Day 2 Readings

How do I Apply Constructivism in My Classroom

The main points I took from this article is to always use a topic that is relevant to the students. In other words, make sure it's something the students are interested in. Make sure they understand there are no wrong answers. This is a brainstorming type of activity where the teacher will somehow tie in all student ideas. Instead of teaching the parts that make up the whole, teach the whole and break that down into parts so they can see why they need to learn this particular lesson. In the end try and be more creative with the final projects. Students get sick of having to take the same type of tests, or write the same old essay, try and make it more fun.


Design Tips

The design tips given in these articles seem to be common sense items. (At least common sense after taking EDT 545!) Tips such as, don't use too many colors, center on the page, put a box around something that you want to stand out. Make sure your final product is consistent. Make sure you use the same colors through the presentation along with the same type of layout. Don't clutter up the page with too much information. Basically, make it easy to follow and pleasant to the eye. Remember who your audience is and make it relevant to them. Make sure you are not reading your presentation. Have bullet points to guide you through the topics, but do not read word for word from your slides, this will cause you to lose connection with the audience and everyone including the presenter, will become bored. Don't jump into the presentation, make sure you map it out first. You always want to sketch out what it will look like before you begin creating. If you don't, you'll end up doing 2-3 times the work (at least that's what always happens to me!).