Nonlinguistic representation-that is the name for the strategy I most often use when teaching acquisition lessons. I just thought I was making students visualize what I was trying to get them to learn. Now I am going to sound very bright indeed. Seriously though, I have found that if I can get students to “see” what I am teaching, then they retain the material longer. The two classes I am teaching this lesson to both have a 50% population of students receiving special education services. I try to find strategies that play to the strengths of these students. They already feel like they can’t do math. They hate math, their parents hate math too. If I can get them to “see” math, they feel like they might be able to do math, even if they don’t like it. I am very familiar with Robert J. Marzano’s theories and instructional practices; our school decided to do a book study using his material. I believe that blending both linguistic and nonlinguistic representations will help students remember the most new information. I came across a website that supports my claim:
I particularly enjoyed the following information:
“It has even been shown that explicitly engaging students in the creation of nonlinguistic representations stimulates and increases activity in the brain (see Gerlic & Jausovec, 1999).”
I really try to engage students. My students often tell me that my class is their favorite, but they still do not like math. I ask them why they like my class so much. They tell me it is because it is fun and they finally feel like they can do math!
Thank you:
Marzano, Robert. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Denver, Co: McRel.
http://www.google.com/
Non-linguistic representation seems to always be a helpful approach for students. I am surprised that it is so low on the list of effective strategies. I agree with you that getting students to “see” what you are teaching helps them to retain the information better. I am a visual learner myself. It helps me to see things whether it is pictures, graphs or examples. It just always seems to stick better in my brain when I have something to look at and remember. Being able to do a project or something that I do physically do helps me to remember as well. You said that you try to engage students; I think that is key for students to learn.
ReplyDeleteImpressive! Good job pulling from other resources: “It has even been shown that explicitly engaging students in the creation of nonlinguistic representations stimulates and increases activity in the brain (see Gerlic & Jausovec, 1999).” Looks like a good plan!
ReplyDelete