Generalization

How can we tell if we truly learned something?  It isn't a rote memorization that helps us prepare for a test.  That kind of learning is easily forgotten.  How many of us can really recite all the presidents in order, or name all the state flowers?  Most of us forgot that stuff 20 minutes after we took the test.  We can truly know we learned a concept when we apply it outside of the context we learned it.  This is the concept of generalization.

For example, I once taught students who traditionally have difficulty learning new concepts.  To teach a new skill, I needed to break down a task, teach it repetitively, and in the setting the student was likely to use the skill.  I taught older students, so I focused on teaching the independent living skills they would likely need as adults.  We broke down the task of going to the grocery store into units of instruction.  For math, we worked on the concept of determining which item would be cheaper, and how to determine how many and which dollar bills to use to pay the cost.  For reading, we would work on the vocabulary words of food items, and have them write out a shopping list.  All of the units were taught in the classroom, but the real test for knowledge was if the student understood what to do in the store at the end of the week.

Following the Rabbit (or was that Rabbi?)

Recently, I posted about what the world sounds like for me (A Silent World).  What I didn't mention was the humor behind my hearing loss.  I often misunderstood things that were spoken to me.  For example, I grew up thinking that things that were a short distance away was just "a hop, skip and a bump away."  I always imagined the person giving a hip bump.  Funny, right?  It wasn't until I went to college that I learned what the phrase really was.  Jump makes so much more sense than bump!

I tell this story to give you a sense of how I interpret words I hear. Sometimes I lip read to help understand, and sometimes I rely on context clues to determine what words were said. I was listening to Tim and Pam on the WBGL morning show a couple weeks back, and I was captivated by a story Pam was telling. She asked Tim if he had a rabbit he followed. He wasn't sure what she was getting at.  I listened to her describe her dear older pastorly neighbor who challenged her to grow spiritually. She said everyone needs a rabbit to follow.

By this time I am imagining a greyhound race, where the dogs chase after the mechanical rabbit. The rabbit is said to spur them to run faster than they would without it. I thought that was a neat allegory and thought about the people in my life. I have a rabbit I follow that challenges me to get into the scriptures and grow closer in my walk with God. Without my rabbit, I would not be as far along in this race.  I am very grateful for my rabbit.

I looked up the phrase "follow the rabbit" and found... Nothing.  Chasing rabbits is the phrase and it doesn't mean anything like what I imagined.

I think she was talking about modern rabbi's and following them like students and their teachers! I guess that makes more sense.  Smile!

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27 NLT)