Week 10 solo dolo

During this last week of class the concept of dying and coping with it was discussed in both the book and in lecture nots. Kubler Ross's theory of coping with dying had five steps. The steps were the following in order: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Many people are not used to being around death and I am not sure if you would say anyone gets used to it either. I took the CNA class at BTC and part of the glass was doing clinical at a local nursing home. Here was really the first time I had ever been around a nursing home and was able to really grasp the concept that the majority of the people who were living there were also going to die there. 

During my 2 weeks there I was able to see this 5 step theory at work. One this I was most impressed/ surprised about was the amount of people who seemed to have already gone through the full five stages and were already at the final stage, acceptance. There were only 2 patients we worked with who were very obviously in the anger stage. The hardest to see in the nursing home and keep a uplifting attitude was depression. I only can really remember vividly one man who was in this stage. Sometimes he would seem okay, happy, normal; but most of the time he would mope around and look like all the joy in his life was sucked out of his body. 

This concept of dealing with death will be something I will be around my entire career as I work as a nurse. It will be something that I may see each stage come over a patient all the way to the end of their time. I think knowing this concept I can see how I can implement it with how I talk with patients and family members going through the grief process. 

Week 9

I am 24 years old. If I am luck I am a quarter of the way through my life. Possibly I am just a anxious person but they seems to completely freak me out. By freak out I mean every so often a wave rushes over my head, my temperature feels like it rises a few degrees and everything dilates. The odd thing is I believe that is the exact definition of the fight or flight response. I get this feeling from thinking about my own death and the death of my parents.

In the chapters we dealt with this concepts of growing older and what that in tales. I found the Integrity versus Despair concept very intriguing due to my own reactions of dying and death. Erikson describes this concept as being the point in a person's later life where they reflect over their life and try to make sense of it. These thoughts are also balanced with the idea that your life will live on through your family, grandkids etc. for years to come. Since I have yet to have a family of my own that I could see my life living through I get stuck on the death aspect and myself just ending and nothing to come. When I do a life review, the process of reflecting upon the events and experiences, I usually freak out a little because I know that there is not a ton that I have done for myself. The thought of dying right now not only would be tragic from a short life span but also from the fact that I do not feel like I current live life at the ultimate fullest. I have obviously not come to the point where I am at peace with all my decisions like Erikson discusses.

That was an approach to the topic from a internal/self relation. But when I think of my parents I fear more about loosing some of the people I talk to the most. Later in the chapter the book begins to discuss about sibling relationships. If my mother was one of my siblings I would put us in the sibling category of intimate sibling relationships. I would put my sister and I in the apathetic sibling relationship. This scares me a little as well, the thought of loosing my mom, a best friend. I would expect that my sister and I's relationship would then takeover and pick up. But it is sad that my sister and I are on  such a low level.

If I could ask the writers of this book for clarification I would ask about how relationships with siblings can change after the death of parents. Do they enhance (odd saying that) or are they slightly hindered if they aren't strong to begin with. This seemed like a little more of a journal write, but I think it is interesting how these types of subjects in our text always seem to hit home with many people in the class!

Week 8?

Letting go: Becoming Friends with your parents

I changed the title of the subject in the book because I think it is less of the parents allowing their children to be "friends" and more so the children allowing their parents to be their friends. I couldn't agree more with this chapter how there are still positive developments that can be make at this point. My parents and I were not exactly buddy buddy. Even after I left for college we weren't good friends. It wasn't until probably my sophomore year of college when my mom and I began accepting each other for who we were and being friends. Now, I think I talk to my mother more than I do any single other person other than my boyfriend, and even that at times it seams to surpass. My mother has become my best friend in a way. Someone I can always rely on and always be able to communicate what I am going through. That seems really great now but I wish I could of had that openness when I was younger and going through some serious identity issues.

Something I found a little entertaining is the discussion in this chapter on the distress of a child leaving home and entering into college or where ever they plan on going next. They stated in the book that many mothers report distress and negative mood when a child leaves the home but when the last child leaves only 25% of mothers and fathers report being very sad and unhappy. I laugh because I couldn't agree more! I was the last child so when my older sister left I too went to send her off to college. My mother cried and cried and cried the whole way. When I left she seemed to no think it a big deal. They did not discuss in the book possibilities of why there is this 25% not being upset. I think it could be (theory) that with the second children parents tend to be more lenient. This lenience may cause a child to be more adventure or get into more trouble. It may seem like a relief for the child to finally leave the house more than a sorrow. At least that is how I think it was for me. I was not a bad child but I definitely was not like my sister. Saying that sometimes I think that it has made my mom and I closer. When I got into trouble it forced my mother and father and I to discuss issues and discuss what was going on in my life. Since my sister never got in trouble I think that it is possible to say she doesn't have quite as close of a relationship.

