| Metaphors are Magic |
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Metaphors are magic. When students use metaphors, they instantly travel from the familiar to the unfamiliar or from the unfamiliar to the familiar. Metaphors are magic mirrors that allow the students to see more in-depth learning about a topic. When learners use metaphors, they make great gains in their learning; they become transformed from a mere knowledge collector to a mighty evaluator of ideas. Teachers can follow several procedures in creating metaphors, selecting metaphors, and implementing them in the classroom.
The definition of a metaphor is the comparison of two similarly dissimilar objects or ideas without “like” or “as”. These metaphors can take three basic forms: a direct metaphor in which two objects or ideas are compared directly such as “The book is mildewed bread”; a personal metaphor in which the student tells how it feels to be identified with the item or concept such as “How would it feel to be a civil war?”; or a compressed metaphor in which two contradictory ideas exist in same event such as “Don Quixote is a realistic dreamer”. When teachers or students create metaphors, they have to consider the learning goal first. Then they identify the primary characteristic(s) of the original idea or object. Next, they brainstorm various metaphors and select the one with the most potential. At this point, they consider what are the differences between the second item and the first item that might distract from the metaphor. Additionally, they confirm that their audience will understand the second item. The learners may not understand the second item because it is out of their realm of experience or knowledge. For example, many students may not understand the metaphor “An essay is a Socratic Dialogue”.Usually teachers and students start off with very literal metaphors such as “The stream is a pipe” and then they move on to more complex images “The stream is a big city”. Teachers can help the students to analyze the number of different comparisons in the metaphor by supplying them with a three column chart which has the first item (column one), the similar trait or characteristic (column two), and the second item (column three). Once the students write down the two items, they begin to think of all the traits that these two items have in common. They put each trait in a different row with examples from both items. The more traits they identify, the more powerful the metaphor. The instructors will decide on to how they will implement metaphors in the classroom. They may select from several choices. They can have the students: explain a metaphor (An equation is a map); give numerous examples of the metaphor (Tell the ways in which a computer is an encyclopedia); compete a metaphor (War is ...); create their own metaphor from scratch (something about the circulatory system); or evaluate a metaphor (Being healthy is a trapeze act). To help students start on their metaphor journey after they have been introduced to the concept of metaphors, the teachers present them with several critical concepts in their course. Then the instructors pull out of a bag or display on a Power Point screen, common objects like a stapler, a plate, or clock. Next the learners form small groups and randomly selecting an object. Then they create a metaphor for the selected object and one of the course concepts; they explain their metaphor. Metaphors aid in reflective learning. Teachers can ask students to reflect as a class,in small groups or a one minute paper, in exit sheets, or in a journal what they now understand about the item after the metaphor thinking. Likewise, some teachers pre-assess the students' learning by asking them to write out an explanation of the concept and then the instructors have their learners do a post-assessment after using a metaphor. Teachers can use metaphor magic to transform the learning environment. Highly engaged students who use both the analytic and the creative parts of their brains achieve more.  Dr. Harry Grover Tuttle focuses on assessing and improving student learning through low- and high-tech tools.
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