A Teacher and Principal Find Common Understanding around Brain-Based Teaching

The principals and teachers in Edmond Public Schools are dedicated to helping both students and teachers reach their full potential.  My principal, Bill Powell at Clegern Elementary encourages brain-based teaching which combines information about how the brain works with how to apply that research to increase student motivation and achievement.   

Standard teaching methods aren’t good enough anymore.  For instance, did you know that after 24 hours, students only retain 5 percent of a lecture?  Having students read only brings retention up to 10 percent.

My journey in understanding these issues came together when I began studying for my master’s in Brain-Based Teaching with a concentration in Reading and Literacy through BrainSMART, an online master’s degree program offered by Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Let me give you an example of how I’ve applied what I’ve learned. Previously, I taught each subject to my second-graders mostly independently of each other. Math had its hour, Language Arts had its time, and so on. What I’ve discovered is that students learn better when subjects are connected, integrated, and therefore more meaningful. 

So when it’s time to teach polygons and adjectives at the same time as the War of 1812, I blend the lessons. We read a story about a family quilt from the era. We talk about the families’ experiences and how adjectives help describe them. I have students look for polygons in the quilts. We describe the polygons using adjectives. They identify polygons in the flag that flew over Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem that would become The Star-Spangled Banner. The subjects ebb and flow together throughout the day. 

It does take time and creativity to blend lessons instead of just sticking to the usual teachers’ manual.  I think having a principal who supports this concept is very helpful and inspiring.

Some of my approaches might seem unconventional. We practice back-spelling (spelling out words on the back of the student in front of them) so they feel how the word is written as they spell it out loud. We spell out words in shaving cream on student desks so students have another physical and visual connection to the words.  Using color pencils gives them yet another mental picture with the added definition of color.  Previously, we had about four students or so who had trouble with spelling tests. Now I have none.

Imagine what a principal must think when he walks by a room and sees students twisting pipe cleaners into shapes representing brain cells? This is what happens in my classroom. We label and connect these pipe cleaners to show how the brain connects related ideas students are learning in class. They plan to continue adding to the display throughout the year to represent the “neural pathways” of what they are learning.

Thinking skills are a huge part of our week.  Whatever we do we try to include and talk about our thinking processes.  I don’t want students who can regurgitate information; I want students who can think about and discuss what they know. 

Principal Powell shared with me these thoughts for this article: “I do believe that administrators and teachers in the  Edmond School District believe in looking at whatever it takes to have each child be successful.  Diane has incorporated into her teaching and student learning many processes that encourages students to think differently or to think in ways that gets the brain using many different capacities.”

We hear a lot about the need for education reform these days. My answer is simple.

When principals and teachers create an environment of working together to understand how the brain thinks, students are the real winners.