Theoretical Foundations

Students learn in dozens of different ways, ways that can vary with the same student on a day to day basis.  Look at the world around us, there are dozens of ways to take it in, and all of those are different learning styles.  Some students will learn from reading something, some from touching it, and still others must use it and get hands on in order to fully understand a concept that you are trying to teach them.  As a teacher it is your job to ensure that you are accommodating to each student, which means you have to teach in a way that each learning style is used. When teaching, especially teaching younger students, you have to watch each child closely in order to figure out what learning style works best for them.  Older students may be able to just tell you what works best for them, but the average third grader would have a hard enough time just grasping the concept that we all learn in different ways, let alone telling you which way is best for them.  

I learn from a mixture of hands on, group work settings and anything involving music.  In my classroom I plan to have many activities to get the students involved, be that through song or projects or role play.  I want kids to come to my class and be excited to see what the day will bring, rather than expect the usual book work class work home work day to day grind.  There is a show on PBS Kids, Sid the Science Kid, where Sid goes to class every day and then tells his parents each night what he learns.  It is so obvious(and yes I am aware it is a show so not every child would do this) that the way the classroom is ran inspires the students to not only pay attention and get involved each day, but also to take home what they learned in class and further their education.  

Technology is going to play a huge role in my classroom.  To teach a child about the solar system and then show them a moving 3D video before turning our classroom into a giant solar system is something that teachers of the past could never do.  Courses on math can be made fun and easy to understand with the help of visual aids. What's best about technology is that it makes it easy for students who need or just want that little bit of extra help to get it, including being able to lectures of the day as many times as necessary.  Personally I am not a visual learner, which is something that as a teacher I will need to be sure not to overlook so that my students who ARE visual learners still get that aspect in the lessons and get the most out of their education.