Engaging Brains: How to Enhance Learning by Teaching Kids About Neuroplasticity Editor's note: This post is co-authored by Marcus Conyers who, with Donna Wilson, is co-developer of the M.S. and Ed.S. Brain-Based Teaching degree programs at Nova Southeastern University. They have written several books, including Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to Classroom Practice. Enhancing Student Commitment Explicitly teaching students about neuroplasticity can have a transformative impact in the classroom. A central facet of our work as teacher educators is teaching about how the brain changes during learning. Lessons on discoveries that learning changes the structure and function of the brain can engage students, especially when combined with explicit instruction on the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies that guide them to learn how to learn (Wilson & Conyers, 2013). The same dynamic of persisting to succeed applies to teaching. Strategies for Engagement License to Drive Going BIG Make these lessons a BIG deal. Notes
How Integrating Arts Into Other Subjects Makes Learning Come Alive Art has long been recognized as an important part of a well-rounded education — but when it comes down to setting budget priorities, the arts rarely rise to the top. Many public schools saw their visual, performing and musical arts programs cut completely during the last recession, despite the many studies showing that exposure to the arts can help with academics too. A few schools are taking the research to heart, weaving the arts into everything they do and finding that the approach not only boosts academic achievement but also promotes creativity, self-confidence and school pride. The arts integration experiment at Integrated Arts Academy at H.O. Wheeler (IAA) in Burlington, Vermont, started six years ago as an effort to break up socioeconomic imbalances in the district. What does art integration look like? “Higher analytical thinking and reasoning and student voice fit so well with the arts,” said Bobby Riley, the school’s principal. The school is seeing results from the experiment.
Why top scientists are so worried about intelligent machines Sign Up for Our free email newsletters The world's spookiest philosopher is Nick Bostrom, a thin, soft-spoken Swede. Of all the people worried about runaway artificial intelligence, killer robots, and the possibility of a technological doomsday, Bostrom conjures the most extreme scenarios. Bostrom's favorite apocalyptic hypothetical involves a machine that has been programmed to make paper clips (although any mundane product will do). "You could have a superintelligence whose only goal is to make as many paper clips as possible, and you get this bubble of paper clips spreading through the universe," Bostrom calmly told an audience in Santa Fe earlier this year. Bostrom's underlying concerns about machine intelligence, unintended consequences, and potentially malevolent computers have gone mainstream. People will tell you that even Stephen Hawking is worried about it. How this came about is as much a story about media relations as it is about technological change.
How 'Saint Monday' hangovers and the football helped bring us the weekend - ABC News There are many ways to spend a weekend — running errands, ferrying children to sport, catching up with friends or simply slowing down a bit. But the weekend wasn't always a given. Monday was the original, albeit unofficial, day off, and the push for the weekend began with Saturday afternoon. The two-day weekend we now enjoy was hard won over the course of almost a century — but some historians say we could be witnessing its erosion. Saint Monday Brad Beaven, a professor of social and cultural history at the University of Portsmouth, says a six-day work week was common in Britain in the 1800s. "[A cobbler] would work extensively hard in the week with very few breaks and then deliver his produce by Saturday evening, and that point, he'd be paid," he tells ABC RN's Life Matters. With money in pockets and church on Sunday, the revelries would begin. "With people recovering, there was no work done. Saint Monday became an unofficial holiday, invented to excuse absenteeism. "That was the plan.
Scientists Find That Playing Games Actually Improves Your Skills in Real Life While most parents would scold their children for wasting time in front of an electronic screen and playing video games, researchers have found in a new study that playing motion-controlled video games seems to help boost real-life skills. In their study, published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, the researchers noted that motion-controlled video games, such as those played on the Wii and using virtual reality devices such as the Oculus Rift, might be turning video games into legitimate simulations. In the study, the researchers compared participants who played 18 rounds of a golf video game that utilized motion controls to simulate putting, to those who played the video game using regular push-button controls. They found that the former group performed significantly better at real-world putting compared to the latter, and also against those without video gaming experience. These findings are not only limited to golf.
