How to Make Learning Happen

I am fascinated by what causes learning to occur for students - and why long lasting learning does not occur at other times... Here are ten factors that describe my current thinking on the topic: (All of these reasons are important - they are not listed in order of significance. )

1. At the first of the year when 32 students come walking in the door they are 32 individuals curious about what they will find in this class. The first few days of the semester are the most important time for establishing class culture. What expectations will the teacher have of the students, and what classroom patterns can students expect, will the teacher be consistent or indecisive? It is a crucial task to think in advance what the class culture will be and then have the courage to maintain the goals. It is like training a puppy.

2. It is necessary for a genuine connection to be formed between teacher and students... this is especially important if there are social, economic, class, or racial differences between the teacher and students. It is the teacher who must adapt - Students first response to a new person may be to build walls between themselves and "the stranger" (they may have learned to protect themselves in this way). Working to take down those walls is essential before learning will occur. Students know when you are sincere or not. Sometimes new teachers make the mistake of wanting to be everyones "friend" - This is a sure invitation for disaster - students know you are the authority in the room, it is confusing if they also get the message that "we are equals".

3. Students are not empty vessels just waiting to be filled with knowledge. Each student is a unique collection of knowledge, erroneous ideas, and dispositions toward learning. When the teacher stands before the students with an appreciation for individual students – it changes the act of teaching. Now it becomes necessary to engage students, to get feedback from students, and to respect the different ways in which students approach learning. Our goal is not to train everyone to think like us but instead for each student to become capable of critical thought and problem solving. (Constructivism)

4. Learning “facts” is not effective education– Learning whole concepts is. The water cycle is a concept. So is understanding how the human heart pumps and receives blood from throughout the body, and explaining how water movement in a vascular plant is different from fluid movement in a mammal. Concepts include facts – but they are related into whole ideas. Concepts are like snow balls - you can add on to a small one to make it bigger and bigger... Students can develop a rudimentary understanding of a concept one year and in following years learn more and expand conceptual understanding from elementary school to university.

5. The brain of each human develops according to a predictable sequence of stages - in terms of our ability to deal with abstract concepts. A sixth grader may be able to work with relationships, one variable at a time, if they can see or manipulate a concrete model. For many people, this “concrete” stage of development continues into about the 8th or 9th grade… At some point most of us become able to visualize in our head interaction of two or more variables… the formal thinking stage is born. The stage of abstract reasoning has nothing to do with intelligence – each stage emerges in its own time. (Developmental Psychology)

6. How many times have I heard a student say: “ I don’t understand this at all!” – It is the task of the teacher to diagnose the students knowledge and identify a suitable entry level question on the topic that the student can answer – then follow with a sequence of questions leading the student to discover that in fact they had all the parts of the answer – they just needed some help putting the full idea together. (Socratic Questioning)

7. Note taking is an example of a skill that students must learn to do – If the teacher prepares in advance a partially completed note-taking paper and then pauses at times in the delivery to allow students to fill in the missing information – this is an example of scaffolding – The secret to scaffolding is to slowly remove it when students no longer need it… Remove it bit by bit as students skill level advances. Many tasks in school are too daunting for students to do with proficiency all at once – but when developed step by step with the aid of scaffolding the skill level can grow until no scaffolding is required… (Scaffolding)

8. Every phenomenon – atoms, the solar system, virus infection, oxygen transport in the body … we have learned as concepts. The idea that I have of atomic structure in my conceptual model of an atom. Evidence tells me that there exist small particles of different substances – but I can never see them in detail – all I can know is my conceptual model of what I think atoms are like. Scientific research is about refining our conceptual models as new evidence becomes available. My understanding of the atom when I was in high school has been greatly enhanced by new discoveries and research. It is essential to understand science as a continual refinement of ideas. We must adapt out conceptual model when further evidence tells up that our old model was not complete. ( Conceptual Models)

9. Start each unit with clear learning objectives - Dont try to "cover" everything - Having limited objectives that are learnable in the time you have produces better learning than "throwing the book" at the students. Revisit learning objectives with a series of different activities and at different times in the school year to reinforce the learning. Don’t fool yourself with open notes tests – they do not promote learning. Just because one student in the class can answer a concept question – does not mean that everyone understanding the idea – (but this false assumption guides many classroom questioning sessions.)