Week 7 Blog

In this weeks material we explored the ideas of becoming an adult and being with others and forming relationships. I found the idea of creating scenarios and almost fantasizing about life that was discussed in chapter 10 to be very fascinating. I believe that everyone starts out about making or defining a life-span construct (sense of past, present and future) which then can lead into manifesting the future, also called scenario. I think that it is interesting to see how these scenarios and social clocks (setting a time or age for a scenario) can be changed from where someone is raised or how they are raised. This draws into the idea of the biopsychosocial framework. When you look at a scenario for someone like getting married there are a lot of different ideas about when this should happen. What age is put onto it differs. I am not able to relate this to a biological construct but I can see how the psycho and social roles could play on this. 

I am from Seattle we had 1 person get married right outside of high school out of 300 people in my graduating class (that I know of ) my boyfriend from Lynden had maybe 20 people from a much smaller graduating class. This is not just a coincidence but an example of how the biopsychosocial framework is really everywhere. I think that this is mostly a small town idea to get married young and I think it is social. What it is exactly about the small town I am not sure. It could be religion, education, economics and definitely a mixture between them all. I think it is fascinating that a place only 90 miles away could have such a lower marriage rate outside of high school. 

I would like to know more about how small town and cities differ in things like marriage rate and amount of children. I have heard that lesser developed countries tend to have more children because the more children there are the more money can be brought into the home. I do not know how accurate that is but I wonder how marriage and children would differ when looking and similar socioeconomic trends but small verses large cities? 

Week 6 Blog Review

This week there seemed to be a lot of topics discussed in the book that I think many people in this class have experience in their lives in large and small ways. I think that everyone could relate to or has a story of someone who has been in some of the situations discussed in this book. I think one that hit home with me was the discussion on obesity and anorexia.

It is interesting to me that we all know obesity is becoming a problem and we all know anorexia is becoming a problem but not one seems to talk about how the two could be related. Some people may think how could they be related when they are completely different and opposite? I had a great discussion with a friend of my about what America's current obsession could cause in the next generation. We are currently going through a epidemic of obesity and a lot is being done to try and combat it especially in schools with education. There are posters, commercials, lectures, everything now that it has become such a big deal. How can this effect a young girl who is normal weight? I think that we could see the obesity epidemic turn back into a anorexia epidemic placing a fear on being over weight. I think the next generation is going to be one that is hyper sensitive to what they consuming leaving few options and poor body image. This has already been coined a name, it is called Orthoresia nervosa and I feel like we may produce children who are scared to eat something bad in fear they will become obese.

Chapter 7 Review

I think that the most shocking statement I read during this chapter that really evoked a lot of thought and contemplation was something that was said during Leah’s lecture. She states, and the book touched on, that adolescence spends the majority of the time watching TV just behind sleeping. Frankly, that terrifies me! Most of the television that is on air now is reality TV that glorifies especially consumerism and drama. Not to mention from the book the study by Baudura in 1986 clearly found that children who watch violent television could cause that child to be more aggressive. I think that television is used too much as an easy fix for a parent to get out of playtime. This is also disturbing when you look at the studies discussed in the previous chapters about the importance for a parents bond with their child and how television can affect that. I have not watched much of the new children’s television but the book did say that children who watched Sesame Street are able to learn academic skills and useful social skills. My question would be if the same time and attention from a parent would elicit just as much positive social skills and academic skills. I believe (though I have no proof) that if you spent just as much time with your child making creative learning games instead of the television should that you would see better results. Again, I do not know. My question for the authors would be if I am accurate with that statement or if watching these shows does give a skill that can only be taught from watch the program. 

Chapter 6 Reflection Blog

I think that the most interesting part of this chapter was the discussion about intelligence and how it is defined, measured, interpreted. While growing up there were always those kids in school my parents would say "Oh, they are really smart" or "Their parents are really smart". When my parents would make those statements it was always their intelligence in math, reading, writing, science etc. Growing up I struggled with reading and still am a very slow reader. Reading out-loud still is a very stressful thing for me. I have always pondered why it was that it was so difficult for my sister and I to learn to read. My sister likes the use the excuse that my mother always was bad a reading out loud and we were not able to enjoy being read to because of that. For me, I am not too sure if that is true.

The book talks about how intelligence is both inherited and environmental. 2 studies from the book stick out for me on intelligence, the twins study and the adoption study. In the twins study they found that identical twins were more likely to have similar IQs. If it was solely genetics then the two identical twins should have the exact same IQs. This was not the case which brings attention to the environmental influences of intelligence. Personally, I believe it was hard for me to learn to read because my parents did not read to us much nor did we have many books in the house. I think that could explain the delayed development of reading skills. What I am curious about not would be why it is still a challenge for me to read. This brings me to Gardner's Theory of multiple Intelligences. I think his theory that intelligence is made up of multiple types of intelligence and someone could be as a whole intelligent but excel at different types of intelligence.

