The Importance of Rituals

Over the last couple years in these post-pandemic times, Marcus and I (Donna) have been engaged in doing professional development as we celebrated over 25 years of doing so together! Engaged with educators and others in a number of communities across the world, we know that the past few years have required new strategies and ways of being in order to maintain wellness and joy.

We enjoy life-giving rituals and advocate their use right across the age span. Rituals have played a vital role in many cultures around the world for centuries and are the formulas by which harmony can be restored. They provide comfort, structure and stability, bind society, and strengthen relationships between people. They help people find meaning in our lives.

A Powerful Way to End the School Year

As we get closer to the end of another school year, we wanted to revisit one of our strategies that has been popular with teachers as an effective summary to show students the many great things they've learned.

We call this practical, easy-to-use tool "Celebrating Learning With Year Mapping." This activity gives your current students a chance to feel good about what they’ve learned and provides incoming students an opportunity to see real evidence that they can be successful learners in the coming school year. And it gives teachers a chance to enjoy seeing students share what they’ve learned and to internalize their successful teaching.

Several elements of this strategy make it a powerful way to end the school year with a positive experience, often much needed after testing is over and as a busy year comes to an end. With prompted recall, each student can remember learning events that mean the most to them. Year-end mapping utilizes the power of positive teacher-student relationships as well as personalized learning, summarizing, group learning, and organizing information graphically.

Alleviating Stress in the Current Teaching Climate

As the challenges continue unabated in schools, educators find themselves dealing with an unprecedented level of stress and anxiety. They feel the weight of responsibility required to keep their students safe while also feeling concern for their own health and wellbeing. Amidst the noisy debate about whether to have remote learning, in-person classes, or some type of hybrid model, teachers are on the front lines in striving to ensure that children learn—no matter what venue of teaching prevails.
 
Our hearts go out to all of you in the teaching profession as you dedicate yourselves to doing your best under extraordinary circumstances. We’d like to suggest five strategies to help you navigate the day-to-day challenges of teaching so that it becomes less stressful and more rewarding.

1. Engage in positive self-talk and self-reflection.

Avoid self-doubt and self-nagging. You have never had to work in an educational environment like the one you find yourself in right now, so be generous in assessing your performance. You don’t need to wait for a big accomplishment to celebrate success. When you have even small successes—such as holding the attention span of remote learners, for instance—pay yourself a compliment. You’re awesome as you have the courage to confront new challenges—and your students are, too! Identifying your strengths helps reinforce a can-do attitude.

Caring for Yourself and Your Students in the Coming School Year

As the new academic year gets underway, my mind is flooded with images of the many passionate and knowledgeable teachers that Marcus and I have met throughout the years. We are in awe of how well you have handled the challenges of the past 18 months and know that, with your resilience and dedication, you will create the very best learning environment for your students in this coming school year. We feel grateful to have the privilege of getting to know you and to be able to continue to learn with many of you.

Something I read recently reminded me that one of many things that makes you so special is that you each possess a generous spirit of giving to the community, as you care about others even when you sometimes hear few voices of appreciation. The positive difference that you make in the lives of other people’s children is remarkable!

Focusing on Student Motivation

By Donna Wilson

Do you believe students become smarter through learning or that intelligence is determined at birth? The former belief is compatible with a growth mindset, while the latter is consistent with a fixed mindset. The distinction between these two points of view is the basis of Marcus’ and my latest book with ASCD, Developing Growth Mindsets: Principles and Practices for Maximizing Students’ Potential.

If you believe that students can become smarter through hard work and determination, then you are an advocate of a growth mindset and you’re also likely subscribe to the belief that motivation is a key force for learning. 

Donna Will Present "Cultivating Growth Mindsets" at ASCD Virtual Conference

Donna will present "Cultivating Growth Mindsets: Strategies That Work" at ASCD's 2021 Annual Conference: Empowered and Connected. This virtual conference, happening live from June 23-25, is the biggest international educational event of the year. With conference sessions that feature a stellar lineup of speakers, you will learn best practices, strategies, and skills that will inspire you and spark your summer learning plans.

Based on her latest book with ASCD, Developing Growth Mindsets, Donna's presentation will take place from 2:20 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time. In this workshop, participants will discover how a growth mindset drives academic gains and learn Marcus and Donna's seven original principles for cultivating growth mindsets in onsite or virtual classrooms.

In the Homestretch of the School Year, Keep Students’ Attention

As we approach the end of a school year like no other, it’s fitting that teachers take time to congratulations themselves—and their students—for persevering during the challenging circumstances of remote and/or socially distanced learning. In fact, there is no better time than May or June for giving out academic kudos. Graduations and awards assemblies—even if conducted remotely—provide the opportunity to recognize academic accomplishments that are well worth celebrating.

