learning

Education and Religion

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As a religious person, I often see conflict between learning, or eduction, and religion.  This quote from John Taylor is enlightening. Listen to his philosophy of education:

"We want also to be alive in the cause of education. We are commanded of the Lord to obtain knowledge, both by study and by faith, seeking it out of the best books. And it becomes us to teach our children, and afford them instruction in every branch of education calculated to promote their welfare, leaving those false acquirements which tend to . . . lead away the mind and affection from the things of God. We want to compile the intelligence and literacy of this people in book-form, as well as in teaching and preaching; adopting all the good and useful books we can obtain; . . . instead of doing as many of the world do, take the works of God, to try to prove that there is no God; we want to prove by God's works that he does exist, that he lives and rules and holds us, as it were, in the hollow of his hand' (Deseret News Weekly, 5 June 1878, 275)"
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Great Presentations

A good communicator is hard to find.  I like this presentation by Xplane.  Learning how to express ideas is so important in all aspects of life. Especially teaching.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuuTlQ0FzEU?wmode=transparent]
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Dealing With Problem Students – Getting Feedback

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On page 216 of Made to Stick, a story is shared about dealing with problems students.  The take away of the story is that problem students are often showing off for their peers.  If you can communicate that their peers don't appreciate the problems and disruptions, they will often stop the behavior. 

In the story the teacher knew the other students were against the problem student because they wrote about him in their journals and suggested ways to deal with him.  

I started thinking of a system to get student feedback in quick and easy ways.  The best one I thought of was texting or emailing a question to the students that they respond to.  This could be great because you could ask all the students different questions.  For example you could ask students what they thought of Student 12's behavior etc.  

I think that as we teach we need to include feedback loops.  We need to make it easy for students to tell us how we are doing, leading to better quicker learning by our improved teaching.
Posted on by admin

Dealing With Problem Students – Getting Feedback

Media_httpwwwadamsmithcollegeacukrelationspublicpressreleasesimages2006112203forensicscience02jpg_bytffjtwiqkvjyc

On page 216 of Made to Stick, a story is shared about dealing with problems students.  The take away of the story is that problem students are often showing off for their peers.  If you can communicate that their peers don't appreciate the problems and disruptions, they will often stop the behavior. 

In the story the teacher knew the other students were against the problem student because they wrote about him in their journals and suggested ways to deal with him.  

I started thinking of a system to get student feedback in quick and easy ways.  The best one I thought of was texting or emailing a question to the students that they respond to.  This could be great because you could ask all the students different questions.  For example you could ask students what they thought of Student 12's behavior etc.  

I think that as we teach we need to include feedback loops.  We need to make it easy for students to tell us how we are doing, leading to better quicker learning by our improved teaching.
Posted on by admin

The Best Teacher Questions

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Do your teachers (whether they be in school, your boss, your parents, or yourself) think of this list before they teach you?

  • How can I prepare and present information in a way that motivates my students to love learning?
  • How do I teach a group when some students learn faster or have more background than others?
  • How do I find a consistent teaching method when students have such different teaching styles?
  • How can I control the classroom and still give students individual freedom?
  • How can I make a deep, life-changing impact on my students?

Just think if every boss, teacher, employer, mom and dad thought of these questions.  This is what I am going to strive to do. 

(list from Learning and Teaching for Exponential Growth – A three person problem by Susan Peterson Gong)

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The Best Teacher Questions

Istock_000007963360large

Do your teachers (whether they be in school, your boss, your parents, or yourself) think of this list before they teach you?

  • How can I prepare and present information in a way that motivates my students to love learning?
  • How do I teach a group when some students learn faster or have more background than others?
  • How do I find a consistent teaching method when students have such different teaching styles?
  • How can I control the classroom and still give students individual freedom?
  • How can I make a deep, life-changing impact on my students?

Just think if every boss, teacher, employer, mom and dad thought of these questions.  This is what I am going to strive to do. 

(list from Learning and Teaching for Exponential Growth – A three person problem by Susan Peterson Gong)

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Competition – Good for Learning or Not?

Haha

I read in The First Days of School, about how grading on a curve is
not the best method. It pits the students against each other, and
makes more of the focus on the grade verse learning.
 
But then I thought about how competition can be a powerful motivator.
I started think about ways to use competition in learning to increase
and help.
 
I came up with these ideas
1. class verses class – assign a project that will be judged
impartially with a prize for the best class
 
2. outside competition – if you are teaching graphic design, have
students each submit a design to threadless
 
3. competition that doesn’t affect grades – have students compete on
fastest time to reach book, or best score on a test but don’t have it
affect grades.

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How To Really Assess Learning

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There are a lot of standards and scores that kids in K-12 have to meet to make sure they are learning.  I didn’t make this list, and I can’t remember where I saw it.  But I love this list and how it  presents an alternate idea on how to assess learning.

What did you make today that was meaningful?
What did you learn about the world?
Who are you working with?
What surprised you?
What did your teachers make with you?
What did you teach others?
What unanswered questions are you struggling with?
How did you change the world in some small (or big) way?
What’s something your teachers learned today?
What did you share with the world?
What do you want to know more about?
What did you love about today?
What made you laugh?

Posted on by admin

How To Really Assess Learning

Istock_000003918483xlarge

 

There are a lot of standards and scores that kids in K-12 have to meet to make sure they are learning.  I didn’t make this list, and I can’t remember where I saw it.  But I love this list and how it  presents an alternate idea on how to assess learning.

What did you make today that was meaningful?
What did you learn about the world?
Who are you working with?
What surprised you?
What did your teachers make with you?
What did you teach others?
What unanswered questions are you struggling with?
How did you change the world in some small (or big) way?
What’s something your teachers learned today?
What did you share with the world?
What do you want to know more about?
What did you love about today?
What made you laugh?

Posted on by admin