It’s audrey’s page!
Introduction
Artifact 1
Artifact 2
Artifact 3
Artifact 4
Hey, everybody! Welcome to my webpage for Liberal Studies
Freshman Seminar 100! My webpage contains most of my work
that I have been working on since the beginning of the semester.
Throughout my webpage, I have certain assignments that reflect
how my work has improved and what I have learned throughout the
duration of this class. I am proud to showcase my work to you
all…so, enjoy!
Peace.
1. What are the things that
influence our learning? What
are our learning styles?
MY HABITS OF MIND
Read the following questions and rate yourself by indicating numbers on a scale from 15. Be honest, but don't be to hard on yourself. Intelligent hehaviors can be learned and
practiced. The more you practice the more intelligent you will become.
(1)
Not
Yet
1. I am a persistent person: If I don't succeed on the
first try, I keep trying until I succeed
2. I manage my impulses and I am willing to delay
gratification in order to attain long-term goals.
3. I listen to others carefully with empathy and
understanding.
4. I am a flexible thinker and seek new ways of
looking at things.
5. I try to be aware of HOW I am thinking
(Metacognition) when I am trying new ways to
solve a problem.
6. I like to solve problems or riddles and I am not
afraid to ask question or ask to see the evidence.
7. I check the quality of my work and try to be
accurate and precise no matter what I am doing.
8. I take what I have learned in the past and apply it
to new situations in order to solve problems.
9. I think and speak clearly and constantly add new
words to my vocabulary.
10. I use all my senses (vision, hearing, touching,
(2)
(5)
Once
All
in a
(3)
(4)
the
While Sometimes Often Time
smelling, tasting) in order to learn about new
subjects.
11. I am a creative, imaginative, and innovative
person that comes up with new ideas or ways of
doing things.
12. I am curious; awed by beauty in the world, and
have a sense of wonderment about the world I
live in.
13. I am willing to take calculated and responsible
risks in my life.
14. I like to work with people towards a common
goal as long as we work together.
15. I try to learn something new everyday of my life,
for as long as I live.
16. What is one intelligent behavior you want to improve on in college?
I w ish to eliminate procrastination, w hich has been a very bad
17. What is one intelligent behavior that has always been true for you?
I have alw ays been a great communicator and can w ork dillige
18. What is one intelligent behavior you wish everyone shared?
I w ish everyone w as more dedicated to their w ork and didn't le
19. Please add any comment you have about the survey or about what you reflected on
while completing it.
Completing this survey, I have realized that I still have many thin
2.
Who are children as
developmental learners?
Audrey Moningka
Drs. Scott & Belgrad
LRS 100
14 November 2006
Observation Paper # 2
Ever since we first started conducting observations on young children in their
different environments and surroundings, I have learned so much about how children
develop cognitively and socially. Before becoming a teacher, it is important to know and
understand what goes on in a growing child’s mind. Being able to help and deal with
these younger children’s problems is vital in becoming a teacher. Knowing once
something is wrong and realizing if a child has a problem or is in a difficult situation for
the child to handle is how a teacher knows when and how to deal with any type of
problem. By observing these children, I was able to witness them discover how the
human body works or what a plant cell consists of at the California Science Center. I
also noticed how children act in school, whether it be while they are learning or playing
and socializing with others. From what I observed, I learned many things about
children’s cognitive and social development. These two environments allowed me to
analyze how they act and react to what they experience, depending on their surroundings.
I now understand a little more about a child’s development, which has helped me develop
as an eager and potential teacher.
During our visit to the California Science Center, I noticed many young children
discovering or figuring something out for themselves for the very first time. I was
intrigued as I watched them run around the exhibits in excitement. It was as if they had
never seen such a sight in their lives. Every corner they would turn, they would find
something new to discover and play around with. In fact, I was having a little fun myself.
I could tell by the look in their eyes, their facial expressions, and the tone of their voices
that they were fascinated at how fast the speed of light and sound are and how they are
measured. They were also aroused at how an earthquake is assimilated and measured. It
was interesting to see the reactions of young children when they discover something for
the first time. When I was inside the earthquake testing room, there was a young boy of
about four or five inside along with his mother. In the room, there is a big screen that
talks about what makes an earthquake erupt and how earthquakes are measured. It also
explains how to prepare for an earthquake and what to do to stay safe. At the end of the
presentation, the floor starts to move and shake, creating a mini earthquake. This allows
its audience to feel a small earthquake. The presentation is directed towards its younger
audiences, which allows them to experience an earthquake without going through an
actual earthquake. This five year-old boy seemed very interested in the presentation on
the screen and always hid behind or got closer to his mother every time he saw something
scary on the screen. Once the fake earthquake hit, he got scared and clinged onto his
mother as tightly as he could from what I observed. After the floor stopped moving, the
young boy got down on his hands and knees and felt the ground for any movement,
wondering where it was coming from. He then placed one hand on the part of the floor
that moved and the other hand on the solid part of the floor that didn’t move. He
understood that he was not experiencing a real earthquake and that not all of the floor was
moving, only the certain part of the floor he was standing on did. This is a factor of
cognitive development because the four year-old boy was able to decipher false pretenses
from reality. He already understood that he was watching a presentation on earthquakes
