Chapter 7

After learning more about constructivism this week, I believe it is something I would definitely like to incorporate throughout my teaching. I find this theory effective because it is based on the understanding of a student’s own knowledge and experiences, and connecting it to the material in the classroom. I believe this theory of learning would be very applicable to me because I am interested in teaching in urban schools. It is very hard for underprivileged students to find use in schooling when they don’t find it applicable to their own lives. By using a constructivist method, I would be able to use their experiences and worldview to create lessons more relatable and understandable. After looking at ways that constructivist methods can be used in the classroom, I am very interested in service learning. I think service learning is appealing because it hits on one of the main reasons I would like to be a teacher. One of the main reasons I chose teaching was because I wanted to help students and possibly help make a difference in their lives, and in ways other than curriculum learning. Service learning would give me the opportunity to provide effective examples of ways to help the community or perhaps better a student’s own life, while still accomplishing the task of covering required curriculum material. Getting students out of the classroom and into the real world with real-life tasks would help with identifying misconceptions and perhaps changing the view on them, while giving students new experiences to compare new knowledge with. For my own subject area, a service project could involve going into the community and identifying changes students would like to see made. Then students could write their own personal letters or essays to council men or local government asking for these changes and providing evidence on the good to come of it, and the benefits expected. Exposing students to the potential of the community around them provides them with a more optimistic view of their own world, and perhaps gives hope to their own personal academic goals.

Chapter 6

I would like for my students to learn the importance of mnemonics, and how these can help remember material presented in the classroom more effectively. If students can learn any of these three methods: verbal meditation, the keyword method, or superimposed meaningful structure, they may use the phrases or analogies they have come up with to retrieve information from the mind at a later date. These are effective because learners find their own meaning in material by relating it to their mind or some other sort of knowledge base they already have. Another important skill I would like me students to have in learning is the ability to connect their emotions to the material they are learning. When students experience hot cognition, they are more likely to relate to the situation or knowledge they are reading or learning about. When one becomes emotionally invested in something, it is often much harder to forget. To do this not only is it important to invest in material that will be emotionally attached to this class, but it will be important for me as a teacher to express my own emotions about certain topics. This way, students will see the excitement that can come from learning or that it is okay to react in certain ways to topics.
Memory processes are an extremely important aspect of instructional decisions in the classroom because they may determine what students will learn or gain from a lesson. In order for a teacher to effectively teach a in way that students will gain knowledge, it is important to take memory process into account. Since memory is ultimately the way students will recall knowledge, as a teacher we want to make things memorable. It's possibly to be "memorable" in a number of way for various students. Making connections to students' own lives in a context they can better understand will automatically allow students to grasp the material better, which will help in recalling facts or stories later. This also goes along with creating a lesson that involves the students' own personal lives. Whether it be a project or group collaborative assignment, it would be more memorable to the student if it is made personal and they are allowed to put their own stamp on it. When we make lessons that are more personal or presented in a variety of context, we are more likely to present information in distinct ways which mixes up activities and plans and keeps the students involved and eager. These activities don't just blend in, but will stand out in the mind and associate students with the material they have learned. When we as teachers can focus on ways to make these lessons memorable and the techniques used for these memory processes, we are likely to see an increase in knowledge gained and retained.

Chapter 14

A paper-pencil assessment for my English class would likely include giving a test similar to those I usually experienced in high school. This might include giving a multiple choice section on the plot summary of a story, short answer for some characteristics of a genre, and perhaps an essay question for the meaning behind a major symbol in a novel. It would probably be harder to demonstrate a performance assessment in an English classroom, but perhaps reciting lines from a play or monologue could be an example of this. I believe an informal assessment could be useful in an English class because I’ve found that English discussions often spark the most learning. When students participate in a discussion rather a lecture, it allows students to speak up and ask questions and point the class in the direction they will take that day. However, the teacher must then be prepared to talk about a variety of things rather than just a planned idea. Incorporating a formal assessment in the classroom too though could include a time set aside for a power point by the teacher, or identification of elements of the text, before launching into a informal discussion.