Transfer of Skills

My goal as a technology coach is that when I share a tech tool with teachers, and model that tool with their students, and create lessons with the tool that teachers can then (hopefully) take the tech tool and begin using it on their own. Transfer of skills.

As a technology teacher, when I push in for tech with the kids, my hope is that the technology skills we explore transfer into their daily learning. This is most prominent when we're coding - problem solving, perseverance, breaking problems into smaller chunks to solve, debugging (looking for errors) are all coding skills we practice. The hope is that students take those experiences and feelings (the feeling of being successful in breaking a problem into smaller chunks) into their reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. Transfer of skills.

There is also a reverse of that. When kids are learning strategies for reading unknown words, or tricks for writing with juicy words, or tools to help with subtraction, the hope is that those things learned transfer to when we're exploring different tech tools.

Recently, I was filled with warm fuzzies as I watched this transfer of skills happen twice in one week! And at opposite ends of the building, too!

8th graders have a big unit every December called Campaign for a Cause where they research different local causes and try to persuade their classmates to vote for their cause. This unit involves watching and creating PSAs. The 8th grade team was blown away by the transfer of skills this year in the PSA making. The kids took ideas directly from the PSAs they watched and embedded them into the created PSAs. Taking that one step further, the winning Cause created a second video that also followed what they had learned, further solidifying the learning.

Boddle is a favorite activity to play in our lower grades. Last week in 1st grade, without prompting, students got out their number racks and dry erase boards so they could use the strategies they have learned during math to help them succeed in their favorite math game. The kids are learning to transfer skills young, taking what they learn in one area and using it in another, as a way to achieve success!

Transfer of skills.