Teachers having a solid understanding of Vygotsky’s and Piaget theory of development psychology and the ability to apply it in their classroom will most likely lead to an increase in student learning especially in elementary classrooms.

So how can teachers use these theories to improve student achievement? In this update I will highlight on some of these various ways:

• Arrange activities in groups according to the student’s ability, rather than one activity for the whole class (Cooperative learning activities)
• The curriculum outline and objectives should involve a lot of student interaction, group work, problem-solving tasks, cross age tutoring, assisted learning and alternative assessment and real life tasks.

• Implemented the Zone of proximal development to know what a learner can do alone (actual performance level) and what a learner can do with guidance with the More knowledgeable other (Teacher or peer). This will allow the student to work slightly beyond their current skills and provide ongoing scaffolded support Teachers should encourage the student to discover through the interaction with the environment ( using hand on experiences to help student learn
• Instruction are supposed to be short, clear, include visual aids ,modeling as well as words
• Conduct productive discussions that focus on the student thinking and not just the final answer. During these discussions teachers should respect student ideas suggestions and opinions.
• Give constructive feedback.
• Encourage students to be active and engaged.

In conclusion, being able to create an interactive learning community in a positive learning environment will lead to students with greater confidence and students will have the cognitive foundation to learn how to learn, “When our students have the ability to learn how to learn, they can discover what else is out there in our world” .