5 Reasons Why Your Students Should Write Every Day

• February 23, 2012 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

Are your students writing as much as they should be? Classroom writing, done with willful focus and daily diligence, remains an essential part of educating students of all ages, including adults. Here are five reasons why classroom writing is still a must:

1.  Writing improves communication skills.

First and foremost, writing provides a vehicle for expression and communication. No matter the age or grade level of your students, diligent writing practice will boost both their skill and comfort level with revealing and relating their own thoughts and feelings.

2. Writing helps students review and remember recently learned material.

Isn't it always easier to remember a household task or a website to visit later if we write it down somewhere? A brief writing assignment at the end of class, focusing on the day's lesson and discussions, is a great way to reinforce the material, support long-term recall of the key lesson points and help build writing skills all at the same time. 

3. Writing helps educators assess student learning.

Probably the most common use of writing in the contemporary classroom is for a given student to demonstrate that he or she knows and understands x or y concept. Whether the assignment is, for example, an intensive compare-and-contrast essay at the secondary level or writing and illustrating a haiku in the primary grades, writing assignments help teachers see what material students have mastered and where there may be gaps. 

4.  Writing encourages creativity and exploration.

Daily writing encourages a creative flow that can help students use their imaginations, explore possibilities, delve into problem solving, and engage in storytelling. In addition to "serious" writing assignments which are reviewed and graded, it is important to assign "free" or "creative" writing time, so that students can explore vocabulary, concepts, and writing styles that they wouldn't risk in a formal essay or heavily graded assignment. 

5. Writing is essential for self-understanding.

Even a cursory search online will reveal a plethora of diary-like blogs, filled with entry after entry of highly personal content.  In the same way that these blogs serve their authors, classroom writing can help students understand and make sense of their own experiences, locate contexts, and make (sometimes surprising) discoveries about their own thoughts and feelings.

Classroom teachers will find that reading through their students' writing assignments can give them great insight into each student's personality, style, and comprehension level of the material being presented. When a high value is placed on consistent writing in the classroom, it's a win-win all around.

So, write on!

Related Reading:

Building Your Child’s Self-Confidence

Helping Low-SES Students Thrive

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Categories: Reading & Learning

Tags: arts, creativity, emotions in learning, how children learn, language learning, motivating students, teacher impact, vocabulary, writing

Poverty in American Schools: What Educators Can Do

• January 17, 2012 by Norene Wiesen

 

Many children from poverty arrive in schools with a host disadvantages, including low self-esteem, unstable relationships, and brain differences.  But with support, encouragement and the right interventions, every child can maximize their ability to learn and succeed.

Learn more about "teaching with poverty in mind" in our on-demand webinar by Eric Jensen, full of actionable ideas for getting the most from learning time with students, building learning capacity, accelerating the learning process, and getting better buy-in from educators and students.

Related Reading:

Changing the Culture of Poverty by Doing Whatever It Takes

Building a Foundation for School Readiness for Low Income Children

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Categories: Brain Fitness, Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: achievement gap, at-risk, brain development, brain plasticity, cognitive skills, elementary school learning, emotions in learning, learning environment, self-esteem, student growth, teacher impact, title i

School District Technology: Plan or Blueprint?

• January 12, 2012 by Joseph DuLaney

You are looking to make changes to your school district’s technology infrastructure or offerings. You have a plan for what you would like.  But is it a blueprint?

Many times our school systems are put in the very difficult position of “expanding technology” or “finding online solutions” because funding becomes available on short notice or parents of students are putting pressure on the school system to buy more technology.  We get excited to go out and execute a plan.

Immediately talks happen to purchase tablets, desktops, interactive white boards, servers or maybe run new wire.  A plan is underway. 

The challenge from this is that many times expenditures come in higher than expected and we end up purchasing technology that does not ultimately serve as a solution to a specific problem, like declining test scores.  We have teachers with tablets in hand or interactive white boards on the wall, but with no direction on how to use either and for what.

Free Download
District Technology Blueprint
Template

We do not have a blueprint.

A blueprint ensures that your technology purchases have a measurable impact on a problem your school or school system faces.

So, how do you build a blueprint that will ensure that technology expenditures are building a measurable, core foundation in your schools and ultimately providing a solution to a specific problem like lagging reading scores? 

