What is Learning: I found the second reading fascinating since I always wondered why I would get another idea while I was talking to someone and hardly could hold it until it was my turn to talk. According to this article it is natural learning. We try to remember what we are going to say next that we do not hear the rest of what the other person was saying. We learn as we build on our past experiences with the new information.
How can a teacher best effectuate learning: We want students to connect to prior knowledge in a way that will cause them to be interested in what we have to say. I can see how failure, the ability of learning by doing, would work for a little while. I do not think the students should be left hanging for a long time. The article mentioned this worked best when a student was alone and not in fear of looking stupid for trying. Since most of our classes are full of students then you would have to limit this time so the struggling students would not become discouraged. Story telling is fun to do and many times fun for the students. I remember my sons telling me that they had a teacher who always told them lame stories which they would tune him out when he started. I think we should limit the use of our stories since what we find amusing and interesting might be totally stupid to someone else. I know I have seen confused looks when I told a joke or story that I later had to thoroughly explain. At that point you have lost the fun and purpose of telling the story.
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Toni I appreciated your comments this week. I liked what you said about story telling, that too much story telling can be annoying for students. I have students who have told me the teachers they can get off subject by telling stories or the teacher that tells them too many stories. I don't share many stories so when I do the students are totally excited and listen to my every word when I share a story. There is a plus to keeping things to a minimum. :)
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