Last Blog for this class

This week I am blogging about constructivism and social constructivism. At first, I was not looking forward to another week of learning theories, but after I started reading the material, I changed my mind. These two theories are theories that I feel like I will use in my teaching. I seem to work in these 2 theories more than any other. I do not use just one theory, but seem to mix the two together to fit my teaching style. I feel that children need to learn to search out into the environment and find information themselves with me at the side guiding them. I think this is very beneficial for the future where they will have to know how to find information themselves. Yes, this is a very passive way of learning, but I think when mixed with the social constructivistic approach, it can be very beneficial. I feel with children learning in many ways, you can cover tactile, visual, and auditory using both approaches. Therefore, as long as I mix them, all the children can receive and learn the material being covered.
I do fee,l that at some points in my teaching, I will really have to work on implementing both theories and not become lazy. It is so much easier to focus on the constructivistic approach because you aren't doing as much interacting like you would with the social constructivism approach. In my opinion, with the social constructivistic theory, you must organize more thoroughly to incorporate groups and social settings. This could be with partners, groups, and possible other classes involved. Actually, I am going to try to work with a class in Scotland through email, etc... I student taught in Scotland and formed some very good teacher friends. One of my friends is a lady who lives in a small village. She has always taught either 1st grade or kindergarten and is more than willing to work with me. That will be a cool thing for my 1st grade students. This will be a mixture of both theories. Using the internet would be under the constructivistic theory and communicating with and learning from other students would be the social constructivistic theory. I feel that using both will be the best of both worlds for the students.
Reviewing these 2 learning theories has been very beneficial for me because it has been 17 years since I taught school. This has helped me refocus on how I feel I can successfully lead a group of children into learning. I feel that a teacher has to find what is comfortable with her. Then she has to study her students and figure out what works best for each one. That will lead the children to becoming a success in their learning.