Constructivism

Make a list of the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the content of your lesson through a constructivist approach.

Which of these learning activities/skills lend themselves to student’s individual or group construction? How might you structure learning activities that lead students to discover these skills/these principles?

 

 

 My lesson is a first grade lesson over telling time to the half-hour. In order to master this skill set they need to:

 

• Be able to pull from their previous knowledge of learning how to tell time on the hour.
• Work individually on their own personal clocks to practice making half-hours
• Work together in groups reviewing and practicing on the hour and half-hours with classmates
• Be able to build off of this knowledge in the future to construct a deeper understanding of time

Students will first need to practice on their own clocks what half-hour looks like after I have gone over the lesson. This allows them to build their understanding by personally being able to interact with a clockface and build meaning to telling time. Then the students will form groups to work together on telling time. The students will work in groups to figure out different times of clocks given. Then they will partner up and one student will be a minute hand while the other student will be the hour hand. Whenever I say a time the partners must lay on the floor and form that particular time out of their bodies. The group work allows students to be able to reinforce the information they have learned. It also reinforces the skills and concepts not only with themselves but with others as well.

This is a silly but to the point video of constructivist vs. traditional classrooms.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEsGHVdVkMw


 

Memory Process

How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions? 

It makes sense that students are more likely to remember new information if they can relate it back to old information. Therefore, as a teacher I need to make sure that I connect new information to back to old information as often as I can. It will be important to review concepts that they have already learned before directly jumping into the new material. Reviewing the old information before going over the new can help them not only recall what they already know, but also help them make a direct connection to the new information they are about to process. It is also important that I make the information relevant to them. Students and people in general are more likely to remember information that is directly relevant to their lives or interesting to them. Therefore, I need to assess my classroom dynamics and try to make my lessons relevant to the students in my classroom. Therefore, they are more likely to remember the information better.

Here is a video that shows 7 mental activities to helping improve memory. Some of these can be implemented in a classroom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsOJ7c3eDTI 

This is a websites that gives some tips for improving memory within a classroom.

http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/memory_strategies_May06.php

cognitive learning

What are the essential skills and/or learning outcomes you want your students to know and be able to do that relate to cognitive learning? 



Some essential skills that I want my students to learn are how to relate previous material to new material. I want my students to be able to recognize that the material they are learning builds up over time. I also found it very interesting that students are very selective on what material they choose to listen to and store in their memory. This means that it is my job as a teacher to adapt the curriculum to make it relevant to each and every student in my class. Therefore, they can make a connection to the material they are learning and why it is relevant in their own lives to actually put it to memory.

Also I have learned that different students have different cognitive learning skills. Some learn better by watching, touching, doing, or reading. Therefore, whenever I am planning a lesson I need to consider all the different learning styles that each student may or may not have. I need to make sure the lesson touches upon several of the learning styles to appeal more cognitively to each and every student. That way they are more likely to put the information into their memory.



One article I found useful can be found at: http://www.scilearn.com/blog/cognitive-learning-styles-student-centered-classroom.php

Assessment Strategies

Think of a lesson plan from your licensure area.  Knowing that assessment is an integral part of teaching, explain at least four informal and formal assessments that you will use in your lesson plan to provide you with feedback and involve the students in assessing their own learning.

The lesson plan I will choose to perform formal and informal assessment strategies on is over Presidents of the United States. Since my licensure will be in Elementary Education this will fit the needs of elementary school students.


Informal Assessments:

Before I start the lesson on the Presidents I will ask the students what they know about the different Presidents of the United States. The answers can literally vary as much or as little as needed. It can be anything from a fun fact about a particular president to knowing the exact order of the presidents. I am just trying to get a general grasp and feel of how much my class knows as a whole. Also I can have them write down on sticky notes something they want to learn and are curious about while learning this particular lesson. On the sticky note I will make sure each student puts his or her name so I can get a better understanding of what that particular student's learning desires are.


Formal Assessments:

The first formal assessment I will conduct will be a sheet that has at the top, "What I know, What I learned, and What I still want to learn." The students will write down everything they already know about presidents before the lesson. Then after the lesson they will write down what they learned and still want to learn. Another formal assessment would be at the end of teaching the students about presidents. I would give each student a choice between a test, writing a short essay, making a book, or doing an oral presentation. This way every student could pick the way that they express what they learned in the most efficient manner so I can get a better picture of how much that student actually learned.

One website I found had two really cute assessment strategy ideas. Both of these would be fun and ideal for elementary age students. http://www.rundesroom.com/2012/08/quick-and-easy-assessment-strategies.html 

The other website I found is packed full of all kinds of different assessment ideas. Alot of the ideas even go up to 6th grade and will fit basically any assessment need. http://www.ilovethatteachingidea.com/ideas/subj_assessment.htm