Reflection 2

This past week I have learned about different strategies and approaches to teaching through different philosophers through out the ages.  It was quite interesting to learn about all of the different philosophers and there contribution to the way we see the human mind.  I learned about the differences between behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism and I believe that they each build and rely off one another.  Behaviorism has to do with the reward system.  Cognitivism has to do with rational understanding and the logical approach.  Constructivism has to do with building upon prior knowledge.

From Wong's book I learned about the differences between rules and procedures.  A rule is a challenge for someone to break.  A procedure is just something that you should do.  We have to teach procedures by explaining them, then rehearsing them, and then reinforcing them.  I also learned that the ineffective teacher begins the first day of school trying  to teach a subject and rest of the school year chasing after them.  The effective teacher spends most of the first week teaching the student show to follow classroom procedures.  I think that it depends on what grade level you are teaching.  I think it is very important for elementary teachers to do this, however, for middle school and high schoolers may not be as important.