Book Discussion: "Why Don't...." Chapter 1

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Book Discussion: "Why Don't...." Chapter 1

by dc

Dec 5, 2010

First of all, I will start things off, but I don't want to be considered the one and only leader. I want us all to be co-leaders, OK? If I'm having a busy week, I want everyone to FEEL FREE to jump in, pose a question, keep us moving. There will be no feeling of "stepping on toes" here, OK? Any and all are welcome to participate, whether you have read the book or not.

We are reading the book, Why Don't Students Like School?, written by the cognitive scientist, Daniel T. Willingham. Link attached (hopefully).

Chapter One Thoughts: 1) What did you think of the quote: "it's more useful to view the human species as 'bad' at thinking rather than as cognitively gifted?

2) The quote "People like to solve problems, but not to work on unsolvable problems" spoke to me since I did my evaluation project last year on "Teach to the Correct Level of Difficulty". I have worked hard to find problems and assignments that are at the correct level of difficulty for students thi...See More

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thanks, j.e. nfm On 12/13/10, dc wrote: > I think you're right, j.e., that we are using the term "chunking" > differently than Willingham. I think he means he is gathering > information TOGETHER when he speaks about chunks....putting CHUNKS of > information together to make them more meaningful, whereas Jan and I are > talking about breaking things ...See More

Dec 13, 2010

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George On 12/13/10, dc wrote: > I think you're right, j.e., that we are using the term "chunking" > differently than Willingham. I think he means he is gathering > information TOGETHER when he speaks about chunks....putting CHUNKS of > information together to make them more meaningful, whereas Jan and I are > talking about breaking things D...See MoreOn 12/13/10, dc wrote: > I think you're right, j.e., that we are using the term "chunking" > differently than Willingham. I think he means he is gathering > information TOGETHER when he speaks about chunks....putting CHUNKS of > information together to make them more meaningful, whereas Jan and I are > talking about breaking things DOWN into meaningful chunks of information > (or one sub-objective). But eventually each CHUNK of information leads > to the final terminal objective where, yes, I do believe that you would > link all of the sub-objectives together to help students understand > the "whole". > > Jan will explain (CHUNK!) this way better than I am capable of doing!

Willingham is talking about short term memory when he speaks of chunking. Think of it as being in a foreign country where everyone is speaking in one solid stream of sound. You can't quite tell where one sound starts and ends. Nothing makes sense. Your short term memory can't acquire any new knowledge. Nothing makes sense. You slowly start to distinguish sounds and your short term memory starts to acquire knowledge of new language, but not much. You then start to pick up words, then phrases, sentences. Your short term memory is able to store more and more and more knowledge of the new language making it easier to learn the language (math, writing, music, spelling, etc...) faster. Some of us go through this process fast and some slow. Some can store a great deal of info and others very little. Thus the differences in learning speeds seen. One way to help students to learn faster is to try to superload the short term memory. Make everything seem related to allow the short term memory to store more and learn faster. We do this by reading books on mountains for a period then about rivers then about cities. But not by jumping daily from one area or even genre to another so all is new and unfamiliar. We do this as Jan has mentioned by making sure that there is nothing that takes away from the lesson. The students may love the explosion but did they retain the knowledge given in the lesson. We do this by relating the tea problem to the pegs.

Dec 14, 2010

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j.e. You should share that example with Willingham, George! That makes so much sense, about not knowing a language. I emailed him the other day, and he emailed right back.

On 12/14/10, George wrote: > On 12/13/10, dc wrote: >> I think you're right, j.e., that we are using the term "chunking" >> differently than Willingham. I thi...See MoreYou should share that example with Willingham, George! That makes so much sense, about not knowing a language. I emailed him the other day, and he emailed right back.

On 12/14/10, George wrote: > On 12/13/10, dc wrote: >> I think you're right, j.e., that we are using the term "chunking" >> differently than Willingham. I think he means he is gathering >> information TOGETHER when he speaks about chunks....putting CHUNKS of >> information together to make them more meaningful, whereas Jan and I are >> talking about breaking things DOWN into meaningful chunks of information >> (or one sub-objective). But eventually each CHUNK of information leads >> to the final terminal objective where, yes, I do believe that you would >> link all of the sub-objectives together to help students understand >> the "whole". >> >> Jan will explain (CHUNK!) this way better than I am capable of doing! > > Willingham is talking about short term memory when he speaks of chunking. > Think of it as being in a foreign country where everyone is speaking in one > solid stream of sound. You can't quite tell where one sound starts and > ends. Nothing makes sense. Your short term memory can't acquire any new > knowledge. Nothing makes sense. You slowly start to distinguish sounds and > your short term memory starts to acquire knowledge of new language, but not > much. You then start to pick up words, then phrases, sentences. Your short > term memory is able to store more and more and more knowledge of the new > language making it easier to learn the language (math, writing, music, > spelling, etc...) faster. Some of us go through this process fast and some > slow. Some can store a great deal of info and others very little. Thus the > differences in learning speeds seen. One way to help students to learn > faster is to try to superload the short term memory. Make everything seem > related to allow the short term memory to store more and learn faster. We > do this by reading books on mountains for a period then about rivers then > about cities. But not by jumping daily from one area or even genre to > another so all is new and unfamiliar. We do this as Jan has mentioned by > making sure that there is nothing that takes away from the lesson. The > students may love the explosion but did they retain the knowledge given in > the lesson. We do this by relating the tea problem to the pegs.

Dec 14, 2010

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dc That's my goal. OK with everyone else?

Dec 18, 2010

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works for me. j.e. nfm On 12/18/10, dc wrote: > That's my goal. OK with everyone else?

Dec 18, 2010

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