Johal,+Jonathan,+Attention+&+Memory



My name is Jonathan Johal, but I usually go by Jon. In March I will have been married for four years to a great girl named Destiny. I enjoy studying about unique things in history, the things that normally wouldn’t be taught in a classroom. A teacher once called these the juicy aspects of history.

I graduated from SOU with my BS in history in 2011. After I graduated with my BS I stated in the MAT program at SOU to become a high school social studies teacher. As a teacher I hope to instill a love of history in the students that I teach.

I do a lot of things to find happiness. Spending time with my family and friends is one of the things I enjoy most. I feel that family is one of the most important things in life. I also find joy in going to church and doing bible studies.

I think that the biggest fear I have about becoming a teacher is finding a job. I know that it may seem like a superficial thing to be worried about but I feel fairly confident in my ability to interact with students and relay the information.

When I was in middle school I had a very hard time learning math. By the time I reached high school I was about a year behind where I should have been. It was hard for me being in a class that was full of people not in my peer group. I felt like I was dumb and just couldn’t learn math. After getting some one on one help I was able to catch up to where I should have been all along. Looking back I think that this will help me interact with my students that are having a harder time understanding the information. I have a better idea about how I can better reach struggling students.

In taking this class I hope to gain a better understanding of how to reach different students. One the first day of class Angela brought up a question of how you would reach a student that had special needs if they were put in your class. This is something that I hope to learn and gain the ability to handle a situation like that.

The topic that I researched was Attention and Memory. For this topic I took the approach of different strategies that can be used by teachers to help students and teachers in a classroom in these areas. There are many different factors that can affect a student’s attention and memory in a classroom. Some of the causes may be issues that the student is having; others may be the way that a teacher is presenting the information to the class. It is very important for a teacher to be able to eliminate factors that are within their control. I remember how hard it was at times to pay attention in my classes and what role the teacher played in my lack of attention. I want to be the type of teacher that can help any student in my class improve in their ability to pay attention and remember information. I hope the sources that are presented here help you become the best teacher you can.
 * Attention & Memory **

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**The Top 5 Things That I Learned **


 * 1) The teacher can play a very large role in helping students stay focused in class by allowing them to use learning tools they are comfortable with.
 * 2) Students that don’t suffer from a learning disability can have just as hard of a time paying attention and remembering information as those that do.
 * 3) There are a lot of different things that a teacher can do to help students be able to remember more information that is presented in class.
 * 4) There are a lot of different types of memory and different ways that the brain can access that information.
 * 5) When a person multitasks they are never paying the amount of attention to a project that they should.

**The Best Resource That I Found** media type="youtube" key="aEFKfXiCbLw?version=3" height="288" width="512" align="center"

This was the best resource I found because it really helps a teacher understand how students today are learning. When I saw this I really thought about teachers that have been in the field for a while. As students today we are very lucky to be able to learn about how technology can be used in a classroom to reach students. This video still presents ideas that can be very useful for any teacher, rookie or veteran.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">**Other Resources** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">Center for Development and Learning

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I give this a source a rating of 5 out of 5.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I think that this is a great quick reference guide that can be used to give really good ideas about how a teacher can present information to a class. It gives good ideas about how students can be taught so that they are better equipped to remember the information.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">Attention <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I give this source a rating of 4 out of 5. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">It is a page set up devoted to attention. Not only does it define attention it also gives good sources that can be referenced and reasons why attention in learning is so important. It is not a very big source but I think that it is useful.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">Center for Development and Learning <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I give this source a rating of 4 out of 5. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I think that the author of the article did a great job of laying out problems that students have with memory. It is very important for a teacher to understand what issues a student is dealing with for them to be able to help them. That is why I think teachers need to learn and understand issues of memory.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">University of Pennsylvania Almanac <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I give this source a rating of 3 out of 5.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I think that this source is a great article about how teachers can work in a class to prevent students from wondering while they are in class. Teachers have to be able to introduce information to students so that they don’t become distracted. The more that a teacher can keep students engaged the more that they can learn.

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<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%; text-align: left;">I give this source a rating of 4 out of 5. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%; text-align: left;">I think that it is really good for a teacher to understand how stress can affect a student’s memory. For a high school student there are a lot of sources of stress. Any way that a teacher can reduce the stress that a student goes through can only be beneficial.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">Slide Share

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I give this source a rating of 3 out of 5.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">It is a small slide show but it presents quite a bit of good information in a quick and easy to follow way. Because it is short and full of color it could easily be used in a classroom to help teach students about memory. It could be used as a lead in to a science class or as an introduction to giving students tools for improving memory.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">Brain Rules-Attention

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I give this source a rating of 4 out of 5.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I think that it is a great source on attention. It is not only informational but it is also a good source of humor. With it being a short video it can be shown to a class so they can learn the information that is presented in the video.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">Brain Rules-Memory

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I give this source a rating of 4 out of 5.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">This is a source from the same source as the previous expect it covers memory. I think the person that made these videos did a great job of presenting information in a short and quick manner. There are a lot of different brain videos and each of them can be used to help teach a class.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I was given the opportunity to observe an IEP meeting involving my cousin’s oldest child, Chelsea. I was very surprised to see how the meeting was carried out and the manner in which the IEP goals were discussed. There were two of Chelsea’s teachers present at the meeting; I believe that they were her home room teacher and her reading specialist. The teachers opened the meeting by thanking my cousin for making time to be at the meeting. After exchanging greetings they got down to business. First the reading specialist went over what the previous goals were on the last IEP. The meeting was called to discuss making new goals because Chelsea had made such progress on the last set of goals. I really liked how as the specialist went over the last set of goals she paused to allow the home room teacher to comment to my cousin how Chelsea had improved and met the goal, or if it was one where she had fallen slightly short constructive input was offered. All of the previous goals that were discussed were presented with praise for Chelsea; it was a very constructive and positive process.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">Community Based Learning Project- Observe IEP meeting **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">After the previous IEP goals were laid out, new goals were proposed for Chelsea to strive for. The old goals were not done away with but, were simply built upon and modified as she no longer needed as much help for a few of the goals, due to her progress. I was surprised to see that as each new goal was proposed input was gotten from Chelsea’s parent and Chelsea herself. The teacher and reading specialist were very interested in receiving feedback for the new set of goals that were being laid out. After all of the goals were laid out and talked about Chelsea was asked if she thought that they were goals that she felt could be met, she agreed to the goals that were proposed. At the end of the meeting Chelsea and my cousin were given print offs of the new goals that could be kept at home so her parents could help monitor her progress and keep her on task with the different goals that had been set.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 125%;">I found how the meeting was carried out to be interesting as well as the manner in which the IEP goals were set. They didn’t seem to be set in concrete until it was agreed upon, I felt that they could be changed and modified as need at any time. The teachers came off as Chelsea’s biggest advocates, not that I thought they would appear to be against her at all. The tone of the meeting was very positive and encouraging, everyone that was there wanted to see Chelsea succeed in these new goals. By watching this meeting I learned just how involved the parents are in meetings. Before I had thought the teachers did most of the talking and the parent and student just had to agree to what was proposed. But, all of the goals that were proposed were open to be negotiated in order to best meet what Chelsea and her parent thought she could fulfill.