Sharing resources

I'm forever collecting bits and pieces from the flotsam and jetsam that drift through the internet.  Ha, net, get it?  Fishing humor aside, there are fascinating items that I am compelled to collect.  I use Pinterest, Diigo, Scoop.it, etc. to curate my collections and am happy to share.

Take a look at my Scoop.it collection titled Mind, Brain, and Teaching or my Pinterest collection with the same title Mind, Brain, and Teaching along with Diigo bookmarks tagged "brain".

We are all in this together and sharing our ideas, resources, best practices, and support is important.  Feel free to comment, feel free to join the conversation!

You can also find me on Twitter as @MrsDi.

Reflection #3- Explorations in MBT

Reflect on the content presented and what you have learned in the last ten weeks.

·         What were some of the most important concepts that you will take away from this class?

·         How has the content informed or changed your practice as a result from taking this course?

·         What goals might you set for yourself regarding what you would like to know and be able to do by the time you have completed the certificate program?

We get stuck in routines.  This includes routines of thought and routines of practice.  It can be difficult to step out of that comfort zone, but it can also be very beneficial.  Take, for example, the persistent belief in the variety of neuromyths discussed at the beginning of this course.  Even when science can prove that a belief is untrue, it is very hard to let go of the training drummed into us.  However, we do our students a disservice by clinging to these neuromyths and basing practice on them. 

 

Additionally, it is fascinating how the primitive brain still has the first say as to what happens to stimuli that enters the brain.  Taking that knowledge and capitalizing on it is fundamental when using the BTT method.  Emotions, physical space, and designing the learning experience knowing how the brain best responds in these situations allows us to be better educators. 

Already I am advocating for activities and classroom practices that take the brain targets into consideration when talking with my peers.  I am stepping outside my comfort zones and trying new ideas directly in my classroom that take these into consideration.

As I move through the courses in this program, I would like to move beyond where I am just trying elements in the classroom.  I would like to implement a full scale BTT program (longer than one unit) to really get into the thick of it.  Once comfortable, I would like to bring my co-workers in to observe and discuss it as well.

A beautiful mess

The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells - called neurons - lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built to mimic it.

- William F. Allman (from Apprentices of Wonder. Inside the Neural Network Revolution, 1989)

Brain Awareness Week

I found information that Brain Awareness Week is NEXT WEEK (March 12-18, 2012)!  This is information I wish I knew months ago.  I will have to do something interesting in my classes next week for BAW and look to next year for something bigger.


More info at the Neuroscience for Kids website (that's where the cool clipart brain came from too).  There are some lesson plans there as well.


So, looking forward, mark the date - March 11-17 for Brain Awareness Week 2013!

Reflection #2- Explorations in MBT

Reflect on the content presented in Weeks 4-6 and how it relates to your current job responsibilities. What would you highlight or share with your colleagues at this time with regards to your learning in this course?

We are now delving into the Brain Targets (BTs) associated with the Brain Targeted Teaching (BTT) method.  The emotional, physical, and how to best design learning for students are the BTs in focus these past 3 weeks.

I work in the classroom with students so these BTs relate directly to what I do each day with them.  Although my title is Technology Integration Specialist, I am also a teacher.  Grades K-8 come to my Media Lab for computer/technology classes, but I primarily work with grades 6, 7, and 8.  I am beginning to look more carefully at how each of these BTs is currently in practice within my classroom with the thought of being flexible and changing things soon.

My goal, once some free time opens up, is to create some one page “cheat sheets” that highlight what I am learning though this course.  Starting with basic brain structure/function and working through each BT, the sheets would contain images, bullet points, definitions, best practices, etc.  I would like to present these at our weekly staff meetings with a quick 15 minute overview of the sheet and the content.

Although this is not ideal and does not allow for the presentation of the topic in-depth, this method would provide basic information and a conduit for discussion.  With my responsibilities with technology in the school, I can additionally provide resources and links to more information to staff as well.  This is something that I believe the administration and faculty will be very receptive to.

Reflection #1- Explorations in MBT

Reflect on the content presented these past three weeks and how you have been able to apply your learning thus far as an educator. Reflect on your progress in the course to-date and how you have been able to manage your time. 

 

To kick off our course, we reviewed brain anatomy and how learning happens at the neural level.  I have been talking about these topics to my colleagues and to my students.  My sixth graders were up against a project deadline and I could see that they were extremely stressed.  I had a chat with them about how stress affects our ability to learn effectively.  I had the students take a deep breath and we talked about time management at the middle school level.  After thinking about it, I decided to extend the project deadline as I thought the teachable moment was significant (BT1).

One aspect that can be overlooked is the physical environment (BT2) of a learning space.  Although I try to create a comfortable space in the media lab, recently I have taken care to change it more often.  Changing items on the walls, adding more exemplars (BT3), and talking to the students about it has been interesting.  Students now come in looking for changes and seem to be more involved in the space.  I hope to expand this and have them take ownership of some of those changes.

I also began a 5-minute transition time to the beginning of class.  We did “what would you rather” questions to get us all thinking together.  Even my toughest brain raised her hand and participated!  I am now investigating adding some quick meditation/visualization techniques.

Time management is fine although team work is challenging with differences in approach.  Enjoying the progress!

Looosah (that's "loser" with a New England accent)

Stress.  Disappointment.

We know that stress has a big impact on learning.  My stress this week came from a timed quiz that could not be retaken.  I have not run into this yet in all the grad level courses I have taken over the past few years. 

I read through the material once and take notes.  I read through it again and look over my notes.  By the end of the week I am reading it a third time and decide to take the quiz (more stress as I do not usually do things this close to deadline).

Only 10 questions and there is a timer, in red numbers, counting down off to the side.  More stress.

A question talks about “near native” status.  Well, I read that a student cannot reach native status after the critical window closes, but certainly can learn a second language.  Only the sounds won’t be native-like.  Is that not “near native”?  Stress, more stress.  What exactly does this question mean?

I try to go over all my questions, but the timer mocks me.  Stressful.  If I second guess myself too much, it defeats me.  No matter as I am already defeated.  Submit.

Stress.  I see the class average and mine is below.  A completely new experience for me and extraordinarily disappointing.  I feel like a young student does when they believe the teacher is out to trick them with oddly worded questions (I hear my son's voice in my head "my teacher hates me!").  My confidence plummets.

Did I learn anything?  I thought I knew the material, but that percentage score tells me otherwise.  I know that I believe in letting students have more than one chance to learn the material and prove it on an assessment.  This has been reinforced.  I learned that my stress levels negatively affected my learning and subsequent performance.  Most important, I need to be vigilant that I am not creating this type of stress in my own students.

UPDATE:

The corrected version of the quiz is available and I just took a look (yes, the stress continues for me even after it is all done).  I missed 1 out of 4 matching questions and 1 other question.  Shouldn't I be losing 2 points?  No, the quiz calculated that I lost 5 points.  No matter that I answered 3 of 4 matches correctly, I lose ALL the points.  These feelings are not "graduate student" feelings, they are "middle-school student" feelings that I have right now.  Sigh, time to contact the instructor.

UPDATE:

All taken care of.