5Reading Notes: Understanding How We Learn- Oral Written Exam Preparation –(50 Points are within the exam

points)

Provide important “Take-Away(s)” from each Part 1-4 of the Text.

One important key per chapter would be fine or a minimum of 3 key points from each Part (1-4) of the book. This is for class discussion and
preparation for your final exams. 50 points of your final exam will be given for these reading notes.

Do the following:

The Question is: What will you actually do to improve teaching and learning after reading this chapter?

Explain the key point and how you will (now or in future) address it in your professional practice. Provide a descriptive analysis of your
plans.

Add visuals, web links, or other supporting information for each major point. For example, a picture of the brain or chart that explains your
point would be typical.

Part 1 Chapter 1:
 Key Point: Education should be organized, conducted, and taught based on research from a bilateral conversation between
researcher and educator.
After reading this chapter, I will improve teaching and
learning by recognizing patterns of need in my classroom
and seeking out research on how to best address these needs.
The key point above focuses on the notion that education has
been developed and implemented in a way that focuses on
individual intuition of the educator in charge and fears
effective change proposed by researchers. The chapter has
compelled me to plan on using research-based practices. I
plan to find practices from non-biased sources to develop
and adapt to all needs and challenges that face me as a future
teacher. I also plan to take advantage of opportunities to be
the educators voice in research to develop a bilateral
dialogue on education and learning in the classroom.
Researchers and teachers share common goals and go about
obtaining those goals in similar fashions. Working together
can create strategies that look at education from above as well as from within.
Chapter 2:
 Key Point: Cognitive psychology is the door to how we learn, therefore, research must be conducted systematically from basic
research to applied research and then implemented in the classroom. Once in the classroom the findings must reflect a positive
outcome in order to be truthful, and those results must be communicated and correctly distributed from the researcher to the
classroom.
After reading this chapter, I will improve teaching and learning by
trying out these researched methods in my classroom in order to
improve learning and my teaching in the classroom. I think that
research assists teachers in how to keep up with ever changing
generations of student’s and how best they learn. I think that no two
classes are alike, and we need to continuously seek to better our
teaching methods to remain a relevant and effective teacher.

Chapter 3:
 Key Point: We tend to want to trust our own intuitions and will become biased when researching best methods, to prove our
belief is true.
After reading this chapter, I will improve teaching and
learning by valuing my intuition and modeling how to expand
your beliefs through unbiased research. Like our chapter
discussed, intuition is a great thing, but we need to set aside
intuition when looking for the best ways to teach and learn.
The way we learn isn’t necessarily the best way to inform how
we teach. I think that I am guilty of wanting my own intuitions
to be truth and it makes it hard to realize I am wrong in more
situations than just teaching. Professionally, I want to use
research to be the deciding factor in my strategy choices in
teaching and even classroom management. I think that having
research as a backing allows me to be a better teacher and show
parents and students that my methods and strategies are
intentional and scientifically informed.
 Chapter 4:
 Key Point: Educators must continuously refer back to correct information in order to diminish the spread of misconceptions
about learning.
After reading this chapter, I will
improve teaching and learning by going
back and asking where others or even I
have gotten some of my beliefs from. I
have heard many of the misconceptions
stated in this chapter and I never
questioned their validity. I think often I
want to just believe those who have been
doing this longer, but I see more so that I
have a professional obligation to check
the facts. I don’t want to spread or invite
harmful misconceptions into my classroom and teaching. I like that the chapter asks you
to go back to correct information. I think most professionals don’t want to go back and
do the research, or it is easier to condense complex information into a small nugget of
knowledge that ends up being misconstrued by others. I want to challenge myself to
correct information and seeking out truth from what I hear from others. Just because
someone is more seasoned, doesn’t mean I can’t do the extra research to see if this
method or strategy is best for my classroom.
Part 2 Chapter 5:
 Key Point: The “curse of knowledge” makes it hard for us to observe and experience things objectively and take them for what
they are.

After reading this chapter, I will improve teaching and

learning by being aware of my knowledge and actively seek to push
that knowledge to the side to take new experiences and observations
for face value. I may try to take notes or reflect on this new thing and
cross out anything I have written based on my own knowledge. I
think that when we put to much value on our own understanding, we
fail to realize some valuable things that may improve ourselves and
our teaching. It also hinders us from trying out new strategies or
information because we just want to work with what we know
instead of enduring the process to upkeep a growth mindset.
 Chapter 6:
 Key Point: Multitasking is a huge misconception for adults and children, it leads to a deficit in both tasks you are undertaking.

