One way to emphasizing Thinking over mere Remembering is to consider the level of abstraction we’re asking students to use. You might think of abstraction as a spectrum from highly specific, concrete details to really big (but vague) ideas.
All AboutBetter Teaching
Helping you to hone your craft, improving the art and science of teaching.
Why Non-Examples Are As Important As Examples
Providing high-quality exemplars is only half the battle. Serve up a nice and terrible non-example, and you’ll highlight just what makes that great version so great.
Narcissistic Teaching (and how to change it)
I’ve been reading my friends’ dissertations and writing up my discoveries. In this episode, I encounter the term “narcissistic pedagogy” and it rocks my world.
Brain Friendly Puzzlements
I’m reading Teaching With the Brain in Mind and realized how my weekly Puzzlements mailer has some great connections to a brain-friendly classroom! The author, Eric Jensen, writes about creating a safe classroom in which the brain can learn. Here are a few notes I’ve made. Novelty Jensen explains how the brain loves new things. […]
What We Can Learn From Super Mario’s Levels
If the designers have done their jobs, the player should always feel slightly challenged, but never overwhelmed. As teachers, we should aim for the same goal: students who are stimulated but not frustrated.
Abundance or Deficit Thinking?
It’s easy to be miserly and hold onto every resource, thinking it might be the last. But I’ve learned that what I have can grow – when I use it well. The same is true of our classroom resources.
Expectations and Scaffolds
When I see successful lessons, I’m almost always most impressed with how the teacher has set the stage for success. When I look back on my biggest failures, it was almost always a lack scaffolding that caused the problem. Expectations and scaffolds are vital to classroom success.
Talking Less: Two Discussion Tics
Leading discussions is hard work. To grease the wheels, I developed two weird tics: re-stating and repeating louder. Both increase dependency on me, and enable students to become passive listeners.
Non-Examples are as Important as Examples
As teachers, we use tons of examples to illustrate concepts. But an example becomes even more powerful when paired with its opposite: the non-example.
Talking Less: Making Better Class Announcements
Many of our words are wasted not on teaching, but on announcements, directions, and updates. Imagine yourself waiting at an airport. Think of the constant stream of “important announcements” broadcast over the speakers. There are so many, that you simply stop hearing them.