With the change of seasons, I was reminded of the importance of brain rhythms for learning. Every brain's energy varies throughout the day, month and year. If we can be aware of our own special rhythms and cycles, and our peak moments of efficiency, we can improve our performance.The brain does not turn on or off. It cannot work at high throttle endlessly either. Here are some facts about one of our biorhythms: Circadian rhythms. These rhythms happen once a day and are related to the sun and … [Read more...]
Thinking Errors Adolescents Can Bring to School
Many of our older students who can make choices yet are unwilling to always make good ones, use thinking errors regularly to cope with stress and avoid taking responsibility. These are the students who have some frustration tolerance and ability to control their actions as opposed to little of either. This group is more the "Won't" than the "Can't" students (who have reactive patterns they are unable to stop; "can'ts" often have mood disorders, pronounced ADHD, or serious trauma symptoms.) Of … [Read more...]
Outdoor Education
With the longer days and warm weather approaching look for ways to incorporate outdoor education into your classroom. Below Penny offers some insight into outdoor education, the benefits of it, and how you might want to incorporate it into your classroom, with multiple resources for further investigation. I recently found a new outdoor education site in the United Kingdom, Learning Through Landscapes, and read the following:"A quarter of a million children are persistently … [Read more...]
Does the Seating Arrangement Matter
As I share new evidence-based tools for increasing calm, focus and achievement in school, I also look for any research on more traditional approaches. Recently, I focused on the traditional practice of sitting in rows. Here is what I turned up: "Seating Arrangements That Promote Positive Academic and Behavioral Outcomes: A Review of Empirical Research," by Rachel Wannarka & Kathy Ruhl. Support For Learning, 2008 "There is no single classroom seating arrangement that promotes positive … [Read more...]
Using Frequency, Intensity and Duration to Improve Learning Outcomes
It is a well understood neurological fact that to increase learning, improve automaticity, and embed skills and concepts in memory, one needs to be sure there is sufficient frequency, intensity and duration of the particular skill or stimulus. We decide this every day when we determine the correct use of a medication, the right training program for an athlete, the nature of pregnancy contractions, and peak performance requirements that produce quality results in, say, a factory assembly … [Read more...]
What Makes a Good Educational Leader
Leadership is not simply management. This is nowhere more evident than in educational settings where true leaders inspire, engage, facilitate and motivate both teachers and students to achieve success. But what makes a good educational leader? And how do leaders better foster an environment where the foundation of student-centered education thrives?At INSPIRE 2014, Bill Bryan, co-founder and vice president for leadership and organization development at the Center for Secondary School … [Read more...]
The Boy Education Crisis
All educators can attest to the behavioral and learning challenges that many, many boys in their classrooms exhibit. These challenges are leading boys to fall behind educationally, and leading teachers to grapple with productive ways in which to bolster their self-confidence and allow them to focus in class.At INSPIRE 2014, Anthony Rao, Ph.D., a psychologist and noted author, led a session on “The Boy Education Crisis” that helped attendees understand how boys think, develop and learn. After … [Read more...]
Social and Emotional Development for Girls
Many teachers face their students every day knowing that some of the girls are struggling with feelings of self-doubt, self-consciousness and fear. Reaching out to those girls’ specific needs, while maintaining focus on whole classroom, can be complicated.At INSPIRE 2014, Rachel J. Kramer, Ph.D., a pediatric psychologist in Concord, Massachusetts, led a session on “Supporting Girls’ Social and Emotional Development in the Classroom” that helped attendees explore strategies for teaching girls … [Read more...]
School Practices that Downshift Students
A well-known term in the brain-based world is "downshifting." According to Renate and Geoffrey Caine who first coined the term, downshifting is "the psychophysiological response to threat, accompanied by a sense of helplessness or fatigue. The downshifted person experiences a sense of fear or anxiety, not the excitement of a challenge. Downshifting is accompanied by a feeling that you cannot access your own ability to deal with the situation. Downshifting can result from very drastic conditions … [Read more...]
Testing the Standardized Test
By Theodore Willson Executive Director, National Institute for Student-Centered EducationAt long last, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is taking a much needed step back to examine whether the state’s appetite for standardized testing is proving detrimental to teachers and students.Matthew Malone, the state’s education commissioner, thinks it’s time to review how testing is being handled in school districts around the state. He was quoted as saying in a recent Boston Globe article, … [Read more...]
