Connect It

“Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, related it to past experiences and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.” (Chickering & Gamson, 1986) Reading this quote made so much sense to me. I've already talked about how as a teacher we need to have our students get up from their seats and get them involved in the learning process. But something I never really thought about that this quote mentions is to apply past experiences to their present everyday lives. When we make the connect of the lesson to something they are familiar with in their lives, they will remember it so much better. They'll even find it interesting and meaningful. Students will find purpose in what we are teaching them and won't think we are teaching them stuff they will never use or need.