Flow Learning in the Academic Classroom
By Carol Malnor
As a teacher and curriculum designer, I have found that Flow Learning is a valuable tool in the classroom. By teaching my lessons using the Flow Learning format I have been able to involve all of my students in the lesson and keep discipline problems to a minimum. I've applied the principles of Flow Learning to math, science, social studies, language, and even art classes.
Awaken Enthusiasm
Brain researchers tell us that our brains can much more easily take in information if the material is meaningful, useful, interesting, fun, or has emotional relevance. This is why awakening students' enthusiasm is so vitally important. Once a teacher gets students interested in the topic they are studying, the learning becomes easy and natural.
Physical activities are one of the most effective ways to engage students' interest and involvement in a topic. Many of Joseph Cornell's activities can be adapted to academic subjects. For example, I've adapted "Wild Animal Scramble" for a math class by pinning numbers (instead of animal pictures) on students' backs and having them guess which number they were. Before taking a history test I play "Owls and Crows" with my students to help them review important events. (I even have them write the true/false questions ahead of time.) In literature class, "What Animal Am I?" becomes "What Character in the Book Am I?"
Sometimes a simple action like wearing a costume or playing special music can be enough to pique students' interest and awaken their enthusiasm. I have found that when I incorporate games and unexpected surprises into the lesson, I communicate to students that I want them to enjoy what we are studying, and they are then more willing to do the other learning tasks I ask them to do.
Focus Attention
Once the students are engaged, I can use other types of activities to focus their energy and attention on the subject we are studying. To help students concentrate, I use as many senses as possible in an activity. For example, when students play a game like circle rhythm clapping they have to watch carefully (the sense of sight), listen closely (the sense of hearing), and imitate the clapping rhythm with their hands (the sense of touch). Content such as science terms, prepositions, or multiplication tables can be added to the clapping rhythm. Scavenger hunts, clue games, puzzle activities, whole body balance movements, and fine motor skill activities all engage students' concentration and focus. In a science class on magnetism, I awakened enthusiasm by giving each student a small magnet and letting them play with it. I then focused their attention by giving them five minutes to make a list of all the objects in the classroom that were magnetic and another list of all the objects that were not magnetic. They compared their lists to see what conclusions they could draw about magnets. The whole process only took fifteen minutes and they were then ready to read, experiment, and learn more about the properties of magnets.
Direct Experience
In a classroom lesson, the Direct Experience is the learning objective that the teacher wants to accomplish. It can be anything from conjugating verbs to solving equations to spelling words correctly to defining photosynthesis. Most teachers are clear about what they want their students to know. By including Awaken Enthusiasm and Focus Attention activities to the lesson plan, students are put into a receptive state of mind so that they can learn more quickly and easily. In addition, by giving students a meaningful interaction with the information to be learned, they can internalize it and make it their own. Then it isn't just something to be memorized for a test and forgotten, but meaningful information to be used.
For example, writing an article for the school newspaper has more meaning and relevance for a student than writing a paper that only the teacher will read.
Share Inspiration
There are many ways for students to process, reflect, and share their learning experiences. I have used skits, dancing, music, poetry, journal entries, art work, creative writing, and even written tests as ways for students to share what they have learned. Giving students the opportunity to share their experiences increases the learning for the entire class.
There have been times when I have felt too rushed to spend the time with each stage of Flow Learning. I have always regretted it. Often the time I hoped to save was spent on managing discipline problems because students were off-task or encouraging reluctant students because they were unmotivated. When the energy is awakened, focused, experienced, and shared, students as well as teachers have deeper learning experiences.
Educational Research Supports the Effectiveness of Flow Learning *
Research shows there is a relationship between the interestingness of the content and the level of achievement attained (Renninger, 1992; Schiefele et al., 1992). Awaken Enthusiasm
*Students learn by becoming involved....
Student involvement refers to the amount of physical and psychological energy that the students devote to the academic experience (Astin, 1985). Focus Attention and Direct Experience
*Students do not learn from experience; rather, they learn from reflecting on their experiences (Steinwachs, 1992; Thiagarajan, 1992). Share Inspiration
Carol Malnor is the co-author of Dawn Publication's Sharing Nature with Children Teacher Guide Series. Each teacher's guide uses the Flow Learning format. Carol has taught elementary through high school and co-directed the Education for Life Foundation. She currently works with her co-author husband, Bruce, as an educational consultant leading teacher training workshops.
