Why is it that we are pleased when our students get the "answer"? Have they hit a milestone? Did it get them an "A" on the paper? Does it mean we can "move on"? (I apologize for the sarcasm, but sadly,these are phrases I continue to hear in the teaching profession - but I'll save that discussion for another post!) For whatever reason, we need to rejoice when they attempt a problem with one of the strategies they know! It's only when they have tools in their toolbox are they ready to attempt to solve a problem.
The next time you pose a problem to your students, ask yourself - "what do my students need to know to solve this problem"? Do they need to look in their mental file cabinet and locate a formula (if so, I hope their memory is better than mine!), or do they need to make connections and look for a starting point to attempt to solve the problem.
Shouldn't our focus really be on teaching students how to learn the content and the skills that will promote conceptual understanding. John Dunlosky, professor of psychology at Kent State University in Ohio, writes "teaching students how to learn is as important as teaching them content, because acquiring both the right learning strategies and background knowledge is important - if not essential - for promoting lifelong learning."
Low-achieving students show "substantial deficits" in strategies that lead to effective learning. This suggests that these students' struggles may be due in part to they don't know how to learn! Teaching students, all students, good learning strategies would ensure that they know how to acquire new knowledge.
Okay... so hopefully I sparked your imagination for strategies that we really need to "teach" our children so they can learn! I will continue to add to my strategies page, because let's face it, we didn't learn this way which means we have to change our schema all the while teaching our students a new way to learn and understand!
The next time you pose a problem to your students, ask yourself - "what do my students need to know to solve this problem"? Do they need to look in their mental file cabinet and locate a formula (if so, I hope their memory is better than mine!), or do they need to make connections and look for a starting point to attempt to solve the problem.
Shouldn't our focus really be on teaching students how to learn the content and the skills that will promote conceptual understanding. John Dunlosky, professor of psychology at Kent State University in Ohio, writes "teaching students how to learn is as important as teaching them content, because acquiring both the right learning strategies and background knowledge is important - if not essential - for promoting lifelong learning."
Low-achieving students show "substantial deficits" in strategies that lead to effective learning. This suggests that these students' struggles may be due in part to they don't know how to learn! Teaching students, all students, good learning strategies would ensure that they know how to acquire new knowledge.
Okay... so hopefully I sparked your imagination for strategies that we really need to "teach" our children so they can learn! I will continue to add to my strategies page, because let's face it, we didn't learn this way which means we have to change our schema all the while teaching our students a new way to learn and understand!