Why Can't Everyone Think Like Me?

Being a teacher has proven several things to me throughout my career.  Perhaps the most important is that my students rarely think the same thing I do.  A few years back I read a book by Chip and Dan Heath called, Make It Stick.  The book was about ways to be successful in having others listen to what you had to say.  Recently I remember thinking more and more about the “Curse of Knowledge” referred to in the book.  This means several things, but to me, it means that I take for granted that I already know something and simply assume others have the same idea.

If this year has taught me nothing else, it has taught me the value of modeling.  I’ve learned that I should model what I want the students to do.  For example, if I want them to walk down the hallway in an orderly manner then I should do so.  If I want them to design something in engineering class a certain way, then I should show them that.  One thing that continues to elude me is modeling my thinking.  How did I come to certain conclusions?  Why did I get that conclusion?  Students need to see the thought processes we use to come to conclusions.

People have a hard time thinking abstractly yet often this is the type of thinking expected.  Students often become frustrated but elated when they’re told to create.  They love the idea of creating, but they want to know finite or detailed information like: how much, how long, how will it work?  There are lots of folks who can see the finished product, but struggle to determine how the person got there. 

One exercise I do with the students is to have them write step by step instructions on how to do something and hand those instructions to another student.  Students often leave details out of the directions because they assume people know the details or will automatically do it.  Sometimes students think these “thought” details will be seen as non-essential to completing the task.  If you want to see an interesting breakdown of the human thought process just have someone else write step by step instructions for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

We need to give our students the same insight we use when making decisions or we most likely won’t get the result we were looking for.  Understanding how students think is important to this development.  A fun activity I have done with co-workers at different schools is the North, South, East, and West Personality traits.  The results are very enlightening and can also help us to better understand how others process thoughts. 

Here are some strategies I’m going to try using more of:

• Draw more diagrams and pictures (always heard they were worth 1,000 words.) 
• Write more of my thoughts on the board for kids to read. 
• Create more podcasts of me working with projects or just of teaching moments in the class.
• Explaining to students the process of how I came to a solution to a problem. 
• Have students explain to me how they came to conclusions.
• Ask scaffolding questions to help guide students to answers rather than provide it for them.

Collaborative Culture

I was recently in a twitter chat in which we discussed ways for a person to expand their Professional Learning Network.  (PLN)  Many ideas bounced around that used technology to enhance a person’s resources.  There were those in the room though who preferred a more personal approach.  “Remember the times we used to sit at a table and have a reflective discussion on what we had done in our classrooms?”

I would love to help people understand that technology can be used to build a professional learning network so vast that any time they have a question it can be answered in minutes.  Sometimes I feel like technology and all of the vast PLN resources can overwhelm folks though; kind of like drinking water through a fire hose.  

I find many asking, “Where do I begin?”  For starters you have to know yourself.  What is it that interests you?  What is it you want to learn more about?  Then you need to determine how you feel most comfortable sharing information.  Do you prefer to sit at a table and talk with people, or do you prefer to get your information through literature and online discussion?

I think the trick to building a PLN is to find folks who share a common interest with you.  After all, it’s people – not products – that make a difference in our learning.  Perhaps equally important is to find some folks who don’t always agree with you.  In a true PLN we should challenge ourselves.  Sometimes the only way to do that is to purposely follow folks that will ask us that famous question, “Why?”

My recommendation on collaboration is to use Twitter.  There are several hash tags related to education.  By following these you can see many others who share similar interests and viewpoints as yourself.  You can also get involved in the chats that happen weekly if you choose.  Here is a weekly list of chats I try to participate in.  Keep in mind I’m an eLearning and engineering teacher.  All times are central.  If you follow new people be sure to recommend them to #ff so they can get other followers.

Monday: #sschat 6pm #flipclass 7pm

Tuesday: #edchat 11am #edchat 6pm #pblchat 7pm

Wednesday: #educoach 9pm

Thursday: #inlearn 7pm