It was a rite of passage of spring today! It was the first lawn-mowing day of the season. I took out my rusty but trusty lawn mower and my 5-year-old son Kende got out his Fisher Price lawn mower that seems smaller and smaller each year. He stood behind it and started pushing it alongside me. While he was pushing, he asked me questions about how the lawn mower works. I explained about the blade at the bottom, the mulcher on the side, and I just made up the other stuff that I really don't know much about.
Then he asked me if he could mow with my machine. Thinking about the dangers of it, I let him push for a minute with me. "That's cool!" he said. I told him that when he's bigger he can do this all the time! "I can't wait," he screamed!
I started thinking what a cool learning experience this is for a 5-year-old. He's getting excited by being immersed in this springtime chore. He's getting to ask questions, and soon, when he's a little bigger, I'll be happy to let him mow the lawn for real on his own. If he weren't only 5, and if I wasn't afraid of him having my gene for clumsiness, and there weren't sharp objects involved, I'd be glad to let him do it today. "You'll do it when you're bigger," I told him. "Soon."
We learn by doing, not by just talking about something, or doing shades of something. This is what Brian Cambourne tells us in his work on Conditions of Learning. To learn something, we must be immersed in it, have it demonstrated for us, be engaged with it, practice it, and have feedback on how we do it. Watching a video or reading a how-to book on it, only gets us so far in learning a task.
Then he asked me if he could mow with my machine. Thinking about the dangers of it, I let him push for a minute with me. "That's cool!" he said. I told him that when he's bigger he can do this all the time! "I can't wait," he screamed!
I started thinking what a cool learning experience this is for a 5-year-old. He's getting excited by being immersed in this springtime chore. He's getting to ask questions, and soon, when he's a little bigger, I'll be happy to let him mow the lawn for real on his own. If he weren't only 5, and if I wasn't afraid of him having my gene for clumsiness, and there weren't sharp objects involved, I'd be glad to let him do it today. "You'll do it when you're bigger," I told him. "Soon."
We learn by doing, not by just talking about something, or doing shades of something. This is what Brian Cambourne tells us in his work on Conditions of Learning. To learn something, we must be immersed in it, have it demonstrated for us, be engaged with it, practice it, and have feedback on how we do it. Watching a video or reading a how-to book on it, only gets us so far in learning a task.
Plato has a piece of writing called The Allegory of the Cave. He writes about a person living in cave, whose light source came from a large fire outside. No one else would come in to see you, and your only perception of what's outside is from the shadows on the wall that are projected by the fire. Your perception wouldn't really be real. It would be a distorted shadow that's the wrong size and maybe the wrong shape of reality. You wouldn't know what a conversation really is, or what real people, animals, trees, or anything looked like. You'd just have an idea of what it might be like if you were allowed to be a part of its reality...maybe.
That's a confusing way to live, never really experiencing anything. If my son only stayed with his toy lawn mower, he'd never really get to experience what it's like to cut the grass.
Think of what this means to us as teachers. We have to find ways to provide kids with experiences in their learning. They can't just have the distorted shadows of experience. They need to learn to read...by reading. No surprise there! Allington and many other researchers have told us time and again that students improve in their ability as readers by reading. The same is true in writing, math, science, learning a foreign language, learning to swim, learning to drive, everything!
That's a confusing way to live, never really experiencing anything. If my son only stayed with his toy lawn mower, he'd never really get to experience what it's like to cut the grass.
Think of what this means to us as teachers. We have to find ways to provide kids with experiences in their learning. They can't just have the distorted shadows of experience. They need to learn to read...by reading. No surprise there! Allington and many other researchers have told us time and again that students improve in their ability as readers by reading. The same is true in writing, math, science, learning a foreign language, learning to swim, learning to drive, everything!
So where does that leave us in the Age of Common Core? Maybe in a good place. For those districts who are trying to find a quick fix to the new rigorous demands, trying to find a shortcut for how to interpret with depth, they will ultimately hit a dead end. Doing a worksheet will only take you so far...to read closely, you actually have to read books. To write for an audience, you really need an audience. We have to create learning situations where kids are experiencing their learning in real ways. You can't say you've taught a science unit on light, because you've read the chapter in a textbook. Kids have to play with flashlights and mirrors. They have to observe how light interacts with objects and your eyes. They have to do something with light.
I guess it's no secret that I don't like worksheets. I know that they can have a place in our learning, but we have to find the proportion with which we use them. They're good for short practice or review of certain skills that we've taught or will be teaching. However, they can't be the whole diet. They're only part of the whole picture...the minor to the major of kids doing things.
Kids are capable of so much more than worksheets give them credit for. One of our kindergartners told his mom at dinner the other night, "I wrote an all about book about worms. It was long, and the adults can actually read it!" he said proudly. It takes a little time, but they get there, but only because we give them a chance to practice.
Not only can they do it, but they need to have authentic experiences to really grasp concepts. Nancy Schultz, a local math consultant tells us that if we don't give students a chance to experience number sense by working with manipulatives, they only learn about the iconic and abstract part of math, without realizing what any of it means. These kids coast through elementary school, but suffer through algebra because they think 2x and x(squared) are the same thing because the symbols are the same. They need to experience math to really understand it at higher levels.
I guess it's no secret that I don't like worksheets. I know that they can have a place in our learning, but we have to find the proportion with which we use them. They're good for short practice or review of certain skills that we've taught or will be teaching. However, they can't be the whole diet. They're only part of the whole picture...the minor to the major of kids doing things.
Kids are capable of so much more than worksheets give them credit for. One of our kindergartners told his mom at dinner the other night, "I wrote an all about book about worms. It was long, and the adults can actually read it!" he said proudly. It takes a little time, but they get there, but only because we give them a chance to practice.
Not only can they do it, but they need to have authentic experiences to really grasp concepts. Nancy Schultz, a local math consultant tells us that if we don't give students a chance to experience number sense by working with manipulatives, they only learn about the iconic and abstract part of math, without realizing what any of it means. These kids coast through elementary school, but suffer through algebra because they think 2x and x(squared) are the same thing because the symbols are the same. They need to experience math to really understand it at higher levels.
So stop to think about the reality you're presenting to your students? Are you allowing them to live up to their potential? Are you giving them lots of time to read real books, write original pieces, play with math, observe and create science, learn by doing each day? How clear is the image on the wall of the cave? Are your kids escaping the cave and experiencing true learning every day?
If you use lots of worksheets, think of how you can make your students' learning more authentic. If you already have just a limited use of worksheets, think of what their purpose is, and then maybe cut it in half, replacing them with more experiential learning.
Cambourne tells us it matters. Allington tells us it matters. Plato tells us it matters. Common Core tells us it matters.
And today, Kende told me that it matters.
If you use lots of worksheets, think of how you can make your students' learning more authentic. If you already have just a limited use of worksheets, think of what their purpose is, and then maybe cut it in half, replacing them with more experiential learning.
Cambourne tells us it matters. Allington tells us it matters. Plato tells us it matters. Common Core tells us it matters.
And today, Kende told me that it matters.
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