Tuesday, July 26, 2011

doscendo discimus

"we learn by teaching"

I was proud to see this in action in my maths class today. There are a number of students who understand mathematical concepts quite easily and are able to dive straight into their work as soon as I have given them a quick run down on how a particular concept works. Then there are the others who are not so confident and need a little more scaffolding...

While working with a few of these little ones one of my bright sparks had finished his work and then started to help others who were in need.. At Uni they called this "peer tutoring" and I am in full support of it- particularly since there is only one of me and I can't get around to all 28 students at once! Sometimes it can be helpful to hear it from someone else and all of a sudden everything makes sense!

Two lovely girls were struggling to grasp one concept today- they both had trouble with the same thing.. So I sat with them to help them work through a few questions and guide them along the way. There were two ways to solve these questions, one girl caught onto the first way, the other clung to the second way. Neither could make sense of the alternative version- so I suggested they "teach" each other how to do it their way.. they both started to object and say that "but miss! I can't explain it!!" I told them that if you show someone else how to solve a problem step by step it becomes more clear in your own mind and won't be forgotten so easily.

It's nice to see that some of the stuff they taught me at Uni is actually valid! Jet a pity you have to wade through all the superfluous stuff!

TGBTG xx

1 comment:

  1. I really liked your text, especially the last 2 sentences :) I just would ask you to correct the title - the Latin phrase is docendo discimus - the first word comes from the verb doceo, -ere - to teach, to instruct, to educate. Compliments for your appreciation of the Latin proverbs and phrases. Best wishes!

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