A B Ready Code:  Habits 5 and 6

Hello, and welcome back to A B Ready.com. This is the third of five short videos about the A B Ready code, which is a list of ten habits guaranteed to help you succeed in school.

Habit #5: Understand the Learning Process

This video explains Habits 5 and 6 which you will see are very closely related to each other. So, let’s begin with Habit #5: Understand the Learning Process.

Part 1: The Presentation of New Learning by the Teacher and in the Textbook;
Part 2: Classroom Activities which are designed to help you understand the new learning; and
Part 3: Assessment such as projects, quizzes, and tests.

Now, the tip-off to me about the importance of Habits 5 and 6 was when I was looking at student grades with Carl, a student I was coaching. When I saw C’s, D’s, and F’s for grades in the categories of projects, classroom activities, quizzes, and tests, I asked him why his grades were so low. He told me that too often he just did not have enough time to do the project or study for the upcoming quiz. Also, he told me that sometimes he did not see how the classroom activities fit in with what they were supposed to learn. During our coaching session I realized that Carl did not see how all the various parts of the learning process fit together so that he could learn something new.

Teachers are trained to organize learning so that lessons and classroom activities support each other. They are also trained in various methods of finding out if a student has acquired the new learning. So, by being aware of the learning process, you will see how everything fits together. So, let’s take a second look at the learning process.

Part #1: The Presentation of New Learning by either the teacher or by media such as books and videos. This is where you find out what you are supposed to learn.
Part #2: Classroom Activities and Projects such as small group discussions, lab experiments, or practicing with another student, as well as projects you work on outside of class time. This is where you find out how you will use the new learning.
Part #3: Assessments such as student performances and presentations, and quizzes and tests. This is where you find out how well you have acquired the new learning.

Habit #6: Participate Fully in Class

If you understand the Learning Process, then you will also understand the significance of Habit #6: Participate Fully in Class. Concentrate and Show Interest. The outmoded notion of school is defined by “seat time,” which means that, if you spend 180 days in class, you will get one credit. A newer, more beneficial view of school for you is defined by your ability to demonstrate how much you have learned. If you participate fully in class, you will ask questions when you don’t understand something, you will make the effort to see how the new material you are learning fits in with what you learned before, and you will able to demonstrate your knowledge to a level of proficiency high enough that you will be successful and confident learning new knowledge in the future. Concentrating in class means that you are giving your full attention to new learning, that you focus on identifying the main points and the significant details of the new learning, and that you make that learning your own. Showing interest means being curious about the new learning. How does it relate to your life? How does it help you to understand the real world outside the classroom? By being fully engaged in your learning, you help your brain to make connections with previous learning and to your life now and in the future.

So there you have Habits 5 and 6. Click here to continue with Habits 7 and 8 of the A B Ready Code.