Let’s Keep Positive Practical Learning Front of Mind in 2016

Happy 2016! I look forward to engaging with educators throughout the year at conferences, seminars, and other events.

For my first post of the new year, I'd like to stress something that every educator should keep front of mind for 2016: the now-proven principle that virtually every human brain has the potential to learn and change throughout the lifespan. In fact, researchers are reporting that learning actually changes the structure and function of your brain.

Whether you are traveling to exciting new destinations in 2016, 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 sometime during our youth. At one time, it was said to be the age of 12. In the last several 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 adults can  create new brain cells and make connections across their entire lifespans. So, it is critically important to keep learning.

Five Tips for Eating Healthier in 2016

The holidays are a time for us to eat, drink and be merry. Surrounded by great food and an abundance of sweets, some find it hard to resist the temptation of "just one more bite," followed by another bite and perhaps another one after that. Having overindulged in foods that are high in sugar and unhealthy fats in December, we promise ourselves to eat a healthier diet in the coming year.

Eating healthy is definitely a critical component to reducing our risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and a myriad of other adverse medical conditions. For those who maintain healthy eating habits, food is more than just the fuel that gets us through the day. It is also the pathway to feeling good and to staying focused and energized, or relaxed and calm.

In our book Positively Smarter: Science and Strategies for Increasing Happiness, Achievement, and Well-Being. we explain that healthy eating is important for fueling the Body-Brain System.

Positive Brains Are Smarter Brains

Editor's Note: This blog post, co-authored by Marcus Conyers, originally appeared on Edutopia.

Explicit instruction to guide students toward taking charge of their outlook on academic endeavors can lead to a more positive—and ultimately more productive—approach to learning. Applying metacognition to both the emotional and cognitive aspects of learning can help students steer their minds to make steady gains in developing their knowledge and skills.

In a previous post, we explored the gains that are possible when students adopt an attitude of practical optimism as they learn. These advantages persist into adulthood, as business research shows that people with a positive outlook are more productive, motivated, and likely to achieve their goals on the job. And optimistic people enjoy better personal and professional relationships and even better physical health than people who tend toward pessimism.

Strategies for Getting and Keeping the Brain's Attention

Editor’s Note: This blog post, co-authored by Marcus Conyers, originally appeared on Edutopia.

The human brain has an amazing capacity to wield a potent cognitive strategy: selective attention. When we consciously focus our attention on something, we bring the power of the prefrontal cortex to this endeavor. By honing our ability to focus attention at will, we can more effectively screen out two types of distractions:

1. Input through our sensory organs, and
2. Our emotional responses.

Distractions via sensory input may be the easier of the two to block, according to Daniel Goleman in his book Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. As educators, we may tend to notice the impact of sights, sounds, and touch points that draw students' focus away from lessons and learning activities. But while all of the sensory stimulations in the environment are readily obvious, emotions can be even "louder" when it comes to diverting attention in unwanted directions and making it hard to focus on learning.

Training the Brain to Listen: A Practical Strategy for Student Learning and Classroom Management

Editor’s Note: This popular blog post, co-authored by Marcus Conyers, originally appeared on Edutopia. We received a tremendous response to the post and are republishing it here so that new readers can benefit from the information and strategies provided.

During the school year, students are expected to listen to and absorb vast amounts of content. But how much time has been devoted to equipping students with ways to disconnect from their own internal dialogue (self-talk) and to focus their attention fully on academic content that is being presented? Listening is hard work even for adults. When students are unable to listen effectively, classroom management issues arise.

Explicit instruction on cognitive strategies that can help students learn how to learn may have a positive impact on both academic performance and classroom management by emphasizing that students are in charge of their own behavior and learning. Teachers we've worked with find that classroom management issues decrease over time as students begin to master thinking skills that help them become more self-directed learners.

Achieving Happiness Through Practical Metacognition

by Marcus Conyers and Donna Wilson

Are we able to influence our level of happiness? There is evidence to suggest that we can. By using the principle of practical metacognition, each of us has the ability to achieve a happier state of being and make our lives significantly better in the process.

Marcus created the concept of practical metacognition for our recently published book, Positively Smarter: Science and Strategies for Increasing Happiness, Achievement, and Well-Being, available from Wiley. In conjunction with that premise, we refute the notion that people’s outlooks and attitudes are largely fixed and unchangeable.

In truth, an individual with a pessimistic or optimistic outlook is not born that way. As we explain in the book, our genetic makeup, family background and life experiences are only partially responsible for our outlook on life and our ability to experience and sustain joy.

Encouraging a Print-Rich Environment

Letters, letters everywhere. One of the best ways to encourage the emerging literacy of young pre-readers is to surround them with the letters of the alphabet. At home, put magnetic letters on the refrigerator. Buy puzzles and toys with letter-based themes. Have plenty of storybooks in the home that encourage recitation and recognition of letters and words.

As we explain in our book, Flourishing in the First Five Years: Connecting Implications from Mind, Brain, and Education Research to the Development of Young Children, classrooms are particularly great places to post the letters of the alphabet, both upper- and lowercase, with corresponding pictures. Teachers can reinforce these connections with regular group recitations (“A” is for “Apple,” “B” is for “Banana,” “C” is “Cat,” etc.). There are opportunities all around the room to place different forms of print—labeling various items by their name—i.e., table, chair, toy box—and labeling children’s cubbies with their names.

Teachers also can display wall stories, labeled murals, and word displays. Children in classrooms such as these spontaneously use almost twice as much print in their play as those not exposed to a print-rich environment. Print environments are effective in encouraging reading as well as the earliest stages of writing.