Being Constructive

• A summary of what you have learned from the chapter readings.

This weeks Chapter was on Constructivism. I've made a few revelations this week in my approach to teaching. I'm finding more and more it looks as though i'm going to need to step outside my comfort level and teach in ways that pushes kids to take more responsibility for thier own education. Constructivist believe meaningful learning is the active creation of knowledge structures from personal experience. Construction of ideas is strongly influenced by student's prior knowledge. By taking a constructivist approach I can encourage students to seek out not only knowledge but new ways of getting it.

• Compare what you have learned from the reading with what you have experienced in life so far.

My kids give me the buld of the experience I have so far, my own education did not mirror much of what we are learning now, i had a few odd ball teachers who thought a little outside the box but most just stood in the front of hte room and lectured while we pretended to care. The odd balls by the way got my attention and made me care.

• Describe how keeping this journal has helped you organize ideas for teaching; come up with new ideas; etc.

Again i hate to sound like a broken record but I'm relly using this as a place to store ideas an hope someday it will be a valuable resource when i am at a loss for ideas.

2. Your blog should include the following so that you will have something to remember the discussions:

• Comment on anything new and exciting you have learned from the discussion boards that you feel will help you in becoming a teacher.

The discussions this week got me thinking about some of my own experiences with Math. I brought up a problem i had had in the past wwith my unorthodox problem solving and she seemed very receptive to accepting new learning strategies that kids like me used when in school. i hope it helps her understand guys like me aren't trying to skirt the rules but we just do it better another way.

3. The question for this week is: Find another school district's website (this will be your second one) outside of your hometown and/or Springfield (or the city you live in). Make sure that this school district is in a different town and/or state. Copy and paste (or type) the link into your blog. Answer the following questions about the school district in your blog:

http://www.bentonville.k12.ar.us/web/employment/certified_positions.asp

• Would you want to teach in this particular school district?

Yes, i'd heard about their competitive pay and low taxes and reasonable cost of living and so I thought I'd look into it.

• What makes this school district stand out from others that you found on the Internet?

Currently is one of the fastest growing communities in the country but from people I know it still has a small town feel. Kinda like Springfield in a way I guess.

• Are there specific features that this school district has to offer that you hadn't thought of before? What are they? If not, what would you like?

They have an Accelerated reader program which I find to be very important and useful for students and teachers alike. The more prepared tehse kids are with reading the easier my job will be.

• Would you ever consider applying for a job at this school district? Why or why not?

yes all in all seems like a very nice community and the pay and cost of living are both resonable, unlike my last district which had competitive pay but the cheapest house my familiy of 5 could fit in was $795,000

• Based on what we've learned so far in this class, how does this school district measure up?

Seems to be on top of everything even their website is first class.