Brain Based Biz

How Can We Improve Education?

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 14:47:00 +0000

Many students lag behind others when they begin school and it is almost impossible for them to catch up with language and math understandings. Today, many more mothers have to work and do not have significant time with a child. As a result, these children have trouble learning concepts as quickly as other students. If I were in charge, I would require Day Care facility personnel to play word games so that children learn new words, read books to children and teach them how to count and how to use money. In addition, Day Care personnel could conduct simple science experiments and projects. Starting as early as possible would prepare children for preschool and school.

In grade school, including more field trips insures that students learn concepts first-hand. If students write what they think is important about a trip or use another one of their multiple intelligences to demonstrate what they learned, it increases retention.

Students need to get more oxygen to their brains. This is why exercise and play times throughout the day work to their benefit. These can be linked to learning. Young children need to move and have some fun rather than sitting quietly in their seats all day.

Teachers and parents would have more input with administrators so that the direction of the school works for the benefit of students.

If teachers used Mita's five phases to build lessons, it would impact change for both teachers, students and the school. In each phase teachers would:

Ask two-footed questions linked to a topic and student interests to bring out student perceptions and prevent too much "teacher talk." When teachers rouse student curiosity it makes learning more fun.
Plan a target for each lesson to keep it on track. Write down what you want to see students doing and accomplishing by the end of the lesson.
Create at least five expectations for each student's outcome. These expectations can be negotiated ahead with students so they have a part in the grading process.
Move with multiple intelligences so students have opportunities to use their gifts and talents.
Reflect to adjust and change for the future.

Mita was first developed by Dr. Ellen Weber and is used successfully by many teachers worldwide.

What would you say most needs changing about education?

Wrapping up the school Year

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 16:19:00 +0000

As you and I wrap up the school year, how will we know if we did what we needed to do for student growth? One check I use is to compare an essay the student wrote at the beginning of the year to one written at the end of the year. I would look for the following improvements:

Do the students use more specific details when expressing information about a topic?
Has overall grammar and sentence structure improved?
Do students create effective thesis statements?
Are they beginning to use alliteration, consonance and rhetorical devices?

My teaching topic is English and yours may differ, but you can see how I go about comparing beginning and end of the year school work. How would you check to see if students improved in the topic you teach?

Whether a student is gifted or struggling, each can gain skills when talking or writing. By varying active learning sessions, class is more interesting to them. For instance, we "play" Grammar Baseball as a way to improve grammar skills. We might have a contest to see who could get an essay published on a current topic. We often pair-share to come up with more ideas. We even have groups of four or more in which each student asks a question about a project topic and group members offer suggestions.

Look at State Standards in your discipline to make sure you have explored expectation topics in class. As I teach, I use active learning strategies to make classes fun and interesting. Students learn more this way than going over drill type materials.

Preparing for testing is critical because many students fear tests and as a result they could fail because of this fear. My mother did in grade six and as a result she was not allowed to go to the academic high school, although she was the best student in class. Students can practice taking past tests to familiarize themselves with testing patterns as a way to feel prepared.

After tests are completed, I also like to involve students in fun activities such as choosing a picture and writing a silly story about it. We include pictures and put these stories into a book for younger readers. In addition, using games that enable students to learn is not only fun, but practical. What do you do to wrap up your school year?

Disrupting Your Brain

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 13:46:00 +0000

When you try an activity that's totally new to you, you are building new neuron pathways in your brain. Why is this good? If you simply do the same things day to day, you create ruts and routines. I wanted to learn to play a video game like my grandsons and a physical activity, too. Today, Minecraft is one of the most challenging and problem solving games available and I decided to learn to learn do this as opposed to word games I am used to playing. Why? Disruptive activity is good for your brain. What is disruption, anyway?

"To cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way," according to Miriam Webster's definitinion of disruption "or to interrupt the normal progress or activity of something," gives us a good idea of how this might affect the brain. Not only do I want to play a different game, but I decided to do it on iPad, which is also totally new to me. The good news is that I am already building new neuron pathways for both playing Minecraft and using my new iPad. What are you learning to do?

Your brain benefits when you do activities that are very different from what you are used to doing. For instance, if you try to ride a bike, which makes you balance differently on the right and left side, it is disruptive to your brain. A YouTube video, The Backwards Brain Bicycle - Smarter Every Day 133 demonstrates what I mean.

How long do you think it would take you to balance the Backwards Brain bike? The older you are the more time it would take!

If you were to try a brand new activity what would it be and why?

