Tag: learning

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cartoon

Dignity is overrated

When we are young, we don’t care what people think of us. We are willing to try new things because we are learning so much about the world.

Somewhere between fourth and fifth grade, our dignity gene kicks in. We start worrying what others think of us. We look over our shoulder and assess whether the next activity is cool or if it will make us look like fools.

The problem with this is that we have to be willing to feel foolish to try new things. Dignity is overrated if it causes you to do the same old thing. It is better to try, fail, learn and try again than to stay in the same old rut doing the same old things.

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School Cartoons webcomic

Why no one likes standardized tests

But Misses Kriegel! Why can't we have more standardized tests?

Teachers hate giving them. Students hate taking them. Parents hate seeing their kids endure them. Who likes standardized tests besides politicians and the makers of these tests?

You finally see some politicians take up the cause of less testing. But some fear the pressure has already done too much damage to students, parents and schools.

Whether standardized tests are good or not, there was never any good campaign to promote standardized tests with the public. The marketing was poor or nonexistent. It was merely seen as a measuring stick by which all schools should be measured. The problem is, if all a school has time to do is measure whether the kids are learning, there is never any time for teaching… or at least the kind of teaching that makes kids fall in love with lifetime learning.

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K! Magazine Magazine

Do your kids struggle with memorizing something?

Cartoon of a boy with a mechanical thinking cap on his head

 

Cartoon of a boy with an industrial-looking cap on his head. He says to a a woman, “Thanks to my thinking cap, I’m going to win this year’s memory verse challenge!”

We are always looking for an easy way to do something. It’s usually the way innovation happens. We are always looking for ways to make something easier. We want to buy the latest gadget to make something in our lives easier.

Do your kids struggle with memorizing something like a Bible verse, the presidents of the United States or prepositions? Instead of finding a steampunk-inspired thinking cap, have your kids try these tips.

  • Get some index cards and have kids make their own flash cards. The very act to making the cards will help with memory. You can get creative and use images as well as words. This works with visual as well as kinetic learners. If a child speaks it while he or she writes it, it also helps auditory learners.
  • Kids can walk or use hand motions to help them memorize. It helps kids who learn kinetically to move as they learn. It also helps emphasize important passages.
  • Make a song out of it. Auditory learners may grasp something when it it put to music or a rap.
  • Be an example. Find something you want to memorize and try these techniques. You may find something that works for you also works with your child.

Even though we live in an age where we can search the Internet for a fact, memorization is still an important skill. Encourage kids to memorize facts and passages.

I drew this cartoon for Kidzmatter Magazine.

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teaching

Are Learner Styles Bunk?

This morning, I heard a news item on how we learn. The conventional wisdom for the last few years was that each of us learn differently and teachers should cater to an individual’s learning style. The main learning styles were the following:

  • visual learner
  • auditory learner
  • tactile/kinesthetic learner
Personally, I’ve always wished one of the learning styles was “gourmet learner.” I’m sure I learn by taste, especially when it comes to chocolate chip cookies.
The premise of the article was there is no scientific evidence that there is such a thing as learner styles. I was very surprised by that, since I’ve heard many educators proclaim it as gospel. What the study suggested is that we find similarities on how our brains learn instead of the differences. After all, all hearts perform in similar ways. Why should we treat our brains differently?
That is where they lost me. It’s true that our organs operate similarly, but we all react to things differently. My stomach loves hot and spicy food. Others find that revolting. Many can’t eat the spicy stuff without paying for it later.
What I could agree on is that everyone benefits from teachers varying their style. No one responds to all lectures/all the time. We need as many of our senses engaged in different ways to keep a student’s interest and make learning fun.
So what do you think about this study? What do you do to keep learning exciting and fun?