Sunday, April 11, 2010

Latest Update (4/12)

This last week we met over long term memory and it was a good discussion. One of the things we had to do is create a schedule with what we've learned in mind. There were no rules, only to create a class day that had Brain Rules in mind. It was interesting to see those that turned in schedules.


We will begin next year's schedule work when things get a bit more solidified with the budget. Waiting for the state legislature gets a bit old, but there's not much we can do except wait.

Our next chapter is Wiring and we'll meet in 2 weeks. Will post afterward.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

ATTENTION IS OVER . . . well, sorta

15 of us met this week to discuss the ATTENTION CHAPTER. We shared out our learning to each other and then as a group. I think one of the biggest pieces for me was what one of our fourth grade teachers said: "It's made me more aware."

Awareness. It's made me more aware of the time intervals, linking interest, and providing the gist are other keys from this chapter. Another gem that came out of this chapter was the use of novel things to keep students interested. For example, one of our fifth grade teachers had her students write spelling words in shaving cream. That's not necessarily a new idea, but by mixing up, she felt that students paid better attention.

One of the difficult questions I posed was: "How do we quantify this data?" So if we had a control group and an experimental group, what would be the parameters around ATTENTION? No one had an answer for that one. We'll wait and see.

We're off now to Chapter 5 and short term memory. Love this chapter. We meet again in two weeks.

BRAIN . . . RULES!

Monday, February 15, 2010

First Readers Meeting: ATTENTION

On February 11th we met to discuss the first chapter we were geared up to read on ATTENTION. Folks shared with each other and then as a group what the "BIG IDEAS" were. Discussion was rich and authentic.

For the next two weeks were going to attempt to apply these BIG IDEAS by:
a) remembering the 10 minute rule and trying to use effective ECS. (This is not easy to do!)
b) start your lessons with overall context and tie in it with previous learning before getting to details.

In two weeks we come back and discuss how it went.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Staff Meeting 1/14/2010

Our first staff meeting of the new year. We focused on reviewing our last presentations, which really encompasses talking about Brain Rule #1: Exercise Boosts Brain Power. Our next section of study is Brain Rule #4: Attention - We don't pay attention to boring things. Which is common sense, but as Stephen Covey writes, "common sense isn't common practice."

We compete with digital media in the classroom. It's unfair really. Twenty, thirty years ago, it was bad enough competing against television and movies. Now, we have an abundance of media, whether that's five hundred channels, Youtube, and a gaming console or perhaps a game of Second Life. And yet, here we are in the classroom, facing a lack of attention. As Dr. Medina sites in his work, vision trumps all other senses. Thus, we have to provide students with stimulating images that relate to the content we're delivering. On top of that, we need to know how the brain works, specifically how it behaves when it comes to attention.

Ten minutes is the magic number, then you need to provide the hook or emotion response that keeps the audience going. Now that's one thing say with a 50 min. presentation. It's a totally different scenario when it's a 90 minute reading block . . . or is it?

That's what we intend to find out. Those staff that signed up for full implementation will be getting their books soon and we'll be delving into Brain Rule #4. I'll be the first one to take this plunge. In early February, I'll be teaching a 5th grade class for a week, specifically math. I'm going to record the lessons and analyze them. The reason I want to be so reflective is so I can see what happens when I structure and plan the lesson based on Dr. Medina's model presented in Brain Rules. It's obviously worked for him at the college level. What about the elementary level with instructional materials? Hmm.

I undoubtedly will fall on my face for a couple of reasons. A) I'm out of practice. Sad really. In the principal chair you see lots of great pedagogy, but rarely do you get to keep your own skills up to snuff. I'll be a bit rusty. B) This structure is new to me and keeping track and making sure that I'm on target with the BR model will be taxing at first, I think.