Saying Thanks Has Positive Outcomes

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 15:25:00 +0000

When Orr and Cleveland-Innes’s appreciative leadership (2015) is central in mutual mentoring, each person participating is bound to learn something new. Proficient students, or students who have acquired a skill, capable students in a higher grade or a teacher can use his or her unique strengths and make valuable offerings for novice individuals, a class or a whole school organization. According to Orr and Cleveland-Innes, “Positive affect, caring, shared meaning, and purpose fuel change efforts.” These are all evident in a caring environment of mutual mentoring.

Thanking one another is vital to purposeful change. Saying thanks to someone is important to Ellen Weber’s mutual mentoring or mind-guiding process. “Learners and leaders come alive whenever they engage in interesting new ideas together in ways that transform them both, according to Weber (2013). Suppose a proficient student mentored you until you were skilled in using a new software program and you thanked her because it helped increase your capabilities. You would both begin to feel good inside. But there’s even more…

By naming exactly what your mentor did, along with saying thanks, affects both the mentor's and mentee's brains. Here’s how… A word of specific thanks along with a smile and a pat on the shoulder causes oxytocin to increase in a mentor or mentee’s blood and brain. Caring for a mentor or mentee also builds a sense of trust. Oxytocin plays a key role in affiliation and attachment in humans. This affiliation and attachment leads to a substantial sense of trust in mutual mentoring because oxytocin benefits a person’s willingness to take risks originating from social interactions.

Additionally, consideration of a mentor through saying thanks and smiling because you understand a new concept causes a flow of serotonin. Serotonin is a brain chemical that flows into the blood and brain when you do something well or you feel good about an accomplishment. Interestingly, it can bring out curiosity to know more. Rather than tank people in a stressful environment, serotonin leads to well-being among individuals.

Paul Zak's curiosity led him to find out why some people are bullies, while some are greedy and others are generous. He conducted research to find out more. He found when individuals demonstrate care for another person, such as demonstrating a skill and helping someone become proficient in a skill, that person begins to care for his or her mentor. Zak explains what he learned in his book, The Trust Molecule (2012).

Helping another learner acquire a skill through mentoring and then giving specific thanks in ways showing how it benefits, impacts the positive change core of an organization. Giving thanks encourages others and also helps students’ desire to take part in positive, valuable school activities. Giving thanks fuels trust. Have you discovered this is true?

Missteps Led to Using New Strategies

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Fri, 27 May 2016 15:33:00 +0000

Early in my teaching career, I focused more on lesson topics and what students ought to know rather than motivating students to view a topic through their own eyes. For instance if I required Anna to write about the character of Julius Caesar she would rack her brain to think of enough characteristics from reading the play to begin writing Simply writing about characteristics of Julius Caesar was not an interesting assignment nor did it spark Anna's and other students' responsiveness.

I asked myself how I could spark more excitement. To begin, I began to ask students two-footed questions. To build on this I asked Anna and classmates to develop their own two-footed questions about Julius Caesar. A two-footed question would link something about Julius Caesar to something that interests Anna. For example they might ask "Why did Caesar want to conquer other nations and what does that have to do with me? When a student is motivated because he or she can connect to the topic, it is more stimulating for her to write.

Another way to arouse curiosity for Anna and other students in class is to have them pair share with another student first. As students pair share they might add what they know about the character of Julius Caesar and in what ways his characteristics are similar to theirs. By doing this first, it enhances students' insights to make the essay much more thought-provoking. At least they had ideas to develop an outline and make writing easier.

Now that I have collaborated with Ellen Weber to teach, I know oh so many active learning tasks I can use with students. Rather than boring, students like Anna,they are now much more more motivated to follow through with writing assignments when they are preceded by an active learning task such as asking a two-footed question or participating in a pair share activity. Now Anna enters my classroom with anticipation. This was a real turn-around.

Influences on School Community

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Fri, 20 May 2016 15:53:00 +0000

Do you make your school community or does your school community make you? That's an excellent question and I'm wondering what your initial answer is and why. Developing a classroom community is extremely essential for facilitating learning. When community occurs in each classroom it leads to a school community in which teachers and students help one another.

Teachers play a key role in developing a classroom community. As a leader in the classroom, a teacher must develop a community in which all students can speak up and feel heard according to Dr. Ellen Weber. How do students speak up and feel heard? Here are five possibilities.

Students answer two footed questions which link them to course content in some specific way.
Teachers listen carefully and ask follow-up questions thoughtfully to learn more about student insights.
Teachers facilitate learning rather than telling or lecturing.
Students use their gifts and talents to work on group projects actively for optimum outcomes.
Students and teachers together decide on rubrics for grading so that students know exactly what is expected and there's no guess work.

