July 11, 2018 – Power of WHEN, Teaching Like a PIRATE & Our Brains
Evening Owls! I am currently flying well above 10,000 ft. and reflecting on the last couple of days of learning at the NAESP Conference. I love going away to learn, but I also love returning home. Here are a few of my learning nuggets from the conference. I’m so excited for the month of July and our journey that is ahead of us. Make sure you are taking care of yourself and enjoying your time with family, friends and/or alone time. #sendpictures #summeradventures #elliotthope
Power of WHEN (Daniel Pink, Author of Blink, When & others)
The hidden pattern of the day profoundly affects human beings. It shapes how we feel and how we perform. It affects student performance. Study after study indicates that 80% of us follow a pattern of ‘peak, trough and recovery.’ Peak is usually early in our day, trough generally the middle of our day and recovery being later in the day. From this research, we know that kids don’t perform the same during each part of the day … this is a very hard problem to solve but we must be aware. There are specific tasks that are best suited for peaks, troughs and recovery.
We underestimate the power of breaks!
A 20- to 30- minute break improves average test scores and student performance in learning. Our results also show that low-performing students are those who suffer more from fatigue and benefit more from breaks. Thus, having breaks before testing is important in schools with students who are struggling.
What we know about the right kinds of breaks:
- Something beats nothing. (even 1 minute is better than none)
- Moving beats stationary.
- Social beats solo. (breaks with other people are better, even for introverts)
- Outside beats inside – the replenishing effects of being outside are astounding (go for a run to the gazebo or something else creative)
- Fully detached beats semi-detached. (Don’t talk about work).
Important Takeaways:
- Don’t think of breaks as a deviation from learning. Think of them as part of learning
- Schedule breaks the way you’d schedule anything else important.
- Fight for recess, not as a nicety but as a necessity.
Syncing kids are thinking kids! (this is fascinating …)
Kids help each other more after performing rhythmic movement synchronously compared to non-synchronously in a peer-play context. i.e. having kids clap a rhythm and/or series of rhythms and movements
Movement synchrony may be a fundamental mechanism in social bonding, serving to mitigate emotional tension among individuals and groups. Synchronizing with other makes us both feel good and do good. Encourage younger children to play synchronous games in the classroom (part of brain breaks) and on the playground.
TEACH LIKE A PIRATE
The MAGIC is in (YOU) the PEOPLE! Programs don’t teach kids, teachers do, and teachers are capable of making magic happen for kids. Be relentless in seeking out and nurturing the greatness in our students AND each other, as colleagues. I have so much good information from this session that I think I will create a year long map of how to share through our morning A & As.
Our BRAINs
This information has been around for awhile but it has been a long time since I’ve intentionally used it. Back in the 90s and 00s, I would frequently begin my school year teaching a week long unit on the brain so kids could identify when they were ‘downshifting into their brain stem.’ Much of the information in the session is information that we all know, but it reminded me that many of our kids could benefit from understanding the 3 parts of their brain: ‘survival’ (brain stem), ’emotional’ (cerebral cortex) and ‘thinking’ (cerebrum).