Grey Matters: Teaching the way the brain learns

Onward!

11/4/2020

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

Struggling readers?

7/31/2020

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:

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
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.

Having the race conversation

6/2/2020

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.

Teaching during Covid-19

5/26/2020

E-learning and E-teaching during Coronavirus is proving to be challenging for everyone. I've asked students to view this as pandemic schooling, rather than homeschooling. And I'm reminding myself that this is new for everyone. There really isn't anything as far as precedent and best practices.

Yes, distance learning has existed for quite some time, but there is a difference between something that is planned and structured, versus something that is cobbled together on the fly. And it's hard to meet students' needs in an equitable fashion, when there are issues of internet and device access.

Vicky Krug, of Westmoreland County Community College, continues to use the Brain Targeted Teaching model, during this period of pandemic schooling. "My first priority is really checking in on their emotional well-being, before tackling academic objectives, because they're not going to pay attention to me, if they're scared about their health or resources, etc," she says. "I need to make sure they're ok before I can get their attention."

This goes back to Brain Target 1 and ensuring that the emotional climate is conducive to learning.

From here, it can get a little tricky. It's hard to make the case for schedule and consistency when everything in the world seems chaotic and unpredictable. With this in mind, Krug lets students know that she will adapt her schedule to work with them as best she can. This might mean doing a walking Zoom call so that her students can get outside for some fresh air and talk about psychology fundamentals.

So how is she handling the question of engagement and just making sure students show up? After all, you don't have the boundaries of four walls and a physical learning space to
adhere to?

Krug reminds me that there are only so many things you can control, "If I notice a student is absent for more than one or two classes, I'll call them to see what I'm missing. In one case, a student was struggling with navigating some economic hardship issues, so we walked though resources. Another was spending more time gaming, so that made me think about how I could use gaming in my teaching to make things more engaging."

She continues, "Teaching during coronavirus has pushed me, and I think teachers in general, to really clarify the learning objectives and rubrics for assessment. Not that I didn't before, but you can clarify so much more during a face to face interaction. I'm also very aware of relevancy, more than ever in fact, because things need to adhere to a higher sense of purpose, rather than just being a spot on the curriculum to cover."

For now, Krug is pushing though the technology learning curve and trying to ensure no one falls through the cracks right now. And that means shifting and adapting on the go because, "We have to meet our students where they are."

Hats off to Vicky and teachers everywhere.

School announcements help build community

9/16/2019

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:

Arts integration offers big gains

8/15/2019

Arts integration continues to receive big accolades when it comes to garnering student engagement in the classroom. Yet, it sounds intimidating to most teachers, especially when you don't consider yourself "artistic" or "creative".

At the end of the day, integrating arts into a lesson can be as simple or as complicated as you'd like. Simple might be using a graphic organizer or a famous painting to teach history, or something more involved as teaching a concept and having students demonstrate their understanding using poetry, or a skit.

This South Carolina school has taken it a step further (click the link to read the full story). “I chose to have a creative writer come to my class to help introduce the writing concept of poetry,” she says. “I was pretty sure this was not going to be a well-received project with my students.”

Arts integration isn't just "another thing for teachers to do". Research shows huge gains in both retention and recall of material, which bodes well for mastery of a topic. Check out this recent interview with Dr. Mariale Hardiman of Johns Hopkins School of Education.

Have you tried integrating arts into your lesson planning?

Join the conversation and comment below.

If you'd like to learn more about the film, email info [at] changethelensproductions [.] com or just hit the contact button below.

From short-term memory to long term memory

1/7/2019

The darkened portion, housed within the medial temporal lobe of the brain is the hippocampus. And it's tasked with moving information from short term memory to long term memory.

Stress has been found to shrink the hippocampus, so if you're teaching students who are living with chronic stress or trauma, you may need to explore additional options.

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.

Meeting students where they are

11/5/2018

Picture this: you’ve planned, what you think, is the perfect 6 week unit study, with an option to extend to 8 weeks, depending on how fast your students plow through the material. For the first time, you’ve tested the experiments, ahead of time,to ensure they work like they’re supposed to. You’ve also done a trial run on the crafts, for students to have a model.

Day 1 of the unit study, you’re feeling pretty good. Until you start teaching. And you realize your students love this topic so much, and they are so interested in it, that they have a lot of preexisting knowledge. And they all want to share it. Before you know it, you’ve plowed through portions of the first 3 “classes” and several tangents, that you hadn’t prepped, have arose.

Sound familiar?

First off, yay for engaged and participatory students. That's a huge win.

Now, it’s time for you to regroup.

