Neuroscience and learning

Two interesting articles related to children's brains crossed my inbox today.

Tiffany Lewis wrote a nice article on the importance of identifying and understanding what's going on with children's cognitive realities, rather than defaulting to the over-simplification of labels, in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which is something we often talk about at TBS. The question of when to tell or inform a child about his or her unique cognitive structure is a very interesting one, as here at TBS we tend to wait to do this until sometime in middle school, when children have the capacity to process the information intellectually, and also the emotional implications that come from realizing one's unique gifts and challenges.

Wendi Pillars documented five effective tenants of teaching based on neuroscience. Four of her recommendations are well-trod at this point: return to information over time, slow down, develop close relationships with students (to relieve their stress), and establish the relevance of the ideas in connection with prior knowledge. It was the fifth idea - the fact that information that is presented first or last has a greater chance of being retained (the primacy-recency effect) - that jumped out at me for its implications about lesson structures.

The Second Annual K-8 Book Swap!

Leading up to our Read-a-thon on Friday, April 6, we are having author visits and the Book Swap. The actual swap where each child is able to choose a book to take home and keep will be held on Thursday, April 5. Books to swap should be brought in April 3-5.

Book Swap 2012 FAQ's

Q: When can we drop off our book to swap?

A: Books can be dropped off at the TBS curb on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, April 3rd-5th, during morning arrival, from 8:15-8:30. On April 3rd and 4th only, books can also be dropped off in the Swap Box in the front office. It would be the most helpful if books were brought in on April 3rd and 4th to allow for more sorting time before the Swap starts on April 5th.

Q: Is there a limit on how many books you can swap?

A: Yes. Each child will only get to pick one book to keep forever.

Q: Do all K-5 students need to bring in a book?

A: Since it can be hard for young children in K/1 to give up their treasured books, parents should not worry if their K/1 child could not part with one. Instead, we are asking the whole TBS community to bring in additional just right books to support our young readers.

Q: Is the ECC participating?

A: No, the ECC is not participating. We are considering expanding it in the future.

Q: Do I absolutely have to bring a book to take a book?

A: No child will be turned away from taking home a book during the book swap; we will make sure to have more than enough books on hand.

Q: What if a family wants to bring a bunch of books?

A: If a family donates more than one book, that is wonderful and we thank them. Remember that all children will get to choose one book at the Swap regardless of how many they have brought. All books dropped off will be included in the Swap. Those left over will be shelved in the various school libraries.

Q: Does the condition of the book matter?

A: Only books that are in good condition or better should be brought in.

Q: How do I know if a book is appropriate to swap?

A: They can be any level from picture books to middle school level, fiction or non-fiction.

Q: Is this book swap for grown-ups, too?

A: Not this year. We're going to do it just for students, and we'll consider expanding it in the future if we get more volunteers.

Q: When do kids get to pick their new books?

A: Students will get to “shop” and pick their books by class on Thursday, April 5th.

Q: I want to volunteer to help, and/or I have another question. To whom should I speak?

A: Parents please contact the Swap Organizer/Parent Volunteer Jean Littlejohn at

Math anxiety and brain function

A fascinating piece of research has just come out of the Stanford School of Medicine that confirms what seemed likely: math-specific fear interferes with the brain's information-processing capacity and its ability to reason through a math problem. In other words, math anxiety leads to decreased mental functioning in areas of problem solving, memory, and numerical reasoning when trying to engage in mathematical thinking!


What are the implications for classroom practice? First, we need to identify when students are experiencing math anxiety. Second, we need to educate students about the neurological impact that anxiety has on their brains (since it actually decreases their ability to successfully solve math problems) - we already know we don't like the experience of anxiety, but we need to understand how it actually affects us. Third, we need to teach students strategies to manage that anxiety.

One strategy I have been utilizing recently in my own practice of mindfulness (drawn from my reading of Fully Present: The art and science of mindfulness) that I think has potential application here is "R.A.I.N." R = recognize the emotion or experience. A = accept the emotion's existence (rather than suppress, repress, or fight it). I = investigate how the emotion makes you feel, on a physical level (not intellectual) - does your jaw get tight, breathing short, foot start to bounce, etc? N = non-identify, or tell yourself that this emotion and accompanying physical sensation is temporary and non-permanent, and that you are not that experience.

Annual TBS student art show

I hope you had the chance to come to the annual student art show Friday night, or Saturday morning. I am always so deeply impressed at the artistic thinking that Julianne and Benicia ask our students to engage in, and the ways in which student creativity enables them to create these fascinating pieces! And what a labor of love it is for the teachers to throw the show.

Thinking and Linking about Leadership #2

Back in January I put up a post on some articles about leadership that I had recently read. As I wrote then, reading about leadership is one of the ways that I push myself to remain reflective about my leadership practice. So, here's another entry of leadership-related articles I've read in the last two months. Some of these are specifically related to educational administration, some are presented as lists of things to do or keep in mind as leaders, some are interviews with leaders in various fields, and some are about leadership theory. Enjoy your grazing!

An interview with Jim Whitehurst

Understand your lenses, transform your leadership

11 things faculty want from their administrators

6 ways to share credit and improve culture

The difference between innovation and ideas

How can a teacher evaluation be efficient, valid, and effective?

An interview with Harry West

What is leadership success?

What are leadership "trump cards"?

Yes, principal quality influences student educational achievement

An interview with John Petrucci

An interview with Tim Bucher

A Harvard professor (finally) realizes lectures aren't great learning experiences

Disrupting tuition

Clayton Christensen, author of the highly influential book Distrupting Class, has an excellent new video about disruptive innovation posted last week at HBR. It's got me wondering if the way tuition works at independent schools presents an opportunity for disruptive innovation, and what that might look like. The only two options I'm aware of currently employed are partnering with outside funding sources such as corporations or funds, which comes with significant limitations and directives from those financial sources, or employing a sliding scale for tuition, which very few schools do sustainably, since tuition assistance essentially functions to create a sliding scale that is more predictable and manageable. Let me crowd-source this: anyone got ideas?

Mission Moments #3

Only you, dear readers, have the chance to click here to download the newest issue of the newsletter I write for the Elementary Division. Hear why word walls are important for emerging readers in Blackberry; how K/1 student voice is being cultivated in Laurel; how Sweet Briar teachers are using assessment; how Temescal teachers are developing student vocabulary; how Cerrito teachers are integrating art into the culture studies program; all about the interdisciplinary game-based project in Strawberry; and the work Laurie is doing to improve our literacy curriculum!