How would you currently describe your overall approach to teaching in your classroom: traditional, process mastery, or constructivist? What works well in your approach? What needs improvement?

[Austin]

I believe my teaching approach is traditional.

[Austin]

I would say process mastery. I want my students to be able to confidently know, understand, and recall the lessons that I teach them. For improvement, I can make sure that I allow some room for changes or discussions that dive deeper into certain concepts.

[Austin]

I think my teaching approach is determined upon who I am working with. If I am working with younger groups I tend to focus on more traditional approach to know that they are at a standard of foundational learning. As the kids grow older I implement a more constructive approach that gets the student to critically think on a topic so that they begin to develop thoughts for themselves while they are still in the classroom where they can ask questions and receive guidance.

[Austin]

I would say that my overall approach is traditional, process mastery. Since I teach Spanish, I am very involved in the teaching process and have expectations for my course. For the younger ages I tend to be more lenient and relaxed, you might say a bit constructivist, with my teaching. We sing a lot, do hand motions and try to have fun while we learn. For my Middle School/High school students, I make sure that what I teach is aligned with the Texas TEKS. I still try to be interactive in my course, but there are specific standards that they have to meet.

[Austin]

I utilize aspects of these three main approaches to teaching: traditional, process mastery, and constructivist, from time to time. I use the traditional approach when presenting information that needs teacher-fronted delivery, focused student attention, and sometimes memorization. When students must develop skills through practice and repetition, I use process mastery, but I use the constructivist approach to emphasize hands-on learning and student-centered activities. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, which vary depending on the subject matter, the students, and my teaching style. However, I tend to be constructivist in my approach to teaching. A great takeaway from this course relates to the notion that everyone has their truth, including students. While I never pondered this as a critical tenet of constructivism before, which might be because I view education as God-centered but student-focused, I am now confronted by it. When adopting a constructivist approach – I lean toward structured/problem-based/guided inquiry, which sequences questioning and investigation of real-world situations to problem-solve, rather than open-ended inquiry which can enter the misguided territory of relative truth.