Student Teaching
| April 14, 2008 | Posted by Brenda under ADD, School |
Have you been listening to my Tuesday Ten Minute Tips? Last week (I think) I did one called Teaching the Dog.
Teaching the Dog was an idea I came up with when I was a kid trying to study for exams. I realized that sometimes I would skip over things I needed to know for an exam, thinking that I already knew them. I would find out the next day during the test that I was wrong.
So I began teaching the dog. (Can you tell I was a lonely child? Poor doggy. He would have been the smartest dog around if he had understood anything I said.) Anyway, I would get my books and notebooks and plop down on the floor of my room with Charlie next to me. Sometimes he would sleep, but it didn’t matter. I would still teach.
Basically, what I did was see what I had to know for my test the next day and then explain it to Charlie. I could find out fast whether or not I had more studying to do.
It occurred to me tonight that a modifed version of this technique could be put to use every day, and that we could get you (I’m assuming you are a parent and not a student) to stand in for Charlie. You don’t mind replacing a dog, do you? He really was a very good dog.
So, here’s my idea: every day when your child comes home from school, play the Charlie game with them. You might need to get out some of the day’s papers or notes to help the process. This is sort of a modified version of “what did you do in school today?” except this time you’re supposed to get an answer. Besides “nothing”, I mean.
So, you ask your child what they learned in history that day, and they turn into the teacher, teaching you what they learned. You use their papers and notes to make sure they get it all. That extra repetition, plus the experience of putting it in their own words and teaching someone else, will help them remember and understand much more. Tie in today’s lesson with what they learned yesterday, and you’ve got gold. They’ll barely need to study when it comes to the exam. (And that’s the hook you use to get your older kids to give it a try.)
By the way, I fully intended to add a picture here of me and Charlie, so you could see him, but it’s just not working tonight. Picture a medium sized brown dog with floppy ears, and you’ve got it.
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