Student Report: "Connect" Leads to Learning

At a recent NBC student panel airing on "Voices of a Nation," students made clear what matters most in how we learn.  See "Twenty Things Students Want the Nation to Know About Education." Seven of the twenty items students wanted the nation to know have something to do with: "connect with us."

For example:

# 3: "I can't learn from you if you are not willing to connect with me."

Or

#12: "Tell me something good that I'm doing so I can keep growing in that."

Learning somehow always connects with narrative--both the students and the teachers' narrative. Maybe even the community's narrative, too?

See some of the other twenty items the students suggested--such as #s 6, 14, 15, 18, 19.

Mind/Shift on Writing

I recently came across an interesting article, “How Technology Fuels Learning,” at KQED’s Mind/Shift.

Instead of the solo approach of teacher-directed lessons on writing, this teacher uses collaboration and peer-editing to “Jump into the 21st Century." This teacher is willing to do the work to see her students achieve deep discussions and deeper understanding in writing.

How?

She keeps quiet. First session. Second session. She lets the students struggle with surface reading, lame questions and tepid responses. Third and fourth session, as she demands students critique and help one another, each session digs in a little deeper. She perseveres.

This teacher’s approach is similar to a breaking science achievement in the news. A new study came out recently announcing excellent results dealing with stroke victims with aphasia (inability to remember words). The key: patience. This group of researchers found that waiting for the stroke victim to search and find the right word creates new neural paths, establishing faster progress toward regaining speech than those treated through a coach-and-reteach language lesson .

Waiting for the student and expecting results sounds simple, yet effective, in learning how to learn.