Harlow connections

The Harlow et al reading this week really put a lot of things in perspective for me. It did a good job of putting our past readings into context and made me think about how to develop my teaching style in a way that puts the students first. The idea of learning about learning is something that was foreign to me before this course, based on my strictly science background and while reading I thought a lot about how students can benefit from learning about how they learn. As teachers it is our job to understand how our students learn and develop our lessons around strengthening their understanding. By indirectly teaching students how they learn we are creating independent thinkers and as a teacher that is my highest goal. With the implementation of NGSS this will become increasingly more important.

Learning about modeling through actually modeling things ourselves in class is something I questioned from the beginning of this class. However, I am seeing now that this is the best way to for me truly understand what I am trying to teach. Modeling means more to me now when I think about “knowledge in pieces” and using modeling to give kids the opportunity to draw connections on their own. By giving our students the "pieces" and the tools they need to succeed we are preparing them for not only future classes but life in general.