Teacher for Learning-Prior Knowledge & Culture Analogy

What makes a great pasta dish? The sauce! Every individual (family) has their own way (process) of making their famous sauce. Wether it's canned and doctored sauce or all fresh ingredients, everyone agrees- it's in the sauce! A good sauce fills gaps, blends ingredients, and binds.

Like The Sauce, much of our Prior Knowledge and cultural nuances are nothing more than ingredients that come together to create learning experiences. Ingredients that are dictated by the language used to retrieve them, cultural and sub-cultural norms and personal experiences as well as high-context and low-context and trauma.

Prior Knowledge is not strictly canned or homemade sauce (an either/or) in on student's learning journey. I see the misconception of Prior Knowledge's 'either/or' application in education as well as culture misconceptions as opportunities to upgrade our thinking as educators. Asking key questions during the lesson planning process, like,"How can my students learn this?", "Why must my students learn this?" and "When will my students use what they learn?" and asking my students to answer similar key questions, such as, "How can they use this?", "Why must they use this?", and "When will they use this?" circumvents false assumptions that students are lacking prior knowledge, but rather builds deep emotional connection for learners that are personal, positive, and profound. (LXD.org)

Comments

Teacher for Learning-The Importance & Impact of PK on Learning

The misconception is on the focus of Prior Knowledge as an event rather than a process. Educators like myself often focus on the what a student should already know and how to present the new information. And PK activities are used as straight pathway between the two endpoints; often an after thought. But by shifting our understanding that PK may not have a starting point on the pathway due to trauma gaps or cultural miscommunications we can avoid negatively effect students' acquiring new information. If PK is seen as an 'either/or' situation, both teacher(s) and student(s) may intentionally or unintentionally assume that the student lacks an ability, or skill-set for a particular subject area. When the educator actual missed an opportunity to present questions that not only triggering students' PK, but spark the students on a personal level. The result can be that students do not immediately recognize how that new information can be applied to: the present task and fa...

Teacher for Learning-Resources

On Diversity: Access Ain’t Inclusion | Anthony Jack | TEDxCambridge Disrupted Learning & Development: Part 1 What is Understanding by Design? Author Jay McTighe How to Take Cornell Notes Unleash Your Super Brain to Learn Faster Symbols, Values & Norms: Crash Course Sociology #10 Curriculum Mapping with Heidi Hayes Jacobs - Session #1

Teacher for Learning-Cornell Note-Taking Method & Extend Activity

Kwik Cornell Notes The Ted talk that I watched was Unleash Your Super Brain To Learn Faster | Jim Kwik . While taking notes using the Cornell Note-Taking method, I really focused on making things fit the off centered 'I'. This was a distraction. I also noticed that it bothered me if my spacing was off. As you can see by my notes that I needed to readjust the bottom line to accommodate for a final note. When I teach my students to use the Cornell Note-taking method, I think I'll teach them to draw an off-center 'T' and when the are ready for the summary make it an 'I'. I may also encourage them to re-write the notes adding colors or images at home as a way to reinforce the days lesson, or to keep a blank page between notes so that when they are ready to study before an exam they can read and then copy the notes on the next page.

Extending My Professional Development

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