Becoming a Wiz at Brain-Based Teaching

Wow. So, I think I'm going to start with all of the positive things about your lesson first. I LOVE your wiki. It is a great resource and has a lot of valuable information on it. I think you did an excellent job at finding resources to support the learning that you guys found in the book. Awesome job. I can't tell you how much of a great tool this will be for me in the future. I also love that you broke up the book evenly and everybody had a chance to share their part. I loved the fact that Eileen was walking around during this lesson, because it reminded me of actually teaching a class full of students, and it was a great demonstration of something you can do in your classroom. I'm not even sure she did in on purpose. I loved the activities and the quiz. The quiz was an excellent way to get me emotionally involved in your lesson. I thought it was great that you started out with that.

Now, for my suggestions. Your lesson contained A LOT of information about Brain-Based Teaching, but I wish you had presented it in a different way. You TOLD us about how the brain needs hands on, kinesthetic learning. You TOLD us how 12th graders can only pay attention for a maximum of 17 minutes. You TOLD us about a lot of things that were important to this book. That was the problem. I feel as though it would have been more beneficial if you had taught us the information the way in which the book says is the best way for students to learn based on brain-based teaching. How much more powerful would it have been if you would have done that. I honestly can tell you that I am glad that you made the wiki because now I have that as a resource to go back and figure out all of the information that I missed. It was a lot to digest in a little amount of time done through a lot of talking. That is just something to think about.

Becoming a Wiz at Brain Based Teaching

I enjoyed the activities this group presented, such as the right and left brain quiz and the folder activity. I also liked some of the sites that were on the wiki (by the way, nice job creating a wiki). I saved the links so that I can continue to go back and read the sites; my favorites were "Top 10 Tips for Classroom Discipline and Management," the "Wicked Witch" site, and "Classroom Environment: the basics." Marilee Sprenger's steps to turn sensory memory into long term memory and the focus time and processing information was very interesting - I may have to print this out!

I appreciate the suggestion of journaling. Many teachers stop this in elementary school, but I feel it can be helpful to any teacher and student at any grade level, as long as it is done correctly. I want to make note that I agree, rituals are so important! Not many people like it when they are expecting one thing and they get something else - I think as educators we need to keep this in mind because it really does have an effect on our students.

I would have liked to see more movement, the presentation was quite long and at times hard to sit through. When talking about exercise and movement in the classroom, it would have been nice to get up and try out some stretching techniques. Also, I feel the presentation was long because it seemed more of a lecture presentation and not an active presentation. The best way to teach someone something is to model and I know I would have taken more away from the presentation if I had been involved or had seen how to use this book in my classroom.

This is a hard habit to break, and I find myself doing it a lot too - but please keep the "you need to do this" or "it's better if you...." to a minimum -- all I seemed to hear was "you." At times I felt like I was being attacked (goes with the lecturing aspect), and I felt like I needed to defend the way I do things.

A WHOLE New Mind

A Whole New Mind seemed to emphasize a whole new way of thinking, and more importantly learning. I thought the presentation was great: the PowerPoint, equitable distribution of speaking time, music (rhythmic learning; score), and hands-on activities made me think deeply and thoroughly about the concepts being introduced. I liked his/yours/whomevers description of the "conceptual" age, and how we as humans need to "put the pieces of the puzzle together." It reminded me of all the teachers that stress creativity and provided authentic and varying learning experiences. It also made me reflect on today's technological society and how the job market demands a higher skilled, and thus higher thinking worker (something that was reinforced from practicum, where we learned that a large percentage of the world's future jobs have not yet been created). I especially liked how the activities and how the centered around creative thinking. They got me thinking meta-cognitively (that is, thinking about my thinking processes) about my personal teaching strategies and pedagogical philosophies. Seriously, I really want to read the book, and I think you did a tremendous job of informing me of the new theories and selling the book.

A Whole New Mind

I absolutely thought your lesson was amazing. It was nice that you provided some information about what it was you wanted us to learn and then you allowed us to participate in an activity to reinforce the information. Great way to engage us in active learning, which increases the amount of information that we are actually retaining. I like your explanation about the negative space, although I didn't really understand what the point of it was until Sara W. explained it to me. This is funny, because it just reinforces the fact that that most of the time I don't think outside of the box, which I feel a lot of people don't these days. But, the fact is that the world we are in is changing and that we really do need to do more thinking outside of the box. So that fact that I didn't get it was a good reinforcer for me to actually try a little harder in that aspect of my life. I love your presentation because it discusses the important idea that again the world is changing and we need to be able to teach our students how to adapt to this new world, and we have to do so through the ideas you discussed in your lesson. Also, it was a good lesson for me because it made me wonder about how I can make things have more meaning in my life. That is a good thing because a little bit of self reflection goes a long way in the learning process. Nice job guys. (Now that I've pretty much shared my life story with you in this blog.)