and that if there were an actual earthquake, he and his mother would run for safety rather
than just stand there. As I walked through the museum, I also recognized two older boys
of about six or seven standing in front of a camera, pretending to hit and kick various
balls flying at them. At first, they did not know what to do in front of the camera and
either stood there or fooled around making funny faces and little dances, laughing at
themselves based on what they saw on the screen. They then saw themselves within a
virtual soccer game. From what they saw on the screen, they were able to hit and kick
the balls they saw coming at them. As they moved their arms and legs around, they
noticed that whatever motion they made resulted in the balls on the screen to move in
different directions. This led them to catch onto the point of the game and play it
properly. They did not know what to do or how to play the game at first, but learned that
their bodies in motion triggered what happened on the T.V. screen. This is a quality of
cognitive development because the two boys learned that what they did in front of the
camera contributed to what happened on the screen; they realized that it was correlated
into a cause and effect type of situation. I found it very beneficial to observe children in
a learning environment such as the museum because it shows how children how react to
what they learn.
At the Lab School, I observed children of a much younger age group in preschool and kindergarten. While I was there, I observed them play and interact with one
another during their playtime as well as participate and engage in learning activities
conducted by the teacher. There were many perspectives of social development from
what I observed at the Lab School. There was one boy, I noticed, who wanted to be
pushed on a swing by one of the teachers because his feet couldn’t reach the ground. A
teacher finally came to his aide and started pushing him for awhile. Once the teacher
shifted his attention to another child, the boy on the swing felt a little neglected and tried
anything he could to get the teacher’s attention back. He did not know what the teacher’s
name was, so he just called out, “Hey!” over and over again. Once the teacher realized
the boy was calling him, he asked the boy if he knew what his name was. The teacher
wanted to teach the boy that it was impolite to call someone that way and kept asking the
boy what his name was. After asking the boy several times, the boy finally said, “Stop
asking me questions and just push me!” I found it quite cute and funny that the little boy
said that to the teacher, but the teacher just wanted to teach him good manners and how to
be polite towards others, especially his elders. By having the teacher explain to him that
by doing that, it is an impolite way of talking to someone, the little boy is being taught
and learning what is right from what is wrong. Having good influences around young
children impact them for the better. In the little boy’s case, this will help him socialize
with others politely, whether he is playing with children his age or talking to someone of
a much older age. After playtime was over, all of the children were brought back into the
classroom to get cleaned up, have a little drink, and then sit in a circle on the floor for
story time. There were two boys who were still hyper and lively from playtime that
could not calm down and sit still for the story. They kept laughing and goofing off with
one another that distracted the rest of the circle from focusing on the story, so the teacher
had to separate them from each other so that they could not fool around anymore. One of
the boys was sent to the opposite side of the circle, while the other stayed where he was.
This prevented them from being tempted to cause any sort of distraction since they were
apart. The two boys ended up staying quiet and listened tentatively to the teacher from
that point on. By being separated, they stopped laughing and talking and were able to
concentrate on the story being told. This helped the rest of the circle focus less on the
two boys and pay more attention what the teacher was saying as well. The teacher taught
the two boys that depending on the situation, it was inappropriate and impolite for them
to be fooling around while she was speaking to the rest of the class. By being taught that
they should not do that in the classroom, they learned and now know what to do and what
not to do in the future. This relates to social development because they both now know
that by associating with each other in the wrong environment and during the wrong time,
they end up distracting others, especially themselves.
I found it very interesting when I got to observe children from the one-way
mirror. The fact that they were not aware of it and acted the way they normally would in
a comfortable environment made it even more interesting to watch. Usually, whenever I
observed children in any setting such as the play area at the mall or at the museum, the
children seemed to act how they normally do. Since I was there watching, however, they
knew someone was watching them. Since they knew I was watching, they either
hesitated to do something in front of me or act crazier than they normally would. If I
could change anything to make the observations foster the social and cognitive
development more, I would try to separate how cute or funny I thought the children were
acting from what they were actually doing to better back up my observations. Instead of
watching for any social or cognitive developments in how the children were acting, I
would focus more on how adorable they looked or how funny something they did was. I
would also try not to make it so obvious that I was observing, or in my case, staring at
them. I could have been much more slick about hiding my notes or not letting them see
me stare at them so much. There was one child who noticed that I was watching her at
the play area in the mall and ended up coming up to me, starting a conversation with me.
Since she knew I was already watching her, she could not act as she would if she knew I
was not there. There were many changes that I could’ve done to make my observations
much more useful and reliable. These observations helped me figure out how children
act in different situations, which will help me become a better observer and indictor of
children in the future.

