#TMC16 Make It Stick: Applications in the Classroom {Anna Hester}

Make It Stick: Applications in the Classroom
Anna Hester
Sunday 2:45-3:45
tinyurl.com/makeitsticktmc

We are really bad judges of how well we know something.

Brain science shows that what is most effective for learning is not intuitive.

Replace:
-reading/highlighting notes with retrieval
-massed practice with spaced and interleaved practice
-step-by-step directions with generation
-feeling prepared with testing against objective standards

Retrieval: any low stakes assessment that happens during the lesson
-The more students struggle with retrieval, the better they get at it.

Reflection: ask questions about the topic and performance
-Regularly incorporate time for reflection.
-Give students time to self-assess on quizzes and tests.

Spaced Practice: allow at least one day between practicing topics
-It interrupts the forgetting cycle and avoids the familiarity trap.
-Don't chunk maternal and move on to something new.
-Requires one of the biggest shifts but students feel less progress
-Never allow material to disappear completely
-Easy learning isn't the best learning. Learning is hard!

Interleaved Practice
-practice problems of different types verse all one type
-students need to practice switching between problem types and identify similarities and differences
-incorporate earlier types of problems in with new material
-alternate problem types
-spiral warmup/homework

Generation
-ask students to try problems they don't know how to solve
-their brain recognizes a gap and better recognizes where the new instruction should go; this filled gap stays better
-solving a problem > memorizing a solution
-discovery lesson
-predict what the lesson is about
-higher order questions
-provide closure/corrective feedback

Elaboration: form of reflection
-express what you've learning in your own words and connect
-brain dump
-free recall, fill blank page for 10 minutes
-summary sheet in INB at the end of the unit
-make your own study guide

Failure
-the easier something is, the less power it has for memory
-paradigm shift: failure is necessary for learning
-growth mindset
-effort full remembering makes the brain recon solidity knowledge which strengthens connections

Cultivate a classroom culture where:
-students see failure as normal
-the nature of math is discussed
-it's safe to ask questions
-they won't be mocked for not understanding
-we are less helpful
-there is a growth mindset
-errors are a turn in the road, not the end of the road

Calibration
-replace an experience or feeling with an objective way to measure
-the test shouldn't be the first time students have tested their knowledge
-low stakes quizzes
-cumulative quizzes/tests
-provide practice tests
-write your own questions and trade with a partner
-three possible answers on board, find someone who disagrees

Applications
-model how we learn
-teach students how NOT to study
-provide support so they experience benefits of good studying
-be honest about what you're doing and why
-move from study groups to testing groups