10. Use a variety of activities in teaching: group learning, labs, problem solving, guided note taking, reading, writing... make each kid accountable each day ... no one is permitted to sit idly and choose not to work. Frequent tests and quizzes are more helpful than great huge unit exams

We are a Bispecies Family!

Farm dogs have to earn their keep. When I was a boy in NE Kansas, our dog “Tippy” barked whenever a visitor came into the farmyard, he hunted mice and rats around the barn, chased away wild animals that endangered the chickens, and kept the cats on their toes…

Tippy - our old farm dog

For this we fed Tippy table scraps and all the rabbits he could catch for himself. Tippy was given an occasional pet and we removed any ticks he picked up… but that’s about all. He was never allowed in the house because dogs “ just don’t belong in the house”.

When Judy and I were first married we lived in Honolulu (I had a study grant there for a year). Our landlord had a large German Shepherd dog named "Moki". When Moki joined us on walks he carried a large coconut (still in its husk) the entire distance! He slept on our doorstep.

Moki - the coconut carrying dog

At the time when Judy and I got out first dog “Muffin” I must admit that I was still under the belief that dogs were not for inside the house. Muffin got an old mat to sleep on in the garage – and plenty of good pelletized dog food. His main claim to fame was that he was a Houdini dog – He could climb fences and could dig holes to escape from our yard better than any dog I have ever known… Good old raggedy Muffin!

Muffin

We had friends, Dave and Geri Runnels, who lived on a small ranch in the Central Valley… they had no children but a thundering herd of big dogs! The dogs would run loose through the brush and come roaring into the house all at once – such a presence – they came in and shook, scattering dust and sand evenly throughout the house. The house always had that special character of those big sweet dogs coming and going!…

After our son Peter and his wife Marila got married, we visited Marila's parents home sheep ranch in Northern California. They maintained a kennel of working dogs – mostly Australian Shepherds – incredibly smart dogs that more than anything loved herding sheep.

My in-laws sheep working dogs

They also had 3 small housedogs that were free to came and go - in and out of the house. These dogs were treated like part of the family - They would sit quietly by the fire at night, calmly asked for pets and hugs from whoever was present, and were treated with affection. I thought, “Huh! – having dogs in the house really is kind of nice. “

The Jack Russell of my son and his wife, and Roxy ( our dog)

Then when we saw the Jack Russell Terrier that our son and his wife acquired– We decided that it was time for us to get a dog too. We went to an Olive/Sheep farm near Peter’s in-laws and picked out “Roxy”. Now if one dog is good – why not two? – So we got “Willy” for good measure.

They are now part of our life - I take them for long daily walks, then sit with us in the evening as we read or watch television…

Me walking with Willy and Roxy along the Alameda Creek Floor Control Channel

I have taught Willy to howl like a coyote (it’s a great bonding experience for the two of us to howl together). We have a daily tussle on the floor with the three of us play with a rope toy (sounds like a deadly dog fight - but they keep their teeth sheathed).

Willy and Roxy having a tussle

Jack Russell terriers are bred to be great hunters – but our dogs just don’t get the idea of hunting for gophers – too bad! However their sworn enemies are all the squirrels of the world!

Roxy making a show of digging out a gopher (except her barking scares them away)

Well out peace and harmony were broken this week – when a friend called up to ask if one of our dogs were out – I checked – they were both present… She had found a young Jack Russell that appeared to have lost his owners. We said “Oh we’ll take him until we can locate the owner!” Willy is totally bent out of shape by this interloper coming into the house – he says, “I’m the top dog here and you don’t belong”. It is now day 5 – and despite putting up signs and telling everyone we know to help us find the owner – the pup is still with us… And the worst thing he is worming his way into our affection… A sure sign of how serious the problem is - we have named him "Rusty" (for his reddish hue).

Our "visiting" Jack Russell - Here until the owner comes to collect him....

