What is Learning?

by Dr. Cathy Coker

Learning can be defined as permanent changes in behavior induced by life. As a teacher I need to see that my students will walk away from my lesson with experiences that we both can be proud of, them as the learner and me as the teacher.

I want to be the kind of teacher that gives students the immediate and concrete experiences that will help students achieve the goals that society have set for them.

Isn’t that what we do when we look at their reading and math scores? As I create my reading lesson plans, I wonder what activities will make that learning experience memorable to help my students connect to the author’s purpose.

I am constantly asking myself; what can or how can I leave a lifelong impact on my Social Studies class when I talk about the Civil War. Our job is not to have them memorize names and dates but feel what the people were feeling in that time. As a teacher our job is to make learning more meaningful and impactful.

Why don’t we make them research and role play and design the important information that appeals to them not to what the tests are measuring. Who decides what is meaning and impactful for us to learn? I hated history until I taught it. Now it is my favorite subject. History transformed me because I found a period in History that I wanted to study. I found that when I study something that interest me, I transform. I did not have to concentrate on the author’s purpose because I had a purpose to read.

I did not have to look at the Informational Text on purpose because I purposely looked at all the captions to learn why the pictures were posted about that person, building, or site. I found that I was hungry for information. When I taught the content I did not have to put on a dog and pony show to get my students to learn because I shared my love for the subject.

My enthusiasm was contagious that my students loved what I taught and they got enthusiastic as well which eventually transformed their learning experience. I was my own teacher. I wanted to learn.

I came from a low social economic, Spanish speaking, living in the project’s kind of a student. I can relate with the language barriers our students have. I know what kind of homes they live in. I was just like them. I have this same kind of students in my classroom now. I am sure not every teacher came from an affluent home. If you did great, but if you were average like most of us think; What can we do to help them love to learn?

We cannot control what students learn outside of our classrooms which they so eloquently bring into our classrooms, so why can’t we do the same while we have them in our realm? Let’s model how we feel about our subject and with our enthusiasm transform our teaching into great learning experiences that our students will never forget.

Share with me what you do in your classrooms. I am always looking for new ways and experiences for learning. From your lifelong learner, Dr. Cathy Coker.