Final Blog

What?
After reading back through my blogs, I found the ZPD(zone of proximal development) and scaffolding the most fascinating. I've always wondered how school impacts a child's upbringing: exactly how much of what people know about the world comes from school. Although I don't know percentages of what is learned from parents and what is learned from teachers, I can reflect back on what I've learned at school and recognize that I was always being taught with my ZPD. Math class comes readily to mind when reflecting on how I learn things. When I'd observe a teacher's lessons and examples on the board, it really didn't come to me. It was out of my scope of things I could do independently. When I got with a teacher/parent outside of class, I could learn easier because the one person I'd be with at that point could explain it in a way that I could understand. After getting so far behind without the luxury of having extra time to spend one on one with a teacher, I lost confidence in my mathematical abilities. I think I especially struggled in math when my parents couldn't help me with my homework anymore. I also think that scaffolding is a very important concept in the ways of history. Teachers must relate historical topics to what students already understand about the world around them.
So what?
I think I already explainted this in the first paragraph. It was kind of blended. Teachers should take more one on one time with students, especially in mathematics, and history teachers need to use scaffolding to ensure that students can continue to add upon what they already know.
Now what?
I'm going to have this zpd thing in mind, because it's how children learn, from my estimation anyway. It's a teachers goal to get students through this cycle so they have knowledge pertinent to the curriculum independent of any other person.