What we PROCESS, we LEARN
Most teachers -
fall into the trap of “activity” based teaching/learning because it’s “visible”
mistake students being “busy” with students “learning”
think student “engagement” is student having fun
And what most teachers do is -
neglect the “invisible” part of learning, ie: what are the students thinking
fail to engage students in both “doing” and “thinking” levels
focus on the “poor” proxies for learning
As a result -
the focus becomes the activity, not the learning outcome
the planning is spent on finding “fun” activities that students enjoy
teaching becomes an act of pandering to admins, parents, and the students
So, why does this happen?
Out of many reasons, many teachers have not thought about learning from “how learning happens” perspective.
One of the maxims in the field of learning science is:
What we process is what we learn
Thus, as a teacher -
focus not just on what students are doing, focus more on what students are thinking while doing any activities
check their thinking, understanding, misconceptions by asking a series of questions
(make them elaborate / explain - either verbally or in writing, what, why, how they are doing)
align/realign their thinking to the learning outcome, concepts, knowledge around that activity
Disclaimer -
of course, have fun in the class
sure, try to make students happy
yes, make them feel that they belong there and that they can accomplish any task