Having three Jack Russell’s underfoot is like having three little dervishes in motion around us… This is not a breed that sits calmly by, passively wagging tails. Our rational side still says that three dogs is too many. The thing that bothers me most is that I have heard that people select a dog to live in our household that matches their personality… if that true I am in big trouble.

To Mama With Love

CHANGE THE WORLD WITH LOVE

This is Judy speaking, today I am borrowing John’s blog site, as I don’t have one of my own.

John and I met in Tanzania an amazing woman called Mama Lucy who has built and runs an English medium elementary school in Arusha, Tanzania. We were also lucky to meet her American supporters whose technical and social media savvy enabled them to raise the money for Mama Lucy’s school, Good Shepherd Elementary. Stacey Monk and Sanjay Patel began Epic Change. This year I have pledged to become a part of To Mama With Love, a chance for you to send an extraordinary Mothers Day tribute to a special woman in your life. We are using the African use of mama..any caring woman who spends her love and effort on others. If you go to the site, and click on the approximate location of California, you should see my message, click on it and find my page to Mama Lucy. Or search for a heart space for Mama Lucy and mine begins, “We love you and your kids”.

I encourage you to check out Mama Lucy and make your own tribute to a woman in your life. I can promise that this is one Mothers Day card that will change lives in Arusha, Tanzania as well as thrill the recipient of your message!! Act right away and help us change the world with love!

Notes: April 29

1. Aerial Photography: What do you do when you are taking a long flight and you get tired of reading? I take photos of the land below! Some of the pictures are very objective and some are abstract works of form and color. Here is my method...

1. Get a window seat not over the wing and not directly behind an engine ( hot engine exhaust will distort the photo)

2. Since you will be flying at about 35,000 feet, use your telephoto lens - and look for land masses of interest or artistic arrangement.

3. Early in or morning or late evening will provide the most interesting shadows.

4. After you download your photos, adjust them using Photoshop or iPhoto - crop, adjust contrast, etc...

High Sierra Mts. California - mid winter - late afternoon

Late winter avalanche build up - bottom of avalanche chutes

Golden Gate Bridge - Between San Francisco and Marin County - California - Late PM

Dry Lake Bed - Nevada

Copper Mine - Utah

Dammed up Colorado River above Hoover Dam - Arizona

Dry salt lake - Nevada

Dry desert alluvial fan - Nevada

Virginia fields

San Francisco Bay salt evaporation ponds

Berkeley California w/University of California

Mt. Shasta - N. Calif.

Oklahoma oil fields

2. We have a family mystery in the Zlatnik/Sadek family. My grandmother Julie Zlatnik maintained a regular communication with her sisters in Cesky Boratin until the start of the Second World War - then silence. We have had no contact - even though there was an extensive family in Czech Republic, the Volyn Valley of what today is the Ukraine, and some in Austria and elsewhere. This has long been a topic of puzzlement - and bits of evidence have been offered but no solid information at all.

When we were on the east coast visiting our son, we made a visit to Judy's cousin in Delaware. He was enthusiastic about a computer program that assisted in genealogical research. Formal genealogy has not been a special interest of mine because I felt like we were at a dead end in our search - but I tried his program - http://www.ancestry.com/ ( it is a fee site - but you get two weeks free trial) - and promptly discovered one lead after another for both sides of my family - names - dates - children - locations ... The site put me in touch with all sorts of documents: original census documents, birth and death certificates, draft registrations, etc... but most valuable I discovered that other people had already done extensive work in gathering data - and I could link with them. Often there are different data bases that can be compared for accuracy and agreement of data - plus new data... It is quite addicting!

I found a source that seemed to have a lot in common with my family and so I contacted her. She answered in a detailed letter that explains more than I ever knew before about the Czech families of Cesky Boratin and how most of them returned to Czechoslovakia after the war (mostly to the Sudeten Land region). While she has relatives with the same name as the family of my grandmother - we have not yet found a direct link between them - Still the records of her and her grandfather have all the same names and locations that I have - so we'll see. I hope we can continue our on line discussion.

Such a detective story.

Washington DC Notes

The “Mall” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mall is a wide strip of grass growing between the US capital building and the tall obelisk of the Washington Monument. Most days of this week have been lovely spring weather. Local people and tourists come out into this green space to enjoy the warmth and the sunshine. Large beds of tulips – red – yellow – white – variegated are intermingled with pansies and hyacinths.

