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The Seven Laws of Teaching - Chpt 5 · The Grammar of Classical Education

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hello.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to The Grammar of Classical Education, a podcast that covers the foundations as well as the philosophical and theoretical ideas of classical learning in a user-friendly and, may I even say, interesting way.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host Dr. Darlene Gomes from Leading to Wonder and I'm so glad that you could join me today.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well we have reached over the halfway point as we approach today Law 4 The Law of the Lesson from John Milton Gregory's The Seven Laws of Learning.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now by way of quick review
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Law number one was the law of the teacher.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: The teacher must know that which he would teach, meaning it's gotta come from an understanding and almost a passion from within the teacher.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Law number two, the law of the learner.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: The learner must attend with interest
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: to the facts being learned.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Again as a reminder, that does not dump full responsibility only on the students, but teachers
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: You have the obligation to attract that attention.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about the difference between magnet teaching and bulldoze teaching, and we want to magnet, we want to attract our students' attention.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Law number three was the law of the language, where the language must be common and familiar to both.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that does play very much
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: into today's, which is Law 4, The Law of the Lesson, which states the truth to be taught must be learned through truth already known.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the lesson is the actual knowledge that the teacher desires for her students to know.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Remembering it is not just facts handed like pieces of paper to the student.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually the knowledge and information shared that becomes understood in the mind of the students to the point where they can think more deeply about the subject.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: And just to put that in context of the classroom, if I'm teaching shapes to a group of kindergartners, I don't want my students to recognize a square when they see it only drawn on the board or written in their book.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: I want them to be able to recognize that shape in the classroom around them and even more in the world outside of the classroom.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: They have to have taken the knowledge of this is a square and made it workable and moldable and usable in their minds.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the law of the lesson is based on the fact that students can only truly know and understand the facts that they have a solid grasp on in their own heads.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: But knowledge and understanding can only come when it is built on knowledge and understanding that the student already has in place.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: With the understanding that this book was originally for average teachers, mainly in a Sunday school setting, yet it actually is applicable to all teachers, John Milton Gregory reminds us that all truth is a reflection of the fact that God is truth and all truth ultimately comes from Him.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: With that understanding, he defines knowledge as truth discovered and understood.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is where we establish the clear connection between the law of the lesson and true learning.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: In order for a student to gain new knowledge, they must begin with the knowledge they already have, things that are already discovered and understood.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: That means the student has to have already known it and that is where our teaching must first be grounded.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: He points out that this law can be seen in the very nature of how human thought and activity is completed.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: I guess one way of looking at it can be seen in the knowledge of how a child learns to walk.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Walking is usually preceded by a firm grasp of standing.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Once standing has been mastered, becomes the known, the unknown of walking can then begin to develop.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: While it's not completely impossible, it's often quite rare that a baby goes from tummy scooting directly to walking.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is demonstrated in the classroom learning exactly in the same way.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: A child cannot master the mathematic function of addition until they have a solid understanding of numbers, their identification, their representation, their value, and that is the goal of the law of the lesson.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: helping students to move from the known to the unknown by binding comparisons and likenesses to the information they already have solidly in their head.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: As he says,
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Till this starting point in the familiar is found, he knows it is useless to go on.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: As well, it would be to bid one to follow you through a winding way in the pitch darkness without first letting him know where you are or putting him on the path.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: The law of the lesson is actually
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Lighting Up the Path.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Giving your young adventurers your charges a true sense of their bearings from the point where their current knowledge is, then true learning can take place.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is then that the adventure can really begin.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: But using that same analogy,
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: If we light up where the student currently is and give him his bearings and then continue to teach in that same information over and over and over again, allowing him to walk in circles in just that spot, we are, as John Milton Gregory says, mocking the pupil's desire for knowledge.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: and were deadening his power of attention by compelling him to walk the weary round of a treadmill in place of leading him forward to the inspiration of new scenes and conquests of new truth.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: So, we must be sure the student has his bearing before we can begin moving forward on the adventure of learning.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: However, once they have that foundation,
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Please don't belabor the information.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Don't do circles in that one little part of this mammoth cave that there is to discover.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: For that point, from the point of understanding, you then can begin to move forward one step at a time.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: John Milton Gregory compares it to adding links to a chain.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: You have to make sure the new link is attached and secure before adding the next.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Or, in our cave analogy, you have to let the light of understanding shine one step at a time while always making sure you don't lose any of your adventurers along the way.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So you, as the cave expert, must always be aware of the adventurers in your charge.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Are they sufficiently illuminated to move on?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Have you lost anyone along the way?
