Your 2nd Grade Teacher's Thoughts

  In Willingham’s chapters 2 and 3 he mainly discussed two major concepts, first that students must have background knowledge in order to think critically about a concept and second how human memory systems work and how that relates to making meaning. Both concepts have major implications for teachers and students when it comes to learning. Background knowledge is essential for learning for a few reasons. First, background knowledge is essential for critical thinking because in order for students to practice skills  they must first have factual knowledge about a topic and an understanding of the vocabulary surrounding it. Additionally, students need background knowledge because it allows for new information to be connected to new concepts and for content to be chunked into manageable parts that your working memory can make meaning from. Background knowledge also serves to help clarify details of a story, problem, or concept that might be “ambiguous and confusing” (Willingham, pg 12). 

       From the readings this week one overarching concept stood out to me: humans’ capacity to think deeply is not its strongest function and because of that humans have created tools that help them accomplish tasks that can be done quicker or more efficiently with tools. According to Daniel Willingham, “People are naturally curious, but we are not naturally good thinkers; unless the cognitive conditions are right, we will avoid thinking.” (pg. 1) While, thinking is not necessarily humans’ greatest strength, humans gain pleasure when solving problems (Willingham, 2009, pg 9). One the biggest conditions Willingham suggests in getting people to think then is curiosity and interest. Other conditions Willingham suggests in producing successful thought relate directly to your brain's “information from the environment, room in working memory, and the required facts and procedures in long-term memory” (pg. 17). All of these conditions are hard to achieve at once however, they can ultimat