Vygotsky

What evidence do you see of specific teacher behaviors that are geared toward Vygotsky's theories of cognitive development? Cite specific examples and make clear connection to Vygotsky's work. Be thorough in your coverage of the theory, addressing multiple concepts to demonstrate your understanding. Be sure to include a reference in your response.

In the class I've been observing, the teacher does a lot of group work. This serves the dual purpose of getting the kids more excited and engaged, and from Vygotsky's point of view, it aids in the cognitive development of the kids by means of social interactions and acts as a form of scaffolding. It also gives the kids who are struggling an opportunity to get help from their partner (the more knowledgeable other), or if they can't figure it out together, they can ask another group for help. This article (http://www.childdevelopmentmedia.com/articles/play-the-work-of-lev-vygotsky/) talks about how problem solving with the mediation of a peer can be a great way to scaffold the information and help them get into the zone of proximal development. A lot of the activities I have observed have been categorization activities. For example, the students were given a stack of cards that had different types of cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms. They had to categorize the cards based on level of organization, and on the type of cell, tissue, etc. Those activities are a good example of high order thinking skills since it required the students to analyze and evaluate what was on the cards before placing them in the correct category. This was one of the first activities that was done in that unit, so the students didn't have the levels of organization memorized yet. I think starting out with HOTS activities is a better idea than starting out with LOTS activities because by analyzing or evaluating something, students will automatically have a better chance of remembering and understanding the information. One day in class, the teacher had four different activities for the kids to do that related to the exact same concept. This was a really good way to ensure that the kids were able to internalize the information through repetition. Plus, these activities were pretty fun game-like activities, which is a great way for students to internalize information.