Ep. 93: Teaching Kids, feat. Cal McDonald

This week, Steve and Matt are joined by Cal McDonald to discuss best practices for educating kids.  In addition to being a black belt under Rob Biernacki, Cal is a specialist in creating educational frameworks for children.  Cal shares his knowledge on the topic in a wonderful conversation with implications well beyond teaching children.  This is one of our favorite conversations ever on the podcast.

Learning strategies discussed:

• Effortful Retrieval: Make them work to pull concepts back out of their memories.
  
  
• Chunking: Manage their cognitive load.
  
  
• Interleaving: Shake it up to force them to recall techniques.
  
  
• Varied Practice: The partner provides variable levels of resistance.
  
  
• Elaboration: Connect things to what they already know.
  
  
• Modeling: Demonstrate flawless technique because they will mirror you.
  
  

Mental models discussed in this episode:

• Spaced Repetition
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/spaced-repetition/
  
  
• Cognitive Load
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/cognitive-load/
  
  
• Incremental Learning
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/incremental-learning/
  
  
• Critical Control Points
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/critical-control-points/
  
  
• Transfer of Learning
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/transfer-of-learning/
  
  
• Interleaving
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/interleaving/
  
  
• Growth From Discomfort
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/growth-from-discomfort/
  
  
• Position Over Submission
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/position-over-submission/
  
  
• Alignment Over Position
  https://bjjmentalmodels.com/alignment-over-position/
  
  
  

IMPORTANT: BJJ Mental Models needs your help.

In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the future for Steve and Matt is uncertain.  Our gyms are closed, our income is impacted, and we need your help in order to continue providing free content.  We've started a Patreon where you can support BJJ Mental Models.  Please help us keep the lights on so we can keep your game sharp during this once-in-a-century crisis.  Link here:
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Music by Enterprize:
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