Use this blog to share a brief reflection about the book you read. Your reflection does not need to be lengthy, but keep in mind that others will be reading what you have written, and may make a decision about the book based on your comments. So...include enough information to enable someone to get a clear sense of whether the book should be put on their "to read" list. Please check this blog often throughout the year to see what others are reading.
Tons of understandable, useful information on the physiology of the brain and links that information to best practice for classroom use. I need to buy this book because there is too much here for a quick read. This is a book I would come back to time and time again. Highly recommended for anyone who teaches in any capacity.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D.
This book was captivating! It reiterated what we have learned in class . . . the brain is wired for survival. If experiences threaten our survival, then our brain re-wires itself to protect itself from that experience. The book shared examples of how children experienced a variety of tramatic events and how their brains re-wired because of it. In many instances, children were "sensistized" to anything connected to their experience, so they seemed out-of-control, or even hyperactive. But the reality is that their body was constantly "on alert" for what may hurt them. In some instances, when the danger is inevitable,the mind will "disassociate" itself (create a "new world" to survive in) for the duration of the trauma. In response, the body's blood pressure will lower, so that it will not bleed out so quickly. Some children (and perhaps adults) who experience this disassociation tend to "zone out" when reminders of the threat are triggered,and some even faint, because their blood pressure has become so low. I highly recommend this book, but as Julie said, it is rather disturbing.
The subtitle to this book, Using What We Know About Learning to Improve Teaching, is a concise summary of the book. The author touches on a number of teaching practices that will help maximize learning. For each strategy, specific examples from different grade levels are given for how to implement it in the classroom. One chapter I found particularly interesting was chapter 5 called "Time, Time, and More Time". It explains the opportune times for learning within a person's lifespan, a student's day, and a teacher's lesson. At the end of each chapter there is a box which highlights the brain-compatible ideas from that chapter. These are helpful summaries. The book was well worth the time spent reading it, and I highly recommend it to others.
This book was very interesting. It amazes me that somebody could survive the trauma that Phineas Gage went through. It was also interesting to read what different doctors and researchers back then thought the different parts of the brain did. Phineas Gage went from a very likable man to a loner from the trauma. This story reminded me of Gabriel Gifford and the trauma she has gone through. I wonder if she will have any personality changes. I recommend this book to others. It is a quick and easy read.
While I'm not sure I agree with all that Pink had to say in this VERY well thought out argument for a different way of looking at our currently and rapidly changing world, I will say that he hit on some important notes. For instance, he brought up the importance of stories, and how we remember better when presented a story. Jesus understood this, even way back when... he used parables to teach, knowing that the story would be easier for people to connect to, and to retell.
I also agree on his points about Globalization, and the rapidly increasing need to teach creative skills over repeatable content. The everyday and mundane, in a globally connected world, is easily relocated to anyone in the entire world willing to do it for cheaper. If we're to succeed as a competitive nation in a global market, we need to CREATE more than we RE-CREATE. He said that those with imagination, design and innovative skills will continue to be in demand, while white-collar jobs at desks that can be trained are now easily out-sourced.
Very interesting read for someone looking for (in my opinion, subjective) answers to what the future of our educational system might be looking at!
I read "Teaching with the Brain in Mind" by Eric Jensen.
I found this book to be wonderful! I really learned a lot and was able to start using many things right away in my classroom. Many of the things in the book confirmed what Julie taught us too.
I used to thing that people who were good at music and art were right brained people. But the book told me that that theory is out. I also thought it was good to know and pass on to others that the reason our brain needs 8-12 glasses of water a day is because of all the electrolytic balance.
It told me that the experiences in your first year of life can completely change the way a person turns out later on. And that the environment can change a person's IQ 20 points either way.
Things I used/or will use in my classroom: 1. Change the decor in the classroom - to enrich brain stimulation. 2. Give them challenging problem solving problems to figure out often. 3. Teach from a different classroom or even from a different place in the room. 4. To help with students' processing the information given to them, have them present what they learned to another student 5. Emotions drive attention and can make us care or not care about learning. 6. Some kind of aerobic conditioning has been known to assist with Memory - so play charades to review.
