My Teaching Resources

“Constructivists believe that learners actively construct their own understanding rather than passively absorb or copy the understandings of others”. Under this way of learning the teacher does not simply present information and expect the children to ‘learn it off by heart’, the children construct their own concepts. This is more the process of problem solving/discovering meaning rather than finding out about the teachers mathematical ideas. The children modify their existing ideas to accommodate new ideas and the teacher’s role is crucial in resolving these ‘conflict’. This mental process requires connections are made between concepts.

The role of the teacher has changed where ‘knowledge is in the head of the teacher’ and the teacher has to find ways how to transfer/present it to the students. In the constructivist way of learning the teacher is the facilitator. The teacher’s role is to also ask probing questions, paraphrase ideas, refocus to discussion if need and explore misconceptions and conflicting ideas. Rather than children doing lots of individual text book work, children work in small groups to work out problems and have opportunities to discuss, explain and justify their solutions. It is the teachers responsibility to create a ‘problem solving atmosphere’ and design appropriate tasks to stimulate mental activity.

In the this atmosphere the children view problems are personal challenges, believe mathematics makes sense and feel free to discuss their ideas in small groups and whole class discussions. The children are encourages to assume some responsibility for their learning/conduct and take pride in their own achievements. As well as the teacher taking responsibility for their learning the teacher needs to take responsibility for their own teacher. Teachers need to explore other methods of assessment and emphasise that children assess their own learning.

Reference:

Mayers, C and Britt, M. Constructivism in the Mathematics Classroom. Article 6. Neyland J (Ed). (1995). Mathematics Education. A Handbook for Teachers. Vol 6, 60-69. Wellington. Wellington College of Education.

Level One

• Students need short maths games 1-7 minutes as they have a short attention span.
  Children need to understand concepts easily in game situations.
• High participation rate of all children, especially in group work.
• Activities should be related to their interests
• Give clear, simple instructions and make sure they are understood. A Good way to check this is to ask the children to repeat instructions back to the teacher.
• The children should use ‘hands-on’ resources, for example, multi-link, blocks
• Teacher should use teach simple maths language appropriate to the level.
• The teacher should remind children how to work in groups as they can be egocentric.

Level Two

• Students still need short maths activities, but their attention span is longer than Level One.
• Students need a lot of group work.
• Activities should be related to students’ interests.
• The Teacher should use maths language appropriate to their level.
• Teacher should give clear simple instructions.
• Students are able to work independently for short periods of time.
• Students still need hands on resources.
• Children need high levels of involvement to maintain interests.

Level Three

• There is a larger gap of ability levels so ability groupings are more needed. Perhaps maths interchange is in place.
• Extension of gifted children.
• Ability to pick up speed and fluency of basic facts.
• Children are capable of working independently.
• Children have a greater desire to be challenged.
• Children have security in repetition so they can adapt to routine in the form of timetables.
• Students socialise more in groups so teacher must allow more time for collaboration.

Level Four

• Children can independently think and work by themselves. More activities from textbooks can be done.
• There is a larger gap of ability levels so ability levels are needed. Perhaps maths interchange is in place.
• Children have more co-ordination so they need more challenging activities.
• Children have security in repetition so they can adapt to routine in the form of timetables.
• Students socialise more in groups so teacher must allow more time for collaboration.
• Teacher must plan for children who need extension activities.
• Children can carry out longer investigations, and think critically.
• Children have a varied number of strategies to work out problems.

This activity is excellent to do at the beginning of the year to find out more about the different cultures of the children. This activity involves finding out about the occasions the children in the class celebrate.

Resources

• Paper
• Graph paper
• Class list
• Equipment to colour in with e.g. felts, coloured pencils, etc.

On a class list, ask each child about the different occasions they celebrate. Depending on the age of the children, the children could actually survey themselves.

With the information, model to the children on the mat how to organise the information and present it as a graph. Ask the children to share and compre the ways have organised and presented the same information. Discuss the different formats the children used to present the same information. Focus on selecting formats that can be easily understood by others.