Where I lack in Gardner's linguistic intelligence I seem to excel in logic-mathematical and musical. I would consider myself average for the others. I like the idea that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Intelligence isn't just something that can be tested in an IQ test but much more holistic.

Chapter 4 and 5 Discussion

I feel like right now the two things that this class makes me think of is my coaching and my pregnant sister. It is also humorous to me how the same subject can be applied to both.

In chapter 4 I found the section discussion classic conditioning to be fascinating, especially when I realized one of my athletes that I coach totally conditioned me! 

I generally stand in the same place when I coach. It is on the front right side of the pit so I can catch a lot of key points in the vault I need to see. There is a kid that I coach that always runs through (that is when you decide you aren’t going to jump and instead run onto the pit usually leaving your pole behind). Well, when he leaves his pole behind it always flies through the air and lands as the area that I stand. The noise it makes is the same noise this athlete always makes before take off, it is a loud clung sound when his pole goes into the box. Of course I flinch or duck of some sort. On Thursday I realized now I flinch even if he hasn’t bailed on his jump. I think it is super interesting because I don’t do it with anyone else. I have officially been classically conditioned by one of my athletes, hopefully on accident!

Classic Conditioning is defined as a form of learning that involves pairing a neural stimulus and a response originally produced by another. This is best decribed as ringing a bell for dinner and having a dog salivate. The reason it happens is because the trainer would ring the bell then feed dinner. Eventually the dinner didn’t need to come and if the bell was rung the dog would still salivate. I am the dog, Glen is the bell.

Chapter 2 and 3 Reflection

I really enjoyed reading these 2 chapters. I felt like most of it was a review from my PSYCH 101 class and my anatomy and physiology. I didn't mind too much because when I was taking those classes no one in my family had children or were expecting. Now, my sister is pregnant with her first and it made the information a little more applicable to my life. As I was ready I wanted to keep calling my sister to tell her "did you know this" or "did you know that". The entire time I was reading I was thinking of the chapters from my sister point of view but now I have time to reflect I can see how I can relate this information or my life in becoming an Aunt. I was able to find more of that information in the 3rd Chapter. 

I think my favorite part in chapter 3 was actually a pretty small section titled "You are what you eat": Nutrition and Growth. I used to want to be a nutritionist so I find it fascinating the varying amount of calories per pound a newborn, toddler, child, adult, and athlete needs to consume. It is astonishing to see the calorie per pound difference between a 3-month-old baby and an adult; 50 and 15-20 respectively. I also find it interesting how people become picky eaters or not. No one in my family is a picky eater, I literally can't think of a single think I don't like. It makes me wonder what it is that makes me different from someone else who is picky. 

            I really enjoyed the part in the book that lists a few recommendations from experts on toddlers and their eating. In short they say:

1.     Allow them to choose between healthy options

2.     Allow them to eat in any order

3.     Offer new foods gradually

4.     Do not force them to clean plates

5.     Spend meal times talking not about food issues

6.     Never use food as a reward

I have always thought these same things and it is nice to see them written in our book. I especially have been passionate about not make someone clean their plates. I feel like the idea of cleaning your plate has possibly led our country some of our dietary problems. It teaches children to over eat as apposed to eat until they are satisfied. You should encourage your children to eat what they want. I have baby sat for families that emphasized the 3 meals and no snacks. Research has come out that shows this is not the healthiest way to eat. Instead many small meals are better.

            I can’t wait to see my sister and let her know all the new things I have learned from this chapter :) 

Chapter 1 Reflection

Although reading about theories is quite dry it is interesting how between the dryness I catch myself drifting away from the reading and connecting the theories to my life or a friends life. So, although it is dry it is undoubtedly interesting.

I found the theory on operant conditioning to be the most interesting concept for me. It is also possibly one of the more relevant to one of my passions of coaching. Operant conditioning is the idea of a response to an action or behavior will encourage or discourage the behavior from happening again. The two tools for doing so is reinforcement or punishment. There are two types of reinforcement, positive or negative. Positive reinforcement is giving praise or an award for the good behavior. Negative reinforcement is rewarding the behavior by taking away someone perceived as negative. Punishment can be to take away or give something perceived as negative to discipline for the poor behavior or action done.

I find this very pertinent to my work because I am not only teaching correct actions in coaching but trying to find other ways to engrain this good actions into my athletes brains. Of course I praise when someone does something well and let people know when something is not done well but I think it would be interesting to try and take it to another level. Have a rewards system in place without making my athletes feel like they are in kindergarten again. I have thought about offering something to people who have mastered a skill or performed a personal best. The only problem is I am coaching college-aged adults, what is it I could entice them with that they could just go get themselves like candy?

I guess what peaks my curiosity the most about this topic is how I can relate this possibly valuable tool to the athletes I work with. I especially wonder how I can implement this without the use of punishment but focusing only on reinforcement.