How The Mind Works?
I had a teacher in C.I.A that taught french class she was crazy and rambled for 2 hours about french words and there meanings she linked stories to the words and spoke very quickly the first day of class I thought that I was going to learn nothing in her class never experiencing that type of teaching methology but found out going home and studying for her test I new everything she talked about and the stories that went with them and everybody in my class experienced the same outcome. Ive often wondered about here methology and what it was that she did was it the enviroment fast pace hold on to your seat teaching style or the interesting stories that connected the boring information into your long term memory are we ment to recieve information in a quicker fashion or our brains naturaly wonder off or was it the dramatic stories that made it stick? Its kind of like a car wreck its so fast in reality but after it happens you can recall and always will recall every little detail in slow motion.
Hi Chris,
Thank you for sharing your experience with this teacher. Not exactly sure what instructional method she was using but it sounds like she was very effective even if she appeared to be a train wreck in progress. We need to always be on the lookout for instructional methods we can make a part of our teaching strategies.
Gary
Coming from the North and teaching in the South has taught me a great deal. I was raised talking fast and learning at an extremely fast pace. My teaching styles may sometimes come across as the teacher in Chris's post seemed to. I talk very fast, and am generally perceived as hyper. It has seemed to be effective because the students generally do well, and long after they graduate I tend to have good realtionships with most of them. In general my student's do well, and the ones who are not doing well are the students missing class. As with the teacher the prior post, I use a lot of personal stories, and try to get them to use thier stories as points of refrence as well. I am trying to slow down and be less "hyper" to be more effective with all the students.
Hi Beth,
Good to hear about the success you are having with your students. You have developed an instructional style that really fits your class and the needs of your students. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Your observation reads as though you learned a great deal about French culture, mais dites, pouvez-vous parler francais maintenant??? If so, your French teacher was one of those really great instructors, and you must have both top notch episodic and semantic memories!
I wonder if in fact it was the "stories" that ultimately made everything work. If the stories are relevant and involving, I suspect that the students were able to see themselves in similar circumstance, to be able to create real-world scenarios that meant something to them via the notion of "distorting". Maybe the "distortion filter" used in processing information can be untilized to a positive end?
It always seems to amaze me how we all learn and the impact I have on that as an instructor.
I find that having thay hyper energy in the classroom keeps the students involved and active in the learning process. When I am moving too fast, they dont hesitate to raise their hand and ask me to readress a particular matter. As long as they are not timid about speaking up if they are not keeping up, this teaching method seems very effective.
I agree that it may have been the storytelling that made the instructor relatable but also helped organize the hidden information throuout the story in a way that made it easier for students to retain. Sometimes all it takes is discussing a real-life experience or application to enforce what is important so that the students can filter through the lecture.
Hi Adel,
This is so true and so important to learning. Story telling and real life experiences help the students to see relevancy and application to what they are learning.
Gary
