“Things decay unless we persistently work to support them.”
My students used to hate to practice their new skills but I keep reminding them that we need to keep exercising our brains in order to keep them sharp. Since my students like sports, I explain that it is just like practicing a sport and you keep repeating the drills until it comes easy for you.
Unfortunately, if we don’t use certain skills we lose them. I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to learn Chinese. I’ve taken a beginner course 4 times but during the times when I wasn’t taking a class, I would forget it all. This happened because I had no way to practice using it.
I ask my students to think about things they may have learned but never use so they don’t remember how to do it anymore. Many students give examples of things they learn in school. I feel this is a problem when we don’t teach students skills that are relevant to them.
I compare learning in school to learning to ride a bike. When we first learn to ride, there is usually someone there to support us until we can ride independently. I’m the support for new learners. But as a new biker learns to get better with practice, my students will learn to do new skills more easily with practice.
Once I’m able to show my students how learning can compare to things they already know how to do, they are usually more accepting of learning new skills and actually practicing them over time.
With practice and persistence, many students can be successful by using their new skills continuously throughout their life.
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