Learning philosophy

Lia Melcher
Teaching is a profession that is constantly evolving, exploring and challenging
what practices and strategies should be used to make education accessible, and promote
the well-being of all children. This task remains an ongoing dilemma as we try to resolve
how to treat students as individuals, with several defining factors that influence the way
they learn. Additionally, it is a job that demands being consistent and flexible, accessible
but absent, and using appropriate methods while being able to adjust. Researchers,
psychologists and philosophers have dedicated time and effort to devise tools and
theories to better understand the mind, children, and society, and how to mold and
rearrange education into a practice best suited to ensure that all developing minds are
given the opportunity to reach their maximum potential and become effective and
contributing adults. The following is an analysis of various ideas and theories,
accompanied by strategies I would use within my own classroom for assessments,
developing skills and using technology.
I would like to teach one of the grades within the primary age group (ages six to
eight or grade 1st to 3rd). This age group is affected by several physical, emotional,
social and cognitive changes that happen during the transition from early childhood to
school age. While the stereotypical classroom consists of children sitting in rows at their
desks, quietly awaiting instruction, the primary age group has yet to develop the skills
required for long listening and physically require more action. Long-term sedentary
learning can lead to fidgeting, nail biting, pencil chewing and wandering minds. As
teachers, we should respect the transitions students are influenced by and try to make it as

easy as possible. Particular strategies I recall from my own primary education involve
activity centers, quiet time, and plenty of hands-on assignments and exploration. This can
be coupled with giving students plenty of breaks and having them do small activities that
allow them to occupy their hands while they learn. Another key factor when considering
a students physical needs is that children at this age rely mostly on their gross muscle
control and are still developing their fine motor skills. As such, practice should encourage
the use of fine motor skills, but the amount of time spent on it should be short. Socially,
the primary age group begins to be more selective when choosing friends, competitive
during class activities, and are more verbally aggressive.
Keeping this in mind is vital to ensure that group work and activities go smoothly.
Teachers should encourage students to be supportive and cooperative, rather than
competitive with each other. The Educational Psychology text suggests to occasionally
switch members to keep students on track and help prevent rivalries between teams
during team projects and activities. Students in the primary age group are emotionally
sensitive, learning empathy when considering their peers, and feel that its necessary to
please their teachers. These emotional changes mean that teachers should avoid harsh
criticism, because it may be taken personally and lower self-confidence causing a loss of
interest in education. Incorporating Kounins prevention techniques are an exceptional
guideline to follow when handling classroom management and misbehavior. It provides
an approach which is delicate and effective enough for this grade level. This most
significant point in the case from Kounins work is to direct the critic to the behavior, and
avoid all personal attacks and criticisms.
Metacognition and self-regulation are valuable skills for students to acquire in

order to grow into independent learners. As students advance through the education
system, there is an increasing amount of responsibility the learner takes on, which
determines whether or not they will succeed in the class. They are assigned additional
independent work that requires time outside of class, such as research papers or
presentations. They are also given high-stakes tests, such as midterms and finals that
count for a large percent of their grade. Therefore, each student needs to develop skills
that will help them prepare for these tasks early on. Metacognition is understanding how
we learn and how that affects our thinking. Students who are aware of metacognition are
more efficient at learning on their own and understand the best methods for their
thinking. In the course text video with Ms. Craven, we see an example of a strategy for
metacognition used that demonstrates students taking notes and writing down thoughts
and questions as they read. This helps them examine how they read, and how reading
affects their thinking. Some additional practices for teaching metacognition are thinking
aloud and explicit teacher modeling (Metacognitive Strategies, 2015). Thinking
aloud is when a teacher works through a problem or question while orally expressing the
reasoning used to solve the problem. Listening to the solution benefits students with an
understanding of how to work through similar problems. Explicit teacher modeling is
when a teacher provides a clear model and example of a skill or concept that students can
apply themselves. Giving the student a basic procedure to follow can be easily
memorized and used later when a similar problem presents itself. Self-regulation
improves learners' ability to adjust actions used to accommodate certain circumstances
and achieve goals. Helping students to develop self-regulation skills is necessary to apply
correct behaviors in class, and to accomplish their academic goals. Strategies for helping

students acquire skills in self-regulation include mnemonic devices, rehearsal, concept

