STUDENT LEARNING
The teacher understands and has knowledge of constructivist learning theory in order to attend to the individual needs of students and to improve student academic achievement in inclusive settings.
I believe that knowledge of and application of the constructivist learning theory is a key component to any great educator. The basis of this theory is that students learn best when creating and constructing new knowledge on their own rather than passively receiving it through a lecture or notes. This is something that through experience I've seen as successful.
One of my favorite examples of watching the constructivist theory be put into play was when I took my students to the Staten Island Children's Museum "Bugs" immediately after our unit on insects. Since the children already had lots of prior knowledge on the subject, they felt like experts and were psyched to gain new knowledge and share what they already new. However, the best part about this trip was that the students were able to go off independantly and learn more about different types of bugs through the interactive spaces at the center. Through this, they added on to the knowledge they already had and made connections. Even at lunch the students were buzzing with new information or experiences that they wanted to share with the class. Once we returned, the students worked in pairs (in rotation) to create powerpoint presentations about the new types of bugs they encountered and the new information they learned.
Working so independantly to gain new knowledge really empowered my students and ignited the internal, intrinsic motivation to learn. They seemed to be little knowledge constructing machines, noticing similarities between different insects left and right!
I believe that knowledge of and application of the constructivist learning theory is a key component to any great educator. The basis of this theory is that students learn best when creating and constructing new knowledge on their own rather than passively receiving it through a lecture or notes. This is something that through experience I've seen as successful.
One of my favorite examples of watching the constructivist theory be put into play was when I took my students to the Staten Island Children's Museum "Bugs" immediately after our unit on insects. Since the children already had lots of prior knowledge on the subject, they felt like experts and were psyched to gain new knowledge and share what they already new. However, the best part about this trip was that the students were able to go off independantly and learn more about different types of bugs through the interactive spaces at the center. Through this, they added on to the knowledge they already had and made connections. Even at lunch the students were buzzing with new information or experiences that they wanted to share with the class. Once we returned, the students worked in pairs (in rotation) to create powerpoint presentations about the new types of bugs they encountered and the new information they learned.
Working so independantly to gain new knowledge really empowered my students and ignited the internal, intrinsic motivation to learn. They seemed to be little knowledge constructing machines, noticing similarities between different insects left and right!