A recent survey cited "the pandemic and a greater focus on racial injustice as driving the rise in interest in social and emotional learning in their schools."

​Social Emotional learning is not new. At the heart of SEL, is an understanding that a stressed brain is not learning. If our students are coming into the classroom in a state of anxiety or fear or hunger or if they feel the classroom isn't an emotionally safe space for them, they will not learn. Their amygdala is hyper focused on keeping them safe. Learning about the distributive property or the Mexican-American war, or whatever your class is focused on, is not a top priority for that student.

Your teacher training toolbox has to include a few tools to take the emotional temperature of the your students and find ways to get it to a place where learning can take place.  Understanding the basics of how the brain processes emotions can help to move your students out of the stressed stage and into the learning stage. 

Here's a 5 minute strategy to get your students into the learning stage:
​1. High five each other for showing up.
2. Slow deep breathing to calm your nervous system
3. Find something you're grateful for today
4. Share something you're excited about
5. Remind students that most emotions last 90 seconds; it's the rumination that keeps us stuck in the feeling.

Watch Grey Matters on Vimeo today: www.vimeo.com/ondemand/Greymattersdocumentary

Just in case you're wondering how to teach today, remember that your job is to ensure your students feel safe and secure within your learning space.  And especially for your students of colour and/or special education kids. 

This piece on tolerance.org was helpful for me to wrap my head around today, reminding me of my priorities - my classroom, my students, and their well-being.

Onward, in kindness and tolerance.

​Watch this film here: www.vimeo.com/ondemand/greymattersdocumentary

Here's a question I recently received: "How does Grey Matters, knowing how the brain learns,  and the Brain Targeted Teaching Model help me with struggling readers?"

While this documentary is not a "how to" guide or curriculum, here’s how it can help teachers or reading instructors, working with struggling readers:

1. Target 1 - Understanding the emotional climate.  You are working with children who have failed more than they have succeeded.  Most likely, your students are coming into the learning space (classroom or online) expecting to fail, as they have in the past.  Your first job is to really create a safe emotional learning space. Understanding this is key to gaining trust and engagement from your learners.  This is where you show them 
2. Target 3 - Learning design. The battle of whole word vs phonics continues to engender a great deal of debate.  Neuroscience research indicates the brain looks for patterns and when it comes to reading, the key is to ensure readers have a good grasp of their letters, how that relates to words, sentences, etc.  Vicky Krug, featured in the film, says, “Reading is not just a one-time process. I spend a lot of time talking about the actual reading process in the brain , the structure of writing and the structure of how words and phrases in paragraphs fit together to help students create patterns in their minds of language. How to follow a main idea with details; the role of a topic sentence. And I have them use vocabulary cartoons to really create visuals of what they’re reading.” 

It’s going to be hard for your struggling reader to conceive of anything beyond their present struggle with reading. This is where understanding the concept of neuroplasticity comes into play and letting your struggling reader know that it is possible to rewire your brain. Your brain can change. and the fact that we can change our brain, based on practice and more importantly, multi sensorial approaches to teaching, makes a huge difference.

Every learner, regardless of race, deserves a safe learning space.
A space where they are cared for and encouraged. A space where they are viewed as a person with potential to do great things. 
A space where they have a chance to make mistakes and grow.
A space free of preconceived notions about their abilities and their future.
A space to be.
Breathing room.
​A chance to explore.
And sometimes that space gets loud. Which is ok.
As teachers, let us remember to look beyond the skin tone, to the learner within. 

Looking for ways to build your school community and engage students?  Some schools are experimenting with announcements over their PA system, to kick off their day and move students between classes.  From inspirational sayings to general reminders, schools want students to feel like we are all in this together, and approaching things from the same side.  Check out this great list from Connections Academy: 

To help your students successfully move information from short term memory, i.e.. what you taught today, into long term memory, i.e. retrieving it during another class, on a related subject, or for a test in a few weeks from now, try these: ​​
​
1. Art
Studies have shown, when art is incorporated into content, it increases retention, and retrieval. Think of it this way - you're offering your students a different way to remember the information. Maybe it's a flow chart to visualize process, or a funny comic strip (complete with stick figures) to map out complex sequences.  

Still not sure where to start?

This list of graphic organizers might help.  Graphic organizers help to organize content heavy instruction, into manageable, bite-sized pieces. 

2. Consistent Note Taking

Taking notes is key.  But what does it mean to have good notes? Start with giving your students a format for note taking, outlining the central idea at the beginning of the lesson and the goals for the section. This helps to narrow their focus and outline the expectations.  Recommend a two column method - one column for making notes, and the second for the questions generated by the notes.  Build in a few minutes where students can share their questions; this will help you to understand both their knowledge gaps and their perspective.  

This format is from Cornell University and while it's recommended for high school and up, I think it's easily adapted to early elementary and middle school year.

3. Relevancy and Recall

The more you can connect information to real-world examples, or things that are relevant to your students, the greater the likelihood it will be remembered. Things make more sense when we have some degree of personal connection, we can discern a similarity, or connect it something we already know. That's why, when we are explaining something, we usually say, "It's kind of like...", in an attempt to connect the new, to the known.

In this clip, from the trailer of Grey Matters, at second 0:33, Zoe talks about wanting things to be more connected, to see the bigger picture.  

4. Active Retrieval 

Encourage students to quiz themselves.  Whether it's covering up the information and trying to remember everything on a list or using flashcards where the definition is on one side and the vocabulary word on the other, or whatever the content lends itself. Additionally, work in quizzes into your instruction, as well as, review time.  

Read more about active retrieval practices here.

​When it comes to long term memory incorporate the visual arts into your lesson; offer students a choice of how they would like to demonstrate their knowledge in a visual format - maybe it's a graphic organizer of some kinds, a poem, or a drawing.  Consistent note taking is key; ensure students know the objectives of the unit study. Following on this, illustrate the connection of what they are learning to what they already know. And finally, encourage active retrieval practices or quizzes. 

Share your in-class practices in the comments. 

Recently I overheard a student complain, "I hate Math!" followed by a large, dramatic sigh and an eye roll.

Remind you of anyone in your class?

Deciding to accept the discussion invitation, I responded, "Hmm, Math is a really large subject. Can you possibly narrow down what portion you find distasteful?" 

"Fractions. I hate fractions...I just don't get it," she replied.

"Do you remember long division?" I pressed.

"I love long division. It's so easy," she responded.
 
"You love long division now...you didn't love it so much, when we first started doing it," I gently reminded the not-loving-fractions 5th grader.

"I didn't? Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I loved it as soon as I started doing it," she replied in a puzzled tone. "I'm really good at division," she continued.

"You're right, you are really good at division. And soon, you'll be great at fractions." I high-fived her as she headed to her seat. 

Students often forget how they felt at the beginning of learning a new concept or subject area; focusing only on how they're doing in that moment.  A portfolio illustrates early mistakes, the progress made, ultimately showing their overall grasp of the concepts, and in some cases, the time it took to fully grasp the concept.  

For more on portfolios, check out: ​http://www.greymattersdocumentary.com/blog/grades-versus-growth