EDU 6132 – Reflection 2

Over the past month, we have been discussing topics surrounding nature vs nurture, biological and cognitive development.  Before starting this course, I had only really thought about these topics in the context of nutrition.  The main point I have taken away so far is that not all students will learn the same way and it is important as an educator to take into consideration where each individual student is at.

Nature vs nurture is the first topic we addressed and a large component of my main point.  Every child is coming to school with completely different experiences and background and because of this it is crucial we make education connect to each different student.  From module 2 we talked about biological development but I liked Medina’s points on wiring.  Wiring shows that just because a child or adolescent is supposed to be at a certain developmental landmark does not mean that is where they are due to different exposure and experiences.  Learning how to run your classroom and develop lesson plans will be crucial.  Classroom constructivism from module 3 is an example of this. I found myself leaning towards the exogenous constructivism in which the teacher gives explanations and models problem solving to help give the student a head start.  To me this is the perfect balance in the classroom and hits the rule from module 4 of improving memory by preventing overloading and connecting it to something meaningful to the student.  By doing so it will also increase engagement.  With this being said and going back to my point of not all students will learn the same way, it is important to also teach in a variety of formats rather than just what you are drawn to as an educator.  This will give all students an equal opportunity of learning. 

Overall, I feel it is my job as a future educator to learn to apply all these skills to give students the best experience and the help them get the most out of it.  Thinking back to school with students who were unengaged or acted out – there may have been a way to target those students using the methods we have talked about thus far.