Thursday, September 14, 2017

Professional Learning Keeps You Fresh

Any job can get old without continued professional learning. New learning reinvigorates investment and effort. As I think of that, I'm focused on a new learning path or shall I say a deepened learning path which is the path of brain-friendly learning.

How can students and educators teach and learn with the brain in mind? What can we do to learn in ways that are friendly to our brains. A colleague and I often say, we teach to students' brains. That means we watch carefully how the children respond to information and make our choices dependent upon what appeals to their brains or ways of learning.

A few years ago, I read Daniel Willingham's book, Why Don't Students Like School, and learned a lot about brain-friendly learning and teaching. I relay a lot of that information to students as I teach during the year. On Friday a colleague and I will attend a day-long event at Boston University about the mind and brain. I expect that we'll learn a lot that will help us to teach and lead in brain-friendly ways. I also want to watch these TedTalks related to brains and learning as part of my study.

It's exciting to deepen an area of interest particularly when you know that the learning path will positively affect what we can do for students in important enriching ways. If you have links, books, or other resources to offer me, please do. In the meantime, stay tuned as I'll likely share my learning via this blog.


Related Links
Book to Increase Children's Cognition/Science Literacy