As I read everything there is to know about constructivism, my thought was: how did I learn? I was educated in a catholic school, from Pre-K to 12. As long as I can remember, I sat in rows (usually in the second to last row towards the back b/c we were sitting in alphabetical order). I don't remember groups, learning centers, games (other than the occasional 7-Up Game if we had a sub!). This boggles my mind: how did I learn everything I know? Would I have been a different person if I was educated in the type of school environment that encouraged hands-on learning and other constructivist methods?
Since learning about constructivism in my undergraduate years, I've always struggled with this concept of 'open-ended' learning. I think it was because of how I was raised: teacher-directed, minimal student-to-student interaction environment. My struggle as a teacher has always been how to incorporate constructivist-type activities/questions into my teaching. I have definitely improved over my 7 years of teaching. I remember as a student teacher, I made sure every lesson I did was blowing bells and whistles. If I was doing a fractions lesson, we used real brownies to cut them into halves! When we were learning about the history of the Olympics, the kids were competing in their own simulated Olympics (with gold/bronze/silver olive branches as awards!) I've become more wise, however, over the years. I am now finding a balance between guiding the children and then letting them come up with their own conclusions. Does it always turn out successful? No, but my students are remembering a heck of a lot more.
