One learning experience that I think really applies to transfer is how I was taught the scientific method. I remember this being introduced to it formally in middle school science, and I remember thinking how cool it was that we would be conducting experiments. At the same time, I remember thinking the various steps like creating a hypothesis or identifying a control were just busy work and unnecessary steps that my teacher was “making us do.” I recall having an attitude of “isn’t the whole point the experiment part?”

After nearly every science class that followed using the same scientific method in different scenarios, I felt that it was easier to understand the reasons behind the steps of the method, why they were there, and how they were helpful in determining and analyzing results of the experiment. When I went to college to study art, I got my lab science out of the way my freshman year, I thought my scientific method days were behind me. But upon reflection, I can see how that knowledge transferred to my art making processes. When I was doing a lot of screen printing, I would test times of exposure for the photo emulsion to see what would produce the clearest image. In Ceramics, I test glazes and combinations of glazes in the kiln in a methodical way. While I don’t sit down and write a lab report on it, I informally transferred this knowledge in understanding the importance of things like controlled variables or hypothesizing informally as I complete the process.

I think that what aided in the success of this transfer of knowledge is the way that the process was introduced in a variety of settings over a long period of time (middle school science, chemistry, biology, physics, psychology) and in the context of hands-on activities. This chapter makes me reflect on what life skills I would like my students to transfer from my class and into the many facets of their lives.

My most valuable learning experience took place when my mentors took the time needed to provide thoughtful, constructive, and timely feedback. Once example of this took place when I was supervising staff in a residential therapeutic program. When I began as a supervisor, I did not yet have the skills to manage all of the expectations and safety concerns of the position while providing the support and oversight to my staff and students. My mentor and boss at this time, took time every day to reflect back to me how I was doing and provide thoughtful feedback. In this, I was able to develop in my work and excel in my practice. 

As important as outside feedback and reflection, is metacognition. At the same time my mentor provided feedback to me, they asked me to reflect on where I felt that I was succeeding, where I say growth areas, and where I was totally lost. In this self-provided feedback I had my biggest learning moments. 

This practice is equally as important with our kiddos. I don’t yet have the skill set to incorporate this into all of our learning in my classroom. For now, I have students identify where they met learning targets ( highlight evidence and reasoning in their papers), where they see growth areas (identifying what was difficult or where they may have struggled with the learning target), and what questions they have or help they still need. 

All of the practices outlined in this chapter harmonize with my own understanding of students' learning. With that, I am still seeking authentic ways to bring feedback and metacognition into my classroom. 

For those with large class sizes and student loads, how do you provide meaningful feedback to your students? How do you foster a culture of self reflection and metacognition?

In addition, each day spent snow skiing contributed my abilities on snow. For the past five years, my family spent almost every weekend at Hoodoo or Mt. Bachelor in the winter and into the spring, although this spring ended too early due to Covid. Banford states, “Although many people believe that ‘talent’ plays a role in who becomes an expert in a particular area, even seemingly talented individuals require a great deal of practice in order to develop their expertise” (p. 58).  I went from french frying and pizzaing, beginner skiing moves for going and stopping, to carving and gliding. Much of what I’ve gained in talent was learned by watching expert skiers. I begin with mimicry and find my own version of what they’re doing. 

Also, my son and husband are pretty accomplished snowboarders. I struggled to keep up with them at first, and this frustrated me. Instead of giving up, I became determined to improve. Banford explains, “Learners of all ages are more motivated when they can see the usefulness of what they are learning and when they can use that information to do something that has an impact on others” (p. 61). My ability to make it down the mountain and stay close by my family was motivation. We always get the most enjoyment out of the day when we’re together, and I was determined to make that happen. 

I still have a lot to learn to become an expert. Sometimes, I watch small children fly down the mountain with an ease that I fear I’ll never have, but I’m motivated to improve in my abilities. Each time I learn something new in skiing, I’m filled with a feeling of accomplishment and joy.

“African American children who come to school speaking in a topic-associa- tive style may be seen by many teachers as having less potential for learning. Teachers can be helped to view different cultural backgrounds as strengths to be built on, rather than as signs of “deficits.” (p. 73)

The staff at my school works very hard to include students’ home culture in their classrooms and activities, but this chapter shows that it is SO important to include cultural differences in the learning itself! This chapter has challenged my thinking that learning is so often teacher-based...we control the learning process, environment, experiences, and that control leads to the students’ ability to take in knowledge and be able to transfer that knowledge. It is clear though, that the student needs to be the center of how learning is organized and assessed, because each student has so many factors going into their ability to take learning and transfer that learning in a way that benefits them for the rest of their lives.

 

The most difficult and impactful learning experience I have had in the last decade, was teaching overseas. As I reflect on the idea of transfer, I can see the areas in which I relied on previous knowledge to guide me during moments of feeling completely at sea. However, that knowledge did not always serve me. At certain points, it was crucial that I ‘un-learn’ what I thought I knew and start over. One area that took a lot of dedicated practice and time was in communicating across cultural divides. I had assumptions about my students based on previous experience as a coach and trainer. I had certain skill sets to deal with classroom problems and management, they just didn’t happen to translate well to my foreign classroom. For example, in a culture where saving face is of paramount importance, how you solicit answers from students needs to be approached very thoughtfully. Having made mistakes in class, I received immediate feedback from the students; they were unhappy. This led me to seek out feedback from my co-teachers and ask what I had done wrong. This feedback was critical to my learning process. With new information and a really strong motivation to succeed, I implemented changes that better fit the milieu in which I was working. In order to get more students answering and talking, I created situations that allowed for some anonymity and privacy. These strategies included one-on-one speaking assessments and anonymous writing submissions. Once I did this, students really opened up. Furthermore, once we had passed some time together, the students knew that they could trust me not to cause them to lose face, which dissipated a lot of their fears.     

 
Our text goes on to explain that meaningful memorization can only go so far for learning, as students need practice: “It is important to be realistic about the amount of time it takes to learn complex subject matter. It has been estimated that world-class chess masters require from 50,000 to 100,000 hours of practice to reach that level of expertise; they rely on a knowledge base containing some 50,000 familiar chess patterns to guide their selection of moves (Chase and Simon, 1973; Simon and Chase, 1973)” (p. 56). My husband was a chess champion and was able to travel to New York for a tournament when he was in high school, and also played chess when he was in college at the University of Oregon. However, he ultimately chose his cello and music performance as his main passion—and both of these passions require a great deal of practice in order to become professional players. I think he is also incredibly talented, but like the authors point out, many hours of practice is needed in order to reach the level of expertise. Our text expands further: ”’expertise occurs only with major investments of time, and the amount of time it takes to learn material is roughly proportional to the amount of material being learned (Singley and Anderson, 1989); see Box 3.5. Although many people believe that “talent” plays a role in who becomes an expert in a particular area, even seemingly talented individuals require a great deal of practice in order to develop their expertise (Ericsson et al., 1993)’” (p. 58).

 As I think about how my kinders learn, I’m reminded about how much they love to learn when they are motivated. I often plan writing and illustrating activities where they can share their work using the document camera (projecting onto the screen). I’m always amazed at how much they love to see and share their work when it is projected. I’ve had all kindergarten levels of writers and illustrators share their work, and everyone gets the same praise and encouragement when we do it. I also think it helps to build trust in our classroom community. Our text explains: “Social opportunities also affect motivation. Feeling that one is contributing something to others appears to be especially motivating (Schwartz et al., 1999). For example, young learners are highly motivated to write stories and draw pictures that they can share with others” (p. 61).