In addition, when there's school community, teachers work together to think of ways a student might improve or even plan collaborative lessons rather than sharing complaints about students, administrators and money. Much of what happens in classrooms is fueled in Teacher Staff Rooms. Would you agree?

Parents can play a role in school community. For instance, our neighbor goes to her son's English class to play grammar games once a week. Many parents want to play a role in their child's education and volunteer in a variety of ways.

By following these five possibilities to help students to speak up and feel heard, teachers facilitate the school community process. But it goes beyond that. By cooperating with other teachers in the Teacher Staff Room and including parents when they volunteer to help, a school community is built. All of these possibilities lead a school community to influence and make teachers.

Collaboration Changes Your Approaches

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Wed, 18 May 2016 16:18:00 +0000

Each person has different strengths

Two or more brains develop more ideas than one alone so collaborating with another teacher yields amazing outcomes, when you work on a unit together. I have collaborated with Dr. Ellen Weber for over 20 years now in graduate college classes. Have you ever collaborated successfully with others? There's no turning back and here is why:

Benefits: Tasks can be divided between the two teachers according to their gifts and talents. For instance, Ellen has great skill in deciding what activities work best for lessons and she prepares these. Once I know what she is doing, I prepare the technical additions for the lessons and include these at appropriate times. Both Ellen and I ask the students two-footed questions about the topic. Our questions differ and give students a broader scope.

Model for Students: When students observe how Ellen and I collaborate their classes, it gives them a model when they work together in groups. They learn to respect others' gifts and talents and use them for maximum success.

Competition versus Collaboration: Have you heard it said that when people compete they get higher results and when they try to collaborate some get lazy? In earlier times humans had to compete for food and other necessities. However, when students use their strongest intelligences, they get much satisfaction from contributing in a group. Their groups outcomes surpass what one person can accomplish alone. Here's why:

The Brain on Peer Support: When working in a group, people need support. Dr. Ellen Weber shows how different parts of the human brain enhance collaborating:

Basal Ganglia: Stores talents in the form of habits or familiar approaches.
Serotonin: Creates well-being for all to speak up and feel heard.
Plasticity: The brain grows new dendrite brain cells when people try new approaches. It is more able to respond to new challenges with doable solutions.
Working Memory: holds onto new facts - a sticky note of sorts - at the front of the brain, while they are applied to improve a situation.
Cortisol: Sidestep its dangerous stress chemicals as a way to tackle challenges with courage.
Amygdala: awakens meaningful choices through stored emotional responses that regulate moods and tame knee jerk reactions.

When you understand more about the way your brain works, you can learn to work with your brain rather than against it. You can see how many parts of your brain are needed to collaborate well? Which ones are your strengths? What do you need to work on and what will you do today to begin changing your approaches when collaborating?

Teacher Appreciation Week (May 2 - 6)

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Fri, 06 May 2016 16:30:00 +0000

Let's celebrate teachers and show our appreciation for them. Teachers build on what they have learned to facilitate student learning. In addition, teachers put in extra time developing lessons and units to help students do their best. Often they stay after school to coach those students who need a bit of extra help.

Do you have a teacher that comes to mind who made a difference in your life? Tell us about that special teacher and why he or she made a difference. Celebrate that teacher!

Best Lesson, Unit and Curriculum to Celebrate Knowledge

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Thu, 05 May 2016 22:24:00 +0000

My best lesson ever: "How am I Smart?" I wanted each student to take a multiple intelligences survey to determine their strongest intelligence. In addition I asked them to tell classmates what they enjoyed doing most. For example, Amy took the survey and determined that she was strong interpersonally or socially smart. She said her favorite activity was talking to friends. Another student, Bill, was on the football team and enjoyed playing sports. He said his survey showed he had strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Bill was a tall, strapping teen, who enjoyed playing football, basketball and participating on the track team. Bill said his favorite activity was football.

After the students determined their greatest strength, I asked them to come to the board and paste a sticky note with the color representing that intelligence. Each place for sticky notes had a label above showing what the row below represented. The sticky notes formed a graph of sorts showing the strong intelligences around the room. In our class, interpersonal and visual-spatial intelligences ranked highest.

One girl came to me almost in tears. She said she had the impression she was dumb, but the survey and our focus on "How am I Smart" showed her the opposite. The students were going to apply their strengths to the upcoming unit. Because students are able to use their strengths as they learn, I feel a Mita lesson, such as "How am I smart" works with rather than against students' gifts and talents.

