Constructivist Lesson Approach

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?

The constructive lesson that my group came up with in class last week is about shapes. The teacher would introduce the different shapes to the students and explain their similarities and differences. The objective for the students would be to correctly identify shapes and to use the shapes to create different objects and structures. 

1^st – Students will need understand what a shape is and how objects that we use every day are made up of different shapes.

2^nd – Students will learn to identify specific shapes. (square, circle, rectangle, triangle, diamond, heart, etc.)

3^rd – Students will cut out shapes and match them up to objects in the classroom,

4^th – Students will use shape cut outs to create different objects and structures. (for example, two triangles can make a square when put together).

5^th – Students will use a chart with different shape categories to place objects in the correct category.

The activities in this lesson that lend themselves to a student’s individual construction are the hands on exploration of shapes in the classroom and the use of cut out shapes to create different objects.
I would structure other learning activities that lead students to discover this skill and shape principles in a similar way as the lesson that my group came up with. Students will be given opportunities to apply the concept that they have learned and I would check for understanding by monitoring them while doing an activity or with a post assessment.

Here is a sample constructivist lesson that also deals with objects and shapes:

 

Memory

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

My knowledge of the memory process will most likely guide the techniques and methods that I use to teach my future students. In class, one of the things we talked about concerning long term memory was that when you have an emotional connection to a subject, you tend to remember more about it. I think that teachers can definitely use this to their advantage. It all boils down to knowing your students and maintaining their interest. If you can find creative ways to relate topics and concepts in your curriculum to the students’ lives, they will have an easier time retaining the information they have learned. Another way to use my knowledge of memory to guide my instructional decisions would be to focus on distinctiveness. I would try to make the lessons unique and present material in an interesting way so that students will have something that stands out to them to refer to when trying to remember what they have learned.

I found this video kind of cool because it was done by a student for an Educational Psychology course!

 

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? 

In relation to cognitive learning, I want my students to be able to use metacognition. I think that this is a very important skill to have because if a learner is aware of their cognitive processes and can control them, they can get the most out of their learning experience. I think that metacognition also goes hand in hand with self-regulation and just being able to make sure that a student stays on task and is engaged. At the end of the day, the student knows best what type of learning they prefer and what will get them to pay attention. If a teacher can find a way to get the student to apply this information, the learning gains will be that much greater for the student. I think that it is essential for my students to understand that they are all capable, even though they may learn in different ways. I also want them to be able to achieve and push themselves to do well.

Here is a really great article about metacognition! It discusses the subject of reading specifically, and how students can develop metacognition.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/20198244.pdf?acceptTC=true

Assessment

The lesson plan that I would like to use for assessment is a 2nd grade reading lesson. This lesson would focus on the use of vocabulary words and comprehension from a story in our textbook.

In order to informally assess this lesson plan, I would give the students a homework assignment that would require them to look for evidence in the text to answer questions that I came up with. The next day in class, we could go over the questions and the students could grade their own papers to see how well they did. I would then ask students to raise their hands if they got all of the questions right, or missed one-two questions. Another way that I would informally assess the students would be to give the students their vocabulary words and the definitions on paper cards and have them play "memory." I would put them in pairs and observe the students to see who could match them up quickly and accurately.

In order to formally asses this lesson plan, I would give the students the story assessment that is provided by the writer(s) of the text book. I would also give them a standard vocabulary quiz.

I also found this video on You Tube that demonstrates how a teacher can assess a student individually. Although this would take more time, It is also extremely important. A running record is one example that is discussed in the video.

Learning Environment/CSEL Contiuum

In order to create a learning environment that is conducive to learning, I would make sure that my classroom was very inviting and warm. I believe that in order to learn, students have to feel comfortable in their learning environment. I would want my students to feel that they could share with their peers and work together effectively. I would also make sure that I, as a teacher, did everything I could to promote academic success for my students. I want my students to enjoy learning and I would encourage them to reach their full potential constantly. I think that a conducive learning environment also has to be neat, colorful, and visually stimulating. I would  cover the walls in my classroom with helpful charts and posters that the students could reference when needed, and have tons of books for them to read.



The case study that I am working with for my CSEL is the one about Lisa, a third grade student who is having trouble working in a cooperative learning group. In order to deal with the misbehavior in this case, I would first try to identify the source of Lisa's behavior. I would look back and see if Lisa misbehaved before this particular small group activity. I would also take into consideration what I know about Lisa's home environment and community. A student's life at home could play a big role in how they behave at school and how they interact with other students. It can also be a distraction and hinder their ability to learn.

In order to begin the process of restoring the classroom environment and ensuring that the other students in Lisa's cooperative learning group can complete the project they are assigned, I would pull Lisa aside and address her behavior. I would remind her of the purpose of the cooperative learning group and let her know that I am disappointed in her behavior. I would also let Lisa know that her behavior has a negative impact on the other students. I would ask Lisa why she has been misbehaving. I would let her know that this discussion should be considered as a warning and that I expect her behavior to improve.

If Lisa's behavior does not improve, I might remove her from the cooperative learning group so that the other students can at least complete the assignment. I would give Lisa a task to do on her own in the meantime. Depending on how Lisa adapts to this new arrangement, I may send a note home to her parents and set up a conference to discuss Lisa's behavior and/or enforce some disciplinary action.

My goal in this situation would be not only to understand why Lisa is misbehaving, but to use that information to work with Lisa and get her to a place where she can enjoy learning and working with others.

I found this article, "Parental Perceptions of Cooperative Learning," very interesting. I think that parental influence can impact a student's behavior greatly so it was nice to see that so many parents supported cooperative learning in this study.