How Do You Learn?

When I was in third or fourth grade, I learned the multiplication tables that we all know (and some love). I distinctly remember practicing them at the kitchen table with my parents in the evenings. I would sit with one of them and practice until I had most of the stack correct. We did other practice activities in school around multiplication, but I don't remember those as well.

That rote practice left an impact on me as a learner. Flashcards have been a way for me to learn ever since 1983. Currently, I have a stack of them at our home, thanks to Linda Hartwell. They are pictures of all the faculty and staff, with names on the back. I go through the stack to learn the names of the employees in the St. Johnsbury School because, for me, there's nothing more important than learning someone's name. Our children quiz me when they're eating breakfast.

Yes, I am adept with technology. Yes, I tweet many times a day. Yes, I carry an iPhone. And, when it comes to learning people's names, I go back to something that worked for me more than thirty years ago...

No one asked me if flashcards worked for me in 1983. It was something that was routinely suggested for families to do, to practice multiplication facts. Flashcards worked for me then, and they still work for me today.

Part of the brilliance of personalized learning is that each learner will approach it in his/her own unique way, with his/her strengths and weaknesses. I'm sure if you polled my superintendent colleagues, not everyone is using flashcards to learn the names of their employees. I would suspect that some do though.

Still, this question of how do you learn is a valid one, and it's something that we can be asking even our youngest students. Yes, we can ask a kindergartner (with the help of a teacher and parents/caregivers) how do you learn? We can ask for evidence of who they are as a writer, a reader, a mathematician, an artist, a citizen of our school. We can ask this because no one rises to low expectations.

So if we can ask our youngest learners how they learn best, we can certainly ask it of all the other students in our schools. Think of how empowering it would be for our students when their teachers turn to them and ask for guidance on how they learn best. Think of how much agency they will feel when the teacher molds and adapts the assessment for our children, to demonstrate their learning in a way that feels authentic to them.

No one asked me when I was in third grade if I wanted to learn my multiplication tables by using flashcards. If they had, I'm honestly not sure how I would have answered.

I simply do know this; I'm still using flashcards to this day, so it worked.

Photo credit to www.cthawards.com

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