I'm not sure if it is the fact that I have other things on my mind or if I have just been over thinking the topic of teaching, but I am really struggling with how constructivist learning/teaching will/does look in my classroom. In my content area I am most concerned about the students' abitility to communicate in another language (and for a variety of purposes). I am constantly asking my self why am I doing everything I do (and trust me, it gets tiring). I know that ultimately constructivist teaching should require more of the students and less of me (or so it seems); however, right now I am working my tail off. I need to understand how to look at cohesion as a class differently. Because if the ideas and studies of constructivism are true then the reality is that all of my students will be in different places with their learning and that is not only good, but more natural to allow each student to internalize the material.
I am constantly having my students produce authentic lanugage. I no long give out a fill in worksheet (ever). I have them free write on topics that they are interested in, that make them think and some that are somewhat controversial. Their writing definitely has more heart, but frustrates them. Expressing one's self is one of the hardest things in a foreign language because when we do this we want to use idioms, pronouns, and slang. I like the idea of having them create their own vocabulary lists (requiring they have verbs, nouns, expressions, and adjectives). This is my goal next semester. I'll guess I'll see how it goes.