Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning

Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James M. Lang

I just started reading this book. My plan is to capture at least one idea from each chapter and incorporate immediately into my teaching.

Part 1: Knowledge
1. Retrieving. The idea here is that retrieval practice will help learners retain foundational material. Frequency matters, align practice and assessments and require thinking. The opening and closing of class are good places to add retrieval activities. 
I could close the training event with a short quiz or  solve a problem. I could also close the class by asking learners to write down the most important concept from today. 
Example of a problem. Your student needs to work online for 60 minutes during the week. How might you weave that time into your weekly schedule?

2. Predicting. Predictive activities prepare your mind for learning by driving you to make connections. Predictive exercises may also reveal gaps in our knowledge. Stay conceptual, provide fast feedback. Induce reflection. Curiosity.
Ideas. Begin the session with a pretest. When presenting a case or a problem, stop before the conclusion and ask the learner to predict the outcome.
Example: after reviewing the action tabs, ask participants how long they think it will take to check this information. After reviewing auto placement information ask participants to predict how long a 1st grader placed in level 2 will be asked to work online each week.

3. Interleaving. Spacing out learning sessions over time and mixing up your practice of skills you are seeking to develop.
If we used spaced learning to allow some time for forgetting to set in, we are forced to draw from our long-term memory when we return to it. A little forgetting has the effect of retriggering consolidation, further strengthening memory.
The time that intervenes between spaced learning sessions allows our mind to better organize and solidify what we are studying.


More to come.....

Designated Learner Experiment Continues

The Designated Learner Experiment continues.  Irene Knohk taught me how to use JING to capture a screen and to create a video.

Below are Steve Gilbert's thoughts on our next steps:
This was a GREAT step forward.
Irene, would you be willing to do almost the same thing with Jing again?
I'd like to try it with 2 or 3 very small, very specific tasks/projects identified in advance and the goal of trying to get the learner to succeed on those 2 or 3 as quickly as possible... with enough time left at the end to discuss other features of Jing that people might find relevant and/or to respond to audience questions.  I think we should also continue to identify the list of tasks/features that we will NOT address during our session...
I also wonder if the model of TV cooking shows has some relevance...  some steps can be omitted or condensed because someone has taken  care of that in advance....
For example...

• We list the prep that we would help our designated learner do in advance.  We make  a bigger deal in advance about the "worksheet" Irene prepared
• Open Jing & Screencast accounts
• Download Jing
• Identify a location on the learner's computer where any Jing files will be saved and avail immediately
• Identify a location (folder?) on the learner's Screencast account where any Jing files uploaded will be saved and avail immediately

What else could be handled this way in advance  AND WE COULD TELL PEOPLE THAT WE WERE DOING SO AND THAT THEY WOULD BE EXPECTED TO TAKE CARE OF THESE IN ADVANCE THEMSELVES IF THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO FOLLOW ALONG IN REAL TIME...
What do you think?
Steve

I love Steve's cooking show analogy.  I am also thinking we may want a place for people to be able to go after the session for more information and to view the recording, in other words, "to get the recipe."

One other thing we could add, either ask the participants for what they plan to do next and or suggest some things that they may want to do next that will help support and reinforce what they have learned in the session.  For example:  I want to go the JING and create a screen capture on my own so I don't forget what I have learned. Below is my latest achievement in that regard.