The Beautiful Classroom

Description The effective classroom is one in which the students are working on “well-structured activities that engage their interests, who are highly motivated to learn, and who are working on tasks that are challenging yet within their capabilities rarely pose any serious management problems” (Slavin, 2014, pp.272). Analysis Effective classroom management is one of the key components in an effective classroom (Slavin, 2014, pp.272).  Teachers who exemplify good classroom management use class time well, create an atmosphere that is engaging and promotes and allows students to explore their curiosity.  Good management focuses more on establishing routines and praising on-task behavior rather than punishing undesired actions.  Punishment can lead to resentment and missed classroom opportunities, which in turn might promote more negative behavior (Slavin, 2014, pp.282).  Effective teachers also maximize their “engaged time,” the time spent productivel...

Description Students with different ability levels are better served working alongside their peers, rather than in separate classes.   Peer tutoring and cooperative learning has been shown to benefit both the higher and lower ability students. Analysis Slavin (2015) notes that there are four major components of an effective lesson: quality instruction, appropriate level of instruction, high incentives, and quality use of time (pp.216).   No matter the ability level, if the balance between these four components is skewed then the lesson will be less than optimally effective.     Students are diverse in their personalities, interests and their academic abilities.   There are multiple ways of addressing the issue of mixed abilities inside a school.   Course tracking, between-class ability grouping, and within-class ability grouping are all used in some form or fashion in modern schools.   “Untracking” has also become popular.   When unt...

Description Constructivism is a theory of learning based primarily on the work of Jean Piaget and Leo Vygotsky.  The theory holds that human beings learn through experience, “constructing” knowledge through exercises with their peers.  Constructivist classrooms value collaboration and student-centered lessons. Analysis Leo Vygotsky’s theories focused on four key principles: social learning, the zone of proximal development, cognitive apprenticeship, and mediated learning.  “Social learning” is the observation that humans learn through interaction with other human beings.  This interaction functions most efficiently in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), the middle area between what students can do independent and what they cannot do even with help.  The ZPD is the skills that students can do with the aid of a more experienced person.  Inside the ZPD, the more expert teacher guides the learner in “cognitive apprenticeship,” a process whe...

Description Direct Instruction is a blueprint for an effective lesson plan.  It focuses on clearly stating learning expectations, reviewing prior skills, teaching new material, and finally, reinforcing the newly introduced information. Analysis Slavin (2015) states that lesson that use Direct Instruction (DI), “transmit information directly to students, structuring class time to reach a clearly defined set of objectives” (pp.162).  The lesson has seven basic parts: 1.       Orienting students towards the upcoming lesson and clearly stating learning objectives 2.       Reviewing prior skills and knowledge needed that day 3.       Introducing the new information 4.       Ask searching questions to test the level of understanding 5.       Have the students do independent work to test their acquisition of knowledge 6.  ...

Description Remembering and recalling information is an active process that must be powered by the individual’s desire to learn the information.  One of the teacher’s responsibilities is triggering this desire in his students. Analysis The process of learning is a complicated web of interactions inside our brains.  Our brains are flooded with information every moment of the day but we do not remember it all.  What is stored and what is discarded is determined by the interests, background knowledge, and goals of the individual.  The movement along the pathway of sensory input, to working memory, to long term memory is called the “executive process” (Slavin, 2015, pp.125).  The “executive process” is a willful process by the individual to decide what information he will keep and which information he will not keep (Slavin, 2015, pp.124).   Our sensory registers are constantly gathering information from the sights, sounds, tastes, and sm...

Description            The readings this week focused on behaviorist theories of learning, including those of Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner.  Experience as a key ingredient in the learning process was evaluated in detail. Analysis Slavin (2015) uses two definitions of learning that both involve the individual’s experiences as a catalyst for a changed mindset, worldview, and/or behavior (p.100).  The first scientist that Slavin discusses is Ivan Pavlov, a Russian researcher from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Pavlov used dogs and their salivation to test his theories that reactions could be trained, as well as naturally occurring.  He used unconditioned stimuli, such as meat, to produce an unconditioned reaction, salivating, in the dogs.  No training was needed, hence the term, “unconditioned.”  Pavlov then paired a “neutral” stimuli, one that produces no reaction in the dog, such as a bell ringing, with the uncondition...