2.++Chapter+Two

**Six Ways to Teach for Independent and Higher Learning**

1. “We Must Resist the Temptation to Tell” – Students are accustomed to being told what the answer is. Teachers are accustomed to being instructed in the same manner. Teaching by telling is inadequate because it takes the excitement of discovery out of learning. Removes motivation for students to learn on their own.

2. “We Must Stop Teaching Decontextualized Content” – The content we teach must have real world meaning. Information is stored in working or short-term memory for between 18-24 hours until it meets the following criteria: 1) information makes sense 2) information has meaning. You would hire the man that knows how to build a structure with a hammer, as opposed to the man that can identify, define, and write a composition about a hammer.

3. “We Must Stop Giving Students the Final Product of our Thinking” – Do not just show the final result-- show how you got there!

4. “We Must Make a Fundamental Shift - Problems First, Teaching Second” – Role-playing and simulations are a good way to get students involved in solving problems rather than just giving them the answers. It's best to give them the problem but not outline the tasks for them. Technology should be viewed as a tool to be used to solve problems.

5. “We Must Progressively Withdraw From Helping Students” – It’s like teaching a child to walk—we need to hold their hands at first and then let them go to see what they are capable of. What is the fine line of helping students too much and not enough?

6. “We Must Reevaluate Evaluation” – We are all afraid of failure (teachers, too!) Failure stimulates creativity. We need to focus more on questions that do not have just correct or incorrect answers. For example, our height and weight do no indicate our health.