Hi!

    As a teacher, I hope to encourage my students to be responsible for their own learning and enjoy the material as it is being taught. When something I learned outside the classroom setting is taught, I find myself getting excited and more curious about the subject. I hope to spark the flame of curiosity and excitement in my students. To accomplish this goal, I will conduct intriguing and engaging activities where the students ponder the problem, discuss their findings among themselves, and push them to prove their argument. Implementing a range of class discussions, group activities, and supporting the idea of learning from mistakes provides a good starting point in aspiring the students about the wonders of learning. 
   From my classroom observations, students develop ideas and learn in a deeper conceptualized fashion when working in groups. Students should be presented with an introduction to the concept and allowed to formulate their ideas without the direct interference of the teacher. From my constructivist perspective and in reference to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the students are the source of knowledge. Students present their thoughts to the class, right or wrong, and everyone learns from that. By constructing the information, themselves, the students are more likely to remember the material and how they came to derive it. Furthermore, by listening to their classmates, students self-reflect, revise, and add to their current understanding. I want to measure the students’ success in the classroom by formatively assessments to see their developing in knowing and learning. As a teacher, their long-term conceptual facility plays a more important factor in the student’s education than simply reproducing information on a summative assessment. However, summative assessments can become formative if material from a previous unit is brought into consideration for the current lesson, which would be the case for longer assessments such as projects.
   Along with the student-centered lesson, I plan to assess the students formatively to get an idea on the students’ performance. Rather than lengthy exams at the end of the lesson, I feel like short quizzes or exams and projects better reflect the student’s understanding. Long, lengthy exams usually do a poor job in assessing students’ knowledge due to its shallow conceptual questions and vast range of material coverage. Moreover, the homework assignments will be a few questions of varying difficulty but needs more knowledge to complete. The homework grades being based on completion will encourage students to come forward about their difficulties and hopefully bring it to a point of discussion in the classroom.  
   In conclusion, I want students to be the source of learning. By approaching the classroom from a constructivist perspective, I hope the students will remember not only the material, but also the process in constructing that knowledge to help in their future careers. Additionally, I will promote the idea that a student’s intelligence is not fixed; everyone has the capacity to grow in knowing and learning, and it is my job as the teacher to help students get there.