Flowers in front of the Capitol building

Eighth grade school groups from all over the US march by on the sidewalk, often with the leader holding aloft a special umbrella which serves as a rallying point for his or her group. Tourists from every party of the country come to see their government in action. It is spring – really spring!

2. I feel a renewed sense of what the American government is about when I come to Washington DC. I am a Liberal Democrat in my own political beliefs – and here I rub shoulders with people whose T-shirts identify them with all manner of beliefs.

Supreme Count Building

We actually have much in common - All these fellow Americans and me - our American form of government is remarkable for being a democracy based on law! There are many “democracies” in the world not based on law – not based on a constitution. We are also remarkable for our system of checks and balances... frustrating as it sometimes appears to be.

Inscription in Smithsoniam Museum - James Madison

Beccause of our two house system of congress the voices of the people teoretically have a way to be heard, This provides a means by which ideas can contend. . (Atop one of the buildings is a carving of the tortoise and the hare – a reminder that swiftness does not always win the race…)

Spring Flowering Trees - US Capitol Grounds

In this world of human foibles our system continues to function remarkably well. It has been said that the reason that America does not have abrupt changes in government, like many other governments of the world – is because the party out of power has ready opportunities to challenge the prevailing system and say – “we will soon have a chance to compete to get back in power”… and the party in power always has the accountability of the voters always breathing down their back. The figure atop the US capital building is "Sophia" mentioned in the Bible as Wisdom...our ideal...

Supreme Count . Sophia atop the US Capitol Building

Today we walked down C Street. This is the infamous side of Washington DC. These attractive houses across the street from the House and Senate office buildings are the offices of some of the most powerful financial, business, and special interest lobbies in Washington.

C street offices

This sadly is an aspect of government that is not included in our constitution and was not anticipated by the founding fathers – yet lobbyists remain a powerful voice in determining the policies of the US government. If you are a representative and you are offered big bucks to support a particular position – and if this money might make the difference to your being reelected – would you have the courage to say NO?

Suppose there are issues that are sacred cows to everyone (and there are several) – if you knew that supporting or opposing this action would cause your finances to dry up and your opponents to gain - what would you do?

The founding fathers in their wisdom also could not have anticipated the concept of public opinion engineering as it is practiced today… Money can determine what the newspapers report... TV and internet too… If you have enough money to spend you can engineer large numbers of people to think that they are thinking independently and supporting or opposing major ideas that they know little about. That is the scariest thing of all.

Here in Washington you can also find citizen groups on every issue that come to Washington to express their concerns - to advocate for what they believe in right or, to seek answers to their grievances.

4. Butte College students, building awareness of the clean water v. commencial use issues on several N. Cal Rivers

Washington has many Smithsonian museums – most are along the length on the great central “mall”. We visited several this week that we especially enjoy …my current favorites are the Portrait Gallery, the Native American gallery, and Natural Science. Several of the museums also have lunch cafes… The Native American Museum serves Native food from 5 different regions of America – incredibly good!

5. We also visited the National Botanical garden -

Jack in the Pulpit - national arboretum

first it is immense – Second it is divided into fascinating smaller specialty gardens – such as Herbs, dogwoods, Chinese plants, Bonsai, Varieties of Lilacs, etc… a gret variety of regional plants are included –

18' Bonzai speciman

including some domesticated flowers and groomed gardens. It is incredible –

it is world class – I went from one superlative to another and saw plants I have only heard about for years…

6. Today we went up to the House of Representatives office building to “say hello" to our congressman. It is Easter Week and they were actually closed for a week recess – but we got to see Pete Stark's office and staff.

– and just down the hall we stopped in to express our support for Nancy Pelosi. The office staff of each congressperson treated us with courtesy... we are invited to leave a note .

And so now we go back home... In our absense we have been fortunate to have someone living in our house and taking good care of things in our absence. Like my Mother used to say - "Its wlways fun to get away from home and its always nice to return"!!