Beginning in February, we're going to be studying Brain Rules more in depth and begin the planning process of what it could possibly look like next year in select classrooms. One of our first grade teachers is doing her doctoral dissertation on what we'll be trying to do. Should be a great ride.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

3rd Staff Meeting

This was our third and final staff meeting for the '09 school year. We'll be starting back up in January. Today we finished up the cursory review of Brain Rule #1: Exercise Increased Brain Power.

Our next work is around Attention and I introduced a brief snippet from Dr. Median's tutorial from the book's web page (www.brainrules.net). One of the questions asked was "What do you think you know about attention?"

For the next two staff meetings, that's what we're going to discuss and jump into: Attention. The staff decided to meet 2x per month for staff meetings, rather than weekly on a count of 19 to 7. Fairly easy to assume that many people feel their time is precious!

During January, we're also starting up the full implementation cycle of the brain rules for those who have signed up for full implementation. This is both the planning and studying phase of the rules in anticipation for structural and classroom practice changes for the 2010-2011 year, not that some of the information will lead us to some change right away.

Currently, our official count of staff members that want to move forward with full implementation is: 18. That's a lot, especially with nearly half of those staff members wanting the full implementation with aerobic workout (see previous posts).

Thursday, December 10, 2009

2nd Staff Meeting

Today was our second staff meeting. We reviewed some of the material that was presented last week and discussed further how we're going to implement the concepts/suggestions offered from the book, Brain Rules.

Still working on Brain Rule #1: Exercise Boosts Brain Power, we talked about some of the implementation strategies. Staff were presented with the following choices:

1. Choose to do nothing around this work. (Essentially, staff have the choice whether or not to participate in this work and to what degree do they want to).
2. Choose to wait. Some staff members aren't sure what this all implies and would rather wait and see.
3. Choose basic implementation. What basic implementation means is that staff will gain a cursory knowledge of the material but not attempt to fully implement it in the classroom.
4. Choose full implementation (without the aerobic exercise component). If teachers decide on full implementation teachers agree to the following:
  • > know that the decisions will be made based upon scientific research whenever possible.

    > to commit fully to implementing all aspects of the plan.

    > to be willing to learn and synthesize the "Brain Rules" and be willing to read and study brain research. The initial work beginning in January 2010. The experiment is to begin September 1, 2010.


    >
    to be willing to throw away any preconceived notions regarding almost anything related to brain and educational research.

    > to be willing to attempt new strategies.

    > to keep exceptional data. Your data must be thorough, punctual, and objective.
5. Chose full implementation (with the aerobic component). Expectations are the same from the above list, except that teachers would agree to lead 3 20-minute workouts with their class per week.

At the end of the staff meeting, teachers were asked to fill out a survey and choose which option they preferred. It was optional if teachers turned in the survey or not.

Here are the preliminary results:
Option 1: Do nothing:::::::::::::::::::::: 0 responses.
Option 2: Wait and see::::::::::::::::::: 2 teachers.
Option 3: Basic Implementation::::::: 2 teachers.
Option 4: Full Implementation without workout::::::::: 6 teachers.
Option 5: Full Implementation with workout:::::::::::::: 7 teachers.

Next steps:
-We will have one more staff meeting before winter vacation, at which time all teachers will need to choose one option.;
-Purchase the book, Brain Rules (paperback) for all staff willing to do full implementation.
-Begin meeting in February around each Brain Rule and discussing implications and ideas for the following year in terms of implementation within the classroom.
-Continue the cursory study of the material

Thursday, December 3, 2009

1st Staff Meeting

Today was our first staff meeting around Brain Rules this year. Last year, we did a brief overview of the Brain Rules from the DVD that comes with the book for an inservice. But this year it's a different story.

The theme of today's meeting was to talk about exercise and its importance around learning and what we could do to improve our program.

I presented the following question: Would you be willing to incorporate an aerobic workout for 20 minutes, three times a week with your students?

Now the details on how to make that happen . . . that will come later. But the seeds have been planted. Now for the water.