This blog post discusses the constructivist teaching philosophy. The author's teaching philosophy aligns with constructivism, which equates learning with creating meaning from experience. Constructivism sees the student as creating their own understanding rather than just receiving information. The post discusses some classroom activities that use constructivist methods, such as an activity where students create compound words and play a matching game. It also discusses a science activity where students learn about density by weighing different candy bars. The post references sources that provide more information about constructivist teaching methods.

1. BLOG ACTIVITY # 1
BY: PATRICIA HENSON
“Do not train a child to learn by
force or harshness; but direct
them to it by what amuses their
minds, so that you may be better
able to discover with accuracy the
peculiar bent of the genius of
each.”
― Plato
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

2. WHICH
THEORY
ALIGNS
WITH YOUR
TEACHING
PHILOSOPH
Y?
The philosophical
assumptions underlying
both the behavioral and
cognitive theories are
primarily objectivistic;
that is; the world is real,
external to the learner.
The goal of instruction
is to map the structure
of the world onto the
learner (Jonassen,
1991b).
My philosophy aligns
perfectly with
Constructivism. For the
reason being that
constructivism is a
theory that equates
learning with creating
meaning from
experience (Bednar et
al., 1991). To me with
constructivism, a
student is able to create
and map out the way
they learn. I am not
there to tell them how
to learn, which is good,
because no two
students learn the same
way.

3. EXPOSURE OF
CONSTRUCTIVISM

4. WHICH THEORY OR THEORIES ARE
MOST EFFECTIVE FOR ENHANCING
YOUR TEACHING AND INSTRUCTIONAL
PLANNING?
I feel that constructivism and Gardner’s theory are the
most effective for enhancing my teaching and
instructional planning.
In constructivism, learner and environmental factors are
critical to the constructivist, as it is the specific
interaction between these two variables that creates
knowledge. Constructivists argue that behavior is
situationally determined (Jonassen, 1991a).
In Gardner's theory, states that no two students are the
same in anyway. So if I teach a lesson one way, a
constructivist may learn their way, while a person that
falls under Gardner's theory, may learn another way.

5. CONSTRUCTIVISM IN THE
CLASSROOM
Furthermore, in the constructivist classroom, students work
primarily in groups and learning and knowledge are interactive and
dynamic. There is a great focus and emphasis on social and
communication skills, as well as collaboration and exchange of
ideas.[1] This is contrary to the traditional classroom in which
students work primarily alone, learning is achieved through
repetition, and the subjects are strictly adhered to and are guided by
a textbook. Some activities encouraged in constructivist classrooms
are: Experimentation: students individually perform an experiment
and then come together as a class to discuss the results. Research
projects: students research a topic and can present their findings to
the class. Field trips. This allows students to put the concepts and
ideas discussed in class in a real-world context. Field trips would
often be followed by class discussions. Films. These provide visual
context and thus bring another sense into the learning experience.
Class discussions. This technique is used in all of the methods
described above. It is one of the most important distinctions of
constructivist teaching methods (constructivist teaching methods)

6. What is all encompassed in
constructivism theory?

7. ACTIVITIES I COULD USE IN
MY CLASS:
COMPOUND CONJURE
This activity demonstrates that constructivist methods can be used in language arts.
Students understand compound words by creating their own compound words using
word strips.
Directions: Title - Compound (word) Conjure
By - Darla Federwitz
Primary Subject - Language Arts
Secondary Subjects -
Grade Level - 2-6 grade
Objective: Students will practice joining compound words and using them in
sentences.
Materials: 3 x 5 index cards

8. ACTIVITIES I COULD USE IN
MY CLASS:
COMPOUND CONJURE
Teacher Prep and Information:
This compound game is based on the game "Old Maid". Pick out as many familiar
compound words as you can (some are listed below). Using the index cards as the
playing cards, place the beginning word on one card. Then, place the ending word on a
different card. It should look like this:
CARD 1 CARD 2
Cup - board
It helps younger students if you color code the words, for example "cup" "-board" could
be red, while "farm" "-house" could be orange, etc. Just keep the cards in bundles with
a rubber band for easy use and play.
Place in each deck a card that says CONJURE. This is the "old maid" in the set.

9. ACTIVITIES I COULD USE IN MY CLASS:
COMPOUND CONJURE
Student Procedures/Directions:
1.Place students in groups of 3 or more.
2.Each group will get a set of "Compound Conjure"
3.Shuffle the cards as in a usual card game, and deal out all of the cards.
4.Each student should look in their hand for any compound word matches
and place those down, words up, in front of them.
5.The youngest person then starts by picking a card still in the hand of the
person to the LEFT.
6.If it completes a match they may lay it down, if not it stays in their hand.
7.Play continues, always taking from the person on the LEFT.
8.At the end of the play, one person should be left with the CONJURE
card (the Old Maid) and they then go first in putting their compound words
into sentences or giving the meaning or the compound word.
Compound words:
Snowflake upstairs bedroom
Birdhouse flowerpot treehouse
Dollhouse baseball backyard
Farmhouse downstairs driveway
Watermelon bookbag doghouse
Cookbook railroad candlestick
Ladybug sidewalk storybook
Cupboard playground background

10. ACTIVITIES TO USE IN MY
CLASS:
DELICIOUS DENSITY
Delicious Density
This activity demonstrates discovery learning in science.
Students learn about density by hypothesizing about the
weight of various miniature candy bars of similar size.
Students then weight the candy bars and write down the
weights. Students must then come up with reasons why candy
bars of the same size might have different weights. The
instructor scaffolds the activity to lead students to the concept
of density.
Handout

12. REFERENCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Constructivist
_teaching_methods&oldid=436907250
http://www.innovativelearning.com/educational_psycholo
gy/constructivism/activities.html
http://www.csiss.org/SPACE/workshops/2007/UCSB/doc
s/ertmer_newby1993.pdf
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-
pO5soERIvx0/VOxNLfTZo1I/AAAAAAAALxU/3kgH_w_Jm_
w/s1600/Education%2BQuotes5.png
https://markbondffl.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/const
ructivism.jpg