Ms. Chapa

When asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” as a child, I remember always wanting to help people. Like many students in STEM, the medical field is an obvious choice for those who want to help people. It wasn’t until I became an AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program tutor while being a student in the AVID program myself, however, that allowed me to see I am my happiest when teaching kids. I have experienced many students not enjoying the concepts of science and feel as if it is too hard for them to learn, but after me being their teacher and witnessing the students have that “aha!” moment despite their beliefs before, has made me want to do that everyday. I want to help students see they can achieve anything they want or need to accomplish, even if they think it’s too hard. By teaching students, I hope to aid them as much as I can to prepare them for their educational or career plans.

One of the approaches I plan on teaching through can be seen by Jean Piaget’s constructivism. To implement his ideas, I plan to be focused on being an aid for students as they learn through their environment and from each other. For instance, I will observe my students as they try to make sense of the material before them and help guide when necessary as well as offer support if they are stuck on a topic. The students will attempt to do this through experimentation like trial and error and try to put patterns together and discover a solution.The students will also be assigned into groups so they can also learn from each other as each student will have a different perspective on the material. As students do this, they will be working like scientists and their learning process can be based on concepts and their way of constructing meaning instead of memorizing facts or getting the right answer. This way, they are able to connect material between course subjects and skills they will need as they move forward. To assess their learning, I would have exit tickets at the end of each lesson to see what they learned so far and what they might be confused about. In addition, for a summative assessment based on the material, I would have the students put together a group presentation on their findings, explain why they came to the conclusion that they did, and compare it to another group’s findings to find similarities or differences.

Unlike Piaget, however, I believe culture and language differences between students can be used as a tool within their learning as it has shaped their mind to what it is as they walk into my classroom, similar to Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural beliefs. For students to benefit from their different ways of thinking, I plan to have students work together to try to make sense of an assignment I provide them that is slightly above their current knowledge. My role, however, would only be observing how the students work together and not offering much aid to ensure they work from and with each other. I would also implement concepts from Seymour Papert that allow students to take action within their learning, to ensure the students are able to use any tools at hand from my classroom as not all students have equal access to other resources. To assess their knowledge, I would have project-based assessments for students to be able to bring their ideas to life and share to the class to have students learn from other groups.