Little girl who fell off her scooter
refuses to be helped up

Teacher promises to push
girl on the swing after she pushes
boy in wagon…another teacher
comes by to push girl on swing,
but she insists on having the

Children learn to be loyal to their
elders
original teacher push her, so she
waits for her.


Little boy pretends to be the
Little boy explains what he
“tickle monster” and explains that
already knows and uses that to
the job of the tickle monster is to
make up something fun out of,
tickle you and you start to laugh
which in this case, is the tickle
All of the children run away from
monster
the “tickle monster” because they



The children know what a monster
all think he is an actual monster
is and assumes he is a bad one
Boy on swing swings on his
because they know monsters are
stomach…teacher explains that he
bad
has to sit on his bottom when on a
swing

Little boy pushes a wagon around
with nothing in it, but pretends
something is in it

Little girl is too shy to play with
others…playful girl asks shy girl

Children have to get comfortable
to play with her since they both
with their surroundings and the
have the same toy, but shy girl still
people around them first before
wants to play alone…she then
engaging in any type of social
slowly follows the playful girl
activity
around.
3.
What are the many ways in
which children learn? How do
we record and analyze student
learning?
Audrey Moningka
LRS 100
Drs. Belgrad & Scott
13 October 2006
Observing Our Youth
I have learned a great deal about our youth as I have observed them in two of their
natural environments. Both of these environments are quite different from one another
and in each situation, I have noticed that children tend to act differently according to the
proper setting that they are in. Being the observer, I have discovered many things that I
usually wouldn’t have caught onto if I were to just watch theses children do what they do.
Since I actually took the time to sit down and analyze every single little detail about what
the children were doing, I was able to notice the little things that make up a child’s true
character. What I found was very interesting and changed my perspective on how
children tend to behave in certain situations. These situations varied from how children
acted during work and play. I know that what I learned doing these observations will
help me grow and understand as a potential teacher.
During my first observation site, I went the Northridge Mall and observed
children at the play area. I had gone after my classes had ended at around five o’clock in
the afternoon, which seemed like a good time for children to come and play, especially
after they had just come back from school or daycare or waited for their parents to come
home from work. There was a good amount of children who were there playing, which
allowed me to observe how they acted around one another. I first noticed that there was a
little girl of about four years of age who would not go inside the same play car as all of
the other children. Instead, she decided to watch from the outside patiently and wait for
all of them to come out first. Once one child got out of the car, the other two or three
children followed, allowing the little girl to have the car all to herself. She seemed to
have fun playing all by herself and was more comfortable just minding her own business
and staying out the way of the other children around her. I followed this little girl’s steps
around the entire play area and noticed that she always just wanted to be by herself. I
was surprised to see that she was actually having fun. Once her mother came along to tell
her they had to leave, I noticed that she was carrying another younger child in her arms,
who I assumed was the girl’s younger sister. This younger sister always tried to play
with her older sister, but the older sister would not play with her back. She seemed fed
up with the annoyance of her younger sister, which explained why she wanted to be
alone. I figured that she was always forced to play with her younger sibling at home, so
playing by herself at the play area was her way of taking a break from it all. Children,
too, like to be by themselves at times, giving them the relaxation they need from all of the
other distractions within the household.
By observing children at the play area, I also noticed that the younger boys run
and play around more after their mothers told them to stop. They seemed to rebel against
what their mothers would tell them and instead, play more. It was like a chase. The
more the mother tried to stop her son from playing, the farther and faster the son would
run away from her. This was interesting to me because these young boys would either do
anything just to play at least five more minutes or avoid their mothers in general from
making them leave. There was also another situation where a boy almost picked a fight
with a girl half as young as he was. His mother saw this and got mad at him for starting a
fight with a much younger girl. The boy ended up getting mad at his mother instead and
tried to defend himself as to why he was starting a fight with little girl. He wanted
anything but to be the one blamed for picking a fight with the younger girl. I noticed that
children don’t want to be blamed for their wrong-doings, but praised for the things that
they didn’t do. If one child was praised for something that they did, then a younger
sibling would
4.
How do our observations and
ideas about learning
influences our theoretical and
philosophies about teaching
and learning?
Please see my Cinema Paper.
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