Constructivism…!!!!!!!

Constructivism is a new approach in education that claims humans are better able to understand the information they have constructed by themselves. According to constructivist theories, learning is a social advancement that involves language, real world situations, and interaction and collaboration among learners. The learners are considered to be central in the learning process. Learning is affected by our prejudices, experiences, the time in which we live, and both physical and mental maturity. When motivated, the learner exercises his will, determination, and action to gather selective information, convert it, formulate hypotheses, test these suppositions via applications, interactions or experiences, and to draw verifiable conclusions. Constructivism transforms today’s classrooms into a knowledge-construction site where information is absorbed and knowledge is built by the learner.

In constructivist classrooms, unlike the conventional lecturer, the teacher is a facilitator and a guide, who plans, organizes, guides, and provides directions to the learner, who is accountable for his own learning. The teacher supports the learner by means of suggestions that arise out of ordinary activities, by challenges that inspire creativity, and with projects that allow for independent thinking and new ways of learning information. Students work in groups to approach problems and challenges in real world situations, this in turn leads to the creation of practical solutions and a diverse variety of student products. Constructivist theories have found more popularity with the advent of personal computers in classrooms and homes. PCs provide individual students with tools to experiment and build their own learning at their own pace. With the use of the web, the learner can now conduct research, interact with diverse populations, share ideas, and work on group projects. The assessment tool in a constructivist classroom is not a test or a quiz, rather it is the learner product; most of the time this is in a portfolio format that has been designed by the learner.

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are two eminent figures in the development of constructivist theories. They share the common belief that classrooms must be constructivist environments; however, there are differences in terms of their theories and variations as to how constructivism should be carried out in classrooms.

Motivating the Students in the Class

The motivation theory states that it is an individual’s wish or drive to perform an action or achieve a set goal. This is applied in the educational process by encouraging the growth of motivation in students so they are driven to work toward goals and achievements throughout their educational career.

Aptitude

Students have varying abilities within the classroom; with this in mind, the motivation theory can be put in place to encourage students to develop their own abilities in the areas where they may need extra help. Teachers should create a set of grading standards for each subject so that students are evaluated based on effort and performance. Students can sign up for private tutoring if they are motivated to improve their abilities in a certain subject, for example.

Aims

Learning and performance goals can be established in the classroom to make use of the motivational theory. The teacher should incorporate goals within each lesson plan that would require students to write out goals for each subject or project within an academic semester. This will help motivate students to have something to work toward. Student motivation is less likely to diminish if they have written down the goals that they want to accomplish.

Interaction

Students can often motivate each other through their peers. The teacher should require group work for certain projects and encourage students to get together to study material for homework and test preparation. The motivation theory applies to student interaction in the classroom because they are often driven to complete achievements based on how they compare themselves to one another. If one student sets a standard of academic or extra-curricular achievement, more students are likely to be motivated to follow. Students that excel in one subject can be paired with those who may be struggling with that subject so that leadership and learning are engaged through peer interaction.

Assessment

Curricular- and self-assessment are ways that motivational theory becomes engaged in the classroom. Students are given grades for their work, which motivate them to complete homework and study hard. Students can also see their personal growth based on the standard that the curriculum and their peers are setting. This makes some students more motivated to work harder for their accomplishments in the classroom.

Effective Instructional Assessment Techniques

Effective Schooling Research

The major findings regarding Effective Instructional/Assessment Techniques, Methods, and Strategies (including ESL and Classroom Management) include the following:

Effective educators have a wide variety of instructional and assessment techniques, methods, and strategies at their disposal (including ESL and Classroom Management).

Practical Implications

The Effective Instructional/Assessment Techniques, Methods, and Strategies (including ESL and Classroom Management) that have proven time-after-time to significantly improve student learning are:

Identifying Similarities and Differences*
Summarizing and Note Taking*
Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition*
Providing Nonlinguistic Representations*
Using Cooperative Learning*
Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback*
Generating and Testing Hypothesis*
Providing Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers*
Identifying Effective ESL Learning Techniques, Methods, and Strategies*
Establishing Clear Classroom Management Rules, Procedures, and Fair and Consistent

Social Learning In The Classroom

By incorporating social learning theory into your classroom you can develop an encouraging classroom environment, which in turn inspires students to engage your lesson and enjoy the learning experience. Social learning theory suggests that students learn through observation, developing traits and habits based on the environment in which they are in. This includes seeing other students participating in class and choosing to participate as well. The negative side of social learning theory also suggests that some actions you take as a teacher can deter your students from participating and restrict their engagement in your lesson.

