Learning is about overcoming obstacles. These obstacles can be physical such as a learning disability or hearing impairment. They can also be non-physical such as having feelings of fear that cause you to procrastinate or just being overwhelmed. The point is, everyone has obstacles to overcome. One key is to break down a project or task into smaller, more manageable pieces. You enjoy a sense of accomplishment and reinforcement each time you complete a piece of the project. As you make it a habit to overcome your obstacles, your learning and confidence increase.
How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer?
One of the "end goals" is for a student to be able to work independently and confidently while also being able to interact and contribute to the ideas of other students. This creates synergy in a classroom. A teacher can help students by giving them an example of how to break down projects into manageable pieces. The student will eventually be able to do this for himself. A few experiences of being successful will go a long way to keeping a student motivated. Feedback is also vitally important. It lets the student know they are on the right track, or helps them make small corrections before they go too far astray.
I can so identify with your post on what is learning. You must have been reading my mind when your wrote it. You have described me perfectly when you talk about fear and procrastination. I have learned to over these as you have described.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about breaking the big tasks into smaller pieces. The big tasks overwhelm all of us, teachers included. We need to be aware of our students and how easily they get overwhelmed. When I tell my students that we will be doing a full reserch paper, some give up at that moment. But then I tell them that we will take a month to do it and that I will break it down into little pieces and be there for them all the way through, they feel better. Then when I nag them to death on every step, they accomplish the paper. By the end of the year, they tell me it was their favorite unit. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI wrote something similar this week--at least I think I did! I am facing the obstacles of being overwhelmed and doing things wrong! I have had to do them again and it is not fun. However, despite the painful learning curve, I am learning. Hopefully these assignments and technology will get easier for me as I do them each week--2 times or more!
ReplyDeleteWell put Sharee,
ReplyDeleteI agree that one of the biggest obstacles in learning is fear. I feel that often this fear comes when you feel unclear or start to feel left behind. This does lead to procrastination, or the loss of hope which can lead to giving up or not completing assignments at all. I think we can all relate to this.
Breaking things down into smaller more manageable objectives is a wonderful and vital idea, along with feedback and help from both teacher and peers.