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Did one little overzealous one begin moving down another branch?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is the challenge of teaching.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now while I was working on my undergraduate degree in education the school where I student taught had many classrooms of the same grade level and thus they were able to to some degree ability group.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now we're not going to tackle the good or bad of doing that at this point but they were ability grouped
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And when I moved into my first classroom of my very own, I did not understand how I could have some students that would totally understand me and others seem to take so long to get it.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well,
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I realized that, yeah, that is real teaching in a real classroom situation.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, back to our analogy, it will be challenging to keep all of your adventurers together in this massive cavern of learning.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: That is what teaching is.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Trying as much as possible to do exactly that to keep your quick learners challenged and your students who take a little bit longer
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: to keep them encouraged all at the same time.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: The absolute delight in this unimaginable cavern of learning is that it is a continually growing space.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: There is always more for the students to learn, and in fact, more for us to learn.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that points back to law number one, the law of the teacher.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: You are teaching out of the fullness of your understanding and your appreciation for the wonderful expanse of learning.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: You are then leading your charges step by step, deeper into the knowledge, step by step, understanding as John Milton Gregory says,
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: The old information reveals the new and the new information confirms and connects the old.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: You are constantly shining the light you carry around you, making sure the new facts and truths are clearly understood and that your adventurers know where they came from and where they're going.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: You'll also need to leave a trail clearly marked behind you, referring back to the pieces you have left so that the thoughts can become your students' points of clear reference.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now to jump away from our caving adventure for a few moments John Milton Gregory points to the importance of being able to answer for the student the most pressing question that they will probably not ask and that is what is it like
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And for you as a teacher, I hope you have come to see and use the ever so valuable figures of speech as you help them learn every lesson.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Things like similes where in science you could say,
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Did you realize that the circulatory system is like one massive miniature train set?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now you're comparing something they don't know, the full circulatory system, with something they're familiar with, a train set.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now again, you have to know your students to know if that is a clear word picture for them.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: or in writing, you could use the following metaphor.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: The topic sentence is like the conductor of the entire symphony of the paragraph.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: In a symphony, can the trumpets be off doing their own thing?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: It is exactly the same in a paragraph.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: Sentences cannot be doing whatever they want to do.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: They have to follow the conductor or the topic sentence of the paragraph.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now again, I have to know my students to know, well, if I have a good number of them that play in the band or the orchestra, well, they're gonna understand that.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be able to put the picture together.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Here's an example that I've used with older students.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: And again, this is the key is knowing your students.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: An illustrative story for history.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: If I came into the classroom and took Madison's water bottle and folder and told Brady he could have the water bottle and folder
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, do you see a problem with this?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why is that a problem?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: For whom is it actually a problem?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that is kind of what Germany did in the Zimmerman Note to Mexico in World War I.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: In the story, Brady, Mexico was told, hey, you can have part of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico if you'll fight and be our ally against America.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: Wait a minute.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: The students always say, but the problem is that's not yours to give away.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: It was Madison's.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly the problem.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: So what you want to do is create
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Word pictures in their head that are based on things that they can understand.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Again, you have to know your students because if you are giving them word pictures or
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: For example, with first or second graders, if I said, oh my goodness, he was like a bull in a china shop.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: well they may not actually know what the temperament of a bull is in some cases they may not even really know what a bull is and a china shop is that a place where they sell countries because they've heard of that kind of china so