Very good and easy book to read. I would recommend every teacher to read it.
Snooze or Lose: 10 No-War Ways to Improve Your Teens Sleep By H. Emsellem
The early chapters of this book give a fair accounting and information on the basics of sleep rhythms. (interesting) However the author fails to impart any new information or to even give insightful guidance for the truly struggling teen. The list of foods to avoid, behaviors to avoid etc. should be rather obvious to most adults and most especially to anyone who would actually pick up a book of this type. There is no new information here, nothing profound or worthy of highlight. Most of the 10 step guidance she suggests should be common sense parental fair if you have survived the terrible twos. Her “teenager’s” perspective on turning her sleep-life around is trite and a bit condescending. (more than a little bit Holier-Than-Thou) Heed the AEA’s warning and let this book be tossed out. It’s not worthy of a spot in your collection. And in the words of my teen (who read it behind me..) “ah, DUH!” Any parent, teacher or teenager could have given the same information in less time and with more feeling. Kelly Curry
Angie Toale I read,The House On Beartown Road" by Elizabeth Cohen. I really enjoyed this book. The author tells the touching story of her father and family dealing with alzheimers. I learned that many of the hardships she was dealing with in caring for her father are very similar to my own family as we care for my father who also has the disease. I have tried the memory game that Elizabeth used with her father in the story with my own. Unfortunately my father is much farther along in the stages of the disease and it didn't help. My time reading this book was very well spent. If a story can make you cry and reflect it was well worth the read. I highly recommend this book, especially if someone you know has alzheimer's disease.
I read Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong. This book was a pretty easy read, partially because Julie had highlighted the best parts. It dealt with Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation. It had a lot of data to support the fact that as teacher we need to push for intrinsic motivation. Throughout the book, it cited examples of how each motivator was used and abused. It really made you think about your classroom management and the use of rewards and punishments. I would recommend this book.
RESEARCH-BASED STRATEGIES TO IGNITE STUDENT LEARNING
The book Ignite was written by Dr. Judy Willis. She is a neurologist who would later go on to become a classroom teacher. The major focus of the book is to give educators different strategies to reach students based on what we know about how the brain works. It basically is like taking what we are learning in our Brain Based Learning class and putting it into a book. It covers many strategies that teachers can and should use in their classrooms and gives the brain research on why we should use those strategies.
A few of the strategies -Presenting material in different ways will lead to more pathways being created to the brain. -Use several senses and different subjects when teaching new material. -Engage the students through surprise or novel events. -Use graphic organizers to help students see the relationships between new information. -Hook information to past experiences -Introduce material when the students are engaged. -Create personal motivation. -Ask open-ended questions. (Problem Based Learning) -Set a positive emotional climate. (Too much stress can deactivate memory and storage regions of the brain.) -Use rubrics and involve the students in making the assessments.
Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck This book was a good read, and I recommend it. Carol is a psychologist who has performed various studies on the different mindsets of people. She says people can have either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Basically, the people who have a fixed mindset are always measuring themselves as a success or a failure. The fixed mindset people are always concerned with "looking good" in whatever they do, and shy away from new experiences. They believe that character and intelligence are pretty much set for life--no changing them. People who have a growth mindset tend to look at life as a learning experience--a kind of go-with-the-flow type people. She says that the people who have a growth mindset also tend to be very accurate with their own strengths and weaknesses. With new experiences, growth mindset people do well because they look at it as a way to cultivate learning. She goes on to talk about and give examples how just these mindsets of people can carve out their whole life in school, business, relationships, and in parenting. This book was very intriguing, and if you like to learn about why people think and act the way they do, this book is for you.
