Teaching How to Learn in a What-to-Learn Culture

by Hopkins

Practical ideas for teaching students the skills they need to really learn This vital teachers' resource answers such questions as "Can intelligence be developed? Do teacher expectations shape student learning? How can I make learning 'stick' for my students?" Drawing from theory and research in learning, this book offers clear, practical guidance along with inspirational ideas to show how teachers can enable students to gain both the cognitive competence and confidence needed to succeed academically. The book applies to any and all learners, including special needs students, and is richly illustrated with stories, activities, and examples from across the curricula.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2010

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hopkins translate the theoretical ideas of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Feuerstein into practical suggestions for teachers to use with their students to help them build perseverance and diligent work habits. She uses the illustration of a skylight and incorporates Aesop's Fables throughout the book.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not very good. This book has very little content related to the title. If it had, perhaps it would have been a better book. For anyone who does not teach 5-year-olds, this book will not really help you become a better teacher, unless you are already so bad at being a teacher you have never heard the point of being a teacher is not just getting kids ready for standardized testing (does anyone truly not know that?). This book is filled with a lot of fluff - meaningless digressions, unrelated fables, personal character reminiscences, and lots of empty pages. Actually, those may be the best parts of the book. Had I read this as a beginner teacher, perhaps its unbridled (and haphazard) enthusiasm may have been helpful. However, reading this at the end of 9 years in the classroom, I walk away from it having gained nothing of substance. Hopkins intimates a connection to classical education but goes nowhere substantial and always dallies the notion of "skylights" as if to maintain our enthusiasm (or distract us from the stultifying absence of content). Skylights seem to me more detrimental to learning than beneficial: "here, student, see the sky? It's out there, but you can't get there - all you can do is look at it from in here." If there is no "fourth story" of learning/thinking, what, then, does the "skylight" actually show us? Chaos? The Void? Freedom? But what is genuine freedom? Hopkins never tells us. Her chapter on "getting away from memory" is a fine example of the inconsistent vapidity of the entire work. Her lack of sincerity ("sure, memorizing facts and figures is important") is evident to everyone including herself, making us wonder why we should believe anything else in the book. Since she never explicitly details what "teaching how to learn" actually is, we are left with the uncertain feeling it is a combination of "go for specifics" and "don't dumb down your lessons to how ignorant you think the kids are." Again, what real teacher didn't already know those? Why was this book written? I don't know the answers to those questions.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended by the director of our homeschool group that is part of a private school. Although geared to the school setting, many of her points and ideas are very applicable to the home school teacher and classroom. Definitely expanded my mind as a teacher and reaffirmed my teaching techniques and beliefs. Purchased nook version which was expensive.

[Rabbomar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard Kathleen Ricards Hopkins at the LDA International Conference in Jacksonville, Florida in 2011. Dr. Hopkins impressed me with her love for teaching and teachers. She understood the nature of teaching and learning. She presents a living fluid concept of intelligence. Her book is research based and easy to read.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love Dr. Hopkins. I have attended various trainings and conferences led by her. She has greatly influenced my thinking and teaching style. Her book should be a "must read" for all teachers!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book right from the title!!! Just that says so much! This needs to be more of what we focus on in education, especially in a world where access to content ("what") is so easy and readily available. Unfortunately, this way of thinking is the exception rather than the rule..