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On this page, add one post for new thoughts and learnings about Essentialism. In this post talk about whether you agree with Essentialism in the classroom. Why or Why not?

Add a second post for new thoughts and learnings about Constructivism. In this post talk about whether you agree with Constructivism in the classroom. Why or Why not?

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I do agree that Essentialism has its place in the classroom. Without the basic skills of learning how to form sentences, write paragraphs, solve mathematical statements, think logically, read, etc. I do not think we would set our students up for success to be contributing members of society. I think these are fundamental skills that all people should know and be afforded to learn in a public education. Students can certainly expand their thinkings and should grow their understandings beyond this basic knowledge, however we should be doing at least the bare minimum of turning out literate students.

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I also agree that Constructivism has its place in the classroom as well. Students are inherently curious and need the social interaction that comes with curiosity to grow and develop. I believe that when we get students to drive their own learning, they learn at a higher level and are more committed to understanding the material. I do think this philosophy engages the desire in young people to figure out their world and how they fit among it.

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I do agree that students should learn foundational knowledge and skills that will allow them to build on more advanced topics. This is the base on which all future knowledge is built.

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I do agree with Constructivism. Students do need to construct their own knowledge through experiences and social interactions, rather than passively receiving information such as reading a textbook. The personal experience allows for the student to understand what they are learning.

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I agree that core knowledge has a valuable place in the curriculum. However, I do not agree with making the students try to memorize content, such as history dates or grammar rules. They do need to know they exist and where to look them up when they need them.

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I firmly believe in choice and project-based Learning guided by essential questions from a backward design curriculum.

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Essentialism is necessary in the classroom. Students need to know what they need to know. Foundational skills are aptly named, without them students will have nothing to construct (hahaha) new knowledge on.

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Constructivism is also an important part of the classroom. Students must be allowed to manipulate new information in a way that helps them to understand and ingrains the knowledge in their long term memory.

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I partially agree with essentialism. While there are some things that every student should know, I think those things are mostly skills or methods of thinking. Not every adult knows the periodic table or iambic pentameter, but (*in most cases*) every adult knows how to plan for the future, organize themselves, and think critically. I think that there are some basic subjects that schools do need to teach, however I do not think that they necessarily align with the subjects that school do currently choose to teach.

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One new idea that I've learned is that constructivism doesn't necessarily imply a certain set of activities. Instead, it is a frame of a mind that you can use to plan in the longer term.

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Essentialism is an appropriate starting strategy in a unit for students who are beginning to learn content because it is foundational and teacher-centered. It can teach basic terms and ideas but can also hurt student learning because it is more rote, which I don't agree with as a sole approach to teaching. As long as it is not dragged out and transitions into a more constructivist approach, I think it can be an effective tool. Before students can explore in-depth, they need the fundamentals.

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I think constructivism is the best approach for students to learn, though essenceism is a great start. Having students build on their own experience hands-on and recall content has shown results. I like that it is all experience-based, meaning that students can create their own learning and develop that intrinsic motivation we, as teachers, want to see!

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Essentialism is definitely necessary to learn foundational knowledge and skills, especially in the primary grades and specifically kindergarten! My students need to know their letter sounds, numbers, what senses are, etc. in order to be able to do other activities/learning that may be more constructive in the future! There are skills that must be learned to be a foundation for future learning!

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Constructivism also has a place in the classroom. There are some standards or skills that can be better learned through constructivism. However, a lot of times, especially in kinder, the essential skills come first before developing new skills and knowledge but can also go hand in hand. When students are active participants in learning, they may more easily remember the material or concepts that they learned!