As ministers call for more people to become teachers, some are still struggling to find a permanent job It was a burning desire to give back that carried Kate* through a career change and a four-year teaching degree as a mature-age student. In other words, she seems to be exactly the type of person education ministers are desperately calling on to join the profession as they attempt to stem the chronic teacher shortages plaguing schools. But after only a handful of years in the classroom, Kate's already worn out and considering giving up on full-time primary school teaching — and the reason isn't workload pressures or burnout from the job, though she's experienced that too. "I've worked for seven years and I've not been able to get an ongoing contract," she says. Earlier this month federal Education Minister Jason Clare held a crisis meeting with his state and territory counterparts after government modelling revealed that demand for secondary teachers was set to outstrip graduates by about 4,100 over the next three years. "And just going from contract to contract is a nightmare."
How Grateful Are You? Interactive Quiz + Seven Strategies for Cultivating Gratitude Gratitude increases our happiness, improves our relationships, and makes us healthier. And it does so reliably. Over 40 research studies have shown the same thing – gratitude rocks. So how can we get more of it? It depends. Let’s figure that out. How grateful are you? You are more grateful than 5% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 15% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 25% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 35% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 45% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 55% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 65% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 75% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 85% of the adult, American population. You are more grateful than 95% of the adult, American population. Trigger more intense feelings of gratitude or more frequent feelings. No.
Australia's teacher shortage is a generational crisis in the making. How can we turn things around? COVID-19 further exposed existing cracks in the teaching profession which need to be fixed urgently. Teacher numbers and resourcing, unequal access and outcomes and widespread student disillusionment, disengagement and mental ill-health are not new — but have been blatantly exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic. How we respond now will be crucial for future generations. The past three years of pandemic-interrupted schooling put extreme pressure on all involved: school leaders and administrators, teachers, students and families. Teacher shortages have reached critical levels in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Europe and Africa. The expectations of teachers' performance have increased over time as schools increase their reliance on standardised tests. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. What's behind the crisis? The class of 2022/2023 and those in the next five years are likely to bear the brunt of these issues.
What Motivates A Student’s Interest in Reading and Writing The excerpt below is from the book “Building a Community of Self-Motivated Learners: Strategies to Help Students Thrive in School and Beyond,” by Larry Ferlazzo. This excerpt is from the chapter entitled “I Still Want to Know: How Can You Get Students More Interested in Reading and Writing?” Let’s begin with a review of those essential qualities (needed to develop intrinsic motivation) in the context of reading and writing: ♦ Autonomy. A major Pew Research Center report (Lenhart et al., 2008) found that choice has an equally important role in teens feeling a desire to write (the story in Chapter 1 of my student who was energized by writing about football illustrates this point). Likewise, in reading, extensive research documents that teachers encouraging students to read books of their choice for pleasure is a major contribution towards students developing a positive attitude towards reading and a life-long interest in it (Leisure Reading Task Force, 20014, p. 2). ♦ Competence.
Universities given two years to overhaul teaching degrees after education ministers' meeting Four years ago, Ross Fox staked his reputation on an educational revolution. Key points: Universities have been given two years to overhaul their education degreesChanges they must adopt include teaching classroom management, and effective ways to teach reading and writingEducation ministers have agreed "in principle" with the changes in a bid to fix Australia's teacher shortage Mr Fox, the Director of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn, said he realised standard teaching methods were not working – and wanted to make dramatic changes across the more than 50 schools he oversaw. "There was a sense of frustration amongst our teachers," he said. "They were putting so much effort in and seeing no result and no reward in terms of student learning." Mr Fox decided the problem was the way his staff were taught at university and moved to retrain his entire teaching workforce of 1,500 in what's called the "science of learning". Luckily for him, his staff and students, it paid off. Loading...