Acronyms and Constant Adjustments

[Alec Kotler]

Many images will linger with me for a while from my tutoring experience. Mainly, they surround Mr. Johnson’s teaching strategies and the way he always manages to incorporate his student’s interests in a way that most effectively engages them. He relates a lot of classroom material to experiences he believes these high school sophomores will find interesting. For example, in the image you see in this blog, Mr. Johnson begins his final class that I am observing with an image from the previous night’s lunar eclipse. Then he mentions the biological elements of the lunar eclipse which ties together this biology class to the experience students, hopefully, took in on the previous night.

The one practice that will stick with me as well was Mr. Johnson’s clever use of acronyms for new material that has potential to be difficult to grasp. This includes, for example, learning about mitosis, cellular structure, and diffusion concepts. The unique thing about these various acronyms are that the students are required to move their body parts in concert with each part of the acronym. The students took an exam about mitosis and when labeling parts of the cell cycle I noticed students moving their hands in ways that represent each part of the acronym to help them recall the specific part of the cell cycle. While I observed the students take their exam (yes, not an active tutoring day) I could see what a great mechanism this was to help them recall important information. In fact, creating blood flow by moving around is scientifically proven to enhance memory. It is one thing to make students memorize an acronym to enhance recall mechanisms on certain topics. Some students don’t even like extra memorization. To incorporate physical activity with these acronyms really made the exercise physical and fun and, for the students, made the concepts memorable and motivating.

I think this example represents my tutoring experience as a whole because up until the last few weeks, I was mainly observing Mr. Johnson’s tactics and teaching technique as well as the overall classroom environment. As I was observing the classroom, what is most evident is the way Mr. Johnson never ceased to engage his students by constructing his class guided by consideration for the students’ interests. This makes me consider what teaching is really about. Teaching is about getting students to learn. The best way to get students to learn is if they are engaged. Sometimes engaging students requires teachers to get off script. Teaching is not always adhering to a syllabus or specific directions. Teaching comes in many shapes and sizes but, at its core, should be structured to the students. Mr. Johnson has an incremental view of learning. He believes with the right tools everyone can learn. Intelligence is not fixed–a conclusion I have about teaching and learning that I will expand upon in my final paper.

• This topic was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by Alec Kotler.

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