I was covering what I thought was review material in Geometry class. We're on the section where they learn basic concepts of formal logic, preparatory to doing geometric proofs. I asked a question that I KNOW I had covered the previous day (about modus ponens, the law of detachment, one of the most basic logical arguments), and I was met by blank stares.
"What?" I asked. "We just did this yesterday! Turn in your notebooks to yesterday." Notebook pages turned, the students were obviously searching for some hint of the answer, but no answers were forthcoming. I began to wonder if I had only imagined teaching this topic. I went from student to student looking at notebooks. There was no sign any had ever seen the structure, "p implies q. p. therefore q." I took a quick glance at my previous day's lesson plan and saw that I, at least, intended to cover that. Yet, still, notebook after notebook had no hint of that core idea.
Finally, I found a student who had written it down, using the symbols correctly (as I thought I had written it on the board). I was happy for indication that I am not delusional.
But my real takeaway is a reminder of how weak many of my students are at taking notes. I need to be much more overt in telling them when I've written a key concept, and I need to give them time to get those key concepts transferred to their notes.
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