If your academic year is not quite over yet, encourage your students not to lose focus in the homestretch. Their minds may be on summer break—as they look forward to days spent away from classrooms or computers—but this is a time when the need to capture and keep the brain’s attention may be particularly important. Year-end reviews and testing will reinforce what students need to retain when school resumes in just a few months’ time.

For Sticky PD, Apply the Science of Learning

We are pleased to share with you our recently published ASCD article! In this piece, we discuss how the science of learning can be used to make professional development meaningful and memorable.

by Marcus Conyers and Donna Wilson

Over two decades, our BrainSMART professional development program has employed a teacher-centered focus, with positive effects on teachers' reactions to training and their learning as well as organization-wide results. Our approach focuses on sharing principles and practices that teachers can readily apply in their classrooms (Wilson & Conyers, 2020). This practical element is key to making professional development stick. As Guskey (2002) states, teachers experience the most significant changes in their beliefs and attitudes after they begin using a new practice and observe the positive effects on student learning.

When we asked what teachers thought they most needed to learn, they asked for practical knowledge, skills, and strategies that could increase student achievement. Teachers identified the need for teaching practices, including how to assist students to think at higher levels, sustain positive engagement, and support students to transfer learning from one context to another (Conyers, 2017).

Cultivating Practical Optimism in Remote Learning Environments

As the COVID-19 pandemic moves into its second year, experts are expressing concerns about the long-term effects that remote learning are having on the ability of young students to achieve optimal academic results. There is an emotional and social toll as well. Students who learn exclusively at home without a classroom component are missing out on the in-person connections with teachers and other students that make traditional schooling so worthwhile. Parents, too, are suffering from stress and anxiety as they strive to help students maximize their learning experiences via computer screen.

Teachers can play an important role in relieving the stress, anxiety, and social isolation of remote learning by helping students and their parents strive for a more optimistic outlook of the online learning experience. There is scientific evidence to suggest that such an outlook can have a positive impact on learning. Neuroscientists recently discovered that optimism is associated with brain pathways connecting the left prefrontal region to the amygdala. Further research has demonstrated that optimism, traditionally considered to be an unchangeable trait, is a way of thinking that can be learned and enhanced.

Nutrition Tips for Busy Educators in the Age of COVID-19

Today, more than ever, good nutrition is essential to staying healthy. Eating a well-balanced diet has been proven to boost our immune system, which is a critical defense in guarding against the most devastating impacts of COVID-19.

Maintaining a healthy weight, limiting our sugar intake, eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoiding processed foods are among the ways we can fortify our immune system and protect ourselves against illness—not only from COVID-19 but also from such long-term health conditions as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. See the recommendations for the Healthy Eating Plate from the Harvard School of Public Health for a more complete look at what constitutes a daily nutritious diet.

Engaging Parental Support for Smarter Thinking

The various types of learning models being used during the COVID-19 pandemic have changed the way that teachers interact with students and with their parents. Whether teachers are at schools that currently use in-person, remote or hybrid learning approaches, they need parental support and cooperation more than ever to enhance their effectiveness.

Parents and teachers, working in partnership, can help children develop learning strategies that rely more heavily on executive function. The key is to focus on reinforcing messages and strategies that encourage children to take charge of their thinking—not only in virtual and in-person classroom settings but as part of their non-school activities as well. The ultimate goal is to teach children how to be the boss of their own brain.

Stay Healthy Through Regular Exercise

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers’ schedules have become more hectic than ever. Not only are they teaching classes—either virtually, in person, or a combination of the two—but many also are juggling family responsibilities and participating in their own children’s schooling. With so much going on in their lives, it can be difficult to set aside time for regular physical exercise—and yet it’s important to do so.

Along with a nutritious diet and sufficient sleep, exercise should be part of your daily routine. For teachers, exercise can be especially beneficial. Teachers who exercise regularly put themselves in a better position to remain fit, alert, and up to the physical demands of their profession.

Alleviating Stress in the Current Teaching Climate

As the COVID-19 crisis continues unabated in the new school year, teachers find themselves dealing with an unprecedented level of stress and anxiety. They feel the weight of responsibility required to keep their students safe while also feeling concern for their own health and wellbeing. Amidst the noisy debate about whether to have remote learning, in-person classes or some type of hybrid model, teachers are on the front lines in striving to ensure that children learn—no matter what venue of teaching prevails.