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO Understanding Self-Motivation By: Edward L. Deci with Richard Flaste
I thought this book was great. Out of all that we've learned in BBL this year, I was intrigued by the motivation piece the most so I chose the book, Why We Do What We Do by Edward L. Deci. It was interesting, easy to read, and now has me second guessing some assignments I've given to students in the past. I found Ch. 4 to be particularly interesting as it goes into greater depth on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It's a great read and all of the stories he told about experiments with seals, monkeys, and humans kept me interested and wanting to read more.
Why Don't Students Like School? by Daniel T Willingham
This is an interesting book with an eye catching title. The book gives insight to the cognitive side of why students do not like school. Even with good intentions by teachers, some of our teaching is not reaching students. The author gives lots of examples of what teachers do and why they are not successful. Basically, the teaching is not brain compatible. Teachers need to continue to use brain friendly techniques to increased learning. The model of how the brain learns is explained. I liked the chapter on "How students can remember everything that's on tv and forget everything I say." It strikes at the heart of every frustrated teacher. The book provides ways of getting students to learn better. Lastly, the end of the book emphasizes that teachers need to continually learn new techniques and strategies that are brain friendly.
This book opened my eyes to what we do to get kids to behave how we want them to behave. Learning in class and now reading this book, I learned that a behavior sticks when it's intrinsically motivated rather than motivated by rewards. The thing about rewards and punishments is that they only last short term and they have to get bigger and bigger. I think he is way one-sided, but it is an interesting book, and I would recommend.
I read What’s Going on in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life, by Lise Eliot. This book explores the brain’s development from conception through the first five years of life.
I thought Chapter 5 – The Importance of Touch was interesting. One section in this chapter focused on the benefits of infant massage. Infant massage is beneficial to preterm babies who spend much of their time lying flat in incubators hooked up to machines and touch is limited. Full term babies also benefit from daily massage. Massage therapy has also been found to be beneficial to older children with many medical problems, including asthma, diabetes, cancer, autism, skin problems, juvenile arthritis, eating disorders, and other psychiatric syndromes. Children showed lower anxiety and stress levels, better mood, improved sleep patterns, and higher levels of attentiveness when they received a daily massage from their parents.
I also thought Chapter 14 – Language and the Developing Brain was interesting. It explained that children throughout the world follow almost identical schedules for speaking single words, then two-word phrases, then sentences of increasing complexity, (all between one and four years of age). I have seen this same progression in the development of a second language in the Spanish Immersion program that I am a part of. This section also explained that a child’s brain is maximally capable of learning language (particularly the rules of logic and grammar) until the age of six or seven. Although it is possible for adults to learn a second language, learning a second language after the “window of opportunity” has passed does pose some problems. Most adults will have some problems with pronunciation as well as difficulty with grammatical usage.
Having young children and teaching kindergarten I found this book interesting.
This book explained how stress can effect every part of our lives. It can lead to illness, shutdown, depression, etc. It talks about how certain personalities are prone to stress and how people can deal with stress in positive manners.
As a teacher, we have all had students who take everything as a life or death issue. Little problems are blown out of proportion and the child seems to always be 'stressed out'. This book gave some ideas on how to use humor, relaxation, and other coping methods that can help these types of students.
I did find that this book was a little out-dated, but all in all a good read.
I read Gifted Hands by Ben Carson. This is a book that is very personal and inspirational. Ben Carson is a very successful neuro-surgeon at one of the most prestegious hospitals in the United States. At an early age Ben decided that he wanted to be a doctor. He grew up in a broken home. His father left when he was eight and his mother raised him and his older brother on her own. He faced many obstacles throughout his young life. He was not the smartest and he was often picked on because of his appearance. The driving force was his mother. She was very strict when it came to doing school work. She wanted the best for her boys and she instilled in them that they could do any thing that they wanted to if they worked hard and followed their dreams. Ben did just that and he did become a very successful doctor at John Hopkins Hospital.
