Thinking about the last couple of days in Learning and Assessment, the idea of DLT influencing teaching has really started to take form. The hardest thing I find when studying DLT is finding the most concrete place to start a lesson. Some subjects however, the most concrete is simpler to find. Then I look at math, writing, and reading and I begin to struggle with finding the most concrete. Although it is difficult to find a concrete starting position it is not impossible. I have to keep that in mind when I think about the most concrete, it is not impossible. When it comes to teaching all subjects, DLT should influence everything. Figuring out a way to break ideas down to the most concrete level, to find a way to help each student grasp every concept.
I started thinking about the teachers we have said were "bad teachers." The idea crossed my mind that maybe these teachers were not all bad. Maybe they had been trying to break things down into concrete ideas. All of us have seen how hard it can be to break some subjects down into the most concrete form. No one said teaching was an easy job. Listening to Prof. Kruse talk about how he would break things down, I keep thinking, "I do not think I would ever think of that." I believe it is hard to see the most concrete ideas because we as students have been thinking abstractly for so long. Teacher believe once a student gets at a certain age there is no need to go back and forth between concrete and abstract. But then again once students reach a certain age they do not need the most concrete they need a step above that. Each teacher needs to realize how important going concrete it and using DLT as an influence when teaching could be their best tool.
Finding ways to have DLT influence every aspect of teaching is harder than it seems. A teacher has to break down the concept to a concrete idea and move from there. The problem would seem that a teacher has been thinking abstractly for so long, that it would be hard for her to find the concrete level to start her lesson. Using DLT can help not only the students learn but allow the teacher to become a better teacher. She has to think on her feet and realize that finding the most concrete is not going to be easy, but once found her students will be able to grasp concepts easier.
I think all of us were able to see how difficult it is to think in the concrete after we have been taught abstractly for so long. In my schooling, I've felt like I just received vocab word after vocab word and then once the test was over, I didn't need it anymore. Once I got to be a senior in high school I cannot remember one teacher who used concrete examples regularly in their teaching. Which goes along with your statement that teachers do not feel that switching between abstract and concrete is necessary which seems to be completely true. I think as teachers we have to make things fun and different as learning begins to be a chore and something that no one is very eager to do. We have to see that abstract isn't the only way to teach once students become a certain age and that helps keep students interested and eager to learn.
ReplyDeleteOne example that I found very helpful from class is that we can start with simply asking the students what they know. I feel as though, once we have a grasp at where the class is with a specific topic in a subject we will be able to more accurately see what the most concrete will be. Simply looking at a topic and trying to find the most concrete place to start is a very difficult task but it may be very useful to see what the class needs first. Another example that I found very helpful was the way Professor Kruse never asked a question in which the answer was yes or no. He gave us questions in which we truly had to think and understand the material. In doing this he did have to spend some extra time coming up with questions for however we would have answered but he really helped us to think on a deeper level.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way that you do when Professor Kruse gives examples of ways that he has used DLT in teaching. I always sit back and think, "There's no way I can come up with something like that." I'm starting to realize though that he is telling us his examples so that we can modify them and hopefully use them one day. Using concrete examples helps all people understand concepts more clearly so I feel that as future teachers we should start using DLT as much as possible, even in our daily lives before we become teachers.
ReplyDeleteAlicia, I totally agree with you that it is hard to put things in the concrete and the abstract. I think is especially hard when you are a beginning teacher. I believe that the more experience you have with DLT, the easier it is to put it into motion. I also believe that the more you understand the topic the easier it is to come up with the concrete and the less you understand about the topic the easier it is to think of the abstract. I think it takes many trial and error sessions until you finally understand the best ways to go from concrete to abstract or vice versa.
ReplyDeleteYou have definitely thought this out very carefully, which is a good thing. It's one thing to know information and presenting it. Yet it's another thing to bring your students to a different way of thinking through the use of concrete ideas. DLT definitely does vary from subject to subject in how it should be done. I agree that teachers often assume that students only think abstractly once they reach a certain age. When I was in high school, my teachers never really used concrete examples. If they had used those examples, I would probably be able much more able to remember and apply what I had learned to now. It feels like we have made what we call "learning" regurgitating information in order to pass the class.
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