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 Repetitionhttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/spaced-repetition/Cognitive Loadhttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/cognitive-load/Incremental Learninghttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/incremental-learning/Critical Control Pointshttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/critical-control-points/Transfer of Learninghttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/transfer-of-learning/Interleavinghttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/interleaving/Growth From Discomforthttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/growth-from-discomfort/Position Over Submissionhttps://bjjmentalmodels.com/position-over-submission/Alignment Over Positionhttps://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:https://patreon.com/bjjmentalmodels/Need more BJJ Mental Models?Get tips, tricks, and breakthrough insights from our mailing list:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/join/Get nitty-gritty details on our mental models from the full database:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/database/Let them know you're an educated grappler with our merch:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/store/Get the latest BJJ Mental Models updates from Facebook:https://facebook.com/bjjmentalmodels/Music by Enterprize:https://enterprize.bandcamp.com/