E-mail: [email protected]
By Carol Malnor
As a teacher and curriculum designer, I have found that Flow Learning is a valuable tool in the classroom. By teaching my lessons using the Flow Learning format I have been able to involve all of my students in the lesson and keep discipline problems to a minimum. I've applied the principles of Flow Learning to math, science, social studies, language, and even art classes.
Awaken Enthusiasm
Brain researchers tell us that our brains can much more easily take in information if the material is meaningful, useful, interesting, fun, or has emotional relevance. This is why awakening students' enthusiasm is so vitally important. Once a teacher gets students interested in the topic they are studying, the learning becomes easy and natural.
Physical activities are one of the most effective ways to engage students' interest and involvement in a topic. Many of Joseph Cornell's activities can be adapted to academic subjects. For example, I've adapted "Wild Animal Scramble" for a math class by pinning numbers (instead of animal pictures) on students' backs and having them guess which number they were. Before taking a history test I play "Owls and Crows" with my students to help them review important events. (I even have them write the true/false questions ahead of time.) In literature class, "What Animal Am I?" becomes "What Character in the Book Am I?"
Sometimes a simple action like wearing a costume or playing special music can be enough to pique students' interest and awaken their enthusiasm. I have found that when I incorporate games and unexpected surprises into the lesson, I communicate to students that I want them to enjoy what we are studying, and they are then more willing to do the other learning tasks I ask them to do.
Focus Attention
Once the students are engaged, I can use other types of activities to focus their energy and attention on the subject we are studying. To help students concentrate, I use as many senses as possible in an activity. For example, when students play a game like circle rhythm clapping they have to watch carefully (the sense of sight), listen closely (the sense of hearing), and imitate the clapping rhythm with their hands (the sense of touch). Content such as science terms, prepositions, or multiplication tables can be added to the clapping rhythm. Scavenger hunts, clue games, puzzle activities, whole body balance movements, and fine motor skill activities all engage students' concentration and focus. In a science class on magnetism, I awakened enthusiasm by giving each student a small magnet and letting them play with it. I then focused their attention by giving them five minutes to make a list of all the objects in the classroom that were magnetic and another list of all the objects that were not magnetic. They compared their lists to see what conclusions they could draw about magnets. The whole process only took fifteen minutes and they were then ready to read, experiment, and learn more about the properties of magnets.
Direct Experience
In a classroom lesson, the Direct Experience is the learning objective that the teacher wants to accomplish. It can be anything from conjugating verbs to solving equations to spelling words correctly to defining photosynthesis. Most teachers are clear about what they want their students to know. By including Awaken Enthusiasm and Focus Attention activities to the lesson plan, students are put into a receptive state of mind so that they can learn more quickly and easily. In addition, by giving students a meaningful interaction with the information to be learned, they can internalize it and make it their own. Then it isn't just something to be memorized for a test and forgotten, but meaningful information to be used.
For example, writing an article for the school newspaper has more meaning and relevance for a student than writing a paper that only the teacher will read.
Share Inspiration
There are many ways for students to process, reflect, and share their learning experiences. I have used skits, dancing, music, poetry, journal entries, art work, creative writing, and even written tests as ways for students to share what they have learned. Giving students the opportunity to share their experiences increases the learning for the entire class.
There have been times when I have felt too rushed to spend the time with each stage of Flow Learning. I have always regretted it. Often the time I hoped to save was spent on managing discipline problems because students were off-task or encouraging reluctant students because they were unmotivated. When the energy is awakened, focused, experienced, and shared, students as well as teachers have deeper learning experiences.
Educational Research Supports the Effectiveness of Flow Learning *
Research shows there is a relationship between the interestingness of the content and the level of achievement attained (Renninger, 1992; Schiefele et al., 1992). Awaken Enthusiasm
*Students learn by becoming involved....
Student involvement refers to the amount of physical and psychological energy that the students devote to the academic experience (Astin, 1985). Focus Attention and Direct Experience
*Students do not learn from experience; rather, they learn from reflecting on their experiences (Steinwachs, 1992; Thiagarajan, 1992). Share Inspiration
Carol Malnor is the co-author of Dawn Publication's Sharing Nature with Children Teacher Guide Series. Each teacher's guide uses the Flow Learning format. Carol has taught elementary through high school and co-directed the Education for Life Foundation. She currently works with her co-author husband, Bruce, as an educational consultant leading teacher training workshops.
E-mail: [email protected]
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