How Do You Know?

Several Fridays ago, along with the rest of you, I went from session to session learning about Google Drive, Google Accounts, Blackboard, Digital Content, and Digital Citizenship.  My observation during that day is that most of us fall somewhere on the continuum between being overwhelmed by all of the new information to wishing we would get past the basics and spend much more time on how to best apply this knowledge in the classroom.

When we learn about these topics, we are learning both what they are and how to use them, and that makes for very different learning experiences.  The educational terms used to describe the two different types of learning are Declarative Knowledge and Procedural Knowledge.  When we learn new vocabulary, facts, places, names, events, or titles, we are learning Declarative Knowledge.  Procedural Knowledge is about the skills and includes the psychomotor process of putting knowledge into action. Obviously, these are not entirely separate, but this might be a helpful way to think about our experience during the last half-day professional development—and about what happens with students in your classrooms.

From Sheila Pontis "Mapping Complex Information"

Robert Marzano gives this short description of how each type of knowledge is learned:

Learning Declarative Knowledge:

1. Construct Meaning: Students link information to prior knowledge.
2. Organize the Information: Students are able to see patterns in the information.
3. Store: Students store information in long-term memory.

Learning Procedural Knowledge:

1. Learn the Steps: Students learn the process, but it is just information.
2. Shape and Adapt: Students deepen understanding through practice and take ownership of the process.
3. Internalize: Students practice to the point of automaticity or fluency.

This might help make sense of where you came out on the continuum last Friday.  If you were unfamiliar with one or more of the topics, you may be somewhere in the steps of learning Declarative Knowledge.  You are asking questions like these:

• What is Google Drive?
• What is the difference between a Doc and a Sheet?
• What can students do with Google Drive?

If you are already somewhat familiar with these topics, you might be working on learning Procedural Knowledge.  Your questions might be these:

• How do I create a group mailing list for Google Drive?
• How can I use Google Forms to create a formative assessment?
• How can I use Google Drive to improve student collaboration?

The good news, regardless of where you fall on the continuum, is that repetition does make a difference.  Best practice instruction for students (and for us) is to cycle back into a new topic soon and often.  To move Declarative Knowledge into long term memory, students need to return to the concept and do something new with it, so they can make it their own.  To move Procedural Knowledge into automaticity takes practice.  The most effective kind of practice is not a one-time shot but rather distributed over time.

From Goalsblogger

Use it or lose it.

Regardless of your level of understanding, this truism applies.  It’s the way our brains function.  It is how we make meaning and how we improve our skills.  It is how we learn.

Fortunately for us, the professional development calendar works in our favor this year.  February 6 will provide another half-day to work on our knowledge and skills.  Our goal is to differentiate for those of you working on the Declarative Knowledge and those of you working on Procedural Knowledge.

In the meantime, the more often you and your students dive into Google Drive, Google Accounts, or Blackboard, the better your chance of moving your learning forward.  You will be making lots of choices about content and activities for your class in the coming days, weeks, and months.  When you have the option, opt as often as possible for one of the strategies you learned several weeks ago and will learn this coming Friday.

I know you will find these tools will help your students.  Even using these skills a little, will help you prepare for next fall as well.

I hope your week is a great one.

Phil

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