Getting to "Got It!": Helping Struggling Students Learn How to Learn

by Betty K. Garner

It's one of the great mysteries of teaching: Why do some students 'get it' and some students don't? In this book, Betty K. Garner focuses on why students struggle and what teachers can do to help them become self-directed learners. Difficulty reading, remembering, paying attention, or following directions are not the reasons students fail but symptoms of the true problem: underdeveloped cognitive structures?the mental processes necessary to connect new information with prior knowledge; organize information into patterns and relationships; formulate rules that make information processing automatic, fast, and predictable; and abstract generalizable principles that allow them to transfer and apply learning.

Genres: Education, Teaching, School, Psychology, Nonfiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2007

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an informative and useful exploration of how the lack of basic cognitive structures--as elementary as Piaget's "conservation of constancy" ("Is a shot in a shot glass the same amount when it is poured into a brandy glass?", for example)--or the wisdom of when to apply them may be what prevents struggling students from real learning. Most teachers take for granted that such concepts are mastered in the first seven years of life, but many students may have surprising gaps in development.

Garner details the various cognitive structures, and demonstrates by anecdote and practical exercises how students may be led to master these basic concepts. Many of the anecdotes are moving, as we see a student finally "get it," realizing that learning can be more than mere rote memorization. Except for Garner's coinage of "metability," a superfluous neologism that means "the ability to change," the book is remarkably free of the usual educationalese cant and consequently very readable.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Wonderful suggestions! Plan to use this in the fall!!!

[Michael Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm currently working as an inclusion teacher and also working towards my special education degree. This book: 1. helped me better understand the struggles that my middle school students were dealing with, and 2. empowered me to intervene and mediate their learning experiences so that they could pass the hurdles obstructing their progress.
Short, but full of useful information and strategies. Highly recommended.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and attended a presentation of Betty Garner’s. I continue to think about this book and what I learned. It has changed how I think about helping students to understand and how I can support students of all levels to develop cognitive structures.

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

My timing for reading this book was off. I finished it after school was out for the summer. I think it's going to be really helpful, though, in how I approach my students next year. By the way, I tech high school English. Mostly, I learned that some students haven't fully developed the ability to recognize patterns and concepts, so that they (sometimes literally) can't put two and two together because they aren't visualizing the information in their minds, something that most people do without ever realizinit. This helps to explain why I have some students who still have trouble asking a yes/no question ("Do you have a car?") even after being in this country for a year. They don't get that there are fules that govern every language, and that they can be identified and learned. Basically the idea is that the teacher needs to ask questions that lead the student to see the patterns for themselves.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Getting to Got it" goes into why some students can learn and why some students can. The book's reason for this is called cognitive structures. The students that do not have the cognitive structures necessary to learn something will not learn it, those that do will learn it. The author covers these concepts from the view of a teacher and discusses techniques that other teachers can do to improve their students cognitive developments. I very much enjoyed the book and I plan on using many of her methods in my own classroom.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of interesting information in it. The stories all seemed to perfect of examples with quick and perfect endings. I'm sure that they were not that way but that is how it came across. I really enjoyed learning all the different ways that kids think and seeing what activities could help the kid. I'll have to keep this book and reread it when I actually have my degree and a classroom of my own.

[Heather Wall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! A must read for any teacher, coach or administrator. She describes seven cognitive structures that are essential to learning and which are at the root of many kids' difficulties with school. It's a very readable book with many narratives describing real kids and how they learned to use the structures they were missing. She also preaches teachers allowing kids to do more of the work, a point near and dear to my heart!

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't think that you are getting any instant suggestions to use in the classroom. Although her ideas are good, they are not for immediate implementation in the classroom. Good ideas about building critical thinking skills.

[Cori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives insight as to what some struggling learners may not have learned. I have highlighted suggestions and dog-eared pages as I hope to implement some of the strategies with my students who have Diversabilities.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some insights into critical skills students need, and some tips for building these cognitive structures. This ASCD book was sent to me over 3 years ago. Glad I finally dusted it off and read it.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another "must read" for teachers! I can't wait to put this "research" in to practice with students this coming fall. They deserve everything I can give them!

[ReadingWench · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have taken many ideas from this book to help me in the classroom. It has helped me understand how the kids learn and react. After reading this book, I must say that things are better in my room.

[Chris Hays · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read...Great little insights allow the reader to speed through otherwise heavier topics.

[Zack]

This book helped me a lot. I highly recommend it to teachers.