Constructivism

In class today I found myself trying to absorb every single bit of information that was thrown my way, with it being the second educational psychology class I have ever sat in on I was bound and determined to catch everything. I was doing this perfectly fine until my professor mentioned constructivism. Constructivism is when a person gains knowledge threw interaction and hands on activity. This definition made me think about my last twelve years of figure skating. I thought about how I simply could not learn something by just being told how to do it; it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. It wasn't until I had the chance to try the new move or jump that I would finally grasp the concept. I realize now that I not only learned but taught with constructivism all the time, when I was teaching my young skaters the basics of skating. I would explain and demonstrate how to stop for example and then I would ask them to do it themselves. I feel this is one of the best ways of learning and using constructivism is one of the building blocks to being an effective teacher.