Friday, April 5, 2013

chapter 2

Chapter 2

One of the most cited theories of human development is that of Swiss biologist Jean
Piaget. After reading about Piaget’s basic assumptions (p. 27-32) look with particular attention
at the stage of child development you would like to teach. The other most cited theory of
human development belongs to Russian developmentalist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s theory of
cognitive development leads us to expect greater diversity among our same-aged students than
Piaget. Given these two influential theorists’ ideas on cognitive development, how might you accommodate students who are not yet working at the level of their peers?
I would like students to work with other students that are at a skill level above themselves. Hopefully this way they can raise their zone of proximity and gain more knowledge in the subject matter.  I hope to keep the groups in my classroom as diverse as possible.
Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in
cognitive development. Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range
that you are interested in teaching. Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.a
I hope to work with students at the elementary level in my art classroom. I know that when working with this age group (this applies to high school as well) that I can not be sarcastic.  Students will take every thing that I say literally and at face value. It is going to be important to mean what I say and say what I mean.... you know what I mean. I also will not be able to say things like "you really let the cat out of the bag. " or anything like that.  The students might think that they really had a cat in a bag and that is just cruel.  
I want to be as clear as possible with my students and make sure that they feel free to ask me to clarify if they have any questions or concerns in my classroom.

1 comment:

  1. Haha good post Lauren! Use of sarcasm was something I thought about as well. I know we both like to use it in our lives so we will have to work hard to keep it out of the classroom. Good thing we're aware!

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