mapping, and self and peer questioning. Using metacognition can help students become
more self-aware of any shortcomings in their way of thinking. Some students may be
prone to procrastinate, while others may be easily distracted. However, by being more
self-aware students can use strategies or aspects of self-regulation to make up for it. For
example, students with problems procrastinating may find it useful to work on time
management and learn how to set reasonable work schedules for themselves (Lamb,
Johnson, & Smith). By adopting new practices associated with specific weaknesses the
student can learn to develop habits or practices that promote success.
Formative and summative assessments are both essential tools to gauge the
progress students are making. Summative assessments are a tool that measures and
evaluates students work and assigns the work a letter grade or score, that determines if
the work was satisfactory or not. Formative assessment is a tool that plays an essential
part in the learning process rather than measuring learning. Formative assessment helps
teachers uncover how well the students understood the topic or lesson. The most
productive way to think of both types of assessment, is that formative assessment is a tool
that helps determine if the class is ready for a summative assessment. For example, a
formative quiz is given after the class goes over a segment. The results of the class
performance on the quiz helps to determine what information needs review. After the
review, the class should be ready for a summative assessment that will evaluate all parts
of the segment. Additionally, formative assessment can be applied to determining
whether the class is ready to advance to the next lesson. One way of looking at it is that
formative assessment is preparation for a summative assessment. When students receive

feedback from the formative assessment they can use that as a way to help them study.
Therefore, being able to utilize formative assessments appropriately may be the best way
to prepare students for summative assessments like finals or standardized tests. Strategies
for formative assessments include criteria and goal setting, observations, questioning
strategies, and self and peer assessment. Criteria and goal setting is a useful way to make
sure that that the class understand the objective of what they are learning. (Garrison &
Ehringhaus).
One of the biggest benefits of using technology in the classroom is how it
advances learning beyond most other processes and strategies. The most significant and
useful pieces of technology in most classrooms are the computer or devices such as
tablets and smart boards. Through the use of the Internet, our world has become virtually
limitless. We can expose ourselves to knowledge and experiences that are outside of our
immediate setting. For example, students can experience, learn and observe the ocean and
ocean life through the thousands of available photos, documents and videos available to
them. For children in a desert like Arizona, this provides an idea of what the ocean is
really like without relying on secondhand descriptions and small photographs. Similarly,
students in state like Louisiana or North Carolina can view videos or photos of desert
landscapes, saguaro cactus, and desert wildlife. When these practices are included in the
curriculum, students develop a better understanding of places, people, animals, and ideas
that may be foreign to them. Teachers can also help demonstrate how to appropriately use
technology as a way to expand knowledge by starting to incorporate technology in early
childhood classes, in a way the questions that are hard to answer that so many young
students ask like why is the sky blue? or whats the biggest dinosaur? can be

answered quickly through the means of the internet and encourage their curiosity. In the
Educational Psychology video we observe how the instructor Mr. Bateman uses the
internet and computers as a visual guide to help illustrate the workings of DNA and
hereditary traits, a reasonably abstract idea into more concrete terms. In a cognitive
constructivist approach the internet and computers can be the device or media in which
students create meaningful learning by discovering and interpreting knowledge and
articles for themselves (MacKinnon, 2002). Using suitable websites and programs can
help students use this technology as a way for themselves to make sense and achieve their
own understanding of educational topics.
When studying the many facets of education, teachers beginning their path to the
classroom are faced with many strategies that can be applied to their newly formed
philosophy. Like the world of education, teachers too must be willing to change, meet
conflict head on, and continue to grow for the sake of their students and the profession.
While these practices and ideas may be the foundation of my own teaching philosophy I
must exercise a working knowledge of how to use them efficiently and also adapt to new
strategies and developments when necessary.

References:
Garrison, C., & Ehringhaus, M. (n.d.). Formative and Summative Assessments in the
Classroom. Retrieved October 17, 2015, from
http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/Article
ID/286/Formative-and-Summative-Assessments-in-the-Classroom.aspx
Lamb, A., Johnson, L., & Smith, W. (n.d.). The Learners: Self-Regulation. Retrieved
October 17, 2015, from http://eduscapes.com/distance/the_learners/self-regulation.htm
MacKinnon, S. (2002, December 1). Technology Integration in the Classroom Is There
Only One Way to Make It Effective? Retrieved October 17, 2015, from
http://www.techknowlogia.org/tkl_active_pages2/CurrentArticles/main.asp?
IssueNumber=18&FileType=HTML&ArticleID=445
Metacognitive Strategies. (2015, September 3). Retrieved October 17, 2015, from
http://inclusiveschools.org/metacognitive-strategies/
Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2013). Ed psych (Student ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.