Erin Luchterhand
Edgar Dale once said “We remember: 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss with others, 80% of what we personally experience, 95% of what we teach others.” While the percentages mentioned were Dale’s opinion, and not necessarily based in scientific fact, the idea remains the same. We retain what we experience and what we teach others.
If students learn primarily by experience – see, feel, touch, do – why don’t we use that tool in the classroom. What tool? EXPERIENCE!
Give your students something to experience, regardless of what you are teaching. Anytime we teach, we should ask ourselves “why am I teaching what I am teaching?” The answer should be: “because it will benefit my students by _______.” If it is important to learn, and benefits your students, it should be able to be experienced in some way. Even math can be experienced. I once had a math teacher act as if she was skiing when teaching slope and that math lesson stayed with me!
Here are a few examples of how our students experience their lessons: Budgeting – we create an actual weekly budget, go to the bank, withdraw money, and organize it with envelopes.
Laundry Skills – students learn a step by step process with hand motions. They practice each step with real clothes, and then are assigned a weekly day to complete their laundry, making the skills transferrable and applicable!
Underground Church – students have a lesson the underground church and martyrdom. Then, the teacher sets up the underground church, on campus, and students have to get from the classroom to the “underground church” without being caught by guards.
Resumes – Students have volunteer work sites throughout the year, which aids in developing content for a resume. Then, midway through the year, we handwrite a resume by filling in the blanks, then type our resume, adding strengths and references.
Including experiences within your teaching allows you to get creative, but it also allows students to retain so much more information. If the goal is student learning, include experiences in your lessons and your students will see the value and remember the experience!
If students learn primarily by experience – see, feel, touch, do – why don’t we use that tool in the classroom. What tool? EXPERIENCE!
Give your students something to experience, regardless of what you are teaching. Anytime we teach, we should ask ourselves “why am I teaching what I am teaching?” The answer should be: “because it will benefit my students by _______.” If it is important to learn, and benefits your students, it should be able to be experienced in some way. Even math can be experienced. I once had a math teacher act as if she was skiing when teaching slope and that math lesson stayed with me!
Here are a few examples of how our students experience their lessons: Budgeting – we create an actual weekly budget, go to the bank, withdraw money, and organize it with envelopes.
Laundry Skills – students learn a step by step process with hand motions. They practice each step with real clothes, and then are assigned a weekly day to complete their laundry, making the skills transferrable and applicable!
Underground Church – students have a lesson the underground church and martyrdom. Then, the teacher sets up the underground church, on campus, and students have to get from the classroom to the “underground church” without being caught by guards.
Resumes – Students have volunteer work sites throughout the year, which aids in developing content for a resume. Then, midway through the year, we handwrite a resume by filling in the blanks, then type our resume, adding strengths and references.
Including experiences within your teaching allows you to get creative, but it also allows students to retain so much more information. If the goal is student learning, include experiences in your lessons and your students will see the value and remember the experience!
To learn more about REAL Education, listen to Erin's taketen HERE
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