Instructions

1

Plan a series of rewards for specific actions in class. Include candy rewards for younger students, bonus points on future exams or quizzes and a few class parties during the semester. Select rewards appropriate to the grade level and class maturity, as bonus test points are worth more to older students and treats to younger ones.
2

Design specific ways for students to earn these rewards; this can include participating in class regularly or a high group average on a test. Include numerous opportunities to receive a reward, such as weekly awards, monthly awards and smaller daily rewards. Also be sure to design individual as well as group rewards, so that students are encouraged to participate and thrive individually as well as collectively.
3

Create an encouraging atmosphere in class by staying positive and reacting positively to student questions and comments. Regularly praise students for insightful comments and compliment questions, which show a high degree of individual understanding about a topic.
4

Develop a positive technique for reacting to student failures or misunderstandings, such as a positive way to explain to a student that her answer was wrong without sounding discouraging. Explain the positive points of these works while suggesting a different perspective she can use to reach the correct answer.
5

Demonstrate new concepts clearly, and praise students when you see them demonstrating the right method to address a question in class. Give your students a positive example of how to address an issue and work towards a solution.
6

Provide a strong moral example for your students, encouraging them to incorporate those morals into their lives. Demonstrate these morals in your speech as well as your actions in class. For instance, if you have to leave during an exam, tell your students the positive statement, “I have to step out, but I trust you to continue your exam quietly,” rather than the negative command, “I’ll be gone for a moment, so you are not to cheat or talk to each other while I am gone.”

Reflection On Teaching Perspectives

In teaching teacher needs to transmit what he knows to the students, it becomes a two way communication between the teacher and the student, and it is a vital fact that the teacher must have very good subject knowledge coupled with a good communication skills in order to deliver the lesson to the students, while taking the TPI I found this to be above average.
In the meantime the teacher need to build students diverse thinking in order to make them proceed to the next level, one of the methods that I use extensively in the classroom is cognitive activities which evokes students own thinking and these skills need to horned so that the students are able to use it when they move into higher grades.
The society plays a vital role in the in the process of learning, however in most scenarios in our country teachers do not get enough support from the society, on the other hand they get more critics than appraise, this factor has lead the teachers distant from the society and while taking the TPI I, myself realised that there is a big distance between myself and the society, the TPI score appeared below normal, therefore more effort needs to be put into this area.
Motivation is the key to success, without proper motivation it will be almost impossible for the students to learn, and while motivating the students, one of the first thing that need to be done is to set goals and objective for the students. However many teachers fail to explain and mention to the students why they need to set these goals and objective and what’s the moral value and the benefit that students get as a result of achieving it. In this manner I found out that the TPI score for this area was a bit above average.
The last and the most important thing for the teacher to understand is that students have different cognitive ability in there development process, some students are slow learners while others are fast, some are visual while others are auditory, however due to the time limitation and lack of resources it is not possible for most of the teachers to fully scope for the needs to all the students in the class. While taking a reflection at the TPI, it seems that this is an area that I need to pay a lot of attention in the class.

My Teaching Philosophy

Introduction

Teaching and learning involves more than just theories, it depends on the teachers and the students motivation, their goals and the methodologies that are used to achieve the objective. Since the year 2007 teaching has been my profession and during the past few years I have been teaching both Physics & English Language, and these two very different subjects takes different approaches to teaching.

Teaching Physics

The traditional notion of teaching physics consisted of learning a bunch of formula and calculations, however at present this approach has changed. At the moment students are required to do a lot of logical thinking in physics. More than 65% of the entire paper is based on applications mean while the rest is based on calculations which promotes the application. While teaching physics I have developed a habit of mentioning a very important thing in the class, which is ” study physics to use it and apply it in your daily life”, since physics deals with the students daily life, measurements, current and electricity, waves and sounds, nuclear physics, optical devices etc, each and every topic which is learned in the classroom can be applied and used in the students daily life.

Teaching English

Teaching English is not about learning the rules of grammar, in my opinion English has to be learned in order to communicate between one person and another, parents often misinterpret the purpose of learning English. The scope of learning is not about the grades in my opinion. Since 2011 I have been teaching English language and the first time i walk into the classroom I mention to the students that the number of A’s, B’s and C’s doesn’t not indicate whether you have mastered English. However I tell the students that what is important is that end, whether how many students are able to write properly, able to read and interpret meanings, able to listen and understand , and able to speak properly and fluently in English language, this is the reason study English, if a student masters these four very critical and important skills, it opens a gate way for the future. It makes students succeed in other subjects and lead into showing various improvements in other areas, I student who get better at language also gets better at cognitive thinking.

Using Logic

As an English teacher and a Physics teacher, one of the difficult barriers that are to over is the habits that students have developed in other levels. In this regard I have come across many students who are unable to link between one subject and the other, students who are unable to answer questions when they are given indirectly, students who are unable to apply what they learn in the classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating Positive Learning Environment

Teachers have many things to think about; but an important aspect of the job is to create a positive learning environment. Here are a few tips on how to make sure your classroom is all it can be.

