Engines of Education (Part 1) Rinse and Repeat

Rinse and Repeat

Often a students first contact with a new concept is a wow moment- a 'Shazam' experience- but why is this information not resonating later? Why do they often lose them after the initial confetti exposure? We are often looking for significant changes in behavior, in processing- but we are looking for this to happen quickly. But it takes time to add to our schema, to rebuild the prior knowledge, reshape it- its like LEGO blocks or construction. It takes a short time to look over the easy to read pictures and to sort the bricks. However, if you are going to put together a bigger set, it takes more planning. The instruction manual becomes more important- now those photos in the booklet have more meaning- they are about engineering, rather than just clicking together various sizes of bricks. 

So why do we expect students to ‘get it’ before they are ready to construct, demolish and reconstruct? Time constraints, standards and learning goals aside- why do we lump all the bricks into a pile and not be patient enough and wait until students interpret the manual? Sometimes its more fun to just experiment and build without design, yes. But, for many students, they need the time to sort. They may seem like just different sizes of bricks, but they are much more than that they are: pips, shape, width- not to mention the other pieces that are not bricks. We need to figure out how to let students sort, make piles, tinker and redesign more quickly so we can keep the pace of the class and make sure the vocabulary and concepts are getting mastered.

An unfamiliar concept takes us more effort to understand, the more we hear it, see it, experience it, the less threatening it becomes. Then once we have conquered our discomfort, we can embrace it and add it to our bubble. Too much familiarity, however, can lead to boredom. In other words, large piles of bricks, can get overwhelming and never get used. We need exposure but with different intervals, various time frames and levels of depth. The more we see it as a part of our knowledge base the more we can manipulate it and mold it to our liking. The more we can pull from different piles to create some awesome models. We remember what we like. We use what we see as important and when we enjoy a topic and see its relevance, it tends to become a fixture in our learning and growth. This is the way humans learn.

Shampoo and Conditioner

Here are a few simple strategies to help students gather the bricks they need faster, help them create their own manual for learning, all the while keeping the pace of the class balanced so every student can rinse and repeat as needed.

Definition Maps, Frayer Models and Venn Diagrams are great ways to expose students to a new concept or vocabulary word. It doesn't matter how they organize, just that they do. Have them take the word and create an analogy, write a synonym and sketch an image. This of course can be accomplished in 'sketch-notes," visual notes or a simple magnet summary. But this component also must include a personal definition, something that resonates. Then students can play Charades, Taboo or Pictionary at the end of the week with all their new words and concepts. I use the graffiti wall to have them draw cartoons or comics- the artists leave off the dialogue and other students add to it throughout the day- this is a huge interactive word wall. A fun way to conceptualize and solidify.

Once students have tinkered with the concept, constructed something, an image, a symbol- I have them explain the word to one another, as if they were in kindergarten. Making sure they use simple, concise words, because if they can, then they actually understand the concept well. Then after they have reflected in their journal and discussed as a class these words are used to make bigger connections across concepts. They are not just content words we do this with, in my struggling classes, we do this with brick and mortar words too. The more exposure, the less fear and without confusion we can hear the sound more clearly. We can see the edges and form a more concise, personal meaning of the concept.

Every one of these activities is 5-7 minutes and dispersed within activities and labs. This way they are hands on using the concepts and building their framework of vocabulary simultaneously. This way the resonance of the wow moment lingers- if we get excited about a balloon, but then just tie it to a string and walk around with it, it loses its excitement quickly- but if we bounce it off our hands, twirl it on the string, talk about how cool it is- the balloon becomes animated, a presence that not only follows us but interacts with us. When it eventually deflates, we remember how much joy it brought us- its that emotion that creates the memory. What adds it to our knowledge base.

Pat Dry or Air Dry

We as educators need to disentangle the two parts of education: student growth and success and teacher growth and success. They are not mutually exclusive, but they are not reliant on one another either. As our students learn and process information, how they acquire and assimilate it is very much a part of how we once acquired and assimilated the same information. There are stages we all cross, milestones we all conquer, but we tend to teach how we think about things, not how our students do. We deliver information in very much the same way we remember learning it- especially if it was successful and meaningful. Marzano's Six Step Process of Building Academic Vocabulary tells us we need to describe, explain and give an example first. Then have students put the definition in their own words, draw an example or symbol of representation, reflect in a journal and then discuss with a partner. Use the word six different ways -rinse and repeat.

The basis of communication is words. The meaning of words. Concepts are built around definitions. Connections are solidified because these meanings are often transferable, bridging ideas. Science is vast, different areas of science, like nature itself are all interconnected. The connotation, implication, interpretation, symbolization of these thoughts and images is personal, yet critical to being able to see the world clearly. This may sound grandiose, but think about it- if you are sitting in class and definitions, concepts, meanings are being thrown at you and you are failing to catch them, you are sinking below the surface of the quagmire of vocabulary and hypothesis, theory and supposition- are new ideas going to resonate? For me they didn't. My Dyslexia caused jumbles and noise not understanding and my teachers never slowed down in order for me to pull myself out of the muck.

School is an extension of our knowledge base, it adds to it, but ultimately when we go home at night, it is the clarity of the meaning that puts it in its place and as educators we need to make sure the sound quality is clear and that there is space for our students to create the file- spread out and make piles, construct Lego towers just to watch them crumble and build new ones. We have to be comfortable with the mess, learning is messy. It may take a little more time to clean up the bricks but if they have made a memory- if students have created meaning in their knowledge base, then vocabulary and new concepts have created resonance. This takes patience but if done, we are letting go a little bit of our power and status and allowing students to use intuition and personal reasoning to grow as learners.

This is what will be discussed in part two of Engines of Education- Intuition and Reasoning in the classroom.