Activating Schema Look at the picture. What do you see?

Activating Schema Why is the light off?

Activating Schema How do you turn on the light?

Activating Schema Consider: Light bulb = Student's brain Outlet = Source of knowledge Now, what do you see?

Activating Schema As teachers, we are a constant source of knowledge. The “electricity” is always flowing. So why don't our students always “turn on”?

Activating Schema Look at the picture more closely. See the fingers holding the light? That's us as teachers. We are holding our student's brain. It is our responsibility to connect that brain to the source of knowledge.

Activating Schema In the brain, everything is connected. This includes all new information. It all has to connect to something that's already there. Unconnected information won't survive very long in the brain. Even data gets lonely. Help it make friends.

Activating Schema Ever wonder why having students memorize hundreds of vocabulary words is a complete waste of time? 1. The brain is unprepared to connect the words. 2. When memorized, the words remain unconnected. 3. After being memorized, they are never used thus never form any connections. 4. They exist in short term memory only long enough to take a test. 5. They are then deleted by the brain as useless information.

Activating Schema In basic terms, “activating schema” simply means preparing the student's brain to accept new information. You are getting the student to think about what they already know so that it is easier for them to connect the new information to the existing information.

Activating Schema Let's consider a scenario. You have a class of high school students in China about to go on their first study abroad experience to the United States. The lesson objective is: Students will be able to (SWBAT), by the end of the lesson, write a 10 sentence paragraph comparing and contrasting the differences between two places. How do you start your lesson?

Activating Schema One of the simplest ways of activating schema is through the use of pictures. Take this picture for example. It is a picture of a classroom at a high school in the United States. For Americans, this might not seem particularly unusual. This is because we already have the background knowledge which comes from being in this environment. Consider your students, how vastly different is this scene from their experiences in school?

Activating Schema Try showing your students the picture and then ask, “What do you see? What is happening?” Tables instead of desks Groups instead of individuals Teacher is not at the front Students are talking No uniforms Small class size Allow your students to write everyone they see on the board. Both the picture and the words written on the board are activating their brains to accept new information.

Activating Schema You have now built a list of what students are seeing and of what is happening. Connections are forming but there is still more we can do. Ask your students, “What does your class look like? What usually happens?” This triggers the students to think about specific and related information thus helping to create more connections in the brain.

Activating Schema You have now helped students prepare to connect new information by showing them a picture and by asking them questions related to their prior knowledge. Now, try to add movement. Ask students to “show” you what a normal class for them looks like by acting it out. Ask them to “show” you what they think the class in the picture is like by acting it out. Visuals, questions, and movements are just three of many ways that you can help activate schema. How else could you activate schema?

Activating Schema This short tutorial in no way covers every detail of activating schema. I would highly recommend researching the topic more fully as there are many great ideas out there. What is important is this: Don't teach isolated information. Always try to connect what the students are learning to something they already know and try to connect it in as many ways possible. Light bulbs need electricity. Don't leave your students unplugged.