The best unit I have created is based on Dr. Ellen Weber's Mita principals. Our class prepared and presented a Celebration of Learning related to a Stephen Spielberg novel. Mita has five steps, which we completed during the unit.

Question We began by having students answer the question: What is the theme of this novel and how does it relate to you?
Target Name two objectives you want to see at the end of the unit. (Each should begin with a verb because this is active curriculum.
Expect Name five expectations you have and have students add at least two. Students can negotiate expectations depending on their projects.
Move Each person in a groups is required to name an activity he or she might complete to help the group include as many of the eight intelligences as possible.
Reflect We each reflect on the Celebration and name one thing we would do differently to make it better next time.

The students enjoyed sharing digital videos with community guests during the Celebration of Knowledge as well as asking them questions related to the theme of their projects. The students thought the Celebration unit was a success and in fact one student suggested we start another similar unit.

Curriculum that works extremely well and is fun for students is Ellen Weber's Brain Based Tasks for Upper Grades. Her curriculum is designed with both students and standards in mind. You can find many exceptional lessons and units on the Teachers Pay Teachers website.

Resilience as a Teacher

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Mon, 02 May 2016 15:04:00 +0000

Dr. Ellen Weber engaging students

What makes you or me resilient as teachers? Teaching has challenges and accomplishments, too. Why did I stick with it?

To be honest, my early teaching was a challenge. When seeking my Bachelor's Degree, if undergrads could memorize what was expected, we could do well. Lecturing proliferated and it was not helpful. One reason is we retain about five percent of what you hear during a lecture.

However, I wanted to teach, and I wanted to teach well. The day I saw Ellen Weber teach using active learning strategies, I realized that my children had missed out on superior teaching and that I had a lot to learn as well.

Interestingly, the more I learned from Ellen, the more I wanted to support her work. Ellen asked me to be her coordinator, and she constantly taught me her teaching methods and told me about the theories behind them. I had a desire to learn about these theories, such as multiple intelligences, experiential learning, discovery learning, problem based learning and authentic assessment among a total of 17. These learning theories are named in the Mita Brain Manifesto for Renewal.

I began to help Ellen when she worked in schools for professional development or when she presented at conferences. She was willing to let me try her active learning methods before I was really ready. I applaud her for doing this, because it allowed me to learn the Mita methods. We learn much when we make mistakes because we want to do better.

Why am I still teaching today? Ellen and I have worked together for over 20 years. I went back to college at 58 after I had been out of school for 30 years. She taught me test taking tactics and somehow I was able to pull out of my brain the information I needed to pass PhD program exams. Because I earned a PhD, I have collaborated with her to teach and lead professional development for high school and college faculty as well as business leaders. Eventually I learned how to be a facilitator of learning. We enjoy teaching one college class now and thrive on collaborating as we facilitate student learning.

Are you resilient as a teacher? If so, how did it happen?

Student Willing to Change

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 01:07:00 +0000

Though most students gain much from interactive learning, a few are so used to lecture style teaching and taking notes that they claim they do not learn a thing. Maria came and told me that she failed to learn as well in our English class since I do not lecture. Maria had a strong basal ganglia in her brain because she preferred ruts and routines and she did not like change.

During the first semester we were working on a Celebration of Learning project to make digital videos. The students worked in groups and each person used his or her strongest intelligence to make contributions.

One of the requirements was a script for members of the group to act out a portion of the book we were reading. Since Maria's strength was verbal-linguistic intelligence she wrote the script for the group. It was thoughtful and well-written, revealing Maria's critical thinking and writing abilities.

Another person in the group was required to interview someone in the school about the theme of the book. I know that Maria went overboard and helped that person to frame the questions well.

Their group could choose some appropriate background music or write something original to play on an instrument in appropriate places in the video. Maria added much to the writing of the lyrics for original music, which the group included.

As a result of all that Maria contributed to her group during the Celebration of Learning project, she realized that she was much more familiar with the book than if I had lectured on it or had given them worksheets to complete. I learned much from Maria because she was willing to change although her mind was hardened against active learning. She began to take risks and try new activities. She began to use more of her working memory and her brain's plasticity.

I learned a lot from Maria because she was willing to change and take some risks. Are you stuck in your ruts or are you willing to take some new risks as Maria did?

My Favorite Part of Teacher Training

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 18:04:00 +0000

The favorite part of my teacher training was watching Dr. Ellen Weber use active learning strategies in class. I realized that active learning helps students understand and retain information about a topic. For example, one of my favorite active learning teaching techniques is a student two-footed question and response exercise to help students gain more information about a topic or share ideas for a project. The name of the activity is MITA.

