I was once told that an effective classroom looked like a circus most of the time. Different centers in different parts of the room testing and teaching different skills in different ways. Exposing students to all the isms is critical to expanding the learning for all students. It would be easy to use cognition to teach all my lessons, but it wouldn't be effective. I would be going over the lessons but very few of my students would understand, retain, or connect the concepts I taught. Therefore I might as well not have taught anything. I enjoy teaching and learning how I can teach better. I must know how a learner learns best.
Teaching and learning are very complex issues. Determining how someone learns best is a task within itself. Bill Kerr brings up the isms and how they interlock. Whereas Kapp delineates the learning styles by the level of learning they require. When designing a lesson, I am thinking about my students' behavior, how they are processing the information, and the connections that they will make to their lives. All three isms must be present for learning and understanding to take place. I always want my students to remember and connect what I have taught them. In addition, I want their behavior (written steps) to show that they have this understanding. Therefore, I concur. The isms aren't isolated units of thought. Instead they are interlocking peaces of a larger problem.
Learning theories help to solve the puzzle of how students and people in general learn. The key is find what works and use it to the advantage of the student. I enjoyed your post and agree that isms are interlocking pieces of a larger problem.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post Aimee. You mention that teaching your students cognition would not lead to an effective classroom. You could rather use the various cognitive learning theories to guide your lesson planning. I too feel that an effective classroom today would likely resemble a circus to teachers from a previous generation. Active student engagement often entails movement, discussion, and exploration that creates a certain buzz in the classroom. Early in my teaching career I struggled with the idea of giving up any control of the learning environment to the students. Upon doing so, however, I have noticed increased student engagement and tie on task. Thank you for a great post!
ReplyDeleteI commented on Candice blog
ReplyDeletehttp://crjoneswaldenu.blogspot.com/2011/06/educ-8845-2-module-two-cognitivism-blog.html
And I commented on Karen's blog
http://karenconnell10.blogspot.com/2011/06/cognitivism-and-learning-theory.html
I agree that educational theory is just like a singularity where it all began as one and has become compartmentalized. There are times when a differentiated classroom technique can be hard to deal with but I like it the best when I have the resources.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Stripling
Amiee,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more that a classroom should look like a circus because for the most part is it a more talkative environment than what we grew up with. Some administrators are not ready for the 21st century learning theories and activities that are required for the new age learners. Therefore if teachers are learning or given this new information teachers can attribute their higher test scores to reaching more students. The question is how can we make sure all teachers are consciously applying all theories to their lessons?