Learning Theories

I have enjoyed working with an experienced 4th grade teacher at Vineyard Elementary for the past three weeks. I have observed her teaching techniques and I have worked with the students in her classroom for about six hours.

Although the teacher uses a combination of learning theories, I have noticed that she uses Cognitivism the most. For example, when she introduced an assignment where the students were expected to match new vocabulary words with their meanings, she also took the time to break down each word to show the root, prefix and suffix as well as its syllables and phonics. Another example is when the students were reviewing division and she had individual students demonstrate their particular method of getting the answer. She then reviewed these methods step-by-step and had the students work out the problem again using the various methods.

I have noticed that the teacher also has the students use charts frequently. They have recently read a series of passages with a related topic and used a chart to highlight main ideas and lessons learned from the reading passages. The students also used a chart when they read a book to record details such as chapter titles and captions, as well as characters and the story plot.

I am learning a lot of useful teaching techniques from the teacher that I am working with in my service learning experience. She has demonstrated how using Cognitivism can help students retain important information by following a step of instructions, by breaking down a concept in understandable pieces and through repetition.