Learning by 'heart' - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T08:07:31Zhttps://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/learning-by-heart?commentId=649749%3AComment%3A905615&x=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=noHi Theresa,
It is one of thos…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-21:649749:Comment:9056152013-01-21T15:41:54.144ZRoland Baggotthttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/RolandBaggott
<p>Hi Theresa,</p>
<p>It is one of those activities we all have early memories of. I am not sure for learning basic times tables there are many other effective ways execpt to do the sums everyday until you can mentally, recall the answers.</p>
<p>Apart from this case parrot fashion learning is likely to have as many resistors as followers. I am a great believer that even if what to be learned is repetitive and/or sequentially linked, learning should be linked to something real. In engineering,…</p>
<p>Hi Theresa,</p>
<p>It is one of those activities we all have early memories of. I am not sure for learning basic times tables there are many other effective ways execpt to do the sums everyday until you can mentally, recall the answers.</p>
<p>Apart from this case parrot fashion learning is likely to have as many resistors as followers. I am a great believer that even if what to be learned is repetitive and/or sequentially linked, learning should be linked to something real. In engineering, students have to learn about percentages of carbon and other elements for a variety of steels. They could learn them parrot fashion, but having a wider understanding of how each element effects an alloy mixture will help them build core knowledge to make a pre-conditioned prediction rather than abstract memory recall.</p>
<p>As Piaget reminds us .. linking together facts helps many of us expand schemas. </p> Hi Teresa,
Yes it is great th…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-19:649749:Comment:9049402013-01-19T14:31:35.090ZTracy brookeshttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/Tracybrookes35
Hi Teresa,<br />
Yes it is great that that kind of pressure teaching (and it is teaching rather than learning) is no longer in place, I would hate for my children be feel the kind of pressure I did when I was growing up!!<br />
Learning to music can be a very positive way to learn, this I encounter within my sector, something as simple as learning to slow down massage pace with slower music is a fantastic help for my learners. Something simple and effective and like you suggest it becomes automatic.<br />
T x
Hi Teresa,<br />
Yes it is great that that kind of pressure teaching (and it is teaching rather than learning) is no longer in place, I would hate for my children be feel the kind of pressure I did when I was growing up!!<br />
Learning to music can be a very positive way to learn, this I encounter within my sector, something as simple as learning to slow down massage pace with slower music is a fantastic help for my learners. Something simple and effective and like you suggest it becomes automatic.<br />
T x Hi Theresa
yes the memory sti…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-09:649749:Comment:9015412013-01-09T18:40:23.626ZLissahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/Melissatalman
<p>Hi Theresa</p>
<p>yes the memory still haunts me but from that experience i certainly remember them. whilst learning the times tables in groups we could learn from each other aswel.</p>
<p>in regards to my own area of music we have a saying for the cirlce of fourths and fifths, 'father charles goes down and ends battle and in reverse 'battle ends and down goes charles father' this is something i learnt over and over again and have continued to use it with my own learners in music theory…</p>
<p>Hi Theresa</p>
<p>yes the memory still haunts me but from that experience i certainly remember them. whilst learning the times tables in groups we could learn from each other aswel.</p>
<p>in regards to my own area of music we have a saying for the cirlce of fourths and fifths, 'father charles goes down and ends battle and in reverse 'battle ends and down goes charles father' this is something i learnt over and over again and have continued to use it with my own learners in music theory sessions.</p>
<p>Repetition within learning can become boring but from experience it sure does stay with you.</p>
<p> </p> Hi Jax,
I know exactly what y…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-08:649749:Comment:9014172013-01-08T23:04:09.772ZTheresa Younghttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/TheresaYoung
<p>Hi Jax,</p>
<p>I know exactly what you mean about words not 'looking' right. I think the more 'successful' students become with numeracy, the more their confidence increases and the same thing happens when the answer to a given problem just does not 'look/feel'' right. Again, it's hard to explain as this ability has become so automatic to me. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Theresa</p>
<p>Hi Jax,</p>
<p>I know exactly what you mean about words not 'looking' right. I think the more 'successful' students become with numeracy, the more their confidence increases and the same thing happens when the answer to a given problem just does not 'look/feel'' right. Again, it's hard to explain as this ability has become so automatic to me. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Theresa</p> Hi Theresa, I think the rules…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-08:649749:Comment:9012612013-01-08T22:37:55.857ZJacqueline Thomashttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JacquelineThomas609
<p>Hi Theresa, I think the rules are less rigid for literacy learning, especially spelling. It seems for every rule there is an exception. There is something deeper though. That feeling that it doesn't look/sound right becomes very embedded. That is what makes it so hard to explain to learners. I definitely think there is an advantage in getting the automatic responses bedded down in the memory in order to allow for the higher order problem solving.</p>
<p>Hi Theresa, I think the rules are less rigid for literacy learning, especially spelling. It seems for every rule there is an exception. There is something deeper though. That feeling that it doesn't look/sound right becomes very embedded. That is what makes it so hard to explain to learners. I definitely think there is an advantage in getting the automatic responses bedded down in the memory in order to allow for the higher order problem solving.</p> Hi all,
Isn't it awful that…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-08:649749:Comment:9014862013-01-08T21:15:42.519ZTheresa Younghttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/TheresaYoung
Hi all,<br />
<br />
Isn't it awful that learning such a fundamental skill could leave so many people feeling so under pressure. I still get a bit worried by the 7 times table as I found it quite tricky after 7 x 7! Thank goodness we don't use the 'on the spot' questioning technique any more. It's a wonder we survived this mental torture! . I had forgotten all about the songs and rhymes we used at school Jax but I know they did kind of work as they got into your head and sort of stuck. I've been doing some…
Hi all,<br />
<br />