Brain Matters by Patricia Wolfe
ReplyDeleteTons of understandable, useful information on the physiology of the brain and links that information to best practice for classroom use. I need to buy this book because there is too much here for a quick read. This is a book I would come back to time and time again. Highly recommended for anyone who teaches in any capacity.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D.
ReplyDeleteThis book was captivating! It reiterated what we have learned in class . . . the brain is wired for survival. If experiences threaten our survival, then our brain re-wires itself to protect itself from that experience. The book shared examples of how children experienced a variety of tramatic events and how their brains re-wired because of it. In many instances, children were "sensistized" to anything connected to their experience, so they seemed out-of-control, or even hyperactive. But the reality is that their body was constantly "on alert" for what may hurt them. In some instances, when the danger is inevitable,the mind will "disassociate" itself (create a "new world" to survive in) for the duration of the trauma. In response, the body's blood pressure will lower, so that it will not bleed out so quickly. Some children (and perhaps adults) who experience this disassociation tend to "zone out" when reminders of the threat are triggered,and some even faint, because their blood pressure has become so low. I highly recommend this book, but as Julie said, it is rather disturbing.
The Brain-Compatible Classroom by Laura Erlauer
ReplyDeleteThe subtitle to this book, Using What We Know About Learning to Improve Teaching, is a concise summary of the book. The author touches on a number of teaching practices that will help maximize learning. For each strategy, specific examples from different grade levels are given for how to implement it in the classroom. One chapter I found particularly interesting was chapter 5 called "Time, Time, and More Time". It explains the opportune times for learning within a person's lifespan, a student's day, and a teacher's lesson. At the end of each chapter there is a box which highlights the brain-compatible ideas from that chapter. These are helpful summaries. The book was well worth the time spent reading it, and I highly recommend it to others.
Phineas Gage by John Fleischman
ReplyDeleteThis book was very interesting. It amazes me that somebody could survive the trauma that Phineas Gage went through. It was also interesting to read what different doctors and researchers back then thought the different parts of the brain did. Phineas Gage went from a very likable man to a loner from the trauma. This story reminded me of Gabriel Gifford and the trauma she has gone through. I wonder if she will have any personality changes. I recommend this book to others. It is a quick and easy read.
A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not sure I agree with all that Pink had to say in this VERY well thought out argument for a different way of looking at our currently and rapidly changing world, I will say that he hit on some important notes. For instance, he brought up the importance of stories, and how we remember better when presented a story. Jesus understood this, even way back when... he used parables to teach, knowing that the story would be easier for people to connect to, and to retell.
I also agree on his points about Globalization, and the rapidly increasing need to teach creative skills over repeatable content. The everyday and mundane, in a globally connected world, is easily relocated to anyone in the entire world willing to do it for cheaper. If we're to succeed as a competitive nation in a global market, we need to CREATE more than we RE-CREATE. He said that those with imagination, design and innovative skills will continue to be in demand, while white-collar jobs at desks that can be trained are now easily out-sourced.
Very interesting read for someone looking for (in my opinion, subjective) answers to what the future of our educational system might be looking at!
-Matthew Tenney
I read "Teaching with the Brain in Mind" by Eric Jensen.
ReplyDeleteI found this book to be wonderful! I really learned a lot and was able to start using many things right away in my classroom. Many of the things in the book confirmed what Julie taught us too.
I used to thing that people who were good at music and art were right brained people. But the book told me that that theory is out. I also thought it was good to know and pass on to others that the reason our brain needs 8-12 glasses of water a day is because of all the electrolytic balance.
It told me that the experiences in your first year of life can completely change the way a person turns out later on. And that the environment can change a person's IQ 20 points either way.
Things I used/or will use in my classroom:
1. Change the decor in the classroom - to enrich brain stimulation.
2. Give them challenging problem solving problems to figure out often.
3. Teach from a different classroom or even from a different place in the room.
4. To help with students' processing the information given to them, have them present what they learned to another student
5. Emotions drive attention and can make us care or not care about learning.
6. Some kind of aerobic conditioning has been known to assist with Memory - so play charades to review.
Very good and easy book to read. I would recommend every teacher to read it.
