Guiding Students So Their Potential Takes Root

Happy spring! In many parts of the United States, this season of renewal is a welcome relief after a long and drab winter—all the more reason to celebrate springtime’s arrival with a metaphor about the seeds of potential that virtually all students possess to learn, grow, and achieve their goals in school and in life.

A favorite teaching and learning strategy among educators who participate in our brain-based teaching program is using metaphors to explain and explore new concepts. So, let’s use a springtime metaphor to describe how, within each student, seeds of learning can take root. These seeds are transformed not by photosynthesis but by neuroplasticity, defined as changes in the structure and function of the brain as it processes new information.

As with the seedlings in the garden, which require the proper conditions of sun, water, and fertile soil to thrive, so too does learning sprout, grow, and flourish in an enriched environment. That’s where you come in, using the “green thumb” of effective teaching to optimize the power of neuroplasticity that helps students become functionally smarter. Learning blossoms in a positive environment in which all students feel safe, secure, supported, and encouraged to take intellectual risks.

Positive Strategies to Avoid Stress, Anxiety, and Burnout

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

Teaching is important and rewarding work, but it can also be extremely stressful. Excessive stress may lead to burnout, which is characterized by exhaustion, anxiety, and feelings of being overwhelmed and isolated. Other common symptoms of burnout are a loss of creativity, good humor, patience, and enthusiasm for life — all of which are crucial attributes for effective teaching.

Fortunately, the human brain has tremendous capacity to change and grow. We can train our malleable, dynamic brains — specifically, the left prefrontal cortex, which figures prominently in emotional outlook — to become happier and more optimistic through deliberate practice.

 

5 Positive Strategies

Research suggests that happy people are more likely to have positive relationships with family, friends, and colleagues; to perform better on the job; and even to enjoy greater physical health than those with negative outlooks.

I'm Proud to Be Presenting at the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators Annual Conference

I am pleased to be presenting and making new friends at the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators Annual Conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. Yesterday, I was happy to present a preconference session on “The Impact of Research from Education, Psychology, and Neuroscience on Policies, Procedures, and Practices” with a group of state and district administrators from across the USA. My session was facilitated by NAFEPA Past-President Debra Baros. In attendance was Executive Committee Member Anita Farver from Little Rock, Arkansas.

This morning, we are hearing from John King, the acting Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education. Dr. King, a former teacher, will be confirmed as the Secretary of Education very soon, and it is interesting to hear his remarks in light of current changes in federal policy.

A high point from Dr. King's presentation is that we have a higher graduation rate currently than in past years, but we have plenty of work to do to ensure equity with the Every Student Succeeds Act. The measure of our work is in the amount of change we can create in our students, especially those with learning challenges.

Don’t Lose Sleep over Daylight Savings Time

In most of the country, Sunday marks an annual ritual: setting our clocks ahead for the start of Daylight Saving Time (DST). When we “spring forward,” many of us lose an hour of sleep. However, we shouldn’t be so quick to give up that 60 extra minutes of snooze time—on the first day of DST or on any other day.

If you don’t think that one hour of sleep deprivation is a big deal, consider this: Experts have identified the Monday after DST as a vulnerable time for traffic accidents. This tie between adequate sleep and overall alertness underscores just how important sleep is to proper functioning in general.

As we report in our book, Thinking for Results: Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement By As Much as 30 Percent, lack of sleep has a significant impact on cognitive processes. Most adults require a minimum of 7.5 hours of sleep per night, while children and teenagers need even more.

Making the Most of Our Cognitive Assets

It’s an exciting time for mind, brain, and education research, with psychologists and neuroscientists regularly making discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding about people learn.

For instance, we now know that academic achievement is greatly influenced by students’ ability to apply thought processes in a systematic way. We use the term metacognition to describe this ability, with the strategies that come into play known as cognitive assets. Cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists may use the term executive functions or skills to describe similar functions.

For example, educators, psychologists and neuroscientists may all speak of the importance of capacities such as working memory, selective attention, and metacognition with regard to learning. All three groups of professionals are talking about skills that are linked to the brain’s prefrontal region, as well as other areas of the brain depending upon the specific skill. Ongoing research continues to increase our understanding about related structures and functions.

Think About Your Heart Health on This Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is the holiday in which we consider matters of the heart. For the sake of our health, it’s important that we think about our hearts on the other days of the year as well.

Putting the emphasis on cardiovascular health is essential to maintaining a healthy Body-Brain System, and maintaining a healthy Body-Brain System is the key to living a long and productive life of learning and doing all the things that we love to do most.

What better time than this Valentine's Day holiday to celebrate the steps we can all take to adopt a cardio-protective lifestyle? The American Heart Association offers a simple prescription for heart health in the following "Simple 7" health guidelines:

My Presentation at the National Title I Conference Takes Place Today

Today’s the day! I’m in Houston and getting ready to present at the 2016 National Title I Conference, “Frontiers of Opportunity,” which gets underway today and continues through Jan. 31 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. This afternoon, from 1-2 p.m. in Room 362, I’ll be making a high-energy presentation on the subject of  "Improving Instruction through the Mind, Brain, and Teacher Leadership Model.”

In this presentation, which is taken from five of Marcus Conyers' and my recently published books on the science of learning, brain-based teaching and teacher leadership, I will be sharing our model/framework of mind, brain, and teacher leadership applied in classrooms and schools. The focus will be on science and strategies that work for real teachers in classrooms across the U.S. Attendees will also hear stories of teacher leaders, my heroes, who are making a positive difference in schools and classrooms each day.

Following the presentation, from 2:30-3:30, I will be doing a book signing in the Title I bookstore.