M - To use MITA you need four or five people in a group. Each person is assigned a role. The first person is M and asks a two-footed question about a topic or a related future project.

I - The second person makes a response to the question from his or her perspective on the topic or project.

T - The third person also makes a response to the question from his or her perspective on the topic or project.

If there are one or two other people in the groups they each make a response to the two-footed question from their perspectives on the topic or project. Each response should differ.

A - The last person on the team has a notebook and lists the two-footed questions makes a summary of each person's answer .

After all finish, the person who was I, now takes the M or questioner role and asks a two-footed question he or she wants to know more about. Each person aligns with the changes. The person who was last now gives the notebook to the person who is next to last.

After all in the group have had a chance to ask and answer two-footed questions as well as to write a summary, the teacher will ask each team to share significant two-footed questions and responses so that the whole class can hear them. Each person is provided a summary of their questions and answers.

Activities such as this one help students gain new and significant insights and information. It helps build a classroom culture in which students not only share their "smarts," but also grow to know one another well and to begin to respect each other.

Systems Benefit Schools, Teachers and Students

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 16:29:00 +0000

Schools develop many systems, whether its who should be at the head of the lunch line, bells ringing for students to move from one class to the next or taking attendance first thing in the morning. These organizational methods stick.

Regular faculty meetings proved to be a plus for our school. Leaders were truly interested in hearing from teachers so these were not "top-down" sessions. Teachers spoke their minds about many issues and leaders listened. Teachers considered leaders' ideas and sometimes modified them. As a result, the school district provided the funds for necessary improvements such as professional development, healthy drinks for students in the morning, and extra materials that could benefit students.

Standards were put into place by the State Education Department. The school followed this approach and teachers were expected to incorporate these standards in their curriculum. To help teachers understand the new requirement, the school provided professional development. Often teachers coached one another following the session. We did not take a "prepare for a test" approach. For example, when students in English class learned to improve their writing, they wrote a descriptive passage so they would be aware of including more description in their writing. In addition when students wrote a topic sentence for a paragraph, we provided examples of how to prove that point to readers by supporting the statement with their insights and including outside research. Teachers began to focus on keeping the standards in mind as we developed units and lessons, but at the same time we could make the experience fun and also make it relevant to something beyond class as we studied a variety of topics.

Does your school have systems in addition to the ones I named? If so, what are they and which do you think are most important and why?

My English class is like an Aquarium

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 00:15:00 +0000

My English class is like a an aquarium full of beautiful tropical fish. To maintain class I have to add two-footed questions to lessons, just as I have to add certain salts to the aquarium water. Questions liven students and help them to think deeply about lesson topics.

If you begin to notice white spots on your fish, you know they are in trouble. So you have to add another chemical to bring healing to the disorder. If students in your classroom begin to talk about other topics and look at their phones when working in groups, as a teacher you know you have to shift the groups. Before doing this I add some humor, which makes them laugh. After a good laugh, they are willing to shift course and see what students add in another group.

Just as different types of fish are unique - each student is unique. Each student has gifts and talents, which can make them shine. A teacher knows how to bring these out.

Have you noticed that fish travel in groups and that sometimes they go with different types of fish? This happens in my English class as well.

An aquarium has a filter which keeps the water fresh. In a similar way, a teacher who keeps learning fresh and interesting keeps the classroom fresh as well. How would you go about keeping learning fresh for your students?

Unforgettable Teaching Win

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 00:53:00 +0000

Have you ever experienced a time that teaching lifted you very high? The outcome goes with you for life because such a teaching win is something you never forget.

Boris was a student in my class who struggled with English, but he loved to sing. I discovered this as I was chaperoning students on a bus and at a dance.

We were studying Shakespeare in class, and the meaning is not always easy to comprehend because language has changed quite a bit since the 1500-1600's.

All of a sudden I had an "aha." I challenged Boris to write one act of the play in modern English. Not only did he do this, but he also followed the rhythm and rhyme as Shakespeare did. Julius Caesar and his associates became a group of teens in the play as Boris wrote it. It was so good I asked the class if they would like to perform this act of the play for the whole school. They were very enthusiastic.
After much preparation, we performed a modern version and the whole school cheered us on.

Afterwards, Boris had a whole different attitude toward English and he was considered a hero by his classmates. This was a real teaching win.