Isn't it awful that learning such a fundamental skill could leave so many people feeling so under pressure. I still get a bit worried by the 7 times table as I found it quite tricky after 7 x 7! Thank goodness we don't use the 'on the spot' questioning technique any more. It's a wonder we survived this mental torture! . I had forgotten all about the songs and rhymes we used at school Jax but I know they did kind of work as they got into your head and sort of stuck. I've been doing some reading on the topic and it seems to me that once things like adding numbers together to make 10 and times tables become 'automatic' ie something we can do without any conscious thought (and rarely making mistakes) then we are able to concentrate on developing our problem solving skills. Perhaps this is comes with practice maybe from doing your job? I guess maybe it is similar with spelling/reading? Maybe you guys that teach literacy have some thoughts on this?<br />
<br />
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and memories !<br />
<br />
Theresa Learning the times table at s…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-08:649749:Comment:9012362013-01-08T15:02:37.655ZTracy brookeshttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/Tracybrookes35
Learning the times table at school was always a bug bare of mine, as I dreaded it, sometimes even making a toilet trip last especially long in hope I would miss it, it would go around room and you were on the spot, there was a chart on the wall that if you were quick enough you could follow and work out which times table you would get and work out the answer, but the pressure was horrendous and didn't really learn the harder tables until late on in secondary school and had a little part time…
Learning the times table at school was always a bug bare of mine, as I dreaded it, sometimes even making a toilet trip last especially long in hope I would miss it, it would go around room and you were on the spot, there was a chart on the wall that if you were quick enough you could follow and work out which times table you would get and work out the answer, but the pressure was horrendous and didn't really learn the harder tables until late on in secondary school and had a little part time job.<br />
I taught myself by remembering the number times itself and then each number around it and eventually it fell into place. Taking away the pressure made things much easier, but real working life in a shop made it a necessity, I wish I had had that earlier on in my school life. Hi Theresa,
we did this a lot…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-07:649749:Comment:9011112013-01-07T18:23:02.050ZJacqueline Thomashttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JacquelineThomas609
<p>Hi Theresa,</p>
<p>we did this a lot at my school. I wouldn't have said so at the time but it was very effective. We had a teacher who would walk slow-ly down the aisles between desks as we recited and then he would point to one girl and she would have to carry on on her own. Not a technique that I would ever propose but here's why it worked:- 1) Yes, you did concentrate. 2) The cadence and rhythm helped me to remember the patterns 3) It would drive him nuts if we got too "sing song" when…</p>
<p>Hi Theresa,</p>
<p>we did this a lot at my school. I wouldn't have said so at the time but it was very effective. We had a teacher who would walk slow-ly down the aisles between desks as we recited and then he would point to one girl and she would have to carry on on her own. Not a technique that I would ever propose but here's why it worked:- 1) Yes, you did concentrate. 2) The cadence and rhythm helped me to remember the patterns 3) It would drive him nuts if we got too "sing song" when we did it (a later discovery) 4) It was a tangible achievement that could be repeated to impress relatives who asked. </p>
<p>Memorizing works because it stretches all the muscles in the mind that need to remember stuff and it makes it easier to remember more stuff accurately. Memory training is itself a skill and a very useful one at that.</p>
<p>And finally it worked and I am grateful for it because, I still do it when waiting in a boring queue or staving off dentistry fear!</p>
<p>Best wishes,</p>
<p>Jax</p> Hi Theresa
I have always been…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-07:649749:Comment:9011772013-01-07T17:54:51.084ZJo Cuminghttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JoCuming
<p>Hi Theresa</p>
<p>I have always been useless at maths! And remember being taught the times tables in this way. For me it did work because I had it droned into me so often, I think for people like myself who struggle with maths it does help you remember them. But I am only speaking for the people who didn't "get" maths, I remember the people who were mathematically minded who would soon tire of this style of teaching.</p>
<p>Hi Theresa</p>
<p>I have always been useless at maths! And remember being taught the times tables in this way. For me it did work because I had it droned into me so often, I think for people like myself who struggle with maths it does help you remember them. But I am only speaking for the people who didn't "get" maths, I remember the people who were mathematically minded who would soon tire of this style of teaching.</p> Hi Andrea,
Thanks for your in…tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-01-06:649749:Comment:9007222013-01-06T16:14:13.395ZTheresa Younghttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/TheresaYoung
<p>Hi Andrea,</p>
<p>Thanks for your input - I will look the school and Malcolm Gladwell up! Sounds like an interesting read! I think maths does take practice as many skills do. The more a student can use basic skills, the easier and more automatic these 'truths' become. This should mean that the mind is able to work on the more complex skills such as problem solving and developing logical and analytic skills. I agree that some people do find it incredibly difficult to learn times tables so…</p>
<p>Hi Andrea,</p>
<p>Thanks for your input - I will look the school and Malcolm Gladwell up! Sounds like an interesting read! I think maths does take practice as many skills do. The more a student can use basic skills, the easier and more automatic these 'truths' become. This should mean that the mind is able to work on the more complex skills such as problem solving and developing logical and analytic skills. I agree that some people do find it incredibly difficult to learn times tables so any memory aid that works for the student can be a useful tool. I say to my students that they can work out any multiplication from a fact they know - eg most students are comfortable with the 5 times table so they can use this as a staring point. Grabbing the calculator can be all too tempting but it's not going to help if the units are not the same and the student hasn't converted. (Sorry, I'm rambling onto maths speak now.....).</p>
<p>It's really easy to tell students it's okay to be wrong, in fact, it's a very important step when learning. However, I appreciate the importance of getting the 'right' answer as we all do!!! I have met so many students who have said they are no good at maths. It can be very challenging to bring those barriers down!</p>
<p>Theresa</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>