Here are a few things to consider when building a blueprint:

1. Start with the end result in mind.  What result must be realized from this purchase?   (For example.  As a district, we would like to have a five point gain in writing scores in seventh grade from this purchase.)
2. Know the scale of your purchase.  Does this need to truly serve every student or is a smaller scale a smarter direction?  There is no harm in starting small, piloting and expanding within your comfort level.
3. Understand what supporting technology (software) will be needed to achieve the desired results.  Do your homework and pull research and results studies. 
4. Know the specs of the supporting technology so that you can implement with fidelity.  The first time.   Does a school need a dedicated server?  Can the software run via web and if so what kind of pipeline will be needed to run it smoothly?  What processes need to be in place to install?
5. Locate existing technology already in use to determine conflicts and/or updates needed.
6. Put a training program in place for each site.  For virtual training, you will want to be able to monitor online participation to ensure that your expenditures are being used by the staff and not sit idle.
7. Finally, build a multiyear blueprint for update.  You want to insure that you are looking out into the future for possible expenditures a planning ahead.

Technology is changing, fast. 

Statistics show that currently there are four students for each piece of instructional technology, which is significantly different from just a decade ago when it was twelve to one.  Even though students have more access now than ever, know that this number will change even more in the next five years.

Are you prepared?  Do you have a blueprint in place to make sure it is not just technology for every student, but technology that provides a solution to a specific set of problems?

Position the technology with a blueprint and engineer your way to results you can measure.

Related Reading:

Blended Learning Implementation Strategies for the K-12 Classroom

Using Data Effectively in School Districts: Tips for School Administrators

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: innovation, school leader effectiveness, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact, technology in education

Bringing Learning to Life in the Classroom: Technology for 21st Century Schools

• December 22, 2011 by Carrie Gajowski

Dim the lights and listen.  Rumbling and stomping fills the classroom.  First grade students sit up and lean forward in their seats, readied with excitement and anticipation as their science lesson comes to life. A Tyrannosaurus Rex lurches into the room, right in front of their eyes. Students observe the mighty carnivore as it tromps through the classroom, taking note of its activities, its eating habits and its demeanor.

This scene heralds a new age of interactivity for 21^st century classrooms throughout the country.   The vivid, clear and extraordinary images provided by today’s 3D technologies dramatically expand the possibilities for classroom learning.  Teachers understand the impact this type of technology has on students and are harnessing its power to bring the classroom to life and help students more easily grasp difficult concepts.

The possibilities for 3D-enhanced student learning experiences are limitless. No longer is learning based simply on textbooks or computer-based tools. Rather, 3D technology is being used to supplement and enhance the standard curriculum, giving students the opportunity to observe and explore phenomena up close in their own classroom via “3D field trips,” without the hassle of leaving the school grounds. 

For the study of science, this is particularly exciting.  Students can explore the solar system, taking extra time to observe the topography of Mars. They can fly along with a bee to learn about the hive, pollination and the important role bees play in the sustainability of our food chain and environment.  With 3D modeling, students don special 3D glasses to immerse themselves in an experience such as looking inside the human body to observe how the brain works, or watching how a dissected frog’s internal organs function in real time.

As “digital natives,” younger generations are primed to respond to technology-based teaching techniques in the classroom.  But with scarce education dollars at stake, what evidence is there that 3D technologies can positively impact learning outcomes? 

Thus far, schools that have adopted these new tools have reported good results. Student attention has increased—especially among learners who have tended to be disruptive or inattentive during more traditional instruction.  All types of learners are more engaged in creative thinking and actively participating in the lessons and discussions, with ELL students and gifted students particularly benefiting.   Learners have been shown to grasp and retain information more effectively than their peers who learn the same material without 3D technology, and have shown significant increases in academic achievement.

Some say today’s 3D tools are just the beginning, and have started to imagine an enriched instructional world in which students will use yet-to-be-developed tools to visit historic sites, see how regrouping is done in subtraction, and tour a variety of ecosystems.  An ultimate goal would be for 3D technologies to stimulate higher-order thinking in ways that 2D tools can’t, confronting students with experiences that they must consider and respond to in novel and creative ways.

The possibilities of 3D tools are promising, but how viable are they long-term?  Can schools afford them?  Will the supply of fresh 3D content become more readily available across subject areas?  Will students step in, as some have predicted, creating content to fill current gaps—and will the content they create have the same type of positive impact on student learning outcomes that some early adopters have seen? Can 3D technology help schools produce more active and informed citizens?  Can it help produce more highly skilled, tech-savvy, innovative workers to compete in the global marketplace?