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can see from that example where you have to know your students, but this is really pointing back to the law of the language, law three.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you're using language that is familiar to both, words that are and ideas that are familiar to both, these figures of speech are amazing tools to help with the law of the lesson.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Throwing the brakes on for a minute, the law of the lesson requires the inclusion of the entire class.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing where all your adventurers are at any given time
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: monitoring the words that you're using as you lead them through the adventure and requiring periodic check-ins.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: I love how John Milton Gregory describes this when he says, a cloud left upon the lesson of yesterday casts its shadow down on the lesson of today.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: and I have to add to that a cloud that you've left five minutes ago is going to cast its shadow down today and so it is requiring this constant check-in and monitoring and looking at your students and getting them to talk
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that you're seeing how well is this thought becoming their thought and understand that we are not looking for a full, complete knowledge and understanding of this massive cave system.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: That would be more on the teacher's level.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: For the students, you want them to have clear and correct thinking up to their level of ability.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: You can see this adventure of caving and the massiveness of learning is so important in the law of the lesson.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: And John Milton Gregory wraps up as he does with every law by stating a few rules and a few mistakes that are commonly made.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Again, we are just gonna fly through these, looking at them quickly, but I really encourage you to either get the book or the free PDF and just browse through this section.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Set some goals and maybe a checklist for yourself.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: So just in a couple quick rules, you have to know where your little adventurers are starting from.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Many of you are familiar with the KWL charts.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: What do you know?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: What do you want to know?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: And what did you learn?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Those are amazing to get your bearings as to where the students already are.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you have them fill it out on their own or you might have it as a classroom discussion, it does give you a sense of what they already know.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Another rule is make the most of what they do know.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Build that excitement.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: so many of you already knew this fact but did you know and throw in some super cool fact that you're gonna get them to later it'll inspire them with the desire to know more a third rule have them state what they already know this is crucial because
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: back to the law of the language it cannot just be your words your thoughts it has to be processed through their brains through their tongue and come back out again to know how well they actually know the information kind of grouping together four five and six
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget, you have to go step by step without belaboring any one area too long, but making sure they are solid before you move forward.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Number seven, I cannot put any more clearly than John Milton Gregory does himself when he says, do not discourage the little ones with lessons that are too long
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: or Discuss to the Older Pupils with Lessons that are Too Short and Easy.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Again, you have to know your students.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: And the last rule that we're gonna mention is number 11, help your adventurers to know that the knowledge they're gaining is giving them the power to gain even more knowledge.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's really the heart and soul of teaching is not just communicating that one layer of knowledge that they now have, but helping them to see how that develops even further and can lead them into greater caverns that lay before them.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, a couple of the most common mistakes are starting just from nowhere, like not getting where they are, just jumping clear into the lesson without letting them get their bearings or you seeing where they are.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Another is the fact that we have got to avoid just talking and talking and talking and talking without giving them a chance to think and process.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine if you were touring a beautiful cave with amazing natural wonders on every side
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: and your tour guide was just talking and talking the entire time.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: they never gave you a chance to process they never gave you the chance to to think and look and absorb the beauty and amazing things that were around you they never encouraged you to explore further on your own but instead they talked and talked and talked and then rushed you off to the next room don't be that kind of tour guide don't be that kind of teacher
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: You want to avoid the fragmented learning where you're just piling up little facts instead of what John Milton Gregory calls building temples of truth rising from solid foundations beautiful in proportion and noble in use.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, whether you are all in with classical ed,
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: To get the latest episode, as well as a fun little teacher's newsletter, complete with a couple of classroom freebies,
• 26:36
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• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about me and Leading to Wonder, you can visit my website at leadingtowonder.com.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: No spaces.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, to reach out to me directly with questions or comments or even for information regarding in-house or virtual teacher training workshops.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Feel free to email me at Darlene at LeadingToWonder.com Have an amazing week!
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, as E.B.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: White said, Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.