This just got interesting-- I love a computer program --lotus Notes-- Other computer wonks here at AWAD have mentioned in the past--they hate it! in general, Notes is hated. I like it, because i think like Notes.. and can move through in intuitively. I use the same thought process to solve problems as the Notes developers did...
I also recognize, i articulate my thought process-- in many things. When i divorced, i moved out of the family house-- my kids stayed behind with their father.. one day, my son called looking for an odd shaped baking pan-- one he knew i had, but couldn't find-- he was wondering if i took it when i left..
I had to think too-- and asked him where had he looked for the pan. First, he said, with all the baking pans above the wall oven.. when it wasn't there, he looked in cabinet below the wall oven-- a place for odd sized or shaped pans.. as he said this, i remembered where the pan was.. i told him it was in the cabinet with infrequently used things.. as my kids had reached their teen years, i had explained to them how i ordered the kitchen storage.. Glasses were right above the sink-- so you didn't have to take even one step-- Glass to water tap! Dishes, where nearby, right above dishwasher.. No steps in unloading dishwasher.
Pans and skillets stored below cooktop... above cooktop, food that was cooked on the stove..
Oven pan above and below the wall oven.. All baking goods (flour, sugar, baking powder, etc,) in cabinet next to wall oven.. above the counter top that held the Mixer.. (No steps when baking a cake.. everything in easy reach..
Anne Tyler, (Taylor?) author of The Reluctant Tourist, had her characters store their food in the cabinets in alphabetical order.. Apple Pie filling next to canned Artichoke hearts, Peas next to Pumpkin.. to my way of thinking... it was wrong.
my kids complained about their father.. he had re organized the kitchen.. and they had trouble finding things. it wasn't that there wasn't order.. it was that their father was unable to clearly articulate the ordering process he used.. so they could never find anything.. My son hadn't looked in the cabinet of infrequently used items.. but he knew where it was.. the far side of the kitchen.. and awkward to get at.. so perfect for infrequent use!
I tried to do the same thing when ever i work things out.. to not only have an order, but to be able to explain why i solved a problem they way I did-- whether is was organizing the kitchen, or solving a geometry problem..
Dr bill did the same thing once.. explaining how to figure out how long a walk it was to mow a large lawn with a mover that cut a 12 wide swath.. he took the 200 by 300 feet of lawn, and first converted it to a strip-- 1 foot wide.. by 5,000 feet long.. only his problem wasn't near so easy, since he started with acres.. which he converted to feet, and is swath was 18 inches.. (or 1.5 feet..)
but he took was seemed to be a hard problem.. and very quickly explained how you could simplify it.. so much so, i still remember the solution, if not the original dimensions.. (and a good solution is a handy thing to have!)
I am right now in understanding Metacognitive skills? is this what good teachers should be trying to teach--ways of organizing information, that make it easier to figure out solutions? teaching how to kids to learn how they arrived at a solutions.. and learning to test whether or not their solution will solve the current problrem? I guess i had some.. i learned this skill!