There is no doubt that 3D technology has awakened classrooms with a new energy and new potential for richer, deeper learning.  It has the power to turn our learners into explorers, their curiosity awakened and their skills and senses “switched on.”  Now don your 3D glasses, because the rest remains to be seen.

References:

Discover the advantages of teaching in 3D

Related Reading:

Video Games: A New Perspective on Learning Content and Skills

10 Big Benefits of Using iPads in Schools

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: creativity, curriculum, digital natives, innovation, school leader effectiveness, science, teacher impact, technology in education

Using Data Effectively in School Districts: Tips for School Administrators

• December 20, 2011 by Corey Fitzgerald

The proliferation of data and data systems in Education has given rise to vast amounts of information; so much so that it can be difficult understanding what to do with it.  I suppose that’s why some districts still rely on “random acts of improvement” (Bernhardt 2006, p.30) to track progress and recognize success, a tattered approach that falls short in justifying outcomes. 

To avoid this gaffe, successful administrators use a practical framework to establish a culture of data-driven practices that wholly and effectively measure the performance of their entire educational system.  Achieving this is not a random act – it takes focus, leadership and plenty of practice to turn data into knowledge.   And with knowledge comes intelligence, like these 8 tips for effective data use in your school district.

1.   Establish a Clear Vision

Know where your district is going.  Ensure the school board, staff and students, along with the community understand the rationale and have a plan on how to get there.

2.  Ensure Buy-in

Give all members the opportunity to participate in creating the goals and objectives.  Getting their input will produce a stronger commitment because participants will ‘own’ the process.

3.   Learn From Others

Explore districts that have developed and implemented effective data-driven decision making processes.  Examine the criteria 15 districts used to create performance targets, deliver professional development and address technology and budgetary issues.

4.  Examine the Infrastructure for Data Collection and Use

Analyze the following to ensure resource availability and compliance:

• Personnel involved (time, cost and application)
• Data you have vs. data you need (analyze growth)
• Reliable storage and access (cloud computing)
• Frequency of data collection and reporting (daily)
• Accountability and reporting (operational requirements)

5.  Foster Professional Development and Growth

In addition to developing skills, people need to create an understanding of their role in the data culture.  Focused, data-supported interactions among staff are paramount to building relationships and ensuring best practices are shared.

6.  Follow Indicators and Lead by Example

Build habits that encourage data use and create momentum for monitoring change.  One approach is to incorporate real-life stories from your staff profiling both the positive and negative outcomes.  When everyone is aware of the impact, they know exactly how change is being supported and what they can do to improve the product of their work.

7.  Change the Way You Lead

Putting data and data-driven leadership to use in every conversation, meeting and interaction sends the message that this approach is valued and expected.  Frequent highlights of success are rewarding and validate the outcomes, while adding integrity to the transformation of your district.

8.  Make Good Use of Your Resources

Making the shift to a data-driven culture often imposes many changes to a district.  Identifying solutions to these challenges should be done through the vast network of talent and skill already in your district, which include not only staff but also business partners and non-profits in your community. 

What you do with this new intelligence is now up to you… share it, embrace it, or erase it. 

References:

Creating a Data-Driven Culture: Leadership Matters. Eight steps to prepare a school district for accessing and integrating data to make informed, proactive decisions. December 19, 2011. http://www.sas.com.

Related Reading:

Data Driven Decisions: A GPS Approach

How Can You Predict Student Reading Growth?

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Categories: Education Trends

Tags: school leader effectiveness, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact, technology in education

School Gardens: Sowing the Seeds of Experiential Learning

• December 15, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

Many children’s songs and rhymes reference gardens and the vegetable world, but when I was a student we stayed indoors singing rather than experiencing that world firsthand. But in the last two decades, schools have introduced gardening into the curriculum as a way for students to learn lessons only nature can provide. Allowing students to research, design, and build a garden gives a teacher an opportunity to demonstrate the practical application of classroom subjects in a real world scenario.

Activities such as composting, selecting appropriate plants for a climate zone, and profiling soils are directly related to science and ecology. Building trellises, measuring wood for fences, and solving garden equations such as “If a row is 10 feet long and we plant our corn 12 inches apart how many corn stalks can we grow in one row?” all contribute towards mathematical problem solving. Having students keep a handwritten and illustrated journal is a great way for them to develop handwriting and written communication skills, and to scientifically observe and chronicle the seed-to-plant life cycle.  The opportunities for learning go on and on, from collecting bugs and insects in a terrarium and observing their habitat and behavior, to researching the nutritional composition of vegetables grown, to learning safe kitchen procedures and following a recipe in preparation for cooking the harvest later in the school year.

