Summary and Synthesis

So, I found myself pushing outside of my confort zone and attempting to use and look for ways to incorporate construvism within my teaching philosophy. Working with my partner on the LPU, I have found myself working hard and trying to use this approach. It does take a lot more time, however, as a student I found that learning this way is effective. Each day in class when are taught using this approach the concepts sort of stick in my head. Even taking the Praxis, I used some of the information we learned. I know how to find the area of different objects because I learned the process of developing the formula instead of just memorizing the formula! I found that part of the exam to be less stressful because the way I view math and math problems has changed.
I also find myself applying this approach in science. With all the reflecting we do with reading and daily activities, I can see the transfer of teaching this way into science also. I'm not exactly sure how to apply this to other content areas but its cool to see how it can be used in science too. As much as I complain and whine, I know this class will have a big impact on my teaching ability, strategies, and overall philosophy.

Questions and Answers

My partner and I have been working on our lpu and it has raised a few questions.  First, do teachers really have to write lesson plans that are like our lpu assignment?  Do teachers mostly get their lessons out of the teachers’ manual and follow that or do they write their own lesson plans?  The past few days we have been working on our lpu and it seems me a teacher should take ideas out of the teachers’ manuals, but have the main ideas and activities be their own.  It maybe difficult and time consuming to write lesson plans as multifaceted as we are, but I feel the students will get a lot out of our lesson plan. 

As I have been looking through 5^th grade teachers’ manuals I have noticed that there are worksheets for different leveled math students.  My question is when handing out a worksheet for homework do you give each student a different worksheet, one that has questions that fits the level they are at, or do you give everyone the same worksheet.  I don’t ever remember not having the same worksheet as my classmates when I was in grade school. 

Deanna