The Zlatniks come to America

My grandparents, Antonine and Julie Zlatnik, were married in Libštát Bohemia during a restless time. Many farm families in the region were immigrating to the United States with the promise of a new life and affordable productive land.

Family home in Bohemia

The Austro Hungarian Empire was alarmed that so many farmers were leaving for America, and so large tracts of land were opened in the eastern regions for homesteaders. Antonine and Julie went east to the Volyn Valley of what was then Eastern Poland, but today is NW Ukraine. The local government encouraged different national enclaves to exist there – and the Zlatniks settled in with other Bohemians, including a number of Julie’s family.

My grandmother's extended family in Boratin (Volyn)

Antonine and Julie, still drawn by the American promise, were dissatisfied with the low yield that they were able to harvest from the land due to the climate of the Volyn region. And while they could “get by”; they decided that it would be wise to take the risk and go to America. They sold everything, land, tools, and animals; travelled by train to Hamburg Germany and embarked for the new world. They crossed the Atlantic, passed the Statue of Liberty in NY harbor,

Smithsonian Museum - Washington - Artists view of arriving immigrants

... entered through Ellis Island, and discovered their first shock – the rate of exchange for their money was far lower than they expected – so they entered the US with a limited amount of money. They had been in touch with other Bohemians who had found good land in the Midwest – and so first they visited a number of locations before they finally learned through “through the system” that there was good land in NE Kansas and there they travelled. A supportive Moravian, George Heijtmanek sold them a block of farmland, but that required practically the last of their money.

Early home English lesson - in the hand of Julie Zlatnik

So as others had done before them, they set about building a creek bank dug out – first they dug back into the soil to build a living space, lined the dugout walls with logs, added crossbeams and thatch, created a system for rain runoff, and made a simple door for the front. Windows were made of greased paper to allow light but exclude rain. A stovepipe extended through the thatch to carry away smoke from the cooking fire. The land was rich, growing corn and wheat. They added cows and pigs to sell for profit. But for the first years they were desperately poor. They often lived on corn meal and game that they could hunt.

Grandfather Antonine (?) with pig in the early years - this pig is ready for market!

Education was important and the children went to the village school – but at first they had difficulty because they spoke no English – some of the other Bohemian and Moravian students helped them to learn. They went to school without shoes, but feet wrapped in canvas wrap.

Delia Presbyterian Church (English language) replaced the Moravian church (Czech)

The Zlatniks were devout Reformed Moravian church members ... a Czech language church, and quite similar to the beliefs of Presbyterians. Their local area had a community Moravian church that was both the spiritual center and community center for the new immigrants – both Bohemians and Moravians.

Bohemian/Moravian community in the early years -

To greatly add to family difficulty, tragedy struck. Antonine died of water borne disease in the early years. My grandmother Julie and her family of 5 boys and 2 girls continued farming the land and survived with the help and advice of the Czech church community.

The first wooden house -

In a few years they were able to build a simple wood frame house. Progress was slow but living conditions steadily improved.

Inside of the first wooden house

My father Anton was not able to attend high school because of family responsibilities, but was self educated – always reading. When we applied for the position of local mail carrier he had the highest score on general knowledge and was awarded the position. With income both from that job and the farm, the family moved to a larger farm with a small wooden house and a twofloor rammed earth house. They weathered the depression largely living on the produce of their own farm, but selling enough to stay afloat financially.

As the Zlatnik sons and daughters grew older they spread out – one to Nebraska, one to Idaho, and one eventually to Southern California, and two remained in Kansas. Neither of my aunts married – one died while she was in training to work with the immigrant community in Pittsburg, the other continued to live on the family farm with grandmother Julie. From this family have now grown an extensive number of Zlatniks scattered across America!

Grandmother Julie in later years with my sister Helen

By the time I came along my farther and mother had a farm of good rich soil creek-bottom land near to the town of Delia, and also near to the old family home. My father continued as the local mail carrier, which was no small task in NE Kansas where the mud roads turned to chocolate pudding in the spring and the snow drifted high in the winter. I feel great admiration for my family and for the many adversities that they faced to establish a good life in America. I’m sure Antonine and Julie would be quite amazed to see the luxury that we live in today two generations later…