When your students walk into your classroom at the beginning of the year (and every day thereafter), what do they see and feel? More directly, are you setting the tone for a positive learning environment?

Teachers have plenty of responsibilities in the classroom; they must create lesson plans and organize everything from papers to pencils. While these tasks are highly important, it is also important that the teacher take seriously their responsibility to also create a learning environment in which his or her students will thrive.

In a positive learning environment, students, staff and parents work together to bring about peaceful classrooms where everyone feels respected, safe and accepted, and where the main focus is on learning. A teacher’s responsibility is to make students feel at ease when they are in the classroom; encouraging them to open up and engage in the learning process.

There are several ways in which a teacher can enable students to succeed in their classroom; but everything stems from the tone he or she sets with their enthusiasm. When the teacher is not openly enthusiastic about what they are teaching, students will have a hard time getting excited about lesson plans and assignments. It is important, therefore, that the teacher do whatever is necessary to get excited about their lessons and about learning.

How the teacher feels radiates into the classroom environment. With this in mind, a teacher should make sure they do what it takes to feel good about themselves as well as about their lessons. Just about every teacher wears a lanyard to hold their identification or classroom keys. Lanyards are ropes worn around the neck; and typically, a lanyard does not reflect any particular style. This does not have to be the case, and a few decorative and cheery lanyards in a teacher’s wardrobe can make everyone feel more at ease and enthused. Such a simple tool, the lanyard; and yet such a difference it can make in putting the teacher in a good mood

Assessment and Evaluation

The main purposes of evaluation are to facilitate student learning and to improve instruction. Teachers make judgments about student progress based on information gathered through a variety of assessment strategies. This information assists teachers in planning or modifying their instructional programs, which in turn helps students learn more effectively. Evaluations are also used for reporting progress to students and their parents, and for making decisions related to such things as student promotion.  Core Curriculum requires changes in the ways students have traditionally been taught and evaluated. Formerly, evaluation of student learning focused on factual content, and student progress was assessed by using traditional strategies such as paper-and-pencil tests.  To evaluate learning in areas such as critical and creative thinking, independent learning, and personal and social values and skills, non-traditional strategies are required. More often than before, teachers will rely on strategies such as observation, conferencing, oral and written assignments, and process (or performance) assessment to gather information about student progress.  Responsibility for establishing student evaluation and reporting procedures resides with the school principal and the teaching staff. However, it is the classroom teacher who is at the forefront in determining student progress using sound evaluative practices which include careful planning, appropriate assessment strategies, and, most importantly, sound professional judgment.

Zone of Proximal Development & Its Uses & Application…!

The first time i went into a classroom to teach was during my first teaching practice in the year 2006 in Male English School, the class was full of students of mixed ability, however my secound teaching practice in the same year was at Aminiya school and it was a totally different thing, all the cream was in the same class. When i became a full time teacher in my own island in the year 2007 it was almost the same as the class as MES, students with mixed ability.

ZPD, mentions that higher level students can be used to cater the need of the other students and bring the rest of the students to the same standard as the rest. This method has many positive outcomes in the classroom. A social relationship can be formed among the students and this relationship tends to grow stronger in bonds as time passes , one student learns from the other while the teacher acts as a guide and a facilitator. The teachers role is to guide the students to the correct path by finding the N th that are made by them.

In the tradition method and classroom, the teachers role is to dictake the students and show them who is the boss, in this regard the teacher become the bull himself. However in recent times it has shown  that the teacher doesnt have to be as angry as a bull inorder to teach and take control of the classroom. It is the sole responsibility of the teacher to engage the students and make the students work with one other and ZPD is a extremely useful technique which can be used in the classroom. It promotes learning, helping peers and also make an effective bonds of friendship within the classroom, the lower achieving students no longer feel neglected in the classroom.

Uses of Behavioural Learning In The Classroom

In the typical Maldivian classroom students come from the same country, however they do not accommodate the same discipline. There are some students in the classroom who are very well disciplined, however on the other hand there are students with many issues.

It is rather important for the teacher to mention to the students what the teacher expects from them, the behaviors that are tolerated and the ones which are not allowed should be mentioned to the students, alongside the consequences.

Since 2007, whenever I walk into a classroom for the first time i always remember to mention that ” if the teacher or the class is interrupted or disturbed by an individual student or by a very small minority of students, then they are violating the rights of each and every student in the classroom.

Many students are attention seekers who are willing to find loop holes within the teacher, whenever the teacher gives them any free time they tend to seek advantage. A rather common type of behavior found in our classrooms is bullying. And one of the best ways to deal with this issue is using the behavioral learning.  Giving punishment doesn’t mean that we have to beat up the child, however as a consequence of unwanted or unexpected behavior certain privileges’ can be taken away from the child so that the child feels more guilty about what he has done. An example of this can be only the students who are up to the accepted levels of discipline can be the ones who can participate in extracurricular activities.