92% Of What We Teach Each Other

In my classroom I have a chart of the work of Dr. Gary Phillips on Brain Research completed as part of the National School Improvement Project.

I use this chart to remind me that when we teach each other we solidify our own understanding of the material. I design my classes to be teacher guided but student driven.  I implore students to assist each other in the understanding of material as a means of increasing their own knowledge.  I purposely design projects, activities and lessons to initiate the student to student interaction. 

This is not cooperative learning, as some teachers mistakenly call it.  I spend a great deal of time discussing the integrity of the process.  This is not giving answers to another student, but truly assisting another student to understand and in doing so increasing their own knowldge base. 

Amazingly you will find that sometimes, the student who struggles the most is actually the best teacher of material once they understand it. These students usually had to deconstruct the information in order to undertand the material and therefore can do a better job of actually building up and explaining the basic components of the topic. 

Remember, It's not about you; it's about them - "a guide on the side" 

Brain Reaserach Summary

We learn and remamber after one month...