As I have been observing in a 7th grade classroom I have noticed the kids that I am working with are in Stage 3 of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. The concrete operations stage is characterized by the ability to see others' perspectives but having a lack in hypothetical and abstract reasoning and a lack of ability to separate and control variables. As I have watched the students interact with each other and Mrs. D I have notice that they can see where others are coming from but have a hard time getting to complex places themselves. These students are in the middle of their maturation and are learning how to organize their schema in a way that fits with the world around them.
When Mrs. D introduces a new topic, this week she introduced the students to the ways to make sure that websites are valid places to find information for a research project, she makes sure to take into account the students disequilibrium when something new that the students will have never heard before comes up. In the case with the lesson that I observed she showed them websites that they would be familiar with and why they would or would not work for a research project. This helped to students to take the information that they were familiar with, the websites they have seen before, and assimilate the new knowledge about whether the website is valid for a research project. This use of the familiar with the unfamiliar will help the students to accommodate the new information with the schema that is already in their heads.
Every lesson that Mrs. D teaches helps students to reach disequilibrium in order to force them to improve and to learn more. If teachers do not push their students to accommodate new information then they will become stagnant and never learn anything. In my classroom I want to push my kids outside of their bubble to assimilate and then accommodate new information as much as possible so they can reach the next level.
Outside source on the difference between assimilation and accommodation in development: https://www.teachthought.com/learning/assimilation-vs-accommodation-of-knowledge/
When Mrs. D introduces a new topic, this week she introduced the students to the ways to make sure that websites are valid places to find information for a research project, she makes sure to take into account the students disequilibrium when something new that the students will have never heard before comes up. In the case with the lesson that I observed she showed them websites that they would be familiar with and why they would or would not work for a research project. This helped to students to take the information that they were familiar with, the websites they have seen before, and assimilate the new knowledge about whether the website is valid for a research project. This use of the familiar with the unfamiliar will help the students to accommodate the new information with the schema that is already in their heads.
Every lesson that Mrs. D teaches helps students to reach disequilibrium in order to force them to improve and to learn more. If teachers do not push their students to accommodate new information then they will become stagnant and never learn anything. In my classroom I want to push my kids outside of their bubble to assimilate and then accommodate new information as much as possible so they can reach the next level.
Outside source on the difference between assimilation and accommodation in development: https://www.teachthought.com/learning/assimilation-vs-accommodation-of-knowledge/
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