Case based learning...I liked the term Natural Learning. "The modification of existing belief due to expectation failure is called learning." Learning is an interactive process and you learn from doing, changing and doing again.

"Good teachers try to set things up so that the stories they want to tell are exactly what the students want to hear." That is a quote from our first reading that I really liked.
As a foreign language teacher, I get a chance to set up natural learning or case based learning as often as I can. Building a little excitement first so that the students want to participate is a challenge as well. I have found that it is easy to build a little excitement every once and a while, but to keep the students involved continually is much harder. I love to use simulations and real situations in my class as much as possible. Next week I will be at a 5 day 24/7 German immersion camp with about 50 students. The German food is definitely a motivator as well. Sehr lecker!

Motivation. How can I keep my students motivated to learn 180 days in the year? I really liked the idea of intrigue and mystery to entice the students. A little personal interest can go a long way to motivate students to learn a little more. I'm surprised I haven't seen an educational method that uses competition yet, but I am sure we will be studying it.
Most of the special activities that I do in my class I have learned work best once. I alternate years for my Berlin Wall activity, my Holocaust activity, my Pysanki (Ukranien Easter Egg) activity and I try to also alternate the activity I do at Christmas, Gingerbread Houses or making Advent calendars. Making or creating something new keeps the students enthused. I do an annual Oktoberfest, but only let the 9th graders run it so that the 8th graders have something to look forward to the following year. I don't even warn the students about the Berlin Wall or Holocaust, it is more effective as a surprise.
Finding practical applications is something else that really helps. I love it when my students start to exchange notes in German that their friends can't read. Being able to talk in the lunch room with another German student and everyone around wonders what you are saying gives immediate positive feedback...even if it isn't always grammatically correct.
I really feel that learning is enhanced whenever the student is drawn in and feels involved. Anything I can do to help the student personally want to do better, know more, or share what he knows will always reinforce learning.

Piaget's Human Development theory is giving my brain cramps. I like a lot of his ideas, but have a hard time assimilating it into a lesson plan... I'm hoping my blog will create some ideas so I am doing my blog first. I like his definition of knowing something is to be able to act on it...to transform it, to understand it's process, to understand it's construction/destruction. Take computers for example. I do not know them. I can destroy them with my hammer when I get frustrated enough, but otherwise I am only a user, not a creator.
I loved the quote from the 5 year old, "Once you know, you know for always."
Another phrase I really liked and almost completely agree with is that learning is possible only when there is active assimilation. Being able to use what you have learned is the goal...it is why we say when you can teach someone else you have finally learned it. Maybe there is more to the phrase, "Those that can, do...those who can't, coach (or teach)." (I have also tried to coach at the junior high level and my hat goes off to those of you who coach!)
Another important point from Piaget's article was transitivity of what you have learned. For example, I lost 3 pounds last month. My wife gained two pounds. If I am smart, I will recognize that I should shut up about losing weight and take my wife out to eat more often to the expensive restaurants. (If you don't "know" yet...more expensive means we order less and the plate looks fancier but has less volume-length or width doesn't matter, it is still small- so we eat less and lose weight faster) or I take her on more extended vacations. (for you non-"knowers"...my wife (and I) love the beach. Utah is pretty much beachless. California, Mexico, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta (we leave this Friday for a week-all 6 kids stay home!), Hawaii all require swimsuits, thus, using Piaget's plasticen theory, no matter what size swim suit you stick it in, it is all still the same size. If you can somehow reduce the amount of the substance in the swimsuit, it all looks better. I don't have to say a thing and my wife is more motivated! Assimilation at work!
Oh, one last afterthought...Emryogenesis ends in adulthood but was important in the development of knowledge. Does that mean now that I am 40 something (hopefully adult) that I can no longer develop knowledge? What about this class?

Learning with a scheme. Learning with a previous pattern. Learning based on what I know already. I liked the way this learning/teaching method explains how some students understand the same things so differently. I can teach exactly the same and the learning involved can seem so random. Teaching math using sports terms, plays, examples or creating a historical timeline using items the student feels are important could make a homework assignment much more applicable. I was impressed by the articles on wrestling/escaping and music/cards and how they could be interpreted so differently. I wish I hadn't been forewarned before reading so I could have participated in the survey as well.
I am also impressed at how the home background can make such a huge difference in the importance of schooling, particularly a specific subject. Foreign language or music may often be seen as important or irrelevant based upon the value expressed in the student's home life. Math being easy or hard often depends on the Mother's attitude as well. Teaching me using a comparison of something I already know is much easier and enjoyable than teaching an entirely new concept from scratch.
Going to eat in a restaurant is a standard topic in the foreign language class. I already assume they know how to order in English, which could cause some students a problem. Using sports or movies to enhance a teaching point may only confuse some kids. Hopefully they are willing to listen a little longer or ask when they have questions. Something as simple as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be used to show how some things we take for granted might be very confusing and hard to follow directions if the student does not have any prior knowledge...and what a fun example to use for order of operations or following directions.

I need to add blogging to my list of things to learn. It just took me 1o minutes to get logged in to the place where I could add a new blog. I suppose I should just throw my journal away now. After years of effort, it finally became a Sunday habit and now I'm supposed to blog about my life instead. At least about how a good teacher can "effectuate" my life. I need to learn more vocabulary too! Have I been effectuated? Am I effectuating anyone at school? Sounds like an H1N1 flu virus and it might be contagious. I will say that I was infected by an 8th grade History teacher...not about history but about current events that would be history when I got older. Her name was Mrs Switzenberg, (don't ask about the spelling) and I now stress current world events in my German classes. Every Monday for the first 10 minutes we discuss world events. I toss out tootsie rolls to kids who know new events worth talking about. By the end of the year, some (definitely not all) of the kids have been "effectuated" and pay more attention to the national and world news. Whether they will be infected over the summer and for the rest of their lives is something I will probably never know. But I do know that one 8th grade teacher made a big difference in a small part of my life and I am trying to pass it on!