Regarding Dimensions

The Archangels Explain and Sort Through the Confusion

Photo by Rene Böhmer on Unsplash

I’m a former teacher, and any teacher who knows what they’re doing knows that before you teach a new concept, you have to build the background necessary for the students to grasp it, and you absolutely have to relate it to something they already know. That’s how our brains learn. Think of when you’re giving or receiving directions to go somewhere you’ve never gone before. Both the giver and receiver of the directions invariably mention spots or places you are more likely to know. “You know where the Dairy Queen is? Two streets past that.” Once they have a point of reference, it’s much easier to find the way.

As we learn something new, our brain is comparing it and contrasting it with the things we already know. If there is nothing similar in our brain files, we struggle to understand the new concept, because we don’t have anything to compare and contrast it to, to relate to it and make it more concrete.

Also, a good teacher tries to make the new concept relative to the learner’s life. “Why do I have to learn this?” is a question that should always be answered. I’ve always had a difficult time applying myself to learning something that I have no interest in, and when you add that I have nothing to relate it to in my life, it’s a struggle. Even if I’m very interested in…