My personal theory of learning was that not all students learn the same way. I learn best through cooperative instruction while some others I know learn best through note taking and book studying. Dr. Orey said, “You want to have your child to be actively involved in the learning process regardless of the approach you take”. My original views of instruction methods closely align with what was taught in this course. However, I did learn some new teaching techniques that I can apply to me teaching.

The first idea that I am going to immediately begin incorporating into my lessons is the constructionist theory. I am going to give my students tasks in which they must teach the material to themselves with the help of technology. This leads to my second goal, which is helping my class understand how to use search engines and decipher which information is reliable. This way I can prepare them for future assignments later in the year.

I would like to use some project based learning in the classroom half way through the year. I will make it a cooperative lesson, but I would pair up with a class in another district. The students would have to complete a project together using technology as the only means of communication. The students would be set up with an e-mail account and a blog site. This lesson would incorporate constructivism, cooperative learning, and technology. I think the students would greatly benefit from this.

As I take more and more of these courses I begin to develop lessons using the new teaching ideas I encounter. I like to put together a bunch of strategies to create a powerful lesson for the students. I differentiate as much as possible to reach out to each student’s learning style. This particular course helped with that by explaining the numerous learning theories that are out there.