Constructing Your Own Learning

I have been a champion of Piaget for many years and run my classroom on those same principals outlined in his theories. This course (EDLD 5364) is a very exciting one for me as it is starting off with the principals of a constructivism learning theory, using technology as a basis of engaging the student while allowing them to experience or explore what is needed to be learned for a higher level of knowledge.

I always try to take what I am learning in my classes and incorporate it into my classroom for my own real world experience and relationships. This past week we were having a planetary alignment and my 8th grade science students were also beginning a unit on the Solar System. I had the laptops set up on the lab tables when they entered the room with a statement on the front board that there had been an event, astronomically, that occurred over the weekend that only happens about every 50,000 years - what was it? That was the only information I gave them and they had to research, collaborate, problem solve and critical think to find out. Then they wrote a 150 word article to describe what they learned and included an image. This, I believe, is what we are learning about this week. How to take this learning theory and apply it to the classroom to give the students a experiential process in which to construct their new knowledge. They learned many new things this week just by investigating the question. They emailed astronomers on their own initiative and some even wrote additional articles about things they learned about because they though it was interesting. It was a great teaching week for me and a great learning week.