I’ve been reflecting a lot about my teaching since I no longer have my own class. Every time I investigate a new pedagogy or idea I wonder how I would implement that in my classroom. This week I’ve been challenged in my thinking about how I think and how my students think…
I think very logically… A must be followed B. Which is then followed by C. There is a step by step guide to everything, even Art and creativity… Everything follows a flow chart, the more complex the more interesting and challenging.
I remember teaching a young man Economics in 2005 and 2006 who thought very abstractly. He would grab an idea make sure he completely understood that one idea before randomly grabbing the next idea. This often meant that he didn’t always fully comprehend what we were looking at. He thought everything like it was a mind map, filling each branch as he understood it.
I wonder considering I think logically how hard it must have been for those students who do think abstractly.
If I ever have my own classroom again I’m going to challenge myself to teach abstractly for awhile. See if I can randomly teach concepts to lead to the big picture.
Do you teach/think abstractly or logically?
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