.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to be able to be exposed to two or more languages as a child and be able to speak them both fluently.  How lucky!  Because classrooms are changing, I found the section on teaching immigrant students and English language learners to be particularly helpful.  The section on sheltered instruction (Woolfolk, 192) was very thought provoking in particular, and I very much so believe that working with families is extremely important to help students with these needs succeed and thrive.
Chapter 6, on culture and diversity was also quite provocative, especially the topic of gender roles.  In the culture I grew up in (rural Scandinavian farmers) women essentially ran the household behind the scenes. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children were all "women's work."  As a child I heard stories about my paternal grandmother leaving the farm and going to work part-time as a school cook when milk and corn prices were low to help with the bills and she still would come home and bake 20 or more loaves of bread a week for her 7 children, husband and farm hands.  It's hard to fathom baking that much bread over the course of several months, let alone each week! While times have changed, I can still see the lingering ingrained gender roles at play when my family all gets together during the holidays: the women all cook, set the table and serve the meal, then after the meal we clean up and chat in the kitchen while the men drink coffee and play cards.  By no means is it a requirement for these things to occur, it just happens because it has always been that way.  I believe that men and women are equal and can do the same things. To say anything different would be an immense stereotype.  As a future educator, I will encourage my students to do as they please, regardless of perceived gender roles, and encourage them to be who they are, not who someone else thinks they should be.
Lastly, chapter 8 dealt with the elements of the brain, cognitive perspective and cognitive learning.  Our brains are so incredible!  Not only does it continue to change throughout our lives, it is always involved in everything we are doing. The memory functions of the brain are particularly fascinating to me, and it made me want to do more research into the topic.

Overall, while these readings were lengthy, I found them to be universally thought provoking and am excited to learn more and to use this knowledge to help my future students succeed.