Our hearts go out to all of you in the teaching profession as you dedicate yourselves to doing your best under extraordinary circumstances. We’d like to suggest five strategies to help you navigate the day-to-day challenges of teaching so that it becomes less stressful and more rewarding.

Our New Book, “Developing Growth Mindsets,” Launches With ASCD

Helping students of all ages to develop a growth mindset will enable them to experience higher levels of success! That’s the main message of our latest book, Developing Growth Mindsets: Principles and Practices for Maximizing Students’ Potential, published by ASCD.

In our new book, we stress that human beings have tremendous potential to acquire new knowledge and develop new skills. As we explain, teachers are in a unique position to unleash the potential within every student by introducing them to the concepts of brain plasticity and malleable intelligence—i.e., the idea that learners can become functionally smarter through ongoing effort, perseverance, and the use of effective strategies.

Our EL Article Stresses the Importance of Believing in the Brain

We are pleased to hear from educators around the world who have received the May issue of EL, ASCD’s magazine for educational leaders. The issue features “Believing in the Brain,” an article that Marcus and I wrote on the importance of teaching students about brain plasticity as a means of helping them develop a growth mindset. 

The issue is devoted to the theme, “Learning and the Brain,” with additional articles covering such topics as neuroscience and psychology, the creative brain, picturing the brain, building teen brains, and more.

You Can Now Pre-Order the 2nd Edition of ‘Five Big Ideas’

 
Marcus Conyers and I are pleased to announce that the second edition of Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to Classroom Practice will be available April 10 from Teachers College Press.

This is the latest version of our bestselling book, designed to empower educators with an innovative and inspiring conceptual framework for effective teaching. The text is grounded in the synergy of five big ideas for connecting mind, brain, and education research to classroom practice: neuroplasticity, potential, malleable intelligence, the Body-Brain System, and metacognition.

Care For Yourself As You Care For and Teach Others

As another academic year begins, my mind is flooded with images of passionate and knowledgeable teachers we have met through the years. We feel grateful to have the privilege of getting to know you and to be able to continue to learn with many of you.

Something I read recently reminded me that one of many things that makes you so special is that you each possess a generous spirit of giving to the community, as you care about others even when you sometimes hear few voices of appreciation. The positive difference that you make in the lives of other people’s children is remarkable!

My Pre-Conference Institute for ASCD Will Focus on Growth Mindset Strategies

I am excited to announce that I will be presenting a full-day Pre-Conference Institute next year at “ASCD Empower, the Conference for Learning, Teaching, & Leading Together,” which will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles. Pre-Conference Institutes will take place March 12 and 13, with the conference to follow on March 16-20.

Entitled “Cultivating Growth Mindsets: 20 Strategies for Educators,” the Pre-Conference Institute will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on March 13. The session will focus on why combining growth mindsets with effective learning strategies is a proven formula for increasing student achievement.

Those who attend will experience the exhilaration of learning powerful, proven principles for cultivating growth mindsets and learning skills within all students. During the session, attendees will explore the characteristics of fixed and growth mindsets and take a short assessment to examine their own mindset.

Brain Movies: When Readers Can Picture It, They Understand It

The images that form in your mind as you read—we call them "brain movies"—can be more exciting and memorable than a Hollywood film. More to the point for teachers and parents, guiding youth to visualize as they read is an engaging and enjoyable way to boost comprehension and retention.
Learning to create brain movies can help students make sense of complex nonfiction subject matter and "see" the characters, setting, and action in stories. Teachers who use our strategy tell us their students seem to have more fun—and success—as they read. These anecdotes are supported by research showing that students who are taught to develop mental imagery of text do better than control groups on tests of comprehension and recall.

The research basis for the usefulness of transforming text into mental images can be found in Allan Paivio's dual coding theory, which holds that cognition consists of both a verbal system for language and a nonverbal, visual-spatial one for images. By creating mental images from the words on a page or screen, we tap into both the verbal and visual-spatial representational systems, making abstract concepts more concrete and thus more meaningful and memorable.

Motivating Students to Read

Children travel at different speeds on the road to reading success. Earlier in my (Donna’s) career as a teacher and school psychologist, I noticed that even on the first day of kindergarten the gap between the highest and lowest performers on measures of reading readiness and ability could be as much as six years. So, creating reading experiences so that all students have the opportunity to use multiple brain pathways in the reading classroom throughout their school years is key to motivating them to read and improve.

Below are strategies that teachers and parents alike can use to help students become more successful readers.

Enacting a Favorite Character

Guide students to select a character from a book they’re reading. Once they’ve made their choice, have them create a simple costume or find props that depict the character, and then prepare and deliver a one- to two-minute monologue introducing the character to the class.