When we think about teaching, and education, we begin to think of lectures, lessons, and maybe even centers or circle time. However, I think teaching, real teaching, real learning, rarely takes place in a classroom. Learning is something that takes place at different times in different places for all people. The job of an educator is to provide the tools to learning; it is up to the students to apply those tools to their everyday lives. As John Keating says in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society “I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself.”

Babies and toddlers and young children learn through play. They learn by doing. As children we learn the concept of scaffolding long before we learn the term or its definition and application within education. As children we learn that by stacking blocks on top of one another, we can make a tower. What is interesting about scaffolding though, is that we all build our towers differently, using different shaped or sized blocks. It is important to realize that this is a very crucial part of education and the only way we as educators can truly expect to teach effectively or efficiently is to teach to all learning styles. 

Throughout my many years as a student and an educator, I have come to classify my teaching style as that of a constructivist. I full-heartedly believe that students learn best when they are able to apply what they are learning to a real-life situation or a past experience. As a parent, I believe in the same philosophy. Students can connect theories and/or techniques and practices to real-world situations when they have encountered them already or have a realistic situation to face such as writing a resume or creating a report. It is in this way that students must learn to think for themselves.

With this understanding of constructivism and its successes in the classroom, I frequently employ the use of peer reviews in my classes. By reading and commenting on other students' work in small cooperative groups, students learn to find their voice, to understand the important connection between writer and audience, and to hone their editing skills. Small group work is indispensable in the writing classroom because it gives students the opportunity to have their work reviewed by their peers. I often enjoy incorporating the Jigsaw method as well as the Graffiti model into my teaching as I feel that physical movement is equally as important when exercising one’s brain.

Scaffolding plays a big role in my classroom. I take large projects, such as a ten-page research paper, and break it down into its many components such as topic, thesis, outline, annotated bibliography and lastly, rough drafts. First, it helps alleviate anxiety over a large project. Secondly, it ensures that students have time to receive proper feedback to apply to the next component. Scaffolding assignments, and lessons, only serves to better the students’ chances for success.

As an educator who believes in students constructing their own knowledge and educational experience, I do not devalue the necessity of the teacher. As the teacher, I act as a guide designed to keep students on course. It is my responsibility as the teacher to provide the tools necessary for a fully educational experience. I greatly value assisting, guiding, and watching the students transform from a passive learner to an active learner. Again, it is my job as the teacher to provide the necessary tools for the students to fully succeed in their learning experience.

The goals within my classroom are simple: allow students the opportunity to make connections between what they are learning and their own experiences; and engage in creative yet critical thinking while working collaboratively with peers and/or myself. These two goals may seem simple, but there is much behind the scenes to be assessed. The first assessment is watching the students make connections between what is happening in the classroom with what is happening outside of the classroom. This can be assessed by daily writing assignments that piggyback larger assignments. Using the Graffiti model and Jigsaw method allow me to assess their ability to work together and in a creative manner which using critical thinking skills.

Finally, as an educator, forever student, and parent, I believe that we all learn in unique ways and because of this I will continue to remind myself to look at learning and teaching from many different angles. As John Keating says, “I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.”