Tag: Learning

11 Ways To Do Better In Math

1) Reflect and Summarize
at the end of each class, at the end of each week, at the end of each month. Review your notes and/or think back over the material that has been covered, then decide which skills or ideas you think are most important. Summarize the material you are learning as concisely as you can, because summarizing helps you learn. Identify any skills or ideas that you are not confident about. Write your reflections and summarizations as part of your notes, with reminders about what needs more work.

2) Use scrap paper
Using scrap paper removes a source of anxiety when solving problems. You will not have erase mistakes (unless you wish to), and nobody else will see this work but you. Plus, you will wish to copy your work over (see below).

Continue reading 11 Ways To Do Better In Math

Scheduling for Curricular Depth and Challenge

What was “the best” course you ever took? Probably one for which you had to work quite hard, one that you perceived as challenging from the outset, one for which you rose to the challenge. The course probably had a reputation as a tough course, so you probably added it to your schedule with care and made sure you did not take another really challenging course at the same time.

Major time commitments are regularly called for in schools: for musical or dramatic performances, athletic seasons, and some classes too. Could we improve the way such opportunities are scheduled so that  students can experience as many as possible each year without creating a killer workload for themselves at critical times during the year?

Challenges

What if schools offered “challenges” that lasted for either half or a full semester? Each student could be required to be enrolled in two challenges at all times. A research project, art or engineering project, dramatic or musical performance could each count as a challenge, as could a varsity sport, as could any number of academic and extra-curricular offerings. To qualify as a “challenge”, an offering would have to:

  1. Culminate in a public performance, presentation, or display of student work.
  2. Involve extensive Continue reading Scheduling for Curricular Depth and Challenge

Learn the Game of Learning

The title of this posting is the title of a chapter in “Making Learning Whole”, by David Perkins (2009). Of the books on education I have read to date, this is the first that resonated completely with me.  He describes the way I try to teach, and more – thus giving me much to reflect upon.  I recommend it highly.

The list of skills related to “the game of learning” I see as being most important for math and science students to acquire, and therefore worth devoting some time to teaching explicitly over the course of the school year (since they are also more generally applicable) are:

  • What is it you need to learn: a concept, a skill, or a fact? Concepts can often require thought, and time spent discussing them with others while being watchful for subtleties. Skills often require repetition and varying levels of difficulty. Facts can sometimes be obvious if they are based on an underlying concept; if the facts are not obvious, search for a way to link them to one or more concepts or themes, then practice retrieving them along with related information.
  • Frustration is a normal part of the learning process, one which can often lead to greater understanding and retention once you have worked your way through it. Expect to become Continue reading Learn the Game of Learning