Learning That Sticks

Book excerpt: In far too many classrooms, the emphasis is on instructional strategies that teachers employ rather than on what students should be doing or thinking about as part of their learning. What's more, students' minds are something of a mysterious "black box" for most teachers, so when learning breaks down, they're not sure what went wrong or what to do differently to help students learn. It doesn't have to be this way. Learning That Sticks helps you look inside that black box. Bryan Goodwin and his coauthors unpack the cognitive science underlying research-supported learning strategies so you can sequence them into experiences that challenge, inspire, and engage your students. As a result, you'll learn to teach with more intentionality—understanding not just what to do but also when and why to do it. By way of an easy-to-use six-phase model of learning, this book * Analyzes how the brain reacts to, stores, and retrieves new information. * Helps you "zoom out" to understand the process of learning from beginning to end. * Helps you "zoom in" to see what's going on in students' minds during each phase. Learning may be complicated, but learning about learning doesn't have to be. And to that end, Learning That Sticks helps shine a light into all the black boxes in your classroom and make your practice the most powerful it can be. This product is a copublication of ASCD and McREL.