1.
The learning theory that best represents me is
definitely Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory because I believe that Sociocultural
Theory is a great combination of students doing their own thinking and also
relying on someone else to bring out higher level thinking that some children
are not capable of doing. I will
definitely be utilizing Vygotsky’s theory to teach my future students. I think students learn best when hearing it
from someone who is near their age, but is a little more advanced when looking
at their Zone of Proximal Development, or their ZPD.
2. I believe that students learn best by discussion
and group work, and Vygotsky is a very big proponent of learning by
socializing. I also believe that
students learn by modeling of their peers who are more advanced and have a
higher ZPD, more so than by their teachers.
Student will be able to learn through their intellectual discussions
with their peers, some of which have a higher ZPD, allowing the other students
to reach in their understanding.
3.
I would be able to support learning using
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory through motivation. Let’s pretend that I had a 4th
grade class. One activity I could plan would be to have my students study the
planets using a group project, where they would all be at differing ZPD levels,
allowing them to challenge each other in their thinking. I would have them make a chart of the planets
in the correct order from the sun, and have them write 2-3 facts about each
planet underneath or on a separate sheet of paper. I would not give any more instructions than
that, and expect the groups to figure out a way to represent the planets. It would not have to necessarily be on a
piece of paper. They would be motivated
to do this work, however, because they would want to get a good grade (that’s
the extrinsic motivation), but the students would also want to accomplish this
project because they know that it is a fun way to show what they know instead
of taking a paper and pencil exam. They would be able to spend time with their
classmates in a very low key atmosphere and be able to find facts that interest
them about planets, instead of requiring facts to be about the weight, size,
and amount of moons each planet has.
That would make the students feel very stuck and there would be no need
to have groups made up of students of differing ZPD levels. Student will be able to teach each other
about their planet projects, making them feel like what they are learning is
important, so they will be even more motivated to learn about planets.
4.
The end result of the project would be a formal
summative assessment, but because this is a group project, there will
definitely be informal formative assessment during this process within the
groups. The students, who will be
feeling motivated to learn about planets, will be asking each other questions
and testing each other as they work on the project. My assessment would be when each group
presents their planet project. Because
this is a performance assessment, I will be using a rubric. More specifically, I will be using an
analytic rubric, because I will be grading them on whether or not they put the
planets in the correct order from the sun, if they were able to name the
planets, if they gave 2-3 facts about each planet, and if the project, by a
class vote, had an overall appeal, meaning if the group did not just through
the project together in the last 10 minutes before it was due. Because the groups will be working on this
project during class time, I will also be assessing them on if they contributed
on the project, as I made clear during my instructions of the project. I will have a rubric on a 1-3 scale, if the
student did not do what was expected, if the student did a satisfactory job, or
if they did an exemplary job. The
students will receive a copy of the rubric as I give out the instructions so
they are aware of what they are being assessed on, so there will not be any
confusion. Though this is a group
project, I will make sure that each student knows that they will be given an
individual score based on how much they contribute. This will be an extra extrinsic motivator to
make sure each student participates in the planet project.
Extra Credit:
I am still a little bit confused on equity. I am not quite sure how I can, as a teacher,
address and provide an equitable education, especially if I teach in a very
diverse community, which is something that I am seriously considering. I have looked at some articles about equity
and talked to some of my education friends about this, and I’ve found a lot of
cool information, but I am worried that I won’t have enough class time to make
sure my class is as equitable as possible.
I’ve found actual lessons that would instill equity, but not much when
it comes to the day-to-day schedule. I
must be missing something pretty substantial, though. Do you have any ideas about how to create an
equitable classroom without adding any extra time?
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI think setting the ground rules at the beginning of the school year is going to be a key factor. We will be covering classroom management soon in the next week after Thanksgiving but here are some insights from my previous experiences.
When I taught younger students (10-11 year olds), I have found that setting the classroom culture at the beginning of the year is often time-consuming but very rewarding. Letting students know what the ground rules are and having certain expectations made it easier over time. For instance, respecting diversity was one important rule and related to that, learning how to work with others. It was especially difficult getting students to understand how specific attitudes towards helping one another is crucial to learning. Given the nature of the classroom, it is important to make sure that each person realizes that one's success is a result of other people as well as our own individual efforts. Of course these are value-laden ideas but the first few weeks were spent discussing these values. In this way, students felt that they had input in the matter.
And as you pointed out, scheduling is actually vital to the success of creating this culture! I think the time investment is absolutely necessary at the beginning but over time, it will become much easier and you can phase out these segments used to establish norms. Think of it as guided participation!