After reading this chapter, I will improve my teaching and learning by

refraining from multitasking. I used to think the you could multitask, but it is true
either both or one task has to suffer because you are switching between the tasks
instead of giving each your full attention. I think we have to model this for our
students if we expect them to not multi-task. It may mean that I don’t try to grade
while students do independent practice so I can give them my full attention
instead of missing students who may have incomplete understanding.

Chapter 7:
 Key Point: Memory is constructed; therefore, it can become inaccurate over time, but memory that is recalled correctly gets
constructed correctly.

After reading this chapter, I will improve my teaching and learning by focusing on
my own and my students’ construction of memory/ knowledge. If we practice
recalling memory correctly, then students are more likely to store this correct
information into their long-term memory. I realized how important it is to construct
correct memory, because we can’t construct new knowledge on inaccurate previous
knowledge. This leads to confusion and having to reteach, and even then there will
still be misconceptions because the new knowledge is attempted to be constructed
with the already accepted incorrect knowledge.

Part 3
Chapter 8:

 Key Point: Spaced practice yields greater retention of information in the long run because it
focuses on repetition spaced out over time.

After reading this chapter, I will improve my teaching and learning by incorporating spaced
 practice into my lesson planning as well as my own retention of new methods for teaching. I plan to consider the presentation and
practice with material over spaced time instead of one lesson culminating all the information in one run. I think that this breaks up the
information into attainable chunks for my students and will allow for more retention of the information and less time reteaching. I also
think this will help me utilize and retain professional development given at staff meetings. If I focus on spaced practice of this
information, I am more likely to be able to remember and to implement these practices effectively.

Chapter 9:
 Key Point: Elaboration aids students in learning by connecting new information to pre-existing knowledge through various
methods two of the most helpful being concrete examples and dual coding.

After reading this chapter, I will improve my teaching and learning by providing more opportunities to
connect new material to pre-existing knowledge through concrete examples and dual coding. The more
connections we can develop to the material, the more of it gets stored into memory. I think that students do
best through elaboration because the new information becomes meaningful. I want to learn how to use these
tools to elaborate on my own teacher development. I feel like it is hard to incorporate everything but
connecting the new information to something I always do and creating a plan may make the implementation
easier.

Chapter 10:
 Key Point: Retrieval practice strengthens memory and makes new information accessible for later use and allows students to
make deeper and more frequent connections between new and retrieved information.

After reading this chapter, I will improve my teaching and learning by teaching my students
and explicitly showing them how the new information we are learning connects to the
information they have already learned. I also want to implement low stakes quizzes so that
students are able to practice retrieving the material in a way that they would during a higher
stakes test. I want students to have realistic practice and be able to show their understanding
because they know the material, not fail to do so because they have never retrieved the
information up until the test.

Part 4 Chapter 11:

 Key Point: Helping students design a realistic plan for their studies allows them to implement and reflect on where they need
 to adjust their plan due to life’s demands and their capabilities.

After reading this chapter, I will improve my teaching and learning by teaching students
realistic planning. I think this could be a
good activity to do at the beginning of the year. I can teach my students how to look at their
schedules and plan time for homework and studying. This will teach students a valuable
skill that goes beyond my own classroom. This will also begin teaching students to take
responsibility for their own learning.

Chapter 12:
 Key Point: The six study strategies are very similar and overlap, making it easier for students to incorporate these strategies
into studying more effectively.

After reading this chapter, I will improve my teaching and learning by explicitly teaching these strategies to
my students. After teaching the strategies, I want to create a poster for each strategy with my students where
we list activities we can do at school and at home to practice each strategy. I want to hang these posters
around the room so that we can reflect on them throughout the year so that students remember to use these
strategies throughout their educational journey.

Chapter 13:
 Key Point: Parents can learn to help their students implement the six strategies through an effective study plan and a balance
between homework and studying.

After reading this chapter, I will improve my teaching and learning by handing out these strategies during
the first week of school and include a letter on the importance of these strategies. In the letter, I will explain
how we will use these strategies in the classroom and how I want to work together to teach our students how
to use these strategies on their own. I think that introducing these strategies early on with the support of the
family will increase the likelihood that students will really learn to implement these strategies daily.