Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
"Students reference their teacher’s guidance in organization, study habits, character traits and values (like persistence, striving for accuracy, etc.). They have internalized these traits beyond just talking about them which has led to personal growth on the part of the student." (Johns Hopkins, n.d.).
Table of Contents
Introduction
Applying Knowledge to New Situations is a habit that can benefit students both inside and outside the classroom. It is especially useful when learning another language. In class, my students are learning through immersion, so they are exposed to high-frequency words regularly and build upon what they already know. They practice these words, phrases and structures in speaking, listening, reading and writing activities. In my classes, I notice many students have difficulty seeing the relationship between words that they have learned and new ones or seeing words they know in different scenarios. As Costa and Kallick (2000) mention, "Too often students begin each new task as if it were being approached for the very first time. Teachers are often dismayed when they invite students to recall how they solved a similar problem previously and students don't remember" (p. 7). My goal as a Spanish teacher is for students to take advantage of the words and phrases that they have already learnt and apply them to new situations. This will make the language-learning process much easier and quicker. On the other hand, if students spend inordinate amounts of time learning one word at a time and not how to apply it in numerous situations, they will face much more difficulties learning the language. This can also lead students to become discouraged and less motivated to continue learning Spanish.
Student Habits of Mind Sample
Self-Assessment
Once we addressed the habit, what it entailed, and why it was important, we looked at the students' own use of it. We looked at their answers on the self-assessment under Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations. The results were much more disparate than Listening to Others with Understanding and Empathy. The statements under the habit were: "I can see how my new learning builds upon previous learning experiences; I think about my previous learning experiences when planning new learning plans; and I think about my previous learning and how this affects my new learning." There were many students that checked Most of the time and Frequently in analyzing their own use of these statements. There were also many students that checked Sometimes and Not yet. The results were pretty reflective of my classes, as when I looked some of my high flyers who absorbed the language, they had marked that they apply what they learn in future lessons. On the other side of it, some of my weaker students that struggle with learning Spanish put that they do not apply past learning experiences to new lessons. We further discussed the results and related them to class, and the students generally agreed that this is very relevant to learning a new language. We also related this to home and work life and how this can benefit students in becoming more-skilled and well-rounded people. Below are four examples of student responses.
Student Self-Assessment Responses
Applying the Habit
To get students thinking about applying past knowledge to new situations, we completed an activity where they reflected on a difficult time in their lives that they wish they could change. This started as an individual activity. They spent time describing/drawing the situation that they regret or wish that they could change. The students then described the knowledge they gained from the experience, if they would change it/what they would change, and why it is important to apply past knowledge to new situations.
Activity Prompt
Once the students finished with their individual activities, I had them work in groups sharing out events that they have learned from their mistakes. The students' stories varied, and some students wanted to keep their stories private. The student below wrote about a time that he had a question in class but did not ask, as no one in class was asking questions. He was too shy to ask the teacher. He learned that in future scenarios he should speak up and ask his question. Oftentimes, many students have the same question but are also too afraid to ask in front of the class. This is an experience that would benefit not only this student but also the other students with similar questions. It also is helpful in learning Spanish, since we regularly rely on a foundation of prior knowledge that we continuously expand, adding new words to our repertoire.
Student Sample #1
The student below wrote about a time her mother went to the hospital and the student did not stay with her. She wrote about how she wishes that she did stay with her and give her company. It made her realize that life is fragile and short and that we should always be good and make time for our loved ones. This is also an important life lesson, as we often take our relationships for granted. We need to always try to leave "on a positive note," not leaving after a fight. My students are young, so it is easy to think that we have all the time in the world, but it is important to spend as much time with our loved ones as possible. This is an example of how Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations can benefit students in their daily lives.
