Why Dont Students Like School Willingham Review Summary
Why Don't Students Like Schoolhouse?
Dan Willingham'sWhy Don't Students Similar School?is ane of the best books I take always read for teachers. Thanks for letting me explain why this is a book y'all must own for yourself.
Confession: It took me 2 years to read this book.
Information technology was not because I didn't like it. In fact, the reverse is true. The reason is this:
I had to accept a conversation with nearly every folio.
[And I don't desire to hear any book purists criticize me for folding pages. I learned at the feet of a chief, so blame Ryan Vacation.]
I left no folio untouched. They all look like this (at to the lowest degree).
Along the way, I developed a neurocrush on writer Dan Willingham, who has no idea I exist. Sigh. It's high school all over again.
Considering I wanted to continue my book date with Dan, I would put the book down, assuasive myself only a few pages at a time. I stretched it out similar rationing my fave Halloween candy.
What I liked:
Everything. Merely Everything.
This is one of only two books teachers demand to be amazing. (The other is Doug Lemov'south Teach Like a Champion, which I briefly mention in this article). I know, I know. But two? Yes, if they're these two.
Permit's swoop in a little deeper. What exactly is so amazing about this volume, yous ask?
What you'll learn in this book:
Here are my have-aways from simply the first two chapters (folio numbers are in parentheses):
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"The brain is non designed for thinking. It's designed to relieve y'all from having to think"…because of this, "unless the cognitive conditions are right, we volition avoid thinking." (3).
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"We normally remember of memory equally storing personal events…our memory besides stores strategies to guide what we should do" (7).
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We derive cerebral pleasure from the solving of problems, not existence frustrated past them or having answers given to the states (10).
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Teachers should make sure there is a level of cerebral work that "poses a moderate challenge" (19) – avoid long string of teacher explanations" (19).
- Don't overload the working memory.
- Respect the limits of what kids already know and create intriguing questions the knowledge they have volition answer.
- Shift oftentimes.
- Proceed a diary – recording success – (exist your own scientist).
- "Information technology is frequently truthful (though less ofttimes appreciated) that trying to teach students skills such as analysis or synthesis in the absence of factual knowledge is impossible" (25).
- "Factual knowledge must precede skill" (25).
- "Chunking works simply when y'all accept applicable factual noesis in long-term memory" (34).
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"Practiced readers" has a potent connection with "good knowers" – you understand better what you know better.
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Background knowledge is important considering it provides vocabulary, allows to span writing gaps, allows chunking, and guides interpretation of ambiguity.
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Explanation for 4 th course slump (37) equally shift from decoding to comprehension, which is much more dependent upon background knowledge.
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Fifty-fifty if y'all comprehend every bit, if you take background knowledge, y'all'll remember more (42).
The part where he had my back:
I especially liked his explanation of how teaching experience is not the same as educational activity expertise.
As someone who has led professional development for tens of thousands of teachers, I would honey to have this emblazoned on the sign-in sheets. So many people come thinking that because they've taught forx number of years, they don't need any more than training.
I have had many people actually say this to me.
And the residual of the book is similar that. It'due south imminently readable and practical.
Why Don't Kids Similar School? is so, so worth reading if you are an educator.
The part where I got nervous:
In the affiliate on how to aid slow learners (Chapter eight), I got nervous because this is where the super aggressive anti-gifted kid people commonly show their true colors, forcing me to driblet them similar the proverbial hot tater.
I literally read the affiliate with my shoulders scrunched up, waiting for the "don't characterization kids equally gifted" ax to fall. I'm feeling specially vulnerable to this because of some anti-gifted rhetoric recently.
Luckily, I agreed in principle with Dan. I practise recollect it takes more explanation, though, so allow me provide it.
My mini-lecture in back up of gifted teaching
Dan shares some of the anti-praise enquiry, and I'm a big fan. He says, "How tin can it be a bad idea to tell a educatee she's smart? by praising a child'southward intelligence, we permit her know that she solved the issues correctly considering she is smart, not because she worked difficult. It is then a short step for the student to infer that getting problems wrong is a sign of being dumb" (182).
Note: My grandparents are deaf, and I object to the utilize of the give-and-take "dumb" in this context, but I understand and accept that others exterior of deaf culture may not mind.
Okay, and so what needs clarification in my opinion is that this idea that praising ability instead of attempt is damaging is existence used to argue that you lot shouldn't label kids as gifted. I've written about this earlier, and information technology needs to be said again and again, especially when big names like Jo Boaler at Stanford are singing this song.
The distinction is that identification of children for gifted services is non praise.
Dan says that intelligence is seen equally desirable, and I agree that is where the problem comes in. Because it is seen as desirable, people possessed of it are often envied. Green-eyed leads to detest and resentment.
Information technology does not actually matter whether the child in school is smart because of nature, nurture, a complex interdependence of the 2, or a good sale on neurons at Amazon.
The gifted child in schoolhouse needs assistance in a very similar way to that the child who is a slower learner does. They are atypical, and they demand assistance in navigating an surround created for the typical.
Practise we require proof of how a child obtained a learning inability before we run into their needs? Practise we worry that the label "dyslexia" will exist harmful, then we just force them to go for it with no help? We used to, and we harmed hundreds of thousands of kids.
We cannot let this non be true for gifted students simply considering some people take used the label incorrectly.
It is critically important that students sympathizewhy they're smart, what existence smart really means. Information technology means (probably) that their native intellect combined with their environment and experiences, leading to effective thinking practices.
They must use those effective thinking practices through concerted, diligent do and effort in society to be successful. If they do non, they volition exist far less well off than those of typical intelligence who employ themselves.
It doesn't mean things will be easy, that they don't have to piece of work, and that if they struggle, they need to accept the WISC again.
Identification is non praise. Information technology is acknowledgement of difference.
Would you agree, Dan? If not, it may cure my vanquish permanently.
Wrapping Upward
Usually this is where I add in what I didn't like, but in this example the just thing I tin can remember of is that some of the pictures are a trivial cheesy, only that's partly the publisher'due south decision about print quality, so I won't hold it confronting Dan (who of course can do no incorrect in my eyes).
Go get Why Don't Kids Similar School? You need to own it. You need to read information technology. You lot demand to do these in that order because of all of the marginalia yous'll write, even if you lot're a purist.
Worth Reading Rating: A rousing and heartfelt 5
You lot tin can learn more than about my Worth Reading Rating System here.
(Note: this postal service contains affiliate links, which means I receive a few pennies if you make a purchase using the link, but it doesn't cost you anything.)
Source: https://www.giftedguru.com/students-do-not-like-school/