Snooze or Lose: 10 No-War Ways to Improve Your Teens Sleep
ReplyDeleteBy H. Emsellem
The early chapters of this book give a fair accounting and information on the basics of sleep rhythms. (interesting) However the author fails to impart any new information or to even give insightful guidance for the truly struggling teen.
The list of foods to avoid, behaviors to avoid etc. should be rather obvious to most adults and most especially to anyone who would actually pick up a book of this type. There is no new information here, nothing profound or worthy of highlight.
Most of the 10 step guidance she suggests should be common sense parental fair if you have survived the terrible twos. Her “teenager’s” perspective on turning her sleep-life around is trite and a bit condescending. (more than a little bit Holier-Than-Thou)
Heed the AEA’s warning and let this book be tossed out. It’s not worthy of a spot in your collection. And in the words of my teen (who read it behind me..) “ah, DUH!” Any parent, teacher or teenager could have given the same information in less time and with more feeling.
Kelly Curry
Angie Toale
ReplyDeleteI read,The House On Beartown Road" by Elizabeth Cohen. I really enjoyed this book. The author tells the touching story of her father and family dealing with alzheimers. I learned that many of the hardships she was dealing with in caring for her father are very similar to my own family as we care for my father who also has the disease. I have tried the memory game that Elizabeth used with her father in the story with my own. Unfortunately my father is much farther along in the stages of the disease and it didn't help. My time reading this book was very well spent. If a story can make you cry and reflect it was well worth the read. I highly recommend this book, especially if someone you know has alzheimer's disease.
I read Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong. This book was a pretty easy read, partially because Julie had highlighted the best parts. It dealt with Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation. It had a lot of data to support the fact that as teacher we need to push for intrinsic motivation. Throughout the book, it cited examples of how each motivator was used and abused. It really made you think about your classroom management and the use of rewards and punishments. I would recommend this book.
ReplyDeleteRESEARCH-BASED STRATEGIES TO IGNITE STUDENT LEARNING
ReplyDeleteThe book Ignite was written by Dr. Judy Willis. She is a neurologist who would later go on to become a classroom teacher. The major focus of the book is to give educators different strategies to reach students based on what we know about how the brain works. It basically is like taking what we are learning in our Brain Based Learning class and putting it into a book. It covers many strategies that teachers can and should use in their classrooms and gives the brain research on why we should use those strategies.
A few of the strategies
-Presenting material in different ways will lead to more pathways being created to the brain.
-Use several senses and different subjects when teaching new material.
-Engage the students through surprise or novel events.
-Use graphic organizers to help students see the relationships between new information.
-Hook information to past experiences
-Introduce material when the students are engaged.
-Create personal motivation.
-Ask open-ended questions. (Problem Based Learning)
-Set a positive emotional climate. (Too much stress can deactivate memory and storage regions of the brain.)
-Use rubrics and involve the students in making the assessments.
Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
ReplyDeleteThis book was a good read, and I recommend it. Carol is a psychologist who has performed various studies on the different mindsets of people. She says people can have either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Basically, the people who have a fixed mindset are always measuring themselves as a success or a failure. The fixed mindset people are always concerned with "looking good" in whatever they do, and shy away from new experiences. They believe that character and intelligence are pretty much set for life--no changing them. People who have a growth mindset tend to look at life as a learning experience--a kind of go-with-the-flow type people. She says that the people who have a growth mindset also tend to be very accurate with their own strengths and weaknesses. With new experiences, growth mindset people do well because they look at it as a way to cultivate learning. She goes on to talk about and give examples how just these mindsets of people can carve out their whole life in school, business, relationships, and in parenting. This book was very intriguing, and if you like to learn about why people think and act the way they do, this book is for you.
