The "theory" Constructivism sounds like good teaching to me. Why do we have to create a new term for what good teaching is supposed to be? Any teacher who has taken a class, read an article, or attended a workshop in the past 8 years would know that standing in front of a class and lecturing for 45 minutes is not good teaching. The teachers who continue to do this are doing it because they simply don't care or don't have the capacity to teach well. I'm sorry if my candidness is offensive, but based on my experiences, it is true.
Constructivist theory suggests that students learn building on what they've learned or experienced prior. The same way we are learning Web2.0. We are able to learn what twitter is by building on what we know of a blog. We come to understand tools like Google Docs because of our experiences with Microsoft Word. How long have we been using KWL charts? A long time. Constructivism supports that students need to be engaged, challenged, and encouraged to explore. Yes! Of course they should. Who wants a classroom of students yawning, and what teacher likes to hear themselves talk for hours?The 5E's are great. They are what Constructivism believe is a good model for teaching.
- Engage
- Explore
- Explain
- Elaborate
- Evaluate
We should all aim for the 5E's when we are creating lesson plans for effective teaching. Could we have kept with terms we already knew?- anticipatory sets
- immersion
- sharing
- applying
- assessment
I do like specifically the reference to "knowing vs. understanding". The article Teaching for Understanding discusses the difference between knowing a fact and understanding the importance of knowing it. I like this idea because what we learn should have real value to the world we live in. If we don't bother to see the larger picture, then what good it is to learn it. I will try to create lesson plans and monitor students learning with this in mind. I believe it is a good standard to have in the classroom to ensure authentic teaching is being achieved.
Joanne,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that teachers can not stand up and lecture in front of a class and expect student to be engaged and learn anything. Most people learn by doing, so they understand the concept behind the lesson or topic. I am not in the classroom, so to read your post just reinforces that I want my classroom to be more of a Constructivist classroom. I have enjoyed reading your blog, you give great insight into a classroom and if what we are reading and learning will be managable.
Kathleen