When modelling and discussing with the children, emphasise using the mathematical language to explain the procedure used to collect, represent and interpet information.

Different graphs to explore:

• Bar/column graphs
• Line graphs and locating position using co-ordinate
• Picture graphs where each picture represents more than one picture
• Pie Graphs

Extension:

• The children could integrate ICT skills by using Microsoft Excel to present a variety of graphs
• This lesson could be integrated into an integrated unit of work with Social Studies by exploring the different cultures. Record the information onto a class calender and throughout the year celebrate some of the occasions at school.

References:

Mcmillan Resources

“A hands on activity is useless if their hands are on but their heads are off” – Skamp 2004

Achievement Objectives:

Level 2 – AO3 – Making Sense of the Physical World: Explore trends and relationships found in easily observablte phenomena

Focus Concept/s:

This lesson provides opportunties for the children to investigate the colours that constitute visible (seemingly ‘white light’)

Learning Intentions:

• The children will able to describe a ‘spectrum of colour’
• The children will investigate the colours in different forms – prisms, bubbles

Resources:

OHP

x6 prisms

x6 coloured balloons

2 m of bendable wire

x5 trays

Washing Liquid

Sugar

5 torches

12 vivids

Focus Questions Cards

Paper

Lesson Overview: (Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand & Evauluate/Assessment)

Engage:

As the children walk in "I can Sing a Rainbow" will play in the background. Also, as the children come in they must collect a piece of paper with a colour (red, yellow, blue, green, purple). This piece of paper corresponds to a coloured balloon of the table that they must go and sit at.
"Today we will be learning about light and colour – Brainstorm on your piece of paper with words or pictures some places that we get light from." The children share ideas from the groups to the class and the teacher records this on the whiteboard. Talk about experiences they may of had.

Explore:

For this lesson we are going to look at transmitted light – which is from the sun and light bulbs. "What colour are these sorts of lights?"

Shine a projector onto a white screen – Explain that "usually the light from the sun or a lamp/light looks white. Light that looks white is really a mixture of coloures! This is called a spectrum/rainbow of colours!"

Give each group a prism – look at it with no light then get the children to put the prism into a light (torch). The group look at the prism thoroughly and answer/record the focus question that are on cards on their tables. Report back to the class what each group saw.

Focus Questions:

What does the prism look like when there is no light on it?

What happens when we shine a light on it?

Where do you think the colours come from?

• Bubble people
  Model to the children the contents of the activity.

  "You are going to make a wire person and then figure out how you can show me the colours of the spectrum using the materials you have been given". The gopher collects the materials for their group. The children are given 5 minutes to explore the materials while the teacher wanders around the groups.

Explain

In the groups the children draw exactly what they saw when they made their bubble person. Use crayons to how the colours and write around the person what happened and why you think it happened – spectrum of colours (rainbow). Let the children construct their own ideas from the prior activities.

Expand

Teacher explain that when two rays of light meet they interfere with each other. Some colours cancel each other out and other add together. "Which colours did you observe the most?"

Explain

Each person in the group writes one word/phrase or draws a picture on the balloon from their group to show what they have learnt about light and colour. These could be displayed in the classroom.

This article is about my teaching experience in my 3rd Year science class. I did micro-teaching on the topic ‘light and colour’ (aimed towards Year 3 children) as part of an assignment and completed a critical self-reflection.

Skamp (2004) calls children’s prior/existing knowledge ‘alternative conceptions’. These alternative conceptions are held by all learners. Skamp (2004) uses the example that children are not empty vessels – rather children come to science lessons with a diverse angle of everyday or alternative ideas. I found this was a very clever way of putting it, because through researching information for a topic, I was able to distinguish my ‘alternative conceptions’ and how it differed to the actual explanations. Fleer and Hardy (2001) also states in an interactive approach, that children will come into class with understandings of their world and meanings for many words used in science teaching. If children’s ideas are ignored in teaching it is likely that they will remain unchanged, , or changed in unexpected ways – reinforcing for instance, incorrect ideas.