When I was a child I detested most vegetables, even ones I had yet to taste! Because students are often willing to taste vegetables they have helped to grow, school gardens can improve a child’s eating habits, giving them nutrient rich foods that may be lacking in their diet. It’s also fun for children to participate in the preparation of meals, adding a sense of accomplishment in seeing their harvest from seed to plate. Students can opt to sell their vegetables and flowers to raise money for their school or a class field trip to a local garden. Introducing a business plan and how to handle money is a great hands-on math assignment that can be rewarding for students.

Just as important as the practical, hands-on skills that the garden teaches, are the aspects of self-regulation required to bring plants to maturity.  A student who wishes to eat a carrot must leave the carrot in the ground until it is grown rather than pulling it up as soon as it sprouts.  This lesson is quickly learned, as is the lesson that the carrot plant must receive proper care and nurturing  in the form of sun and water and protection from frost and pests so it can fully develop.  For many students, a garden provides a rare opportunity to experience first hand the importance of patience and nurturance as life skills.  There are no short cuts, and pulling a big orange carrot out of the ground is an irrefutable reward for a job well done.

School gardens provide a highly practical and direct form of education, where children can see the results of their decisions and actions. Learning how to grow good food not only gives students a chance to apply classroom learning in a practical setting, but can also improve health, provide a livelihood, and increase self-sufficiency.

So find out how you can get involved in your school’s garden, or start to build one with your students.  What a difference it can make.

Related Reading:

Modeling Healthy Choices: Three Habits for Optimal Brain Health

Individualizing Instruction Through Understanding Different Types of Learners

 

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: creativity, how children learn, learning environment, learning through play, math, motivating students, novelty, nutrition, play, school leader effectiveness, science, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact

Using the Power of Optimal Timing to Improve the Brain’s Ability to Learn

• December 13, 2011 by Bill Jenkins, Ph.D.

Learning is both a behavioral and biological process that is supported by the neurons in the brain over time.

When we learn, our brain cells physically change in response to stimulation, forming pathways to facilitate the connections we use repeatedly. For example, if you meet a person only once, you might not remember their name or recognize their face if you were to run into them on the street ten years on. On the other hand, if you see that person every day for a year, you will likely be able to recognize their face and remember their name much more readily should you not see that person for a long period of time.

Learning processes like these in the brain take predictable, measured amounts of time. While these rates will vary from person to person and nervous system to nervous system, we can depend upon certain relatively constant timeframes for learning and processing an understanding of some of these timeframes can allow educators to take maximum advantage of them. That’s why the Fast ForWord® products function on each of these scales by design, using the power of optimal timing to improve the brain’s ability to learn.

Learning depends upon a specific feedback loop characterized by timing between stimulus, response and reward ^[i]. Here are some of those timescales, along with how Fast ForWord works within each:

• Milliseconds: Auditory processing happens on the millisecond timescale. Fast ForWord helps improves auditory processing rate to ensure that students are able to “keep up” with auditory input such as spoken directions from their teacher.
• Seconds: Reinforcement learning happens on a scale of seconds and is achieved by interacting with one’s surroundings.  The Fast ForWord program’s reward system is based on this time scale, delivering rewards to students at just the right moment to maximize reinforcement learning, helping students get the most benefit from the program.
• Minutes: Our actions change based on how we perceive our surroundings. This kind of adaptation can take minutes. As students move through Fast ForWord exercises, they can see their performance results changing minute by minute. Being able to see such improvement helps motivate students toward greater learning. In other words, as they perceive the positive results of their actions, students adapt and learn to generate more of those positive results.
• Days or Weeks: Consolidation and maturation of memories can take days or weeks. When a student overcomes an obstacle in Fast ForWord, their confidence is strengthened and they not only learn the material, but they learn about their own capabilities and what success feels like. The memories of such experiences and the associated feelings – gathered and built upon over the days, weeks and months – lay the foundation to spur them on to future success. Such success in the classroom can lead to a greater drive to perform well in other areas, such as doing well on a test, winning on the athletic field, or successfully completing that college application.   We cannot underestimate the power of experiencing success and the sensation that it creates.

In the classroom, having an awareness of how long it takes for a student to assimilate and process certain kinds of information can add an entirely different rhythm to our instruction. In having such an understanding of how the brains of our students work, we can time our teaching to optimize learning and help our students achieve maximum success.

