Using Technology to Enhance Conceptual Understanding of Elementary Students

Over the past two years I've worked on transforming my classroom into a much more student-centered environment.  I've always believed strongly in a constructivist approach to teaching and learning, but didn't necessarily think that students needed to do very much talking to each other as a part of the knowledge acquisition process.  I used to think that students who were quiet were able to concentrate better and thus learn more.  Not to mention the pressure that I felt at any minute to appear to have an engaged and well-controlled classroom.  I realize now that an engaged and well-controlled environment can be created with talkative students, and that this talking is useful and beneficial to the learning process.  My own observations over the past five years, along with the extensive reading that I have engaged in about how students learn and acquire knowledge and understanding, have led me change the ways that I structure learning opportunities for my students.  I have discovered the power of carefully focused opportunities for student talk that is monitored by the teacher.  These opportunities can be much more powerful than any words that I may come up with to describe the content within the learning goals.  I will continue to make postings to this thread detailing examples of the power that I've found in student talk and how this strategy has led to increased conceptual understanding among my third graders.  I encourage you to share you own thoughts, ideas, and discoveries related to this post in hopes that we can help each other to add effective approaches to our own teaching practice.

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