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TomPlonski.com
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SOME THOUGHT PROVOKING QUESTIONS
WHEN IS THE LEARNING MOMENT?
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CAN WE IDENTIFY IT? CAN WE EXAMINE IT ?
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WHAT CAN WE DO TO PROMOTE "LEARNING MOMENTS" ?
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As I watch my students work on the PLONSKI MATH METHOD
they will often become so intensely focused that they can be heard
quietly talking to themselves. I always smile when I hear a student
suddenly say, "Oh!" That sudden exclamation, "Oh!", clearly marks
a learning moment. Yes, we can identify learning moments. Yes,
we can examine learning moments. And, yes, we can learn to
promote learning moments. We can promote learning moments
by making the student aware that he has had a learning moment
and talking about it with him. Encourage him to have more.
As we learn more about learning moments we can learn to adjust
our presentation of study materials to take maximum advantage
of the the learning process.
CAN WE LEARN WITHOUT THE HELP OF A TEACHER?
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Of course, we can learn without a teacher. How do babies
learn? Think of it. A new-born baby lying in a crib does not
know that language exists. - - - does not know that words have
meaning. - - - does not even know that words exist. How does
a baby learn that some sounds are words? How does the baby
learn that some words have meaning? Yet, babies born in China
learn to understand and speak Chinese. Babies in France learn
to understand and speak French. How did you learn to
understand and speak your mother tongue. Did you go to
school to learn this? Did you learn it by reading books?
Babies don't even know that reading exists! Why not learn
mathematics the same way a baby learns?
WHAT IS INTUITIVE LEARNING ?
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Intuitive learning has its basis in very certain thinking skills.
The student already has these thinking skills we just need to
help the student organize and strengthen these thinking skills.
They are:
GATHER DATA
COMPARE
ANALYZE
EVALUATE
and of course: ORGANIZE
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What is this thing we call
"INTUITION" or "INTUITIVE LEARNING" ?
Whenever a person learns something on his own, without outside
help, that person did so by GATHERING DATA, COMPARING, ANALYZING,
and EVALUATING, and to some extent ORGANIZING or RE-ORGANIZING.
COMPARE:
When we compare we must have at least two items.
Then we examine them and ask
1. How are they similar ?
2. How are they different ?
ANALYZE:
When we analyze something, we examine its parts to ask
1. What is it made of ?
2. How do the parts fit together ?
3. How do the parts function ?
EVALUATE:
When we evaluate, we are making a value judgement.
1. Which is better ? Which is worse ?
2. Which is more ? Which is less ?
ORGANIZE:
Many times, before we can really come to learn something new
we must first organize or reorganize the data. When we
organize or re-organize, we are dealing with several items
which we collect into meaningful groups (We associate).
Naming or putting a label on a group is an important step
when organizing.
When we organize we must focus on two tasks:
1. Assign a place for everything.
2. Make sure everything is in its assigned place.
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WE WANT THE STUDENT TO EVENTUALLY BE ABLE TO FUNCTION
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without THE TEACHER.
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The prime objective of a good teacher is to help the student to
the point where the teacher will no longer be necessary for that
student. The teacher should only consider himself to be a TEMPORARY
crutch. Indeed, a teacher's main job is to make himself no longer
necessary. The teacher can not consider himself "successful" as long
as his student still needs him.
Tom Plonski
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