Brain-based Teaching: Part 1

The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities is one place to look for resources. Their website lists hundreds of excellent articles and websites for further research. The National Association for the Education of Young Children is another that focuses specifically on elementary (primary) school education.

I would like to share with you a bit of what I have done with respect to brain-based research as I applied it to my classroom. I have used a variety of techniques that scientists have shown make a real difference to the brain and student learning. Among these are the use of music in the classroom, making deliberate changes to mental states, and specific ways to give directions to student learners to achieve positive results.

Music in the Classroom

Kids today are exposed almost constantly to music of various kinds on television, in malls and office buildings, on their own cellphones or computers. As movie makers know, music can set the mood for any scene. Playing music during classes can change the atmosphere of the class from noisy to quiet, from chaotic to organized. It is an important tool that is not used as much as it could be by teachers.

As far as the type of music that I have played in the classroom, it's mostly from Eric Jensen's CD collections of music. Jensen has become internationally recognized for his "brain-based" publications for teachers. He links current brain research with strategies to improve student achievement. Music is one of the key tools he uses to stimulate positive feelings in the classroom.

He suggests considering the emotional state you are trying to elicit, the age of the listener and the types of music that are most familiar to them. Songs with words should be reserved for special occasions or games; Jensen suggests relying mainly on instrumental music of various kinds.

To celebrate the start or completion of tasks, something upbeat can get students inspired. For lengthy writing tasks, calming music with a slow rhythm can aid concentration.

According to various brain studies, beats per minute (BPM) can have profound effects on the human body and brain. Jensen writes:

"Songs in the 35-50 BPM range will be more calming, while those in the middle 55-70 BPM will be more moderate for seatwork. For activities, the pace might be 70-100 and for energizers, maybe 100-160 BPM will REALLY rev it up."

I bought an expensive Bose IPOD music system that I have used regularly in the classroom. Now I am not saying that teachers need to spend a lot of money. I would suggest going to Wal-Mart and picking up a CD player for around twenty-five dollars -- or if your school offers Audio-Visual equipment, to request that a CD player be made available to you in your class every day. Alternatively, you can attach good speakers to a computer or smartphone - just be sure that they can put out sufficient volume to be heard by a classroom of excited, noisy kids!

The point here is that it is not the cost of the system but rather that appropriate music can assist students with a given activity  and that you will want to be able to access music as a teaching tool at any time.

Stay tuned for Brain-based Teaching part 2, as we will discuss music to match specific activities.

All the best,

Steve

Inside the Project-Based Learning Classroom

Author: Steve Hiles

Carefully planned lessons are a rarity in the real world. Life is not a series of modules, units or activities. Assessments are high-stakes and have a major impact on such crucial milestones as job offers, career advancement and special opportunities.
Of course, this isn’t to say that you should throw the baby out with the bathwater: lessons, units and assessments are still useful to teachers and parents who homeschool, but a growing movement – project-based learning, or PBL – advocates a method of instruction that goes beyond isolated units and individual lessons. Let’s take a closer look at how this curriculum works and what you need to institute it in your home or school classroom.

What Is Project-Based Learning?
Broadly defined, project-based learning is a more dynamic approach to education that embeds students in a “real-world” environment for an extended period of time. During that time, students formulate problems and questions, pose challenges, design approaches to answer those challenges, and generally operate using a project model.
This type of learning encourages students to learn more deeply about the subject they’re studying, to engage with it on multiple levels, and to learn the skills and practices that will enable them to deal with complex material in the sophisticated ways required in the real world. To be clear, this does not mean that you should expect students to meet adult standards of learning simply by using a project-based curriculum; rather, you should give them the means to address and solve large-scale problems over time, just as adults do in professional environments.

What Are the Hallmarks of a Good PBL Curriculum?
Naturally, students still need guidance to be successful in this type of curriculum.
While project-based learning is less like a lesson or a unit, and more like a true real-world application of knowledge (such as one might find in a professional or scientific environment), students still need ground rules, monitoring and redirection. More specifically, according to the Buck Institute for Education, they need:

• Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skills: This includes background knowledge needed to engage with material successfully
• Challenging Problem or Question: A problem or question, set by the teacher, that frames the project (can be loose or open to student refinement)
• Sustained Inquiry: Enough time to engage with the material deeply, ranging from a week to a few months, and enough time during each sitting to dig in (at least an hour)
• Authenticity: Real-world context and meaning in students’ lives
• Student Voice & Choice: A crucial element, reflecting that students must be able to make some of the decisions regarding how and on what they work
• Reflection: Both students and teachers should think back on the process to see what worked and what didn’t
• Critique & Revision: Just as in the real world, students give and receive feedback, using it to improve their work and process in future
• Public Product: Students share their work beyond the walls of their classroom

This transition through steps effectively mimics real-world contexts, giving students skills they will draw on in later life when they step into roles as working professionals.

Required Resources
Projects are fairly open-ended and can apply to all subjects, so there is no one materials list for PBL. However, some of the primary resources include:

• An entry event: For example, a video, demonstration or reading assignment that introduces students to material
• Materials to engage with the problem: For example, science equipment if students are studying water quality; currency and goods if studying economics
• A public display or presentation venue: a hallway, a refrigerator, an auditorium
• Journals for note-taking and reflection
• Media for final projects: video cameras, computers with design software, printers, etc.

Necessary Skill Sets
“Students find project work more meaningful if they conduct real inquiry,” explains ACSD, “which does not mean finding information in books or websites and pasting it onto a poster.” To effectively engage with project-based learning, students need skills that can include but must go beyond merely basic skills such as using indices or cutting and pasting text. Some of the necessary skills to either ensure they already know or pre-teach include

• Posing answerable questions
• Designing experiments or research projects
• Forming conclusions
• Analyzing qualitative or quantitative data
• Offering and accepting constructive criticism
• Working in groups

Students don’t necessarily need to possess all of these skills to begin; they can learn and discover new skills along the way, or package their findings in novel ways (i.e. this project might be the perfect time to develop communication skills by making videos and PSAs). However, they should have at least some familiarity with the above before beginning.

The project-based learning curriculum might feel like a stretch for educators or parents used to providing materials in neatly packaged lessons and units. However, once you understand the main goal of this type of learning – enable students to engage deeply with material over time – it becomes easier. Start with smaller projects, requiring less time and materials, and progress to bigger ones. Soon you’ll be engaging in project-based learning like a pro … as will your students.

All the best,
Steve