What are three things you know to be important to teaching and learning? Why are they important? How do you ensure that your students experience them?
The type of learning that often takes place in schools (formal, in a classroom) requires three things I know to be important to teaching and learning:
1. Having a space where learners can be vulnerable
Not knowing can be uncomfortable. But, it is in the "yet" space (thanks Katie) found between I did not know/I now know, I could not/Now I can that learning takes place. Entering this space regularly and comfortably in a place as public as a classroom presents a challenge. Because I believe this is important, I work hard to establish the type of relationship that says "he cares and he will work hard to challenge us". A banner I kept in my room encapsulated this for me. Printed on it was a quote by Louisa May Alcott: "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship." The message I hoped to send (and remind myself of) was that every effort would be made to provide my students with what they needed to make it through the struggle but I would not rob them of stormy experiences.
2. Creating opportunities for learners to give and receive timely feedback
3. Mindful eavesdropping
The next two requirements go hand in hand, so I will address them together. Grant Wiggins says that "it is through the act of learning that we learn". As a classroom teacher, I came to this realization in a roundabout way. I entered the profession with the challenge of teaching 7th graders for hour and twenty minute long classes every day. Having something for them to do was part of my survival. As I matured as a teacher, I began to recognize that the quality of the tasks was more important than the quantity. Not just because students need to engage in the types of acts required to learn (learning being consequential to thinking) but they present the opportunity for students to receive (and give) good feedback.
Beyond that, high quality tasks (whether teacher or student created) provide the chance to make the invisible (student thinking) visible (through the work produced). This is where the eavesdropping comes it. The mindful variety begins with recognizing that what students say and do not say, what students do and do not do gives clues as to where they are in the "yet space". Because I believe this is important, I challenge myself to say as little and listen/watch as much as I can as students produce work.
Make a prediction regarding what you hope to learn from reading and interacting with your book of choice.
I hope to learn more about the nature of learning's social component and how to apply the author's findings and "now what's" to my home life and work life.
Part 1: Beginnings
Chapter 1: Who Are We?
Quote: That night {1984 Presidential debate}, nearly 70 million Americans watched the debate and came away convinced that the Gipper still had his mojo. Any fears people had that President Reagan had slipped were assuaged. But how we as a nation reached this conclusion on that night is surprising. Reagan himself didn't change our minds about him. It took a few hundred people in the audience to change our minds. It was their laughter coming over the airwaves that moved the needle on how we viewed Reagan. (p. 6)
Questions I still have:
- Does this explain why some sitcoms opt to film in front of a live studio audience?
- Why do I personally dislike laugh tracks? Is there a part of me that feels manipulated. . .or at least senses an attempt at manipulation? How do I reconcile this preference with my knowledge that live audiences are often directed to laugh at certain points in the production?
- Does this social element explain why some childhood favorites no longer hold the same appeal? Did I enjoy them then because I watched them with my sister and brother?
Chapter 2: The Brain's Passion
- The central argument of the chapter is that the brain's default, or passion, is to think about other's - that is, consider their "thoughts, feelings, and goals".
1. The part of the brain that is most active during studies of social cognition (a way to describe thinking about other people, oneself, and the relation of oneself to other people) is nearly identical to the parts of the brain most active when we stop doing a specific cognitive task.
Thinking about others is the default.
2. This finding has been verified in babies as young as two-weeks old. Another research group found the same activity in two-day old babies.
Thinking about others is the default.
3. We know that the default network quiets down when we perform a specific task. In studies where participants are given breaks between those tasks (like math problem), a return to default brain activity is seen during breaks. This is true whether the breaks are a few minutes long or only a few seconds long.
Thinking about others is the default.
- An article that connects to some ideas presented in the chapter: How does the brain's passion explain recent social media preference trends?
While reading this article (http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/01/22/daniel-goleman-focus-10000-hours-myth/) about debunking the myth of the 10,000 hour rule, I though of your comment about the importance of feedback. It talks about you need to a feedback loop. Someone/thing to spot errors so you can correct them as you improve.
ReplyDelete