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Teaching Tips May 2010 |
 One of the first principles of communication is that what you say is not necessarily what is heard. Every parent has experienced this quirky twist. Especially when assigning chores. And probably when explaining a lesson. What gets heard is directly impacted by learning style. It's the Attention component of a child's learning profile. In order to sift through all the different items vying for a child's attention (otherwise known as stimuli), the brain prefers to select only those items that match the child's natural way of thinking. Think: birds of a feather flock together. Concrete thinkers pay attention to concrete information – facts, figures, and properties that can be measured or observed. They focus on the details but lose the big picture. Abstract thinkers pay attention to abstract information such as ideas, principles, and reasoning. They focus on the big picture and ignore the details. This tendency means that whenever you are presenting a skill or concept that is opposite of the child's natural way of thinking, you will need to present it several times and do a lot of “hand holding” when the child tries the exercises. One of the easiest ways to see if children understand what you have said or what the lesson has presented is to have them repeat the idea or steps in their own words. Make sure they don't just repeat what you said. The process of having to put the material into their own words forces the brain to pay more attention. This, in turn, helps to shift the information from active working memory to long-term memory. It helps to cement learning. This technique is a “must use” when it comes to giving directions to a global learner. These are children whose minds are constantly thinking about all sorts of seemingly unrelated topics. Yet two topics that rarely make it into that mix are rules and directions. So when you tell your global child to go upstairs and bring down her math book, and take up the pile of laundry on the way up, chances are she didn't hear both steps – and possibly neither one. “Did you hear me?” “Hear what?” “Did you hear me tell you to go get your math book and take the laundry up, too?” “Ah, no. Okay, I'll get my math book.” “Don't forget the laundry.” Up she goes, without the laundry in hand. A few minutes later when she has not come back down, you go up to see where she is. You find her sitting on the floor, rummaging through a pile of clothes, looking for her favorite pen with the fluffy feather on the end. That's what you get for not having her repeat what you said! Including both steps. Otherwise, you don't stand a chance of being heard. 463 Words To view more 'Teaching Tips' Articles please 'Log In' and visit the 'Achives' page. |
