I really loved how the first day of class in Psyc 414 when we took a quiz on what was obvious. It really opened my eyes to see that what is obvious to me isn't always obvious to others. Further more, obvious wasn't always the best technique after research was done too. Another influence to my strategy for back to wall is how Professor Cushing has utilize it as the semester went through. I can read all about the facts in research but seeing how effective it was when she used it in class has been most potent.
One of the most influential strategy has been the use of constructivism. This theory helps me to understand my students more. I love these main points of what the definition of constructivism are:
- Constructivism is a theory of knowledge that argues
that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their
experiences and their ideas.
- This theory of knowing holds that learning is an
active and constructive process.
- A learner actively creates his or her own
subjective representations of objective reality; new information is linked to
prior knowledge.
- Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment.
Robert Sternberg also influenced me to recognize the way how students/people think in general:
- Analytical thinking which focuses on planing, monitoring, reflection, and transfer.
- Creative thinking which focuses on developing, applying new ideas, and creating solutions.
- Practical thinking which focuses on selecting and shaping real-world environments and experiences.
- http://www.gigers.com/matthias/gifted/sternberg.html
I was previously a business major and switched over to liberal arts. What made me do it was that I worked at a private school full with children that had many different disabilities. I always got along fine with people and socializing but didn't think of it as a career. I chose business because that was the logical way to go as and everyone seem to do the same. My life changed as I worked with these children. Sure they gave me fits on certain days and the sun wasn't always sunny but it made me realize who I really should be. Every time I taught a lesson to the kids, it felt good inside of me. Especially when the students apply it to other parts of their lives (constructivism again). It made me say to myself, "I taught them that". So all in all, my most subconscious influence has been these students who would have scared most people away from the teaching profession. Instead it drew me to it.
 | As stated in my introduction, one of my most influential people has been my senior year English teacher in high school. He wasn't all about lecture and would go deep into meanings of texts. I loved how he stood out from the crowd too. In this picture he is clean shaven but back then he had a beard like Abraham Lincoln and would pass easily for an Amish person. He also rode his bike every Friday from Chico to Willows and back to Chico afterwards. He also had no television in his household (which I thought was so weird at the time). These little details that differed him is what made me finally realize that teachers are also human beings with personalities. I was just so used to seeing the typical lecture/note taking types. |
