Here’s what to do and why you should do it. Brain-Based Teaching Says… At your school, or at least in your classroom, do a social status inventory. From the student’s point of view, here’s what goes through their brain: 1) “Am I safe at school?” 2) “Do I belong or fit in with others?” 3) […]
If you are not using the latest science on how the brain learns when making decisions for student achievement, you are not giving the teachers and students the tools they need.
Raleigh Philp was a kind, thoughtful and amazing man. He was a Jensen certified trainer and contributed much to many teachers and professional developers. He passed away far to young and we all miss him. This is one of his many contributions.
There are two primary ways to go about teaching and training. Neither is consistently better than the other. In fact, it’s more a case of, “It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.” #1. INDUCTIVE – specific to general… “what, how, why, if” 1) pre-exposure to the topic a. mention what we’ll be […]
This article speaks to the value of stored experiences, clarity and word choice. It helps us understand why some teachers are so good at communicating. Teacher clarity is a TOP 20 factor, which contributes to student achievement. Here’s what they do: CLARITY & BREVITY Brief sentences, (not long-winded ones) allow the brain time to process. […]
The climate you create and the instructional strategies you use are one of the single biggest predictors of student success (Hattie 2002). Since we are each unique, classroom instruction must reflect our differences. Brain-based teaching says that variety and choice are one of many options to invite greater student engagement and buy-in. You may be […]
How can we use our understanding of the brain to promote better teaching and learning? An essential understanding about brain-based education is that most neuroscientists don’t teach and most teachers don’t do research. It’s unrealistic to expect neuroscientists to reveal which classroom strategies will work best. That’s not appropriate for neuroscientists, and most don’t do […]
Let’s start off on the right foot and destroy a myth. Myth: IQ Cannot Be Changed… Students are Fixed the Way They Are Completely false! Brains can change! In fact, the worse students are academically, the greater the upside. There are no credible studies (yet) of raising IQ in kids with high IQ already. But […]
Our featured “Extreme School” is an elementary school in St. Cloud, Minnesota. This high-poverty school had struggles for years. From 2006 – 2009 the school struggled to make annual yearly progress every year, missing in four and sometimes eight academic areas. Today, the school is different; it’s a high achieving school that does well in every single content area. The kids are the same, but the school is different.
One of the most important understandings you’ll ever have about your brain. In fact, for me, it’s one of the top 10 brain-based insights of all time.