Selwaan+Mahmoud

I decided to go into teaching many years ago because I wanted to teach children to "think" and make connections. Later we learned that this is what a constructivist teacher does. A constructivist teacher builds units and her classroom around questioning, and problem solving, teaching students to be responsible for their learning. There are many benefits to this theory. Perhaps the main one is that this philosophy truly prepares a student for life. What good is it to memorize historical dates, names of people and battles if a student doesn't realize how the events effected society? What good is it for a student to know geometrical formulas if they can not put them to use in deciding how much tile is needed to cover the top floor of a house. The constructivist theory includes all of the traditional material that students need but goes a step beyond, allowing students to understand "Why do I need to know this? What difference does this make to me? How am I going to use this in real life?" Many people may think that constructivism is not a "secure" way to teach children. That you cannot be fair, some students are natural questioners while others would rather sit and absorb. This is the constructist challenge, setting up an environment where students must question and think, and then record their process. There are many challenges in the implementation of this theory. The two that concern me the most that were addressed in the article are the amount of knowledge that a teacher has and the assessment of the students. Educators should be cautious in their assessment of the students –When engaging students in questioning and problem solving it is easy to be "awed" by those who are natural " out of the box questioners." These "naturals" make average students processing seem less exciting and stimulating This subjective outlook can be avoided by setting up the assessment previous to the assignment. Sharing the rubric or assessment criteria with students ahead of time can also serve as a model for students thinking and processing. Knowing how they will be graded and the process that they must demonstrate may serve as an instigator and guide for students who find this process difficult. It of course also serves as an objective tool for grading purposes. Constructivism is the essence of teaching. Teaching students to take responsibility of their learning, and teaching them the process of doing so is the responsibility of all educators. "I get it!" a student exclaims in a class. "O.K.", responds the teacher, "explain how to use it in the following situation." "Ah...." This happens all too often in our classrooms. Perhaps I see it most often in math. Students know how to add, subtract and multiply but it becomes very difficult for many students to apply these skills in story problems. The ability to use knowledge as a building block is a behavior that I associate with student understanding. Being able to make connections across the subject area is also a sign of student understanding. For example if a student understands how climate affects a region's economy then he/she should be able to explain why tourism in an area near an ocean or sea is an essential part of that areas economy. If a student "understands" that natural resources are a depletable resource than he/she should be able to explain why it is so important that alternative sources of energy be developed as quickly as possible. I think the best way to distinguish between a student knowing and doing vs. understanding is to give those situations or problems that require the application of the knowledge out of the "normal" way they are use to learning it. For example once I asked a group of students to stand in a line in order according to their birthdates. They were not allowed to talk in any way. It took students a long time to do it, and in the end they had to rely on one student to be the leader and organize them. Afterwards we had a discussion about why it was so difficult. They came up with three main points. 1. Lack of feeling that it was important 2, Lack of respect for time and 3. Lack of organization. I then asked them how this activity applied to a class newsletter we were going to do. Many seemed to "understand" that there must be someone in charge, there must be due-dates, and consequences for not meeting them and it must be decided before hand who is going to do write what instead of letting people do whatever they want. Through this project I felt students began to gain an understanding of the importance of leadership and organization. Its true application will be of course in the actual "putting together "of the newsletter. Backwards design seems to be the essence of teaching. Few teachers would go into the process of designing a unit just to memorize facts dates or a process. I think what happens all to often is that a person gets so overwhelmed with the information regarding that unit that the "main idea" gets lost. Or the original purpose gets lost in the pile of "information" Backwards design provides a guide and tool to avoid "missing the big picture". Instead of your goal being trying to get all of the information in, you begin by asking yourself " What do I want the students to go away with?" Then you ask yourself "How can they prove to me that they learned it." Finally "How can I get them to learn what I want them to learn:" This makes the task less overwhelming, and hopefully more successful and meaningful to the students. It also keeps the teacher focused. Perhaps the best thing about Backwards design is the adjustments that are made in assessments as the teachers experiments with the assessment tool. "Are students able to demonstrate through this tool, that they truly understand?" " Are they able to transfer this idea to a new situation?" "Is this assessment tool showing me that?" By keeping these goals and questions in mind, a teacher can design a unit that reaches essential understandings. This "backwards design" then takes us back to what our goal as teachers is, to provide students with meaningful learning experiences that they will be able to apply to real life situations. What behaviors do you associate with student understanding? How do you distinguish between students "knowing" and "doing" versus understanding what they are studying?  "I get it!" a student exclaims in a class. "O.K.", responds the teacher, "explain how to use it in the following situation." "Ah...." This happens all too often in our classrooms. Perhaps I see it most often in math. Students know how to add, subtract and multiply but it becomes very difficult for many students to apply these skills in story problems. The ability to use knowledge as a building block is a behavior that I associate with student understanding. Being able to make connections across the subject area is also a sign of student understanding. For example if a student understands how climate affects a region's economy then he/she should be able to explain why tourism in an area near an ocean or sea is an essential part of that areas economy. If a student "understands" that natural resources are a depletable resource than he/she should be able to explain why it is so important that alternative sources of energy be developed as quickly as possible. I think the best way to distinguish between a student knowing and doing vs. understanding is to give those situations or problems that require the application of the knowledge out of the "normal" way they are use to learning it. For example once I asked a group of students to stand in a line in order according to their birthdates. They were not allowed to talk in any way. It took students a long time to do it, and in the end they had to rely on one student to be the leader and organize them. Afterwards we had a discussion about why it was so difficult. They came up with three main points. 1. Lack of feeling that it was important 2, Lack of respect for time and 3. Lack of organization. I then asked them how this activity applied to a class newsletter we were going to do. Many seemed to "understand" that there must be someone in charge, there must be due-dates, and consequences for not meeting them and it must be decided before hand who is going to do write what instead of letting people do whatever they want. Through this project I felt students began to gain an understanding of the importance of leadership and organization. Its true application will be of course in the actual "putting together "of the newsletter.
 * Journal 4**
 * Journal 5**