Tech Resources to Support Teaching and Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 23:19:00 +0000

Technology can make learning motivational

When using technology, I like to "play around with it"first before using it in class. Trying a new tech tool at home gives me a chance to feel comfortable with it. Otherwise glitches could occur and spoil a class session. I have picked a few tools that you might find as valuable as I do.

One of my favorite tech tools that I recommend is Motivator. This tool allows students to create a motivational type poster in less than five minutes. The students upload a photo, create a headline and add some text. These posters can be used in student blogs or multimedia presentations or even as posters in the classroom. Our visual-spatial intelligence frequently hooks to human emotions so these Motivator posters help inspire student writing.

An easy to access tech tool that benefits students is Google. If they are not sure of what something is or they need some information quickly or even if they want to know how to do something they can "Google it," Google is one of the best web browsers to find information quickly and I have found it to be accurate, but I also have Norton anti-virus, which shows me which sites are safe.

Grammar Bytes is a favorite grammar tool for students because it makes learning grammar fun. It provides a glossary of common terms, fun interactive activities and exercises for students to test their grammar knowledge, instructional presentations and tons of tips on teaching grammar. They even have daily workouts on Twitter!

Pear Deck is a technology tool that enables student engagement with a topic you are studying. When using this tool students can engage with one another, you can show graphs revealing student answers. You can even hover over answers and they are highlighted. This tool calls for students to be active throughout a lesson. If used well, critical thinking can be applied. You can also use it for formative assessment.

Have you used any of these technology tools and if so, which one is most valuable in your class and why? What tool is most valuable in your current class and why?

Standards and Students' Joy of Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 15:43:00 +0000

I want my students to develop high quality work, but I do not want to resort to exercises in workbooks so they will be prepared for tests. Why destroy the joy of learning. It isn't necessary. One strategy is to facilitate students to create excellence in learning by Celebrating Knowledge with the wider community as we conclude units of study. By doing so they will be prepared for the tests. Each Celebration of Knowledge has a rubric, a standard that students need to meet. A Celebration involves inviting members of the community to attend their Celebration. There are high expectations for a celebration and when the community attends it raises learning up a notch for students. This is just one example of active learning, which students enjoy and also raises the bar of excellence. Students answer community members' questions and ask for their thoughts as they ask questions.

Teachers have standards to show their expectations for student learning. But if a teacher's standards are not high enough, students in that teacher's class may not be admitted to the college of their choice. Students have to pass the SAT in order to enter college so they need to be prepared. For the most part, if students develop their verbal-linguistic and logical mathematical skills to a high level, they do not worry about tests.

On the other hand, testing can also rob the joy of learning from students - especially when they are required to listen to teacher lectures and do workbook or computer exercises to learn the content of a lesson. Standardized testing does not necessarily promote student learning because both principals and teachers focus on exercises for students to pass tests.

Lately, there has been much controversy over Common Core Standards. Many parents felt the test was not fair so they kept their sons and daughters home on testing days. About 20% of students in New York State did not take the Common Core tests. When people from the State Education Department came to schools for Information Sessions, parents felt the Ed. Dept. personnel did not really listen to them or answer their questions. Parents and educators felt the state had a program they were pushing and both parents and educators felt they should have a say in it.

Dewey once said, "Learning is doing." When students prepare a Celebration of Knowledge as they work in groups, they are highly active. But, they also have to meet high standards through rubrics that help them grow as learners as we prepared a Celebration of Knowledge. Overall students in my class scored higher on the Regents test than students in other classes, which taught the same subject. Above all, if students experience joy as they learn they are more willing to take new risks and spend time needed to comprehebd a unit of study.

Dream Course: "Outstanding Novels"

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 02:06:00 +0000

My dream course would be "Outstanding Novels."

Gaining love for reading and critical thinking

I would enjoy taking "Outstanding Novels" as much as I would to teach it.

Students enjoy story - especially stories that are popular with many. I can remember reading The Outsiders when I was in high school and I know many teachers use it now because many teens relate to it.

War and Peace by Tolstoy is another novel I would include, though I would look for a very good up-to-date translation. In the day and age in which we live, I can imagine that student groups would have vibrant conversations, which include opposing views. When students learn to use good tone, it allows for more depth in class conversations about a book.

Because novels can give us a picture of our world, in the dream course I would include Jung Chan's Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. This book demonstrates what life was really like in China for three generations of women.

Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice would make a good addition. It allows students to go back in time and to explore a rationale for choices made.

In contrast, a very different type of book is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Students could see what it might be like to battle the elements and learn more about their intrapersonal intellegence. In addition they might be astonished by the ways of nature and also learn much more about their naturalistic intelligence.