SOC!!! (No, it doesn't stand for Sociology)

I thought your group, and your book, brought up a key point: traditional forms of education are not effective for every student, and are becoming less effective as we move from the technological to the conceptual age. I thought you highlighted some solid key points. Among my favorite were:
-Students who struggled with SOC curriculum were the "A" students in traditional settings; they seemed to struggle because they were successful in the old style and thus were more comfortable learning that way and wanted more 'structure'
-Trust and team building are integral in creating student oriented curriculum (the activities we participated in during the presentation were good examples of strategies to build such teamwork and trust)
-The importance of reflective journals for both students and teachers, so they can see exactly what works, what doesn't, and what some trouble areas are in SOC units
I also thought that the presentation was concise and fluid. The Wiki was easy to follow, the team building activities were fun and brief enough to keep our attention, and the PowerPoint had a a lot of good pictures and short text (thus allowing for more speaking from the presenter and was more engaging to watch). The Wiki was packed with information, maybe a bit too much. If this was lessened I think that it would help reinforce BIG ideas and impressionable examples.

MMM Chapter 13

Abstract:
Chapter 13 focused on outdoor activities and how these could be integrated into middle school curricula. The chapter discussed both day and overnight activities, including hiking, camping, ropes courses, and reenactments. It also discussed how many subjects can be taught in an outdoor setting, from sketching forests (art) to studying ponds (science) and measuring shadows on trees (math). However, as Wormeli points out it is extremely important to have the support of both parents and administration; this can in fact be the most difficult part in creating and implementing such activities.

Reflections:
Integrating both physical and outdoor learning experiences into curricula can be greatly influential on students. Not only does it allow for them to build trust and teamwork, it also helps develops these same relationships for teachers as well. Outdoor excursions are also more engaging and motivating by nature (no pun intended), thus increasing their value as effective educational strategies. It also gives students a break from the materialism and technology that defines our society.
These would be perfect for the type of units we are building because of the integration across discipline levels. Many students do not have the opportunity to participate in such events, and creating one in your school district could be extremely beneficial to both faculty and students. Service learning could also be implemented so that better appreciation and collaboration could be made with the community.

Photo Taken From: http://ipib.wisc.edu/images/bascom_class.gif

Chapter 4: Active Learning

Abstract:

Chapter 4 was about ways to get students engaged in their learning, also known as active learning. This basically means getting your students up and moving during class, instead of the typical sit and listen to the teacher. The author states that our brains function better with the more oxygen that gets pumped to them. By getting students moving around, oxygen is automatically pumped to their brains, which helps them learn more/easier. The author also suggests that middle school is a time of much growth for students. Their bodies easily become uncomfortable sitting in desks and they become restless. By allowing them to move, it will make them more comfortable and ready to learn, plus it means less behavior problems. This chapter included many ideas of ways to incorporate active learning for all subjects. Some ideas were simpler than others, like having your students hand in their own papers as an excuse to get out of their seat for a minute, while other ideas were more elaborate, like having an Academic Olympics. All the ideas that were presented were creative and fun, but it’s important to keep in mind that the activities need to be connected to the curriculum.

Reflection:

While the need for kinesthetic movement in classrooms is not a new concept to any of us, it is still very important to incorporate active learning in every class, especially with middle school students. So many young adolescents have troubles just sitting in one spot. We must use their restlessness as an aid in their learning process. An activity that is a vivid learning experience will be remembered. Then chances are, when it comes to the test, they remember the activity they did and the content as well. The key to active learning is creativity. Teachers need to come up with new and fun ideas to use active learning in their classroom. We need to put our brains to work and come up with as many ideas to incorporate movement into every lesson, no matter how simple or involved they are.

A Whole New Mind

You're team did a great job with your book presentation on "A Whole New World." I thought your every part of your presentation was well thought out and organized. You did an awesome job examining the book with the class, exploring the ideas that the author was trying to portray. You went into full detail about the main ideas in the book: design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. I really liked how each idea was explained to us and then we did am activity to embed the ideas in our minds. I think the most useful idea the author had is the one about meaning, changing the but to an and. I can see this working in a classroom, especially with a middle schooler who's just making excuses.
At the end of your presentation, you used Turning Points 2000 to connect the ideas shown in A Whole New World to students. I thought this was a great idea, I just wish you guys had gone into a little more depth with it. I think you went through it a little quickly because the ideas and connection didn't really stand out to me.
You guys did an awesome job overall. Explained the book really well to the class and presented it in a way the way fun and held everyones attention. Great Job!

