Module 2

 Summary: 

Chapters 4, 5, and 6 cover the learning styles, intelligence, language development and culture of students. All of these topics are discussed in detail to basically show how they are all relevant to how a student is perceived, learns, and performs in school. These chapters to me identify the many variables that surround each student including the obvious things that are seen with your eyes like race, gender, and physical attributes. It then goes deeper to discuss abilities and disabilities which may not be seen but witnessed and also things that may be more identified after listening to another student. The way they speak for example. If they have a speech impairment, or an accent due to language. Also, they way they express their opinions. All of these variables are discussed as ultimately impacting a students ability or perceived ability to achieve in school. 

Reflection: 

To be honest I was extremely frustrated with the intelligence test. I didn't like the fact that it was being timed. In a way, I felt a little better about the fact that I achieved on the test in a higher range. It still doesn't make me fully accept the validity of the test. It does point to the fact that external factors can impact the way you view yourself in comparison to others. I have not had the same variables impact me as anyone else, so in terms of my Socioeconomic Status and race, I grew up in based on the Table 6.1 in a stable environment for academic achievement. My family has been in the middle and upper middle class my whole life. Here I am though at the age of 45 finally getting my degree. I have not had as much interaction with multiple cultures. It is interesting to me, but I haven't ever really given it much thought as it has not been part of my daily life experience. Working with varying degrees of abilities with athletes has been. In a weird way, I was thinking about those preconceived notions while going through these chapters. Often if we want to see if an athlete has a potential future, we will look at the parents. If the parents are short and overweight, you typically will think that the athlete may have a shorter window of success. If their parents are over 6 feet and larger, you may view their ceiling of athletic growth to be higher. All of it is just variables. I have seen an exception to every rule especially with stereotypes.