How MLK’s Courage Can Influence Us Today

Today is the day we celebrate the legacy of the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King. Dr. King had a dream of a world in which freedom and equality would prevail in our land. Thanks to his words and actions, we as a nation were able to move closer to the ideals of fairness and justice for all people.

Dr. King’s courage enabled him to exert a lasting influence on our country’s political culture. He faced incarceration, public condemnation, and the threat of violence for a cause that ultimately cost him his life. However, he never faltered in his beliefs. He never failed to speak or to act when he knew, in so doing, that he was supporting the advancement of civil rights.

In keeping with the sentiments of this special day, I would like to discuss how we can strive to act courageously in our own daily lives. Marcus and I have identified Appropriate Courage as a key cognitive asset that is necessary for enriching our own lives and the lives of others.

A $3 Word That Is Worth Every Penny

We all know our share of “three-dollar words.” Gargantuan is just another word for big. Miniscule is the long way to say something tiny. However, in our estimation, metacognition is a three-dollar word that is worth every penny. 

The concept of metacognition is even more impressive than the word itself. Metacognition refers to “thinking about your thinking,” with the aim of improving learning. It’s a word that is at the foundation of the Thinking for Results approach that Marcus and I use in the graduate degree programs we have developed in brain-based teaching.

It is our firm belief that cognitive and metacognitive strategies can and must be explicitly taught in conjunction with core curriculum so that students can clearly see the benefit of reflecting on and regulating their thinking to improve such skills as reading comprehension and math problem solving.

Re-defining Student Potential

At BrainSMART and the Center for Innovative Education and Prevention, Marcus Conyers and I support schools and communities to eliminate the gap between mission statements celebrating the potential of all students to succeed and the deeply held expectations that contradict those sentiments.

Deeply held assumptions and expectations that some students don’t have the potential to do school well are, in fact, pervasive in our society. For example, these assumptions arise in the practice of providing instruction on thinking strategies and higher order literacy only for students identified as gifted, while focusing on basic skills training for many others.

Further, when children begin school without the reading readiness skills that their peers possess, those assumptions may lead schools away from a focus on the concentrated instruction and exposure to reading all children need to succeed and toward an often-unspoken belief that they lack the cognitive potential to read on grade level with high comprehension.

Let's Make 2014 THE Year For Positive, Practical Learning!

Welcome to my first blog in 2014!

Did you know that virtually every human brain has the potential to learn and change throughout the lifespan? In fact, researchers have now found that learning actually changes the structure and function of your brain.

So, whether you are traveling to a new place, learning new teaching strategies, reading a book, playing a new game, or stretching your mind in a new job, YOU are a learning machine.

In the past it was thought that brain development stopped in youth. At one time it was said to be the age of 12. In the few decades (with an emphasis on early childhood) there has even been confusion leading the uninformed to say that important development ceases even earlier. However, it is now known that in fact adults can even create new brain cells and make connections across the lifespan. So it is critically important to keep learning.

Reflecting Upon 2013: Teaching and Learning

As the eastern part of earth rings in New Year 2014, we are counting our blessings here at home in Florida. We consider ourselves fortunate each week as we hear from many of you who have chosen to study with us. You take time from busy schedules to let us know how much studying with us has meant to you and we appreciate hearing from you!

Just yesterday Mary received e-mail from a graduate of our program who wanted us to know he has started doctoral study and feels very well prepared because of his work with us. When earned, his new degree will pave the way for him to lead his own school as an administrator. He has developed dreams for this new school and wants to reach each child and parent in a special way! He wants to prepare each child at his dream school for future success.

Another graduate I've spoken with recently is in a new position at the private school where she works. After earning her most recent degree, study has prepared her to go from the classroom to assisting teachers throughout her school as they seek new ways to teach ever more effectively! Another of 'our' teachers continues to support teachers as they are asked to implement new standards.

Here's to heart healthy living in 2014!

Teachers, parents, grandparents, and students alike, learners of all ages benefit from a heart healthy lifestyle. Marcus and I are always on the lookout for ways to stay healthy and enjoy our lifestyle! Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women in the US, and many Americans are looking to make even healthier lifestyle choices in 2014. With that in mind, I want to share an interesting post with some ideas for heart healthy living. As we roll into 2014 this week, enjoy healthy living!

Click on the link for heart-healthy ideas.

Our book Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching reviewed positively:)

Marcus Conyers and I are pleased to see that our recently published book with Teachers College Press, Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to Classroom Practice, was included on the The UK Times Higher Education list of suggested texts for educators.

The list includes less than one hundred texts from across the world with many coming from European publishers. Therefore, we are especially glad that our book made the list as one of only eight from TCP and the only book named from the domain of mind, brain and education studies applied to teaching.

The Times list was compiled by senior lecturer, Sandra Leaton Grey, Institute of Education, University of London, who writes ...

"One thing soon becomes clear in attempting a comparison of contemporary trends in education textbooks, and that is that many of the titles dealing with global or international issues stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of competent use of research and fresh analysis. Perhaps these are the books we need to pepper our reading lists with if we are to inspire a new generation of educators, rather than focusing on the musings of egotists."