CCC Cycle
What the 3 C's look, sound, and feel like
What is engaging, hands-on, student focused (teacher guided), excitement, autonomy (project choice, seating), conversation, and positive?
Acronym for Constructivist Learning Theory
What is CLT?
The key players of Constructivist Learning Theory
What is Vygotsky, Piaget, John Dewey?
What are three ways to make students feel welcome in your classroom?
- Greet each student by name with a smile.
- Incorporate content that reflects the cultures of the classrooms.
- Treat students as human beings.
- Emphasize mistakes as learning experiences.
Reasons to have students feel welcome
What is students can feel safety when they are welcomed. “Changes in environment impacts brain chemistry such as releasing cortisol or allowing for positive impact of neurotransmitters/hormones in the brain. Emotions and safety enhance the efficacy of the patterning the brain must do to make sense of new information and experiences” (Caine and Caine, 1994: Spregner, 1999, as cited in Goodwin, 2020, p. 82).
GOODWIN, T. (2020). Student-Centered Classroom Culture. In CONSIDER, CONSTRUCT, CONFIRM: A new framework for teaching and learning (p. 79-82). S.l.: KENDALL HUNT.
Define consider, construct, and confirm
What is consider means to unlock prior knowledge and the current path a student is on?
What is construct means to build knowledge, to do something, to expand the schemas, and to create meaningful experiences?
What is confirm means to solidify knowledge?
The way learning happens
What is by doing?
Vygotsky's CLT
What is social constructivism?
How do you (as the teacher) develop meaningful rapport with your students?
- Get to know all of my students personally (talk to at least 3 students a day about their day/interests/future plans)
- Attend their extracurriculars
- Create a space to communicate with your students (about school or non-school): Notebook Conversations --> Each student gets a small notebook they put in their cubby. They can write notes in it to me, and we will write back and forth.
Reasons to have relationship with your students
What is students will be able to have more personalized education to them, and students will have more trust in the teacher making them feel safe. “By knowing them, you can be more effective in offering any individualization to their education appropriate for the specific lesson. And knowing someone is the foundation for trust, gratitude, and empathy which are necessary characteristics of respectful relationships.” (Goodwin, 2020, p. 79).
GOODWIN, T. (2020). Student-Centered Classroom Culture. In CONSIDER, CONSTRUCT, CONFIRM: A new framework for teaching and learning (p. 79-82). S.l.: KENDALL HUNT.
Implementing "consider" in the classroom
What is facilitate small group discussions, journaling prompts, hypothesizing, games, and do (KW)L charts?
Piaget's CLT
What is individualistic constructivism?
The main idea of Brain Based Learning
What is the brain is a muscle you have to train and the brain is always changing/developing?
How do you help develop positive peer-to-peer relationships?
- Encourage social interaction by seating arrangement at desks (groups of 3-5 desks facing each other, assign seating,) and on whole-group rug area (allow choice for sitting). This will allow for a wide range of interaction between students.
- Assign small group projects
- Promote partner/small group discussions with a rotation of choice groups and assigned groups
- Play ice-breaker activities throughout the day (morning meeting, short breaks in between lessons, closing circle)
Reasons for students to have relationships with each other
What is Vygotsky’s idea of social constructivism allows for learning. When there is great connections between students there will be better social interaction which should lead to more learning?
Implementing "construct" in the classroom
What is conduct experiments, create choice projects/bingo boards (students are given an array of assignment ideas and have to do three to make a bingo), encourage passion project (students create a project of their choice on something they are excited about), research project, and perform simulations?
Individualistic Constructivism main ideas
What is knowledge has to come from oneself, class should be hands-on, and student-centered?
Social Constructivism main ideas
What is learning happens in collaboration with others, class should be hands-on, and student-centered?
How do you facilitate Happiness (capital H) in your classroom?
- Create an environment for Flow (balance challenge versus skill, incorporate students’ passions, limit distractions like busy work, soft music in the background)
- Develop a positive physical space with mood lighting, comfy space for independent work, gather desks in collaborative group sizes
- Include differentiated instruction and materials
Reasons to have Happiness in the classroom
What is Happiness and flow leads to a deeper understanding of the material, school is more enjoyable, and students can go to another world?
Implementing "construct" in the classroom
What is completing KW(L) charts (the "What I learned part"), facilitate group discussions, individual, partner, small group and whole group reflections, create new predictions based on new found knowledge, exit tickets, and plat games (jeopardy, matching?
Define Learning Theory (as part of Piaget's ideation)
What is humans have schemas or, mental templates, that develop cognitive patterns and are used to compare new information. New information, or a new situation, will cause disequilibrium, requiring accommodation to current schemas and assimilating the new information into a current or new schema. This will result in equilibrium once again?
Define Mediation (as part of Vygotsky's ideation)
What is an interaction between a learner, a task, and a mediator to use speech to bridge the gap of someone's current understanding and what they almost understand? What is the mediator (a person, symbol, or material) guides the learner to discover?
Give specific examples on how to empower students in the classroom?
- Encourage curiosity through questioning,
- Create a student feedback box where they can put notes for feedback or new ideas
- Connect students to the community in the school and the community they live in through projects, research, and local teams/organizations/issues
- Involve students in “real world” issues
- Autonomy in the classroom (choice: bingo boards, activity menus, materials)
- Pen pal (with a sports team, high school students, students across the country)
Reasons to empower students
What is learning happens by doing and when students are empowered, they can take charge of their learning. According to Piaget, knowledge comes from oneself?