In the class of Comm Arts, one thing that many people dislike is the writing of teaching points in paragraph form. Writing teaching points in paragraph form is a waste of time, an unhelpful action for students, as well as an action that lowers motivation in students. There is an obvious alternate suggestion to writing teaching points in paragraph form, too.
Writing teaching points in paragraph form is a definite waste of time. Four students were interviewed, and all of them said that writing and discussing teaching points takes from two to six minutes. Classes are approximately 70 minutes long, and the mini lessons are usually 20 to 30 minutes long. This leaves students with 48 minutes of work time maximum, but it’s usually less. Meanwhile, …show more content…
Students could write down the main idea of the lesson in a list, which allows students to fine-tune their note taking, saves time, and makes everyone happy. Many times, Ms. Sholtes and/or Mr. Haney tell students that there has been a lot of research done about writing down teaching points. However, according to the article “Writing and Remembering: Why We Remember What We Write”, it’s not all about writing a paragraph down on command of a teacher. “What this and other tests suggest is that when we write — before we write, although indistinguishably so — we are putting some degree of thought into evaluating and ordering the information that we are receiving. That process, and not the notes themselves, is what helps fix ideas more firmly in our minds, leading to greater recall down the line.” If that is indeed true, then writing down teaching points in a bulleted list would work just fine. In fact, it would probably even help more. If the teaching point is shorter, rather than a whole paragraph, students are more willing to read and comprehend it. Currently, three out of the four students interviewed said that they don’t comprehend the teaching point when writing it, and one
Writing teaching points in paragraph form is a definite waste of time. Four students were interviewed, and all of them said that writing and discussing teaching points takes from two to six minutes. Classes are approximately 70 minutes long, and the mini lessons are usually 20 to 30 minutes long. This leaves students with 48 minutes of work time maximum, but it’s usually less. Meanwhile, …show more content…
Students could write down the main idea of the lesson in a list, which allows students to fine-tune their note taking, saves time, and makes everyone happy. Many times, Ms. Sholtes and/or Mr. Haney tell students that there has been a lot of research done about writing down teaching points. However, according to the article “Writing and Remembering: Why We Remember What We Write”, it’s not all about writing a paragraph down on command of a teacher. “What this and other tests suggest is that when we write — before we write, although indistinguishably so — we are putting some degree of thought into evaluating and ordering the information that we are receiving. That process, and not the notes themselves, is what helps fix ideas more firmly in our minds, leading to greater recall down the line.” If that is indeed true, then writing down teaching points in a bulleted list would work just fine. In fact, it would probably even help more. If the teaching point is shorter, rather than a whole paragraph, students are more willing to read and comprehend it. Currently, three out of the four students interviewed said that they don’t comprehend the teaching point when writing it, and one