Learning to Learn...
“Experience is the best teacher.”
By Truman Scott  
November 11, 2011 

Bartlets Familiar Quotations tells us this phrase was first uttered by Julius Caesar who actually said, “Experience is the teacher of us all.” I have been teaching English and composition for thirty-five years, and I have come to know that the best way for students to learn is by doing or through experience, and that no two people learn the same way.  I refer the learner to WIIFM:  “What’s in it for me?” I empower my students to learn in their own way by using their learning style and interests as a connection between what they know about a course and what the course requires. 

If a student enjoys running and is not doing well in chemistry, I mention to him that when he runs, he should look around and identify the various chemical reactions he sees as he jogs.  If he enjoys football, he could look at the plays and compare them to chemical reactions:  a draw play could be looked at as the quarterback acting/reacting to the defense.  Chess of course is a game of strategy.  When given a problem in chemistry, the chess pieces could be viewed as agents of action and reaction to create the solution to the problem. 

I begin each class with a 2-3 minute speed writing drill.  I’ll give the class a topic such as “My hobby is…” and in the time allotted they are to jot down as much as they can about their hobby.  Spelling and grammar don’t count.  All I’m interested in is for them to get their ideas on paper.  One student wrote me about the speed writing drill and commented that when she had more time to write in any class, she could gather her ideas more quickly, wrote more thoughtfully, and turned in better papers.  

When my students give reports whether in groups or individually, I encourage them to be creative in their work be it a PowerPoint presentation or simply a poster.  I have had students write a song or a poem while others have created sculptures, games and even jigsaw puzzles based on what they’ve read. 

For their final project, students must create a portfolio of their semester’s work. They are essentially writing a book and so they must create their own publishing company, which would include creating their own cover page, copyright page whose date is the semester’s last class date.  Further, they are to create a Forward or Acknowledgement page, followed a by Table of Contents including chapters that would include “Speed Writing”, “Homework” and “Essays”, and a vocabulary list. 

Another portion of their portfolio is a glossary.  Throughout the semester, the students are going to come across new words either in my class or others.  I ask that they collect twenty words from any source be it TV, school, or a magazine, alphabetize them, and each word must be accompanied by its phonetic spelling, part of speech,  etymology, and the definition of the word based on the context in which the student found it.

Taking charge of their own studies empowers students which in turn gives them a sense of ownership or connection to what they are learning. Because the learning becomes a personal experience, the information they gather will be retained much longer as opposed to mere rote learning. 

The last two days of the semester, I have the students present to the class their portfolios accompanied by a discussion of the course and what they have taken from it. 

In short, when students take charge of their education, their learning becomes personal and lasts longer with learning becoming the experience!