I have to say: Gong's book, Learning & Teaching for Exponential Growth: A Three Person Problem, has got to be one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. It was part epiphany, part obvious, and part wow.
Epiphany because it led me to so many "aha!" moments where I thought of how I could use this in teaching my own kids, in guiding them to a love of learning, or of teaching the children in my Sunday School class, helping them find joy in both learning and teaching each other and others, or with just how I can learn more myself and find greater enjoyment. It did a great deal towards helping me to find that joy in seeking out new knowledge and gaining new insights.
Obvious because so much of it was like walking out into the sun and saying "yes, it is bright." I have heard many times that one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it. This forces you to organize your thoughts and to put things in your own language, or manner of speaking. That reinforces whatever you are teaching in your own mind, helping it to be solidified. This was something I knew, and yet I was excited to find it mentioned within the book, most likely since it confirmed what I believed to be true.
And "wow" because it succeeded in amazing me. There were so many ways it pushed my understanding and provoked my thoughts towards higher meanings. The entire idea of exponential learning just boggles my mind. And yet it also calls to me. I have always loved learning, but I had previously felt that learning at exponential speed and recall was only for the lucky few. Now I have a goal to strive for and a task to complete. I want to learn at that rate. I want my family to be able to learn like that. I want everyone I meet to learn like that.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Pondering about Teaching
Pondering is such a wonderful word, evoking an image of someone lost in thought, their mind turning a concept over and over in an attempt to make more sense out of it.
At least, that is what comes to my mind.
And teaching is such an interesting topic to ponder about. People all have their own views on what, how, and when something should be taught. It was fascinating to read the Wong's book The First Day of School as it presented such an interesting perspective. Even the way the book was written indicates the authors' belief that repetition is important. They repeated the title concept several times in each chapter, not to mention the different concepts for each chapter. It happened so often that I am not sure I could even mention any examples. They all run together in my head. I still feel a little beaten, metaphorically, by the concept hammer. "I've got it, already. Can we move on now?"
Don't get me wrong, almost all of the concepts and thoughts in the book gave me a feeling of "Yeah! That's the way to do it!" and "Why didn't most teachers I knew while I was growing up do things like this?
One that stuck out to me the most was the idea of procedures in classroom management, as opposed to rules. I agree, and yet I disagree. Maybe I'm getting too old, but the idea of changing all rules into things that are just done seems likely not to work. At least not if you do away with rules entirely. Used in moderation, I think it could be quite useful.
On a different subject, the last lecture was phenomenal. It inspired me to try to find more joy in learning and to bleed this over into the rest of my life as well.
That, and now I want to learn how to speed read...
At least, that is what comes to my mind.
And teaching is such an interesting topic to ponder about. People all have their own views on what, how, and when something should be taught. It was fascinating to read the Wong's book The First Day of School as it presented such an interesting perspective. Even the way the book was written indicates the authors' belief that repetition is important. They repeated the title concept several times in each chapter, not to mention the different concepts for each chapter. It happened so often that I am not sure I could even mention any examples. They all run together in my head. I still feel a little beaten, metaphorically, by the concept hammer. "I've got it, already. Can we move on now?"
Don't get me wrong, almost all of the concepts and thoughts in the book gave me a feeling of "Yeah! That's the way to do it!" and "Why didn't most teachers I knew while I was growing up do things like this?
One that stuck out to me the most was the idea of procedures in classroom management, as opposed to rules. I agree, and yet I disagree. Maybe I'm getting too old, but the idea of changing all rules into things that are just done seems likely not to work. At least not if you do away with rules entirely. Used in moderation, I think it could be quite useful.
On a different subject, the last lecture was phenomenal. It inspired me to try to find more joy in learning and to bleed this over into the rest of my life as well.
That, and now I want to learn how to speed read...
Friday, September 9, 2011
What is Teaching?
Teaching is an interesting topic. It begins with a thought, progresses through actions, and leads to imparting knowledge, instructions, and wisdom. We start with some information to share, proceed to actions which can include preparation, discussions, research, and finally reach the point where some of this original information manages to lodge itself into the mind of the student.
To me, teaching is an art form. Everyone has a different style, some of which can be categorized, and the final product is still left to the student to interpret. Some explanation can occur, but things are still largely influenced by the past experiences and previous knowledge that brought the student to that point in the first place.
And if teaching is a form of art, learning is a form of appreciation. What we appreciate - what we enjoy - stays with us. We appreciate not just the art the teacher gives us, but time that goes into it. And like the true masters of art, the best teachers are appreciated the most by their students.
Teaching, therefore, should be a work of love and heart. We teach because we love. We love our students, we love the subject matter, and we love making a difference. The learners are then able to feel the love the teacher has for all of this and it gives them hope and confidence, as well as a feeling of security. My favorite teachers growing up were the ones I felt I could trust.
This coincides greatly with some of the things I have learned about being an effective teacher. Simple things like "please" and "thank you" and smiling should be obvious, and yet I remember teachers who did not do that, who always sounded like they were ordering us to do something. The teachers who were kind were always more respected. The militant teachers might have silence, but students often hated them.
In contrast, I preferred being in the classrooms of the self-proclaimed "mean" teachers, who were often some of the most polite. They called themselves the mean ones because they had rules and stuck to them, which was what I preferred. Interestingly enough, most students feel the same.
It seems to me that, as I study and learn more about teaching, I learn more and more about what kind of teacher I want to be.
To me, teaching is an art form. Everyone has a different style, some of which can be categorized, and the final product is still left to the student to interpret. Some explanation can occur, but things are still largely influenced by the past experiences and previous knowledge that brought the student to that point in the first place.
And if teaching is a form of art, learning is a form of appreciation. What we appreciate - what we enjoy - stays with us. We appreciate not just the art the teacher gives us, but time that goes into it. And like the true masters of art, the best teachers are appreciated the most by their students.
Teaching, therefore, should be a work of love and heart. We teach because we love. We love our students, we love the subject matter, and we love making a difference. The learners are then able to feel the love the teacher has for all of this and it gives them hope and confidence, as well as a feeling of security. My favorite teachers growing up were the ones I felt I could trust.
This coincides greatly with some of the things I have learned about being an effective teacher. Simple things like "please" and "thank you" and smiling should be obvious, and yet I remember teachers who did not do that, who always sounded like they were ordering us to do something. The teachers who were kind were always more respected. The militant teachers might have silence, but students often hated them.
In contrast, I preferred being in the classrooms of the self-proclaimed "mean" teachers, who were often some of the most polite. They called themselves the mean ones because they had rules and stuck to them, which was what I preferred. Interestingly enough, most students feel the same.
It seems to me that, as I study and learn more about teaching, I learn more and more about what kind of teacher I want to be.
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