A previous blog entry listed several types of thinking, including the common analytical and intuitive. Reflection on ones’ thinking, and learning about learning are important and useful activities. They can lead to a valuable kind of self-understanding with pragmatic applications (like what jobs you should avoid and what hobbies or pastimes may be more gratifying).
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Last week I heard someone ask the question, “How am I supposed to think about this?” That’s a good question. Often we’re asked about what we think about something, but perhaps a more helpful question is “How are you thinking about this?” There are more ways of thinking than we can imagine (imaginative thinking being one of those ways).
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One of the concept tools I use for just about everything is mindmapping. I also teach it in one of my courses and students find it very helpful. Some time ago a student wrote to say,
Dr. Galindo - I have to stop and say many thanks to you. I have not done so well in my writing in seminary. Most recently, in Old Testament, my papers have only been C quality work. Writing has been my weak area. Now, in my last semester, I cross paths with your class and the idea of Mindmapping. I have another OT paper due this next week. I thought, what can I lose. So in 1/2 hour this morning I mindmapped on one page my paper. It is now being typed with ease. Of course I had already done much reflection over the scripture and research about it. Just wanted to say thanks. I think this should be information available to all students as they enter BTSR.
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One of the most underused teaching techniques is repetition. I suppose many teachers consider it appropriate only for children in the classroom who are required to learn things by rote. But that fact is that adults and teenagers alike learn a good chunk of things by repetition. Adults in the choir learn a choral piece through repetition. Actors learn their lines through repetition. Teenagers learn adeptness at sports through repetition in drills. The most effective curriculum involves a spiral design which repeats concepts at various stages and levels in the course of study. The fact is that we hardly ever learn anything the first time around. We all need repetition in order to learn.
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Delivering a presentation can be an overwhelming experience for beginning teachers or novice presenters. And we’ve all learned that some presenters never become much better with experience. But the fact is that anyone who desires can become a very effective presenter—in a classroom or giving a workshop—by applying some basic practices of effective presentations. If you consistently put the following into your repertoire you’ll see immediate positive results in your students or audience.
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While learning is a natural innate human ability, becoming a good learner is not. In whatever context of learning, whether in a graduate studies classroom, university, or Sunday school class effective teachers understand that part of their job is to help students become good learners. Researcher William Perry has identified nine stages of a student’s development. He grouped these stages into four substages.
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I recently heard a speaker say that “…everything and everywhere is a classroom and therefore an educational setting….” While the hyperbole makes its point, the use of the term “classroom” posits a danger for misunderstanding. My concern is that, while I agree with the sentiment, there is risk in using a classroom as a metaphor for anything other than . . . well, a classroom.
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The following is from the book Myths: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo. How well do you know fact from fiction?
FICTION: If you want to get rich, you can’t go wrong investing in real estate (land) because, as they say, “they ain’t making any more of it.”
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