Of course, John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, is an American legend.

Although I already have several books listed, I would also like students to choose one they would like to study and explain a rationale for their choice. When students can play a role in curriculum choices, they come on board with amazing results.

If you were to add an "Outstanding Novel, what would it be and how would students benefit?

Student Choices Make Learning Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 23:36:00 +0000

Multiple Intelligences

By encouraging students to use their gifts and talents (Multiple Intelligences) to pursue a unit of study, the students use their unique strengths and it intensifies their interest in learning the topic. Plus it can make learning more fun. Here are some examples of how that might be done. Suppose a student is gifted in:

Music. He or she might play a selection that relates to the topic or might create song lyrics related to the theme of a unit. Or, these students might share some music related to the period of time the topic covers.

Interpersonal (or social intelligence) - The student may create a role play related to the topic or recreate a scene from a book with classmates.

Intrapersonal (or personal, spiritual wisdom) - The student may read some other books related to the topic and then write a paper with an opposing view and yet show respect for those who may disagree.

Bodily-kinesthetic He or she might build a mock-up of a building mentioned in the course topic. Or, they might mime the main point of the reading.

Visual-spatial As students read they might doodle main points. Or they might create a video that shows an insight about the topic's theme.

Verbal-linguistic Many students might enjoy writing a book that teaches the lesson for children in lower grades. Or they might even enjoy publishing an article related to the topic in a newspaper or in a major newsletter.

Logical-Mathematical Students can easily explain the logic of the sequence of their reading. Or readers can see what numbers are mentioned in a chapter and tell what relevance they have.

Naturalistic Students might take a hike after school. Hiking brings insights to mind about a topic that might otherwise be missed. Students might also show the classes of a species mentioned in a chapter. They could create a chart to show this.

You can see that by having a choice about how to approach a topic, students would enjoy the topic more - and especially as students share results with one another in class.

Planning to Reach Targets

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:22:00 +0000

Mita Brain Based planning templates work well for me. I work on these throughout a week to prepare for the next week. This allows me to free up my weekends.

Mita lessons begin with a two-footed lesson question so I consider the outcomes I want from lessons before creating a two-footed question for each one. I keep lesson content in mind and think of how this might relate to students before constructing each two-footed question. Rather than asking a simple factual question like: "What started the Depression?" I would use a two-footed question asking, "Why did the Depression begin and what stories have you heard about how it affected your family?" You can see how these questions link course lesson content to affects on students' families.

Targets are the results you want to achieve from a lesson. I write these down so I can keep them in mind. In the lesson about the Depression I want students to show how it affected families money-wise and spatially draw ways people earned money. For instance, I heard stories in my family about how they left home and went to pan for gold. To the best of my ability I would draw a picture of this spatially. In addition students might choose to use many other intelligences.

Expectations for lessons are important so I create a simple rubric for each one to measure how well I met my expected outcomes.

Move is critical in lesson planning because in this piece I offer examples of how each of the multiple intelligences might be used. For a lesson I usually have them choose one, but for a unit, students might choose to use several.

In addition to multiple intelligences, brain facts are important, because students learn they can use their brain in ways to create good tone, or they might overcome a bad mood by emotionally latching onto an amazing story. The human brain has everything to do with how we learn.

After I finish a lesson and look at the rubric to reflect on how well the lesson played out, I ask myself, "Where to from here?" I want to change the lesson to make it even better for the next time I teach it.

To prepare for a week ahead, I print off several lesson templates and fill these in daily. I consider what props, videos, PowerPoints and other materials I will need to get a lesson point across. Because my family is important to me, this allows me to have meaningful time with them on the weekends.

Weekends: Adventure and Time for Family

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:42:00 +0000

Weekends provide time to be good to me. Sometimes we plan an adventure on the weekend such as going to a park or a show. Since I am away at work during the week, when home on the weekends, I plan to go places and do things with my husband. For instance, he likes to take me out to dance or for a nice meal. Of course, I need some time to spiffy up the house, We enjoy going to church with family on Sundays because we have time to visit and enjoy them.

I work into the evening through the week to ensure I have my work completed before the weekend. Because I prepare my lesson plans on Thursday and Friday, my lesson plans are ready for the week ahead.

People do need some boundaries. Because I stick to a plan, I have boundaries. By learning to say, "no" to extra committee work or other requests, I have more time for what is important. For instance, carving out space for students who need extra help during the week is important. So I would definitely make space for that and other events that are critical.

