So this book was so awesome I took notes summarising it so you don’t have to read it. Unless you want to. It is a great book.
Why don’t students like school? – Daniel Willingham
- the brain avoids thinking if it can
- but it like solving problems
- make sure there are problems to be solved
- make the problems doable
- remember working memory (4 bits)
- must have background knowledge
- make sure lessons have questions, not just answers
- give different problems to different people
- factual knowledge must precede skill
- critical thinking is tied in with background knowledge
- people understand more if they have more background knowledge
- background knowledge allows chunking – which increases working memory
- background knowledge is necessary for cognitive skills
- a lot of ‘thinking’ is actually remembering
- people use memory to answer problems a lot
- reading is the best way to get knowledge
- teach new content through the lens of similar ideas
- knowledge needed before skill development
- get kids to read
- knowledge acquisition can be incidental
- memory is the residue of thought
- you remember what you think about
- if something creates an emotional reaction it is more likely to be remembered
- wanting to remember has little effect
- students have to think about the meaning of the material in the right way
- e. in a way related to the meaning like cause and effect not some weird drawings
- so linking it to students’ lives is actually distracting
- students just want teachers that are organised and nice to people (can form connections)
- students remember stories
- stories need: causality, conflict, complications and character
- include these elements in lesson plans
- but not too much information in the stories – the reason you remember stories is because you have to do a lot of thinking about htem to figure them out
- get students to remember by getting them to think about what something means
- mnemonics – peg word, memory palace, link method, acronym method, first letter method, song
- stories need: causality, conflict, complications and character
- ask – what will this lesson make students think about?
- use analogies
- explain abstract concepts with familiar examples
- and get students to compare the analogy to the real thing
- ask questions that target the deep thinking / underlying structure
- practice needed to get better at a mental task
- to automate them
- so they don’t use working memory
- it therefore enables further learning
- practice also improves transfer
- practice should be spaced out
- make practice interesting – mix it up with other skills
- don’t get students to emulate experts – they don’t have enough knowledge
- VAK doesn’t work because it is meaning that is being tested, not VAK skills
- but you can use VAK to vary context, to create engagement
- learn by failure, so you have to do stuff that is hard
- teach study skills
- don’t praise sub-standard work for slower students
- teachers need to practice teaching
- try and get better
- seek feedback
- do things to improve teaching skills (bring it back into the classroom – one thing at a time)
- film yourself teachingWhy don’t students like school? – Daniel Willingham
- the brain avoids thinking if it can
- but it like solving problems
- make sure there are problems to be solved
- make the problems doable
- remember working memory (4 bits)
- must have background knowledge
- make sure lessons have questions, not just answers
- give different problems to different people
- factual knowledge must precede skill
- critical thinking is tied in with background knowledge
- people understand more if they have more background knowledge
- background knowledge allows chunking – which increases working memory
- background knowledge is necessary for cognitive skills
- a lot of ‘thinking’ is actually remembering
- people use memory to answer problems a lot
- reading is the best way to get knowledge
- teach new content through the lens of similar ideas
- knowledge needed before skill development
- get kids to read
- knowledge acquisition can be incidental
- memory is the residue of thought
- you remember what you think about
- if something creates an emotional reaction it is more likely to be remembered
- wanting to remember has little effect
- students have to think about the meaning of the material in the right way
- e. in a way related to the meaning like cause and effect not some weird drawings
- so linking it to students’ lives is actually distracting
- students just want teachers that are organised and nice to people (can form connections)
- students remember stories
- stories need: causality, conflict, complications and character
- include these elements in lesson plans
- but not too much information in the stories – the reason you remember stories is because you have to do a lot of thinking about htem to figure them out
- get students to remember by getting them to think about what something means
- mnemonics – peg word, memory palace, link method, acronym method, first letter method, song
- stories need: causality, conflict, complications and character
- ask – what will this lesson make students think about?
- use analogies
- explain abstract concepts with familiar examples
- and get students to compare the analogy to the real thing
- ask questions that target the deep thinking / underlying structure
- practice needed to get better at a mental task
- to automate them
- so they don’t use working memory
- it therefore enables further learning
- practice also improves transfer
- practice should be spaced out
- make practice interesting – mix it up with other skills
- don’t get students to emulate experts – they don’t have enough knowledge
- VAK doesn’t work because it is meaning that is being tested, not VAK skills
- but you can use VAK to vary context, to create engagement
- learn by failure, so you have to do stuff that is hard
- teach study skills
- don’t praise sub-standard work for slower students
- teachers need to practice teaching
- try and get better
- seek feedback
- do things to improve teaching skills (bring it back into the classroom – one thing at a time)
- film yourself teaching
- the brain avoids thinking if it can