I returned to my ABC’s of Learning session, part II in Monroe, NJ. A nice review of teaching skills in the morning, and an introduction to cooperative learning – getting kids to work as a team. Good stuff.
There’s a term for the moment of best learning, and its based on brain studies – relaxed awareness – when kids (and people in general) are engaged in a supportive atmosphere. You can think of many situations when one or both factors are absent, especially in schools.
Another big word: taxonomy. There are levels of thought (thus Higher Order Thinking – HOT schools in CT), starting with general knowledge, rising with comprehension, and then application of the knowledge. Each step is a richer form of thought. It goes up from there with analysis, synthesis and evaluation, and, eventually, empathy. Fat words with lots of meaning – kind of like going back to college, for me.
Anyway, driving back from the session, I figured out my niche – cognitive folk. My own school of thought. Cool.