July 31st Session Review

Hope those of you who missed the last class find this
useful..

Today's session focused on the subject of THINKING,
and the 'why' and 'how' of it.

A number of questions were up on the screen, and we
were asked to try answering them in our heads. We
then discussed the nature of these Q's, and decided
that they were of broad range (on a variety of
subjects, and had MI imbedded in them); were generally
open-ended; stimulating and fun.

[Looking back at that session, i now realize that none
of the Q's were factual in nature. They didn't have a
right or wrong answer which could be verified. This
is probably why we found the Q's fun and stimulating.]

Factual questions test your knowledge. Is having
knowledge so all-important? Our culture places too
much emphasis on knowing facts. Knowledge should be
treated as raw material. Is it more important to know
the raw material, or know how to convert the raw
material into say, a work of art? How to apply
knowledge, or thinking is more relevant (or important)
in today's world.

SCENARIO 1: A video clip was shown of a child running
up to the camera, pointing to it, and asking where
does the sound come from? We are asked to think about
how we would have replied to the child.

Many of us would have tried to provide an answer.

SCENARIO 2: You are walking with your child and you
come upon a traffic signal, which is red. She asks
you, why does red mean "stop"? How would you answer?

Again, most of us would have attempted an answer.

But none of us should have done so, not least because
we ourselves don't really know the answer!

In scenario 1, when the rest of the video clip was
played, we found that the videocamera holder did not
try to explain, but turned the question around and
asked the child how did he think the sound came from
the camera. Surprisingly, the child then explained,
providing the answer to his own question!

We tend to provide knowledge, give answers, when asked
Q's by a child. In doing so, we are not raising
thinkers, learners, decision makers, because we are
not training them to think. We act as repositories of
knowledge even when our understanding is far from
perfect.

We need to let the child think. Remember that
understanding comes from exploring, doing.

In fact, if your child gives an answer, challenge him.
Try to confuse the child, because it will force the
child to think.

Ask Q's of your child. If child asks a Q, turn around
and ask her even more Qs. If the child is silent, she
is probably thinking; give her time.

Page 62 of the TTT Program Manual lists 40 Qs; use of
these Qs will engage a child and encourage thinking.
Please read and re-read these Qs. Note that none of
these are factual in nature. We went through some of
the Q's on p. 63 and identified which were factual and
which thinking type of Qs.

Important to know that to stimulate a child's
thinking, DO NOT ASK A "WHY" QUESTION.

To illustrate the reasons for this precaution, we were
asked to jot down a few "why" questions that we would
ask of ourselves, a loved one, etc. Then we were
asked to rewrite them as "how" Qs.

Repeat a "why" Q to yourself, and then the
corresponding "how" Q. Notice the different feelings
both Q's bring up in you. Generally, why Q's are
passive, and have a feeling of helplessness/negativity
to them. By converting them to "how" Q's (and also to
"what" Q's), you've now changed the viewpoint to a
more positive, going forward, kind of tone. Research
shows that depressed people normally ask themselves a
lot of "why" Qs.

At Geniekids, their observation is that:

When we think about the past, we analyze [why]
When we think about the present, we are emotional
[how]
When we think about the future, we use creativity
[how, what]

To learn and understand, we need to learn in all the 3
zones. Therefore, when teaching, we have to give
experiences [present], use creativity and
hypotheticals [future] and at the same time, ensure
that they have an understanding of basics [past].

In fact, if a child is stuck, ask him a future type of
Q. It will immediately get a child to think.

Try this on yourself too! When we get stuck
emotionally or otherwise, generally we are stuck in
one time zone. Try to shift your thinking to a
different time zone; your outlook will immediately
improve. you are now opening up your thinking.

Try this at home.

Keep sending mails, sessions reviews, questions to
everyone.

HOMEWORK: Read all the 40 Q's on p. 62 of the manual.
Re-read. Post the list up.

Sujata