Resource Provision Notes

Or maybe not later today!

Resource Provision: Thoughts on Week 1 activities

I believe I very much have a constructivist approach in my teaching. This is because I always do some kind of assessment before beginning new learning.  A pre-test, initial brainstorm, concept web are just a couple of ways I might use to find out what students know about a topic before I start.  From there, I then plan – with student input – a possible pathway for the learning so that students are able to develop the desired learning outcomes.

I like Bloom’s Taxonomy and often refer to it when I am planning. I found the list provided a little heavy and thought that there would be little chance of me successfully covering all questions.

 How do I plan?  

As I tend to teach inquiry-based units, I generally have an essential question or activity and then develop ways for students to build the background knowledge required for them to successfully complete the task or answer the question.

In terms of resourcing the learning, where possible I find a mix of print materials and digital materials, though I am finding that I am using images a lot more in my teaching. One example, with an Australian animal unit I co-taught earlier in the year to Yr1/2s:

          1. We looked at an image of the animal and identified features, particularly those that were unique.

          2. We brainstormed reasons why they might have those features, why they were important or useful.

          3. Only then did we start to look in text to see if it supported our ideas or gave other reasons.

The teachers commented how much more the students retained from their learning by approaching it in this way, so I think images are a powerful way to start.