Teaching+with+Technology+-+Week+1

This first week of Teaching with Technology contained a lot of information, but what I found most interesting and most likely to help me in the future is the constructivist theory. The idea of students constructing their own knowledge of the world that is facilitated by a teacher instead of teacher lead is what I strive to accomplish as a teacher, but often fall short.

A teacher using constructivism in the classroom is required to think outside of the box. It also requires a lot of preplanning, and learning on the teacher’s part prior to starting the project. The level of learning and understanding the students reach far surpasses what is in any textbook, that the teacher needs to be able to answer questions beyond what may be asked in a traditional classroom. In addition, to be an effective facilitator requires a lot of background knowledge on the subject.

What keeps me from being as successful at leading a constructivism classroom is 12+ years of being in traditional ones. It is so easy to fall back into the familiar; it takes a lot less thought and energy. However the times that I have successfully facilitated a lesson or project has been much more rewarding as a teacher, because you can see the excitement in the students’ faces and the extent of their learning surpassing what you had expected. I hope that following the conclusion of this course I will be a better facilitator to students’ learning.