Notes on "Thinking About Teaching and Learning", Leamnson
"When we come to know something, we have performed an act that is as biological as when we digest something", Henry Plotkin
Leamnson notes the problem of indicator words as highlighted in the article in the Atlantic, The Writing Revolution. Most students don't know how they are used and don't understand the meaning in sentences relying on these words. How can this be? How can this be taught? Leamnson recommends the book, Connected Knowledge. For a brief look at the beginning of each chapter, go to connected knowledge. Leamnson adds, importantly, that students who do well on multiple choice tests or other tests that do not require them to USE any language are often deficient in the language's use and cannot adequately explain the same concepts that they were able to answer correctly on the test. What is happening here? Does a multiple choice test measure any learning? Has anything been digested, to use Plotkin's language above? How tightly connected is language and thinking? And, what do we mean, in this context, by language?
When I say to my students, I am not teaching literacy, but meaning, what do I mean?
I think that I am saying we are developing the skills to make sense of phrases, chunks of words strung together that create ideas. In order to do that, however, we have to know not just what the words mean individually, but what they mean in groups. How would you develop an exercise to "teach" word groupings?
On their index cards where students would define their words, could I ask them to also define a phrase? For example, if the word is "belief", I might ask them to explain the phrase, "A belief is not a fact." Or even more complex, "A belief is not a fact, instead it's more like an idea". That way, they have to grapple with indicator words.
Grades: hand out a grades explanation with the first graded assignment
Leamnson notes the problem of indicator words as highlighted in the article in the Atlantic, The Writing Revolution. Most students don't know how they are used and don't understand the meaning in sentences relying on these words. How can this be? How can this be taught? Leamnson recommends the book, Connected Knowledge. For a brief look at the beginning of each chapter, go to connected knowledge. Leamnson adds, importantly, that students who do well on multiple choice tests or other tests that do not require them to USE any language are often deficient in the language's use and cannot adequately explain the same concepts that they were able to answer correctly on the test. What is happening here? Does a multiple choice test measure any learning? Has anything been digested, to use Plotkin's language above? How tightly connected is language and thinking? And, what do we mean, in this context, by language?
When I say to my students, I am not teaching literacy, but meaning, what do I mean?
I think that I am saying we are developing the skills to make sense of phrases, chunks of words strung together that create ideas. In order to do that, however, we have to know not just what the words mean individually, but what they mean in groups. How would you develop an exercise to "teach" word groupings?
On their index cards where students would define their words, could I ask them to also define a phrase? For example, if the word is "belief", I might ask them to explain the phrase, "A belief is not a fact." Or even more complex, "A belief is not a fact, instead it's more like an idea". That way, they have to grapple with indicator words.
Grades: hand out a grades explanation with the first graded assignment
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