References:

[i] Why Time Matters Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center. University of California San Diego

Related Reading:

The Brain Gets Better at What it Does: Dr. Martha Burns on Brain Plasticity

Video Games: A New Perspective on Learning Content and Skills

 

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Categories: Brain Fitness, Brain Research, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, accelerate learning, auditory processing, brain plasticity, emotions in learning, how children learn, learning environment, motivating students, processing rate, teacher impact, technology in education

The Making of a 21st Century Educator: 5 Ways to be a Better Teacher in Today’s Classroom

• December 6, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

The highest calling of today's education system is to equip students with the characteristics and skills needed to navigate the ever-changing 21st century global economy as adults. We talk a lot about how to engage students and make them better learners, but how often do we step back and consider how to make better educators? The success of our students and the effectiveness of the education system as a whole starts and ends with the teacher.

So what might an effective 21st century educator look like? eSchool News recently polled its readers and came up with five characteristics that the most effective educators have in common.  Here’s what you can do to emulate them:

• Be forward thinking. The 21st century educator must have a broader vision, anticipating and adapting to trends, not only in education, but technology and science as well. Our teachers are tasked with preparing students, not for the world as it exists today, but for the one they will someday inherit.
• Be an eager learner. Technology has become a fundamental part of our students' daily experience, both in and out of the classroom. Educators operating in such a rapidly evolving technological climate simply must be willing to learn to effectively teach. The phrase "lead by example" comes to mind. If we want our students to be inquisitive, open-minded and willing to learn from making mistakes, so must be our teachers.
• Be a builder of relationships. Today's students are more likely to gauge their number of friends on Facebook than by who sits with them at the lunch table. In such a world of technological isolation, where it's possible to go through an entire day without real human interaction, we must facilitate interpersonal relationships within the classroom while prioritizing communication, respect and cooperation.
• Be equipped to teach all levels of learners. As effective 21st century educators, we not only need to be armed with the same characteristics and skills we plan to impart on our students, we must also have the ability to teach those characteristics and skills to every student at every level in the classroom. This includes the ability to effectively relate to students and teach to their unique learning styles.
• Be able to implement technology effectively. Enhancing the educational environment with technology can facilitate faster learning and streamline teacher tasks, such as grading, planning and presenting lessons, but simply putting a computer in front of your students isn't enough. Technology can just as easily be distracting or unproductive. An effective 21st century educator will have the discernment and know-how to incorporate technology into the classroom in a way that facilitates, rather than distracts from, teaching and learning.

As educators working under pressure to maximize student performance, we sometimes focus all of our time and energy on developing curriculum, planning and implementing lessons, and accessing our students' skill level at the expense of our own ongoing education. If we take the time to foster the characteristics necessary to be an effective educator in ourselves and our peers, our students will ultimately benefit.

References:

Five characteristics of an effective 21st-century educator

Related Reading:

Using Google in the Classroom: Two Simple Tips to Refine Your Search

Facebook in Schools: Tool or Taboo?

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: how children learn, learning environment, motivating students, school leader effectiveness, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact, technology in education

The Question Formulation Technique: 6 Steps to Help Students Ask Better Questions

• November 29, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

The ability to ask questions is the genesis – the “big bang” – where learning really starts. It is that moment where information that has entered the brain mixes with other ideas and begins to synthesize new ideas. Questions demonstrate curiosity. Questions represent the beginning of discovery and innovation. The first step of the scientific method itself is the careful formulation of a question.

But how often do we focus on teaching our students how to formulate good, well-considered questions? Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana have focused their work on exactly this skill, developing an approach they call the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). The two are co-directors of The Right Question Institute (RQI), a non-profit organization that focuses on helping people learn to better advocate for themselves and participate more in decision-making processes by teaching them how to ask questions. While the RQI applies their techniques across health care, community service, public agencies and community-based organizations, their ideas represent an excellent tool that we can use in our classrooms every day.

Recently published in the Harvard Education Letter, their article “Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions,” describes the Question Formulation Technique, a way for educators to present material in ways that encourage students to take a more active ownership role in their learning. There are six steps to the technique, as follows:

1.      Find a focus - The “QFocus,” as it is called by Rothstein and Santana, is a prompt that serves to focus student questions so they can explore more expansive ideas. The authors offer an example presented by a teacher after covering the causes of the 1804 Haitian revolution: “Once we were slaves. Now we are free,” With a clear, direct thought like this to focus their thinking, the students begin formulating and posing questions around this idea.

