How are you intentionally putting brain research into practice in your classroom, building or district? What is changing as a result? This weekend, I attended Glen Whitman and Meg Lee’s ASCD Conference session, Redesigning Teaching, Learning, And Schooling Using Brain Science. They started off the session with a table based discussion using the Face The MBE (Mind Brain Education research) Card Deck developed by The Center for Transformative Thinking And Learning. The goal, can we identify the neuromyths and the neurotruths. We sorted cards into piles either I already know and do this OR I purposefully avoid doing thing. Here is one of the cards we discussed: “Class time is too valuable to use for tasks focused on student reflection and metacognition” Is this neuormyth or neurofact? Check the Resources To Spark Your Thinking section below to see the answer, and the research citation. How do neuromyths impact decisions about what to do or not do in a classroom? Glenn Whitman has made it a goal to ensure 100% of his faculty use MBE research in their instruction and avoid nueromyths. Each teacher has posted outside their classroom an info page - Researched Informed Teaching In My Classroom- that includes their name and picture, what they teach, a brief description of their passions, the books that they are currently reading related to their professional/subject interests, and the Research Informed Focus being applied in their classroom - and why. In the example they shared, the Chemistry teacher was currently implementing active learning strategies to increase student engagement and content comprehension.
This presentation sparked a number of ideas for me. I liked the cards as a way to incorporate Mind Brain Education research into a staff meeting, principal newsletter, TBT or BLT time or a professional learning session. The teacher info page would be a great tool for principal walkthroughs and observations - giving a specific focus for questions pre/post observation around what MBE research will look like/sound like in the classroom. What will the teacher be doing? What will the students be doing? What feedback will be helpful in refining the implementation of MBE? Taking time as a staff to talk through the neuromyth cards, where might those myths be in practice in the school? Why? How does the research change thinking about it? What new professional learning might be needed? In addition to the card deck. The Center For Transformative Thinking and Learning has also developed coaching materials, along with books, a blog, and roadmaps for MBE teaching - by grade band. Are you interested in testing your own Mind Brain Education IQ? Take their free diagnostic HERE.
Resources To Spark Your Thinking
Frederick County Public Schools - Maryland MBE Resource Page
TedTalks - TedEd Collection on the topic Mind Matters
Answer to the MBE Card… False (nueromyth) “Research suggests that interventions focused on building metacognitive ability can have a great impact on student achievement. However, doing this can be difficult and requires strategic effort over time on the part of the teacher - hence, the benefit of doing it in class. Remember that reflection and metacognition are different. Think about how you can structure reflection activities in ways that build metacognition” citation: Bruyckere, P. D. (2018). The Ingredients for Great Teaching. SAGE Publications Ltd.