Betty Garner's book Getting to Got It has a great deal of information that will useful to us as special education professionals. When I read the book the first time it really struck me how relevant the situations were to us from the book. Our students have so much difficulty just getting it sometimes. For us to get them over that hump, so-to-speak, is often the most frustrating time in teaching. Garner's book gives us specific ideas and strategies as to how we can work with those students. More importantly to me, she provides us concrete strategies to build the cognitive abilities of our students. These abilities will be the basis for how our students learn.
In this first post I wanted to take a few lines and set up the book. Chapter 1 is vital to understanding the rest of the text. There are a few viewpoints you need in order to really enjoy the rest of the book.
Garner states that "Making meaning involves more than the brain; it also involves issues of the heart, the soul, and the spirit" (Chapter 1). When I used to teach kids about pitching I would explain to them that they did not throw with their arms, they threw with their bodies. Everything they did in the act of pitching involved their entire body. They had to feel the proper mechanics from their feet all the way up. Once they go that feeling they understood their motion better and were better able to pitch consistently. My take on Garner's statement is that students need to feel what they are learning. Many researchers talk about accessing prior knowledge and creating emotional attachments to learning. I agree with these concepts completely. I think that is what Garner is saying here. Students need to have some attachment to the learning in order to better understand it.
Garner also lists 3 categories of cognitive structures to define them. First is comparative thinking. In his stage students process data by how they are alike or different. Examples she gives of this type are recognition, memorization, classification and conservation of constancy, among several others.
Next we find symbolic representation. This involves transforming information into acceptable coding systems. For example, math, music, dance, drama would be areas involved in this transformation.
Finally, logical reasoning structures are abstract thinking strategies to systematically process and generate information. Examples of this process would be deductive reasoning, cause-effect relationships, analysis, synthesis or problem solving.
Think about your students. How many of them have trouble in these 3 areas? Wouldn't it be great if we could focus some strategies on these aspects of cognition and build them up in our students. I will discuss these more in my next post.
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ReplyDeleteThis is some really good "stuff" even though it strikes me as being very "Bloomish". The problem with Bloom's taxonomy, however, is that we've all heard it preached so much that I'm afraid we let the thoughts just sail past us without much consideration. We shouldn't do that. We all complain about sped kids having so much difficulty with generalization and Garner points out that these questioning techniques can actually help our students do that. Hmmm. Lots to think about.
ReplyDeleteOne more comment - Garner talks about how teachers have difficulty understanding the struggle our kids go through. It reminds me how one of the worst science teachers and also one of the worst math teachers I have had REALLY KNEW SCIENCE AND MATH! They were brilliant! BUT - because it was easy for them they had NO understanding of what it was like for most of their students. This leads me to believe how important it is to reach an understanding of the struggle in order to be an effective teacher.
"They don't care how much we know, until they know how much we care."
Just my two cents!
It is my belief that a student must invest in their own education in order for them to make connectins and generalize. Part of a teachers responsibility is to help students gain confidence in themselves as a learner and a teacher. Garner is absolutely correct when she states that " the time would be more effectively spent designing and implementing activities to help students develop the cognitive structures that will equip them for independence". That statement is so true in todays society. Our students need the confidence and ability to compete in todays job markets. This starts in the elementary level with cognitive structures which Garner speaks of in her book. Teaching our students the strategies that will help them to become independent creates good self concept and success.
ReplyDeleteI love this book.
When I read this chapter, I looked at it a lot like Mr. Bogart, through the eyes of a coach. When Garner talked about "How students Develop Cognitive Structures? (pg 13)I immediately thought of how you teach offensive line or any other sport. You can teach the x's and 0's until your blue in the face, but until you get out there and do what you’re talking about they have no real understanding of the concepts.
ReplyDeleteMs. Vicky is right. When you start to read this book it does have the feel of Bloom, but I can also see parts of Vygotsky's ZPD. Garner is taking what the children can do themselves and helping them achieve more. It also takes from Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, using different learning styles.
I have always thought that there is not just one way to learn. Garner shows this in the first chapter. When I read the examples of the children in the first chapter, I immediately thought of children in my classroom. It would be great to get my students to see things in a new way.