Student Sample #2
Many students echoed similar ideas — that it is beneficial to learn from our mistakes and prior experiences/knowledge. This can apply to class material, daily experiences or in a work setting. Intelligent human beings "call upon their store of knowledge and experience as sources of data to support, theories to explain, or processes to solve each new challenge. Furthermore, they are able to abstract meaning from one experience, carry it forth, and apply it in a new and novel situation" (Costa and Kallick, 2000, p. 7). As my students grow in their Spanish abilities, I hope that they apply their knowledge of previously-learnt material to new lessons.
Reflection
At the end of class, I had students reflect on the activity that we just completed. I asked students if they applied past knowledge to new situations and how they can use this habit both inside and outside of class, as well as in the future. In terms of class and Spanish acquisition, the students realized that they must not stop at the flashcard homework, but they should be applying these words in class. We talked about how they can apply our lessons to role plays and other more-free forms of language use, as well as on exit tickets and other formative and summative assessments.
I want students to be able to use the language outside of the classroom and not be stuck to classroom terminology. While in class, I want them to learn to use the language in a practical manner that they can use in daily conversations and experiences. Outside of class, there are so many ways that students can make sure to learn from their experiences and mistakes. They need to learn to be more cognizant of them.
Student Reflection Questions
The student below mentioned that she sometimes uses the habit. This is a skill that I want my students to build. Often we as teachers expect students to know how to study and apply past skills and knowledge to future lessons without teaching them the skills to be able to do it. By explicitly teaching students to connect good study habits and how to apply previously-learnt material with better learning outcomes, the students will begin to build the habit Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations.
Student Reflection Sample
Further Reinforcement
Since explicitly teaching students to Apply Past Knowledge to New Situations, I stress it in every class. It is relevant to every lesson that I teach. Although traditional teaching methods stress teaching in blocks and units, language is fluid, and we do not learn our first language in chunks. We learn it through the constant exposure to high-frequency words and phrases. To become proficient or fluent, one needs to continually practice and build upon these words and phrases. My students have many opportunities in class to build upon their Spanish skills through speaking, listening, reading and writing activities. For example, I regularly teach through stories, videos and music. It can be intimidating at first for students to look at a new story or page of lyrics full of words in Spanish. But after they look through it and see all the words they have learnt, they can try to decipher its meaning. They learn new words through context around the words that they do know and begin to apply them in future lessons. Below I have a PowerPoint from one of my story units called The Lost Book. I started the unit with the target vocabulary that the students needed for the rest of the unit. When I narrated the story, the students needed to keep referencing the vocabulary and their knowledge from other lessons to be able to understand the story and comprehension questions. After the narration, the students completed numerous scaffolded activities, such as gallery walks, gap-fills and story retells, where they needed to apply the story and its vocabulary.
PowerPoint for the story The Lost Book
More Examples
In the photos below, the students apply their past knowledge to new situations.
Students apply knowledge while reading new story.
The students regularly read in my class, so it is necessary that they are studying high-frequency words and applying them in each reading that we do. This way a one-page Spanish reading is much less intimidating if over three-quarters of the reading are previously-learned words. From there, they can use context clues to find the meaning of the other words and build upon the words that they know.
The students apply previous knowledge on a gallery walk activity.
Each time we do a Gallery Walk, it builds upon material that we previously learned. The students either answer questions in Spanish, fill in blanks or translate relevant class material. The students are tasked with applying what they learned in class to complete the activity. As our classes constantly build off of each other, the students need to apply their knowledge from the entire school year.
The students apply their previous knowledge on a whiteboard listening activity.
The students apply their comprehension and writing skills often in the form of mini whiteboard activities. The activities can consist of responding to a question or prompt in Spanish or translating a sentence. The prompts and sentences build off of material that we learned throughout the year, so the students have to apply their knowledge from the entire year.
References:
ACTFL. (n.d.). USE OF TARGET LANGUAGE IN LANGUAGE LEARNING. Retrieved October 27, 2019, from https://www.actfl.org/guiding-principles/use-target-language-language-learning.
Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Describing 16 habits of mind. Retrieved from http://www.habitsofmind.org/sites/default/files/16HOM2.pdf