Try a quick what you know and what you want to know. Have students give one or two things they know, and what they want to know.
Note your students’ areas of interest and match them against your lesson or unit/study objectives, to ensure those are going to be met
Revisit your plan to incorporate your students’ interests; in my case, it looked like matching students with similar interests and giving them the option to work in teams or solo on a research project. Together we outlined the areas the project would cover, offering students a chance to use their research skills, technical writing skills, all while harnessing their specific interests. I provided a graphic organizer to help them get started.
Share the objectives of the unit, so that they are aware of the big idea.

One of the biggest challenges of teaching, (I think), is gauging the knowledge base of the students. There is always some degree of variation, and it’s rarely visible, until you start teaching.

Being able to reorganize your lesson plan, to meet your students where they are, increases your student’s engagement and positively impacts their academic outcomes.

Is it the subject you hate? Or just a single concept?

10/9/2018

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

How to influence Teacher Efficacy

3/5/2018

Recent podcasts on Teacher Isolation from BAM Radio and another from NPR’s OnPoint about Teacher Retention has me wondering if we’re asking the wrong questions, potentially missing the point all together.

Maybe it’s not about how teachers are feeling or why they’re leaving the profession, maybe it has to do with teacher efficacy and feeling like “Does what I do really matter?

Teacher efficacy, simply put, is what a teacher thinks of his or her abilities to bring about positive outcomes of student engagement and learning. That point when you feel like they are never going to get it, is the entry point to the rabbit hole of “Why bother”.

According to a 2015 teacher efficacy study, teacher efficacy is a key factor behind successful teaching and we need to consciously and deliberately build teacher efficacy, because it is constantly changing.

One of the big things that can influence teacher efficacy is understanding how the brain learns, in particular the role emotions play and the concept of plasticity.

Emotions and Learning

Mariale Hardiman, former teacher and principal, now interim dean at the Johns Hopkins School of Education and author of The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st Century Schools, says, “Reducing stress and establishing a positive emotional classroom climate is an essential part of teaching.”

A key part of creating an emotionally safe learning environment is taking the time to connect with students.

Casey, a junior, featured in the documentary Grey Matters: Teaching The Way The Brain Learns says, “When I know a teacher knows me and cares about me, I care more about that class. If a student is stressed, they are not focused on learning.

Teachers often ask, especially in large classrooms, how to connect with each and every student. Maybe it’s inquiring about a sport, or acknowledging a loss by asking how they’re doing today/right now, or just a genuine hello. Do it in a way that feels authentic to you, even if students don’t always respond.

Jeremy Mettler, a teacher at Batavia High School (featured in www.greymattersdocumentary.com) tends to always have snacks, water, pens, pencils, paper, etc., “I want to remove any barriers the kids have to learning. If a kid’s worried about paper or pencils or whatever, they’re not paying attention to what I’m saying. So I just keep that stuff on hand, no questions asked.”

And when it’s you that stressed? If a teacher is stressed, they are not focused on connecting with students.

Understand the source of your stress. Is it student progress? Content time? Intervention challenges? Behavior issues? All of the above?

First off, you’re not alone. Every teacher feels some degree of stress on a daily basis. There are so many factors that impact on your students’ learning, that are beyond your control. And there are so many factors that impact on your teaching, also beyond your control.

Vicky Davis, over at Cool Cat Teacher, did a great 10 minute podcast on managing teacher stress.

For the teachers featured in the film, knowing how the brain learns, helped them to fine tune their teaching practice, which in turn lowered their stress.

Plasticity

Vicky Krug, an adjunct professor at Westmoreland County Community College, constantly reminds her students that they can change their brains, “I even give them foam brains at the beginning of every year to help them remember. The rainbow coloured brains are always a hit”

Krug would know. She survived an accident that left her with a traumatic brain injury and compromised brain function. When Krug says, “You can train your brain,” she’s speaking from experience.

Neuroscientist turned teacher, Judy Willis, explains plasticity as the selective organizing of connections between neurons in our brains. Simply put, what fires together, wires together, or practice makes perfect.

What does this look like in the classroom? Repeated exposure, in different ways, helps with retention and recall of concepts. Connecting it to what students already know and highlighting the relevancy, aids with mastery and moves students along the path of critical and creative thinking. Referencing concepts across the subject silos aids with relevancy and big picture thinking.

Understanding how the brain learns helps teachers fine tune their teaching practice, engage your students, and positively influence academic outcomes, ultimately fostering both collective and self teacher efficacy. It’s a win for teachers and students.

Next up: How the physical characteristics and features of your learning space influences learning