day.
Many veteran teachers would scoff at the idea of allowing students to make a cheat-sheet for a unit exam, and perhaps there was some validity to their disinclination, but there was a gray area, and it was this: It had been proven time and time again that students who took the time to draw up a cheat-sheet for the unit exam had reported that they almost never needed to refer to it during the test. How? Why? Reinforcement is the answer.
“We give homework to reinforce what the students had hopefully learned in class,” Jim would debate with his colleagues who adored him. “So, essentially, what they are doing when they draw up cheat-sheets is reinforcing the information, whether they realize it or not. They’re seeing the information and processing it another time since they took the notes in class, and it is penetrating their subconscious.” Jim could tell that some of his colleagues would never see it his way, and he was more than fine with that, but he could also see that some of them believed that he was really onto something. He went on to explain, “So, it reinforces the information for students who learn by repetition, but it also assists the students who learn visually. I’ve been using this method of teaching for over twenty years, and every year, without fail, I have students who are visual learners tell me that this method also works for them and they also seldom look at their cheat-sheet because when they are crafting them, they can actually recall where on the card they wrote certain facts. They can see it clearly in their heads. I’ve heard this testimony from literally hundreds of students with a wide spectrum of ability.”
Jim Colabza went on to explain other theories about how making a funny gesture or putting on a silly voice when delivering information to a student would help them remember that point in time during the test and recall exactly what was said. “Hey, you hear kids quoting movie lines all the time, don’t you? Why not school material, as long as it’s delivered in an unforgettable or notable manner?” he explained to his colleagues. Now, even some of the colleagues who were right with him step by step when he was explaining his previous teaching methods weren’t quite grasping this particular method. Jim Colabza was a thinker, man. He had the long hair and love of beatnik rock and roll and Volkswagen Beetles to prove it too. Far out, man.
If you recall, Tyler was worried back in seventh grade about not having reviewed his notes while on the bus on the way to school. That was because Tyler was the type of student who prided himself on doing good and honest work. Even though the cheat-sheets were permitted by his instructor, Tyler couldn’t get over the fact that they were called cheat-sheets. He was the type of boy who would never use the cheat codes for his new video games that he would find online, or hold his place in his timeworn Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books that his father had found for him at a garage sale last summer to make sure there was a positive outcome before he committed. Cheat-sheet: It sounded so dirty, so impure, so tainted, so unfair, that he would rather do poorly on the exam, having not studied enough, than succeed with such a filthy tool. Some would call that foolish and stubborn. Perhaps, but on some level, it is also to be commended.
The loquacious point being, Tyler was well liked by Mr. Colabza and he was concerned. Not only were his grades slipping a bit, but when Jim Colabza would be in team meetings with his other teachers, which were held every Tuesday and Thursday during period three, they had some unpleasant things to report.
“He’s turned into a little Bastard, Jim,” Bud Kreig had told Jim Colabza one Tuesday as Bud funneled peanuts through his fist into his mouth.
“He really has, hasn’t he? I thought he was just having a bad day or two, but he really is turning into a little shit,” Linda O’Callahan,
Many veteran teachers would scoff at the idea of allowing students to make a cheat-sheet for a unit exam, and perhaps there was some validity to their disinclination, but there was a gray area, and it was this: It had been proven time and time again that students who took the time to draw up a cheat-sheet for the unit exam had reported that they almost never needed to refer to it during the test. How? Why? Reinforcement is the answer.
“We give homework to reinforce what the students had hopefully learned in class,” Jim would debate with his colleagues who adored him. “So, essentially, what they are doing when they draw up cheat-sheets is reinforcing the information, whether they realize it or not. They’re seeing the information and processing it another time since they took the notes in class, and it is penetrating their subconscious.” Jim could tell that some of his colleagues would never see it his way, and he was more than fine with that, but he could also see that some of them believed that he was really onto something. He went on to explain, “So, it reinforces the information for students who learn by repetition, but it also assists the students who learn visually. I’ve been using this method of teaching for over twenty years, and every year, without fail, I have students who are visual learners tell me that this method also works for them and they also seldom look at their cheat-sheet because when they are crafting them, they can actually recall where on the card they wrote certain facts. They can see it clearly in their heads. I’ve heard this testimony from literally hundreds of students with a wide spectrum of ability.”
Jim Colabza went on to explain other theories about how making a funny gesture or putting on a silly voice when delivering information to a student would help them remember that point in time during the test and recall exactly what was said. “Hey, you hear kids quoting movie lines all the time, don’t you? Why not school material, as long as it’s delivered in an unforgettable or notable manner?” he explained to his colleagues. Now, even some of the colleagues who were right with him step by step when he was explaining his previous teaching methods weren’t quite grasping this particular method. Jim Colabza was a thinker, man. He had the long hair and love of beatnik rock and roll and Volkswagen Beetles to prove it too. Far out, man.
If you recall, Tyler was worried back in seventh grade about not having reviewed his notes while on the bus on the way to school. That was because Tyler was the type of student who prided himself on doing good and honest work. Even though the cheat-sheets were permitted by his instructor, Tyler couldn’t get over the fact that they were called cheat-sheets. He was the type of boy who would never use the cheat codes for his new video games that he would find online, or hold his place in his timeworn Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books that his father had found for him at a garage sale last summer to make sure there was a positive outcome before he committed. Cheat-sheet: It sounded so dirty, so impure, so tainted, so unfair, that he would rather do poorly on the exam, having not studied enough, than succeed with such a filthy tool. Some would call that foolish and stubborn. Perhaps, but on some level, it is also to be commended.
The loquacious point being, Tyler was well liked by Mr. Colabza and he was concerned. Not only were his grades slipping a bit, but when Jim Colabza would be in team meetings with his other teachers, which were held every Tuesday and Thursday during period three, they had some unpleasant things to report.
“He’s turned into a little Bastard, Jim,” Bud Kreig had told Jim Colabza one Tuesday as Bud funneled peanuts through his fist into his mouth.
“He really has, hasn’t he? I thought he was just having a bad day or two, but he really is turning into a little shit,” Linda O’Callahan,
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