I'm waiting for the follow-up post that address this issue:
You look at the students' faces. Three got the point a few minutes ago and are bored. A half dozen seem to get the idea, but lack confidence that they really understand it. Another dozen look like they might have a bit of the idea, but doubtful. The rest look totally lost. This group divides into frustrated but want to learn, disgusted, angry, withdrawn and stoned.
I went back and read your post on learning foreign languages. Learning a 2nd language for a couple years in high school, even at a basic level, makes you understand your own language better. I had never even heard the word conjugation, let alone understand what it meant or why it was necessary, until 7th grade German class. I did not realize that there were languages where the verb and tense only came at the end of the sentence until I learned Japanese as a 2nd language (when I learned it as a child, I never even noticed that feature). At the very least, you will understand and empathize with mistakes made by foreign speakers of English later in life, who virtually all Americans will encounter. And, a tiny percentage of these high school learners will go off and become fluent in that language later in life and become important for the international economy. If we knew which people they were, we could be more efficient and just teach them the 2nd language, but that is not how life works, right? Everyone has to try it, and we'll see who likes it and who has a gift for it.
You might find this useful if you're not aware of it. This podcaster has worked at some big EdTech firms and advocates for practice problems to be easier than most would intuit: 90% probability of being correct with spaced repetition. There's a link to a model of how people forget and when to reinforce.
Excellent advice. As a 20+ year high school Spanish teacher, now retired. I couldn't agree more.
"written a publishable paper on Mexican history using primary sources"
Do you have a link? I'm always interested in Mexican history.
I'm waiting for the follow-up post that address this issue:
You look at the students' faces. Three got the point a few minutes ago and are bored. A half dozen seem to get the idea, but lack confidence that they really understand it. Another dozen look like they might have a bit of the idea, but doubtful. The rest look totally lost. This group divides into frustrated but want to learn, disgusted, angry, withdrawn and stoned.
I went back and read your post on learning foreign languages. Learning a 2nd language for a couple years in high school, even at a basic level, makes you understand your own language better. I had never even heard the word conjugation, let alone understand what it meant or why it was necessary, until 7th grade German class. I did not realize that there were languages where the verb and tense only came at the end of the sentence until I learned Japanese as a 2nd language (when I learned it as a child, I never even noticed that feature). At the very least, you will understand and empathize with mistakes made by foreign speakers of English later in life, who virtually all Americans will encounter. And, a tiny percentage of these high school learners will go off and become fluent in that language later in life and become important for the international economy. If we knew which people they were, we could be more efficient and just teach them the 2nd language, but that is not how life works, right? Everyone has to try it, and we'll see who likes it and who has a gift for it.
I'm a tutor and 'education consultant' and I love this
You might find this useful if you're not aware of it. This podcaster has worked at some big EdTech firms and advocates for practice problems to be easier than most would intuit: 90% probability of being correct with spaced repetition. There's a link to a model of how people forget and when to reinforce.
https://educationbookcast.libsyn.com/146b-lessons-from-edtech-the-90-rule
There's nothing wrong with SYMPATHIZING with your students' frustrations. "Yeah - I had a hard time with that one, too - it really IS a bitch!"
Now and then - here and there.