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding Self-Motivation
By: Edward L. Deci with Richard Flaste
I thought this book was great. Out of all that we've learned in BBL this year, I was intrigued by the motivation piece the most so I chose the book, Why We Do What We Do by Edward L. Deci. It was interesting, easy to read, and now has me second guessing some assignments I've given to students in the past. I found Ch. 4 to be particularly interesting as it goes into greater depth on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It's a great read and all of the stories he told about experiments with seals, monkeys, and humans kept me interested and wanting to read more.
Why Don't Students Like School? by Daniel T Willingham
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting book with an eye catching title. The book gives insight to the cognitive side of why students do not like school. Even with good intentions by teachers, some of our teaching is not reaching students. The author gives lots of examples of what teachers do and why they are not successful. Basically, the teaching is not brain compatible. Teachers need to continue to use brain friendly techniques to increased learning. The model of how the brain learns is explained. I liked the chapter on "How students can remember everything that's on tv and forget everything I say." It strikes at the heart of every frustrated teacher. The book provides ways of getting students to learn better. Lastly, the end of the book emphasizes that teachers need to continually learn new techniques and strategies that are brain friendly.
Bob Oberfoell
I read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn
ReplyDeleteThis book opened my eyes to what we do to get kids to behave how we want them to behave. Learning in class and now reading this book, I learned that a behavior sticks when it's intrinsically motivated rather than motivated by rewards. The thing about rewards and punishments is that they only last short term and they have to get bigger and bigger. I think he is way one-sided, but it is an interesting book, and I would recommend.
Read by: Lynn
I read What’s Going on in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life, by Lise Eliot. This book explores the brain’s development from conception through the first five years of life.
ReplyDeleteI thought Chapter 5 – The Importance of Touch was interesting. One section in this chapter focused on the benefits of infant massage. Infant massage is beneficial to preterm babies who spend much of their time lying flat in incubators hooked up to machines and touch is limited. Full term babies also benefit from daily massage. Massage therapy has also been found to be beneficial to older children with many medical problems, including asthma, diabetes, cancer, autism, skin problems, juvenile arthritis, eating disorders, and other psychiatric syndromes. Children showed lower anxiety and stress levels, better mood, improved sleep patterns, and higher levels of attentiveness when they received a daily massage from their parents.
I also thought Chapter 14 – Language and the Developing Brain was interesting. It explained that children throughout the world follow almost identical schedules for speaking single words, then two-word phrases, then sentences of increasing complexity, (all between one and four years of age). I have seen this same progression in the development of a second language in the Spanish Immersion program that I am a part of. This section also explained that a child’s brain is maximally capable of learning language (particularly the rules of logic and grammar) until the age of six or seven. Although it is possible for adults to learn a second language, learning a second language after the “window of opportunity” has passed does pose some problems. Most adults will have some problems with pronunciation as well as difficulty with grammatical usage.
Having young children and teaching kindergarten I found this book interesting.
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky
ReplyDeleteThis book explained how stress can effect every part of our lives. It can lead to illness, shutdown, depression, etc. It talks about how certain personalities are prone to stress and how people can deal with stress in positive manners.
As a teacher, we have all had students who take everything as a life or death issue. Little problems are blown out of proportion and the child seems to always be 'stressed out'. This book gave some ideas on how to use humor, relaxation, and other coping methods that can help these types of students.
I did find that this book was a little out-dated, but all in all a good read.
I read Gifted Hands by Ben Carson. This is a book that is very personal and inspirational. Ben Carson is a very successful neuro-surgeon at one of the most prestegious hospitals in the United States. At an early age Ben decided that he wanted to be a doctor. He grew up in a broken home. His father left when he was eight and his mother raised him and his older brother on her own. He faced many obstacles throughout his young life. He was not the smartest and he was often picked on because of his appearance. The driving force was his mother. She was very strict when it came to doing school work. She wanted the best for her boys and she instilled in them that they could do any thing that they wanted to if they worked hard and followed their dreams. Ben did just that and he did become a very successful doctor at John Hopkins Hospital.
ReplyDelete