~Sara

A Whole New Mind

I like the way you incorporated various pictures, humor, and activities into your presentation.

The background information was helpful

Each of the activities - table activity, story, drawing, empathy, and "but out" were fun to participate in. I think the "but out" activity would be great for students in the classroom who constantly say "but..." This would give them a different perspective and make them think more positivly.

Creating a story based on a picture is often done in elementary school - where you ask students to determine what the book is about based on the front cover - this expresses their creativity and imagination - great idea!

Sometimes its nice to conduct lessons/ activities from opposite side of the room. So, instead of conducting lessons from the front, go to the back so that people get a different perspective.

Student Oriented Curriculum

I love the way this group incorporated different activities to keep the class engaged. The stream crossing was great to get us out of our seats and interacting with people outside of our "teams." I also liked the fresh way of deciding on a theme or unit. I bet middle schoolers would love it too! I thought you presented the book very well, using multiple sources from the web to support your book. At some points in the presentation I was lost because the group was doing a lot of talking - lecture style. This book reminded me of one I read in an Elementary Ed class, called Theme Immersion. It has the same concept, just geared more towards the younger grades (not that either book can't be adapted). Pretty much, Theme Immersion is about allowing students to choose a topic to study and the teacher provides the materials and resources for the students to learn. The teacher leads students in the right directions, but gives the students the opportunity to choose aspects of their education.

Student Oriented Curriculum

Blue Barracudas,
Your presentation was really great. There were so many different parts and themes that you incorporated that made every interested in reading the book. There were many strengths in your performance. I really liked the group activities. The river crossing activity was nice because it was a great way to work on team building. I also liked the ball game, it is a great idea on how to brainstorm ideas for a class!
Steph's chart on the wiki did a really great job illustrating how the students really began taking the initiative in the planning process and coming up with ideas and everything on their own for their units.
The video at the end was a great way to end the presentation to really give a real life example of how a curriculum like this could work. It makes me really want to teach in a school like that!
There were a lot a great things incorporated in your presentation- links, wiki, videos, activities. The powerpoint, although it was very well done with many hyperlinks, it didn't quite hold my attention the whole time. Maybe by using Inspiration or Comic Life could make it a little more interesting.
I really think you guys did a great job explaining the main points of the book. You all did a great job illustrating how and why a student oriented curriculum is the way to go! You kept the attention of the whole class well by transitioning from lecture to activity and back. You set a high standard for presentations to come! Great job!

~Sara

Student Oriented Curriculum

Blue Barracudas, sorry I missed your presentation! I heard that it went really well though. Anyways, I did get a chance to look through all of your resources that you posted on the wiki. Excellent job. I wanted to get a chance to discuss these links.

The link for teamwork is outstanding. It was interesting for me to read it, as I don't think I have actually worked together with people as a team. Most of the work that I have done with others has been group work. While I was reading the description about what teamwork is, it just appeared to be a more positive experience. If I ever had the opportunity to work collaboratively like that, I think that people can accomplish more and with a better attitude in general. I'm planning some lessons for our Egypt unit where I have students working together, and I plan on using the teamwork model. Great link!

I think the blog about inclusion is awesome also. I'm in Special Ed. right now and we are learning all about inclusion of special ed. students in the regular ed. classroom. I think it is awesome when we can connect the ideas from one subject area (aka Special Ed.) to the ideas we are learning in a different subject area (aka Middle Level Ed.). I think that this is important, because the more we see and experience this being done at this level, the more we will be able to make that happen for our students. Anyways, inclusion of special ed. students can often be as simple as making an a slight modification or accommodation to your instructional methods. But, once again, if we are using differentiated instruction, that is exactly what we are doing already, for all of our students. I love the connections!

I also absolutely love the team building strategies!!! This is an excellent resource and can be a great tool to use especially at the beginning of the school year when you have new classes of students. One thing to point out that I find interesting though. Because you are stressing the fact that a classroom is a place in which the responsibilities should be shared between the students AND the teacher, I think the teacher needs to participate in the team building strategies as well.

Well, from what I saw of your resources, it seems like you're lesson was packed with a lot of information, and I'm sorry that I missed it. But thanks for the great resources!