Skamp (2004) explains that teachers need to check and if necessary clarify our conceptions about phenomena associated with the topic being taught. These alternative conceptions are influenced by everyday experiences, including direct observation and perception. For example, seemingly white light is actually a spectrum (or rainbow) of colour. Children see that lights are white because that is how they see it in their everyday lives. It it not until we separated the colours with a prism that they could see the link.

Instead of feeding the students in a transmission approach, I encouraged them to actively engaged with the ideas and evidence, challenged them to develop meanings understandings and link with the student’s ideas/interests. I related the topic to the student’s lives by questioning places they see light and the spectrum of colours, for example in a rainbow. I wanted the students the find the spectrum of colour in a hands on way, by using torches with a prism and observing colours inside a bubble. This style of teaching is influenced a ‘constructionist view’ – children construct rather than absorb new ideas. Skamp (2004) quotes that “learning is not the transmission of knowledge from the head of the teacher. Through my activities in the lesson, the students actively generated meaning from experiences on the basis of existing ideas. What I believe is crucial is that EACH individual has their own meaning and what we aimed to do is challenge those in our lesson and for everyone to be involved.

In the lesson the students were organised in groups of five or six. This is influenced by a collaborative learning approach. It is important for students to work in groups because they are exposed to other children’s views and being required to express their own science views on which they may comment (Skamp (2004). Students who know how to monitor and control their own learning are empowered to engage in more purposeful ‘meaning making’. I noticed when roaming around the different groups that students were reflecting on each others comments and challenging them. In groups of adults, no one was offended but in classrooms I have seen on practice, less dominant children ‘shut down’ when another child challenged their view. Reflecting on this I think it is crucial to set up a classroom that has a positive classroom environment to teach them science. It is beneficial to listen to each other and it is acceptable to challenge views because they all have different views of the world. Fleer and Hardy (2001) also agrees. In his interactive approach how important is it for students to learn from their peers. In a safe environment the children are encouraged to take risks, reflect and develop a sense of achievement as they learnt.

While I was roaming with the children, I was getting ideas, reflections and clarified student’s understandings. On a couple occasions, questions arose, but I did not answer them, instead I affirmed the student’s contributions and accepted their ideas. Fleer and Hardy (2001) commends these actions and states other important attributes of a role of a science teacher. When a student asked a questions when roaming, he suggested to answer their question with a question. In order to do this, support for student’s learning was very important.

In our lesson we used colour songs and balloon to brighten the classroom and interest the classroom. The use of balloons as a positive behaviour reinforcement strategy, play ‘pass the parcel’ to music and use it as a form of assessment with reflective comments made the classroom very exciting and it was very relevant to colours. I think Year 3 children would of absolutely loved balloons in the classroom and would of changed the mood, especially if science was taught after the lunchtime period.

Through reading and analysing different approaches that affect my philosophy of science education I believe immersion is the best way to get started to motivate the children and gain/continue a high interest in a topic. In this process the children need to make connections between past and present learning experiences (5E approach reading). I can then try to determine to determine the children’s prior knowledge and understanding about the topic. As well as knowing the children’s alternative conceptions, teachers also need to understand their own.

Science education should be hands on and the children need to actively engage with ideas and evidence. By doing this children will feel like they have ‘ownership’ of the learning. I believe meaningful learning occurs when children construct rather than absorb ideas which comes from a constructivist approach. Learners actively generate meanings from experiences on the basis of of existing ideas and each individual when changing ideas need to construct their own meanings of experiences. To do this teachers need to ensure that the class has a positive classroom environment – that is supportive and children’s respects each others views.

References:

Fleer, M, Hardy, T. (2001). Science for Teaching: Developing a Personal Approach to Teaching. 2nd Edition.

Westwood, P. (1995). Current Issues in Effective Teaching and Learning. Board of Studies. New South Wales.

Dougiamas, M. (1998). A Journey into Constructivism.