When looking at the question that Willingham poses, "why don't students like school?" I think that there are many possible answers. I thought that I had liked school but many of the things that he talks about in this chapter forced me to remember a lot of the things that I didn't like. Mainly the way that teachers would make things either too easy or too difficult so that we were either bored or would cause the students to give up because it was so hard. I think that he focuses on the how the content of instruction must peak the students curiosity but not pose to much of a cognitive challenge. I like the way that Willingham focuses on ways that teachers can peak students interest within the classroom. Spending time developing questions that matter, and focus on the objectives that you want the students to learn. It is important to recognize that every student is engaged in cognitive thinking at different levels and because of this we as teachers cannot assign students the same level of work. Willingham suggests grouping individuals based on their level of competence. The ultimate goal is to puzzle students enough that their interest is peaked both before and after the lesson. Memorable Quote: "People are naturally curious, but we are not naturally good thinkers; unless the cognitive conditions are right, we will avoid thinking" (pg. 3) It is our job as teachers to provide those appropriate cognitive conditions.
The question of this chapter is why don't students like school? The answer to this question is in how we think. The brain doesn't like to think and isn't built to think. This was a new idea to me because I always thought the brain's purpose was so we can think. Willingham describes the brain more as a storage unit for memories. When we combine elements from the environmentt and stored memories in our working memory this is called thinking. Thinking occurs in our working memory. The trick is to not overload this space called our working memory or not fill it up enough. When students are posed with a problem that is too hard or doesn't appear to be solvable they give up or say it's boring. If a problem is too easy then they will not be motivated to try and solve it or they will be bored as well. The trick is to find a happy medium. We don't want to make school work easier, but we want to make the thinking easier for our students so they can begin to like school. They will like school because when they complete the work on their own with enough effort to find their answers they will get the pleasure feeling we all want to feel when we solve something on our own. 5 Quotes: Pg. 6, "You can perform other tasks while you are seeing, but you can't think about something else while you are working on a problem." I really liked this quote from the reading because as teachers we need to recognize that we should use activities and problems that students need to work at so they can't get distracted by other things around them. Also, creating an environmentt where students can focus is important in getting quality work. I personally need quiet in order for me to be able to actually think when working on something. Pg. 7, "When you feel as though you are 'on autopilot,' even if you're doing something rather complex, such as driving home from school, it's because you are using memory to guide your behavior." I can relate to this quote because when I am driving I go on auto pilot all the time and also when I waitress I go on autopilot with my greet and dessert presentation. As teachers we need to recognize when we get on autopilot because then our students are most likely on autopilot as well. Pg. 9, "We pursue careers-such as teaching-that offer greater mental challenges than competing careers, even if the pay is lower. Not only are we willing to think, we intentionally seek out situations that demand thought." I think we can all relate to this! pg. 13, "Students can't opt out of these problems the way adults often can." This quote brings me back to school when you get homework that you don't want to do, but you have to so you just do what you can to get through it. We as teachers need to remember this when we assign work and think to ourselves, is this something I would have liked and been able to do when I was a student? Pg. 17, "Working memory has limited space, so thinking becomes increasingly difficult as working memory gets crowded." This quote explains how I feel about grad school. The more classes and homework I get, the harder it is to remember everything I need to do and then I get frustrated. We need to remember this when giving our students directions. We need to not bombard their brains with too much so they don't get frustrated and give up. Implications: The three implications that I would like to use in a lesson or remember for when I teach are I want to be sure that there are problems to be solved, changing pace, and keeping a diary. When teaching mathematics, word problems help students relate the math to real world applications. Having solvable problems is important for math. I want to change pace often to keep mathematics from being boring and keep students focused. Lastly, I want to keep journal as well as lesson plans from each day so I can keep a record and remember what works, what doesn't and what needs changes.
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ReplyDeleteASHLEY VIEGA
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the question that Willingham poses, "why don't students like school?" I think that there are many possible answers. I thought that I had liked school but many of the things that he talks about in this chapter forced me to remember a lot of the things that I didn't like. Mainly the way that teachers would make things either too easy or too difficult so that we were either bored or would cause the students to give up because it was so hard. I think that he focuses on the how the content of instruction must peak the students curiosity but not pose to much of a cognitive challenge.
I like the way that Willingham focuses on ways that teachers can peak students interest within the classroom. Spending time developing questions that matter, and focus on the objectives that you want the students to learn. It is important to recognize that every student is engaged in cognitive thinking at different levels and because of this we as teachers cannot assign students the same level of work. Willingham suggests grouping individuals based on their level of competence. The ultimate goal is to puzzle students enough that their interest is peaked both before and after the lesson.
Memorable Quote:
"People are naturally curious, but we are not naturally good thinkers; unless the cognitive conditions are right, we will avoid thinking" (pg. 3)
It is our job as teachers to provide those appropriate cognitive conditions.
KRISTEN MANGUSO
ReplyDeleteThe question of this chapter is why don't students like school? The answer to this question is in how we think. The brain doesn't like to think and isn't built to think. This was a new idea to me because I always thought the brain's purpose was so we can think. Willingham describes the brain more as a storage unit for memories. When we combine elements from the environmentt and stored memories in our working memory this is called thinking. Thinking occurs in our working memory. The trick is to not overload this space called our working memory or not fill it up enough. When students are posed with a problem that is too hard or doesn't appear to be solvable they give up or say it's boring. If a problem is too easy then they will not be motivated to try and solve it or they will be bored as well. The trick is to find a happy medium. We don't want to make school work easier, but we want to make the thinking easier for our students so they can begin to like school. They will like school because when they complete the work on their own with enough effort to find their answers they will get the pleasure feeling we all want to feel when we solve something on our own.
5 Quotes:
Pg. 6, "You can perform other tasks while you are seeing, but you can't think about something else while you are working on a problem." I really liked this quote from the reading because as teachers we need to recognize that we should use activities and problems that students need to work at so they can't get distracted by other things around them. Also, creating an environmentt where students can focus is important in getting quality work. I personally need quiet in order for me to be able to actually think when working on something.
Pg. 7, "When you feel as though you are 'on autopilot,' even if you're doing something rather complex, such as driving home from school, it's because you are using memory to guide your behavior." I can relate to this quote because when I am driving I go on auto pilot all the time and also when I waitress I go on autopilot with my greet and dessert presentation. As teachers we need to recognize when we get on autopilot because then our students are most likely on autopilot as well.
Pg. 9, "We pursue careers-such as teaching-that offer greater mental challenges than competing careers, even if the pay is lower. Not only are we willing to think, we intentionally seek out situations that demand thought." I think we can all relate to this!
pg. 13, "Students can't opt out of these problems the way adults often can." This quote brings me back to school when you get homework that you don't want to do, but you have to so you just do what you can to get through it. We as teachers need to remember this when we assign work and think to ourselves, is this something I would have liked and been able to do when I was a student?
Pg. 17, "Working memory has limited space, so thinking becomes increasingly difficult as working memory gets crowded." This quote explains how I feel about grad school. The more classes and homework I get, the harder it is to remember everything I need to do and then I get frustrated. We need to remember this when giving our students directions. We need to not bombard their brains with too much so they don't get frustrated and give up.
Implications:
The three implications that I would like to use in a lesson or remember for when I teach are I want to be sure that there are problems to be solved, changing pace, and keeping a diary. When teaching mathematics, word problems help students relate the math to real world applications. Having solvable problems is important for math. I want to change pace often to keep mathematics from being boring and keep students focused. Lastly, I want to keep journal as well as lesson plans from each day so I can keep a record and remember what works, what doesn't and what needs changes.