2.      Brainstorm - Constrained by a few simple rules to help people stay focused, students formulate as many questions as possible. At this point, they are asked not to judge the quality of the questions, nor pursue any answers. This is much like the classic “brainstorming” process, where ideas are generated in a free, uninterrupted flow.

3.      Refine - The students work with the questions they have created, reformulating them as open- and closed-ended questions. They categorize them and make them clearer, more focused and more apt to yield the desired answers.

4.      Prioritize - Using lesson plans and teaching goals, the teacher helps students select their top three questions and use them to zero in on the most important aspects of the material.

5.      Determine next steps - Students and teachers together review the priority questions and make decisions about how best to use them for learning. The questions can be used to drive experimentation, further reading, research and/or discussion.

6.      Reflect - The teacher and students review their questions in the context of the six steps they have worked through to produce them. According to Rothstein and Santana, “Making the QFT completely transparent helps students see what they have done and how it contributed to their thinking and learning. They can internalize the process and then apply it in many other settings.”

Note the key word in that last sentence – internalize. Through this process, students add question formulation to their cognitive toolbox, making it a part of how they address information and problem-solving going forward. The authors note a number of benefits to the QFT, including increased group participation and better classroom management. But more importantly, they found that students were more apt to delve deeply into topics on their own, posing well-considered, critical questions that not only help direct their learning, but allow them to take more effective ownership of that learning as well.

As a “habit of mind,” the Question Formulation Technique demonstrates beautifully how the brain is built for pattern recognition. It also represents research that holds great promise for helping students form thinking patterns early on that will yield lifelong benefits.

Related Reading:

Teaching Creativity in the Classroom

Inspiring Students to Dream, Learn and Grow

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: cognitive skills, creativity, decision making, elementary school learning, how children learn, motivating students, science, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact

Creating Safe Learning Environments: How Classroom Management Influences Student Performance

• November 15, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

Think back to your grade school days. Did you ever experience a class where a bully ruled the roost? Were you ever bullied yourself?  Did you ever have a teacher who frightened you or who made you feel bad for underperforming? Or was there simply a disruptive class clown who constantly broke the classroom rhythm the teacher was trying so hard to create?

To varying degrees, all of the above situations can create what we might consider an unsafe learning environment. The teacher must take unquestionable ownership of the classroom, but do so in a positive, caring, constructive manner. The class succeeds or fails on his or her decisions and management of the entire learning experience.

Why is managing that classroom and creating that safe environment where learning can happen so essential? In her article on the value of safe learning environments, Lora Desautels, Ph.D., reminds us that during adolescence, the part of the brain that controls emotional responses—the amygdala—develops faster than other centers of the brain while the prefrontal cortex, a center for logical thought and rational response, develops later. Thus, our students are more effectively wired for emotion than logic. Their systems are primed to react to situations with feelings and they have not yet fully developed the ability to apply logical thinking to keep those feelings in check.

It follows that the stimuli within and surrounding the learning environment can have great effects on these emotional responses and can serve to either support or impair the learning process. The bully, the clown, and the teacher can all have a profound effect on how well a student learns.

So what can we as educators do to bring down the levels of stress in our classrooms and make sure that our learning environments are safe places where optimal learning can take place? How can we create spaces that keep the emotional responses as positive and free of stress and anxiety as possible so that we can most effectively engage fresh young minds?

Rebecca Alber has written a wonderful list of twenty ways to create a safe learning environment for Edutopia, which I highly recommend. Her advice for educators includes building community, setting clear boundaries, smiling and laughing a lot, and getting to know each individual student, as well as allowing them to get to know something personal about you. She says we should sit with our students. We should keep our expectations for student performance and behavior high. And we should incorporate art and music into the day.

I agree with Alber’s top twenty. I find it wonderful that she strikes a balance between creating a space that is fun and welcoming and full of laughter, but also one where expectations are set and failures become learning opportunities. All of them can do wonders when it comes to creating a space where students can let go of their stresses and anxieties and free their minds to absorb all the wonderful learning we have in store for them.

In the end, the responsibility for implementing these kinds of principles and removing the stressors that can impair learning lie with us, the educators. Creating that safe learning environment is a multifaceted challenge that, when done well, allows students to flourish.

Related Reading:

Tapping the Source: Finding and Using the Innate Student Passion for Learning

Inspiring Students to Dream, Learn and Grow

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Categories: Brain Research, Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, behavior, brain development, emotions in learning, health and well being, how children learn, learning environment, self-esteem, teacher impact