Creative and content

As much as I want to be a full-fledged Constructivist educator, I find it very difficult in the current online set-up. The time limit is the major factor that keeps me from taking the discussion to a more student-centered approach. As much as I want to draw out answers from the students, I am often constrained by the 30-minute time limit. Our classes are usually fun and engaging. However, the creation of art is usually done offline or asynchronously. I cannot guide them while they are doing it. I give directions and post my instructional videos, but much leeway is given to them in terms of using materials that are available to them. I encourage them to think-out-of-the-box in finding solutions to the activities that I post.  Pre-pandemic days, when we were allowed to have face-to-face classes, our normal image of a school would be teachers talking, students taking down notes, copying assignments on the board, lugging big bags from one class to another, taking tests, writing down re...

  When I was in Grade school, I remember the way I memorized concepts was through visual and auditory means. An example would be when we were required to study the multiplication table, where I would have the chart in my hands and I would read it out loud over and over again. It helped me retain the table faster. Upon learning about the Cognitive theory, I can now explain that it is because of Dual Coding, where the information is comprised of both verbal and visual representations, which are distinctly processed in the human mind (Sternberg. 2006). It elucidates why as a child I could retain ideas successfully in both verbal and non-verbal form. Thankfully, I was able to convert it to long-term memory. There were instances when I was younger when the teacher would check attendance first, by the time we get to the lesson, my attention would be wandering off and flying in different directions. It's clear to me now that this is a result of the Primacy-Recency effect. I guess, by the ...