Change Takes Energy and Timing

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 20:37:00 +0000

Are you the first to embrace something new or are you resistant? I'm not resistant to change, but I like to have a couple of months to be sure a change will work well before I start to go with it. I don't try brand new new search browsers, mobile phones or software when they first come out because often they still have glitches. That might produce a lot of stress for me and students.

When I first worked with a teacher to initiate a celebration of learning to use active learning in a high school classroom, I was very excited. We read a Stephen Spielberg novel and I set up several activities for students to do so they could get into the depth of the novel. Students were to prepare digital videos related to the novel. Groups were asked to determine the theme of the novel and then write a script and on a related theme and then act it out and make a video to share ar the celebration. Students were to interview an important person in the school by asking some two-footed questions tied to the theme. When it came time for the celebration, we were nervous because we did not know how many people would show up. Amazingly, we had a big crowd and the media came to cover it. By making sure I knew exactly how to prepare a celebration of learning, I could improvise it to ensure it would work well for student groups.

Celebrating Learning is Exciting for Students and Community

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 15:48:00 +0000

A Celebration of Learning Enhances what Students Learn

A celebration of learning lifts expectations higher because students demonstrate what they've learned for a wider community. Preparing for a celebration begins from the first day a teacher begins a unit of study, since it forces students to go deeper and takes much preparation and practice.

The unit begin with a two-footed question that must be answered as students study and prepare their demonstrations. Next they picture in their minds what they want to do and name a target. The teacher lists at least five expectations for the celebration, such as working in groups with everyone contributing, creating a booth and using at least five intelligences and one brain fact, Students can negotiate extra expectations for their projects.

Depending on what you teach, your unit may be a novel, an era in history, a mathematical algorithm, or a topic in science. If there are differing views, where possible, all the better. A celebration gives an opportunity to bring out many insights as students use their multiple intelligences and new brain facts.

Students can probe a topic through many of their gifts and talents. For instance, if a student is gifted in music, he or she could study some of the music that impacted an historical era, and prepare to play some selections on an instrument. Another student may be strong in visual-spatial intelligence so may prepare images to fit the project. Another person may have strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence so may prepare a mock-up.

When members of the community come to each booth, they can ask students questions and answer students' questions.

Every celebration I have helped to create was a highlight for both students and community. It truly helps students retain more of what they learn.

Ellen Weber - An Inspiring Teacher

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 22:47:00 +0000

Myself and Dr. Ellen Weber

Although Ellen Weber was never my teacher in k-12 or higher education, she taught me from the day I met her. I can remember her telling me I was brilliant. Since I never had a lot of confidence, her statement helped me to build it.

When I first met Ellen I was working as an Education Department Assistant at a college near my home. She demonstrated a lesson when she was applying to teach at the college. She used active teaching and learning techniques and I was spellbound throughout. I wished my children were able to experience a teacher like this.

When she decided to start the Mita International Brain Center, she asked me if I would like to be the coordinator. As I sat at a lunch table with her a tingle went up and down my spine. I realized this was an answer to a prayer I prayed about a dream for my life. It meant leaving my job and not knowing how this would turn out. I had a good sense about it and said, "Yes."

I have never regretted the decision. Because I kept asking Ellen questions about the theories she used in Mita approaches, she encouraged me to go back to college to earn my PhD. I didn't think I was capable of this. She told me she knew I was and if I were to assist her in university settings I would need to do so. I followed through and it was one of the most fantastic journeys of my life.

Right after I earned my degree we taught a six week college class in China for five hours a day. Over the years we did a lot of teaching and professional development world-wide including, Canada, Ireland, Chile and Jamaica as well as throughout the U.S.

The teaching and learning journey I now enjoy with Ellen Weber is stimulating, a challenge at times and phenomenol.

Pacing and Being Good to Yourself are Essential

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn McMaster, PhD) — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 15:30:00 +0000

Making specific Mita lesson plans for active learning as well as listing daily targets for what I need to accomplish in a week, help me move daily at a good pace. The Mita approach lesson plans, developed by Dr. Ellen Weber include a two-footed question, a lesson target, expectations, which include a rubric, using the eight intelligences and applying new facts about the brain and then reflecting to see what I might do to improve the lesson. Using the Mita approaches turned teaching around for me.

The unexpected sometimes gets me off target but by handling these situations wisely, I can jump back in without too much interference in pacing. Do you find this to be true for you as well?

By being good to myself throughout a week, it helps build energy and excitement within. I love to read. Many authors help me think in new ways and I find this helps me bring out ideas from students. Additionally, hiking in a state park always fills me with awe at the beauty and gives me more energy. What do you enjoy doing to be good to yourself?